What a week!

First- Matt established another great boulder problem at Pine Mountain- calling it the “Fuzzy Emerald” V8 or maybe a bit harder….who knows till it gets a repeat! Super small holds big moves, and unusually steep for Pine Mountain bouldering. Not my style and I couldn’t shake a stick at it- nice work to Matt! It was made possible by lots of cleaning…a makeshift floor made of pine tree branches and lots of mustard!

Here are some pictures of the Fuzzy Emerald and the last image is Matt sending! Thanks Steve for the great spot while I took these photos! His hands are barely in the shot on the left!

Second- We had rain! WOW! View from our deck!

Third- Matt and I also sent another 5.13 route at Echo Cliffs- first time we went the same 5.13 on the same day! Oh yeah! This is the route I mentioned in the previous post….all this climbing is paying off! Good thing all those flexing holds held for both sends…good luck to the next climber! Now to get back to the granite! We leave for Suicide on Sunday night for two days to throw ourselves at the Pirate- this would be a great tick. I’m really looking forward to the challenge, small gear, tips locks, and all the smears that go with it. Since we are weekend warrior-ing it, it has been a challenge to get to our new alpine route…weather/snow, and work has been slowing us down a bit…but we are crossing our fingers that this next three days off will get us to where we want to be, cliff side climbing on sweet alpine granite heading up the headwall!! We are so stoked to climb this next feature! Super exciting! Bennett is joining us mid July.

We also started our new #1 Summer Climbing Camps at the gym- the first week went without a hitch! Great group of kids that were motivated to climb and climb at their best! Matt and I are looking forward to the next camp that is gong to start up in about two weeks! We are also tinkering around with the idea of starting  Team Vertical Heaven for the interested kids next fall….we’ll see! The Ventura Summer Fest 2009 was a blast- mingling with the community and representing Vertical Heaven was a blast. Also I am soooo proud of Matt- he raised over $250 to send kids to a summer camp from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) this past week…check out his mug shot!

Also my picture was picked and considered by the Alpinist for a photo essay about First Female Ascents to appear in Issue 27….and they were interested on how I feel about this subject. Not knowing if they will use my interview or my photo but I am glad to get my view out there.

Let’s just keep it simple. First Female Ascents is bogus terminology, just a contrived way to state that a female or females repeated a test piece route. We can create a list a mile long of “firsts”, which I have noticed has also caught on. There is only one First Free Ascent (FFA), every ascent after that is a “repeat”. If the repeated route is a test piece climbed by an amazing rock climber- well known or not- who pushed their boundaries and creating insights to the possibilities on what can be done- these repeated ascents no matter the gender of the climber will be remembered. These historical, remarkable and memorable ascents that we all have read about and learned from is what creates our own desire to find our personal limit in the climbing world, to create our own climbing history.

The First Female Ascent terminology is creating not only a substandard but the terminology makes me feel that we not equal competitors/partners to male climbers, almost saying that we don’t have the same capabilities as male climbers. We should look past the whole male vs. female attitude. It is great to give recognition and document the women who are repeating hard test pieces all over the world, but lets not let down the women who are breaking their backs and working real hard establishing amazing FA’s of all sorts all over. My hat’s off to the women with the vision , motivation, desire and the ability to create a new routes and send them. Let’s give the credit where the credit is due. Why doesn’t the mags add a section towards the back dedicated to the individuals who are making it happen, putting up the classic new routes, or climbing in a bold new style, there are so many amazing individuals with incredible vision out there. It may even bring our climbing community a bit closer together. Who knows?

This month has rocked- and it is not even over!

Our After-School Climbing Program has ended for this ‘08/’09 school year, with 35 kids this session. It has become so popular that there are requests for next fall and a waiting list that is in the making! Impressive! We are starting up our Vertical Heaven Summer Camps too starting mid-June, so that is something we are both looking forward to!

With a  bit more time off (not too much more really…) we are able get out of town for our long weekend missions to the east-side. We had a few days off last week and we managed to get up to a nice ledge, ’bout 500 to 600 ft. up the route to the base of some giant traversing roof cracks. All together we did 3 new pitches! This traversing “roof crack” feature is our next goal (maybe three or four pitches to the another ledge? maybe…) which then will lead us up ’round the left side towards the “notch” and the hopefully the summit of the formation, which I still can’t find the name of…We are stoked to see that this route has become so successful- wish we had a full week or two up there, but for right now only short intervals. We leave Sunday night for another two day wilderness e-side adventure. We do need ropes…hmmm….Sorry for no pics….I forgot the camera…ah well!

Pine Mountain, a local bouldering area outside of Ojai is a summer retreat from the hot temps of the inland valleys. It can be a bit buggy, and warm if you are there mid-day. All in all, at 7,000 ft. elevation and bunches of free standing boulder problems- it’s an ideal hang for Ventura County. We both have found our projects up there-so that will keep us busy for a while, and our tips tender… its bound to provide us with another stellar month of rock climbing locally!

Also the Echo season has kind of come to an end, but this month was surpurb! Way to warm too climb anywhere near the sun but early morning temps have been truly ideal and rewarding- and the late eve temps have been perfect with the cooler canyon breezes…This month Matt sent his project there, with ease, The State of Grace .13 b/c! Yes!

Photo Courtesy: Bennett Barthelemy

And he is one falling another route ’round the corner Kona .13a/b…soon…next morning off?!

I have also had a great climbing month there too! With six new .12 routes under my belt (surprising despite how much time I don’t have to climb) -including one arete .12+ that only took me only 4 goes!  Yes! And I have started another project! Yep, another one…down the canyon…this super techy face climb called Pride .13b…fun, crimpy, pumpy and just plain hard, but up my alley 100%. I made huge progress on it, I know I an do better next time around- I know it! It feels good!

Also this month has also brought a few visitors to our porch!

Here are a few quick b&w images I took this morning while working/ volunteering at the Ventura River- Confluence Preserve!

Mulefat Cuttings

Wetland Work Gloves

Grasses in the Wind

Something we should all think about daily…

This cartoon will soon become a reality (for some it already is) if we do not change our daily use of fresh water- conserve, please!

WATER SUPPLY VIDEO

Wow!

What a fantastic weekend!

We ventured to the east side- this time to haul our gear to the base of a cliff and begin our new route. Super successful! We hauled all our camping and climbing gear up to the base of the cliff in the 4+ hours- stopping along the way to make sure that our trail back was visible with cairns and landmarks recognized due to lack of any trail. Most of the hike is uphill- at elevation, so coming from sea level to 10,000 ft. was a bit of an ass kicker, but all in all, every step was very enjoyable. Our boots made a huge difference too! There is nothing like feeling confidence in every step with a heavy pack- the Trango S Evo GTX was the ticket to ride!

With plenty of snow and ice above us, and warming spring time temps, and the consistent pitter-patter of rocks above us, we found an excellent bivy spot under some HUGE boulders near the base of the route. We noticed we were not the only animals who enjoy this area- bear friends have definitely have left their mark, but we never saw one- thankfully.

Spending lots of time in the desert climbing, backpacking, there is always a crux of having enough water. We are fortunate that there is plenty of snow, snow melt, and a small seasonal (may be year round) spring down low in the canyon where the perfectly clear, ice cold water runs! This is a huge bonus for us!

Our goal was to get to the top of this “Little Pillar” (’bout 300 feet) stash gear for the next weekend out there. We did just that without a hitch! Qualtiy new routing! First pitch- dirty, thin and slabby- super small gear and went at 5.8, and the second pitch went up an OW on the right side to a rail that traverses left onto the primo finger/hand crack out a small roof on the front of the pillar. Great views on all three sides including the one to the right into the Owens Valley 4,000 feet below! Great small summit on the Little Pillar- definitely a good climb!

Next time out there our goal is to get to the top of the “formation/summit” (’bout 1,000 feet of climbing) and get our gear up there. We will then decide where this new route will lead us, even though we have a really good idea of what features we are aiming for!

Matt and I are counting the days until we go back to the cliff!