Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

Archives

2020 Vision

2020 Vision

2020 Vision…did you catch my pun?  😉  A little dad joke-ish, but I thought it was fun.  Eyesight jokes aside, however, it’s time for a list of climbing goals for the new year! As always, these goals are subject to change as the rest of the year unfolds.  But looking ahead, this is what I’m aiming for in 2020. FINISH THE 12 WALL AT HAWKSBILL:  There are 3 routes left unsent for me on the 5.12 wall at Middle Hawksbill, and I would love to finish out the wall.  The first one, Manifest Destiny 12b, is  the only one of…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

2019 Year in Review

2019 Year in Review

As I sat down to write out my climbing goals for 2020, I realized that despite a lot of personal reflection on my 2019 accomplishments, I never really summed things up on the blog, particularly when it came to projects from this past fall.  Even though I stopped writing here long about the time the weather got good, I actually got out a lot this fall, so there’s lots to catch up on! One of my main goals for this year was to establish a firmer grip in the 12+ arena, particularly at the New.  Aside from the stray 13…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Tweakend for the Weekend

Tweakend for the Weekend

“Mommy, what’s ‘bolt to bolting’ mean?” my 9 year old son asked me.  I hadn’t realized he had been listening to my conversation.  I was lounging at the base of the cliff, trying to summon the energy to give my project one last go before hiking out.  I was exhausted.  It had been a roller coaster of a day, hiking in to find ourselves in the midst of a foggy, misty drizzle that had made our slab warm-up a lot more exciting than we’d wanted.  Surprisingly enough, however, conditions on the 12 wall were primo.  The routes were steep enough…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Best Hidden Valley Sport Climbs 5.11 and Up

Cragmama

Time for the final round of Hidden Valley recommendations – this time for 5.11 and up.  And guess what – fall sending is almost here!  So if you are in the market for some good projects, this list might be a good place to start.  While the moderate routes can get quite crowded on good weather weekends, you’ll find that the queues drastically decrease as the grades increase. GREAT “FIRST OF THE GRADE” CANDIDATES ROADKILL 11a – A little pumpy, but straightforward, and you get a good rest once you pull the roof. GRISTLE 12a – I know lots of…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Labor Day at Hidden Valley

Labor Day at Hidden Valley

I’m not sure what the climbing conditions are like where you are, but around here it is still pretty hot and sweaty.  That was probably the biggest factor influencing our decision to head to Hidden Valley this past weekend.  Other factors included avoiding the throngs of people flocking to the Red and the New for the holiday weekend, as well as wanting to do some recon for the Hidden Valley Travel Beta series posts I’ve been doing. The good news is that we had success on all fronts – decent temps, crowd avoidance, and recon.  (Oh, and speaking of that,…Read the rest of this entry →

Share
“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN