Snowshed wall

This week I got a chance to escape the heat in Reno, and head to Snowshed to Shred some lines with my trad climbing bud, Trevor and his GF Laila. Trevor taught me how to place gear a couple summers back at Donner, and is always a blast to climb with. On snowshed, there is is line after line of finger, to hand, to arete climbs, all being 5 star classics. Never before had I climbed at such a beautiful craig where all the climbs are mostly 5.10 and harder and every one of them is classic! Snow Shed is definitely one of my favorite places to sesh and place gear at.

I showed Trevor a couple of the cool lines I led last time, and he got Jam Session (5.10c) first. This crack has a bit of an awkward chimney start but leads to an amazing arching hand to fist crack. He plugged away and soon enough had it set up no problem. Laila and I followed suit. Next we went over to an amazing Arete called Disciples of the new wave (5.11c) This arete is climbs great, using gear to protect the beginning and then a combination of crimping with the left and sloper-slapping the arete with the right hand. Trevor and Laila were both stoked on it and I will continue to climb it as many times as I can get my hands on.
We then went to the front side of snowshed, and I led up bottomless topless, a 5.10a chimney climb to an awesome hand crack. It is the easiest way to set up ropes on some of the many classic lines on the front. Some of which being Manic Depression (5.11c), Monkey Paws (5.12a), and Panic in Detroit (5.12c). These are all beautiful gear climbs and they are all HARD. Each having there own  tricky crux and being a feat to climb just on TR, let alone gear. I set a couple of ropes up, one on Panic and one on Monkey Paws, so we could get as much pump as we could take.

After feeling particularly good on Paws, I decided it was time for me to take on this climb for real. Leading one of these cracks has always been a dream of mine and I have been telling myself "I really should just lead the damn thing". So I scoped out the finger crack for gear placements while lowering and I announced I was going for it. Soon enough I had a harness racked up with little aliens and small BD cams, and also a couple of .75 and 1's for good measure. The first 20 feet of the climb is kinda an awkward boulder problem with not many options to place gear on which got my blood pumping. Next is a bulge which is the 12a crux, so i protected with a couple bomber pieces and was soon through it. I then made the long dead point to the huge horizontal and got a pretty good rest in. Next the climb turns into more of a sporty, face climb, with lots of crimps and pinches but the gear gets marginal, only getting a small nut for the last 20 feet or so. After sending monkey paws, I got on Panic and for the first time got it clean on TR.

 
Leading a 5.12 gave me some confidence for sure, even though I have gotten it pretty dialed on TR and hopefully soon I will be leading more and more hard gear climbs. I need to round off my 11's some (my second hardest climb being only 5.11a trad). Next week I'm embarking on a 3 week climbing vacation with my Girlfriend and climbing partner Laura. Oh and did I mention we are going to SQUAMISH! HOWLLLLLL! Sooo psyched :D There I'm sure I'll be able to push myself mentally and get on some fun and really difficult climbs. Being mainly a boulderer, it feels really good switching up what climbing styles I'm good at and trying something scary and different. I really enjoy climbing all different styles and types of rock, and especially getting to share it with my Girlfriend! :) Thanks Laura for the support and keeping me psyched on climbing and doing good in life!
Bye friends! PEACE AND LOVE

White Lines

This weekend I spent time hanging out with my great friends Lo Pat and Chelsea. We got a call from our friend Ian on Saturday morning, and he invited us over to Donner Summit to climb White Lines. Ian is a really motivated climber and a strong boulderer. Since I hadn't been on the boulder problem this year I was really psyched to try it! We got to Donner and it was snowing out, but despite the storm we trekked down the scree field to meet Ian and climb. White Lines is a really amazing looking problem with two sets of rails and really grippy crimps. Watching Ian look super solid on the climb, I knew he was really close and he was going to send for sure! I had a chance to snag the beta from him and then it was my turn to try. I did my five minute warmup and , and got my shoes on and gave it a go. I was off after a couple moves but I was feeling pretty good and warm. Next try I got on and I was feeling good and hitting all the holds, and next thing I new I was standing on top with my friends congratulating me! I couldn't believe it! As soon as I was off the boulder Ian was ready. He got on made all the moves perfectly and pulled past the crux. As I was spotting him, he let his feet cut on the last big throw and he let out a big yell, grabbing the finish hold and pulled himself on top! Send train, wooo whooo! Next time I go to Donner, I can only hope to climb with such good friends and have the conditions be as cool and sticky as it was that day.