Pebble Wrestling

Hi guys! I know I know! I've been terrible at posting my adventures lately! Now I'll catch you up on some sweet climbing we've been doing!

Two weekends ago, we went back out to Leavenworth. We had high hopes of getting on Orbit (5 pitches of 5.8) but there were some painfully slow humans in front of us that refused to let us pass. We scrambled up the first "pitch" with ease and then Aaron started to lead the next "pitch" but it got to the point were it wasn't worth our time so we decided not to climb it anymore. Lo and behold, on our way back to the path we hear two dudes yell our names. We look up and we see Alex and Camden on Outer Space but there were also a lot of slow people so they bailed too. We walked back to the truck and we went bouldering. 

I finally had a good climbing session! We went to Lovage (V4) and I finally sent!! Camden gave me some good beta and it totally worked :) It involved getting a slightly higher left foot and bumping the compression up until I could grab the jug. Then you do some interesting footwork and ball-up and top out. It was a wonderful send!

Lovage V4

After my send, we went to Coffee Cup (V8) for Aaron and Camden to work on. It was a pretty short problem but hard - I think it got downgraded from a V10 after a hold broke. They made some good progress on it - here are some photos.

Coffee Cup V8

On Sunday we went to The Sword, this beautiful highball V3. Aaron and Camden both flew up the climb. Then it was my turn. I had previously worked this problem but could barely stick the first move! Now was my time for revenge. I easily stuck the first move and could bring my feet up. I tried different beta for the next move and managed to stick the crux move by a little dyno. Unfortunately, I could stick the hold but not long enough to get my feet back on and get established. Progress!

The Sword V3

We then went to The Prism a funky V9. A fellow climber from TRC, Tyler Weiss, is featured in the Leavenworth bouldering guide book for this climb! Aaron and Camden worked Prism for awhile and found some interesting beta. It was fun watching them exploring the beta possibilities. Eventually we left for home.

Prism V9

The next weekend we went to Mile High Buttress near Morningstar Peak a few miles out of Darrington. Aaron, Alex, Camden and I met in the parking lot, packed our bags, and began the hike in. Just so you know, this climb was first done a week before we did it! We crossed a few streams, hiked into the clouds, across a talus field, through some trees, another talus field, up a stream, and then finally made it to the base of the climb. Alex and Camden started off with Aaron and I hot on their heels. Unfortunately, we thought it was supposed to be slightly chilly and sunny but instead it snowed, rained, hailed, and was never sunny. We were freezing. I was miserable but we persevered and made it to the summit. I was only happy when I was back in the truck, cuddled in my sleeping bag warm. Then it dawned upon us that I was the first female to climb that route (FFA) so that was pretty cool. I guess suffering through rough environmental conditions lets you do some pretty sweet stuff :) 

Mile High Buttress.

View of Headlee Pass