The Fallen

I've been meaning to write another post in the last few months, about what a great successful year I've had, maybe I'll get around to that, but unfortunately I've gotta start with the bad news.  In less than 3 months, Oregon has lost two of its finest climbers in Tyler Phillip Adams and Dasan Shantidas Marshall.  Tyler died in a mid-air collision in Nevada on October 20th 2014, he was 28.  Dasan died on January 18th attempting Mount Yukla, he was 24.  I am truly honored to have shared a rope with both of these men.

Tyler.

If anything exemplifies Oregon climbing, it might be the choss.  Obviously there are some high quality basalt crags around, but you have to cross the state border to climb on granite.  No one loved the choss quite like Tyler, pioneering routes on Wolf Rock, the corners of Smith, but he also climbed routes on Horse Cock Rock, Stein's Pillar, Turkey Monster, repeating obscure aid routes and often retrofitting the bolts to make them safer for future ascensionists.  As an aid climber he was phenomenal, one of his FA's at Smith was an A3+ pitch that required 27 consecutive beak placements in a row!  Anyone who has aided the Tuff at Smith Rock either shudders or smiles at that effort.  His blog http://oregonchoss.blogspot.com/ is testament to his passion for exploring.

Mike Layton Photo

My own friendship with Tyler was all too brief.  I knew of him long before I met him, someone let me borrow his drill replacing some bolts on the classic free climb Astromonkey.  The fact that I got the drill second hand shows how much trust Tyler had in his fellow climbers and his devotion to making climbing safer and more accessible for everyone.  I eventually met him through Chockstone Climbing, where I was eager to meet someone who made the most of his ability and carve out first ascents.  Tyler was an excellent guide, I've heard that a great guide is "someone who wasn’t afraid to share their passion for the mountains with others for fear of losing some of their own", and Tyler truly reached that standard.  He treated all his partners equally, which is why so many kids and clients loved him and he formed strong bonds with veteran climbers, many of whom started climbing again because of Tyler.  To think that Tyler had a whole other passion in backcountry flying that he was equally passionate about amazes me, I could hardly believe he had any other space in his heart after climbing and all his friends.

Losing Tyler hit me really, really hard, even though I barely knew him.  I can't even begin to comprehend how it must feel for his family and his closer friends.  

Dasan.

I met Dasan before he was truly into climbing, and I'd like to share three brief memories about him.  My first memory was at Willamette's Serenade's night in 2011.  This was an important night for the Greek Life at our college, but honestly Dasan and everyone else I was with that night could care less, we were just having a great time.   I had been crashing in Scott & Alex's dorm because of a roommate conflict, and the room was crammed full of mattresses and other shit from three college guys.  Nevertheless we managed to fit about 18 people into the dorm along with a 5 gallon cooler of jungle juice with a healthy portion of Everclear in it.  We were mostly doing damage control for all the freshmen who drank to fast when at around 8:30 the RA on duty knocked on the door.  All our mouths were agape except for Dasan, who was sitting on the bunk with a big smile and two sprinklers, one lit in each hand.  In about 30 seconds Dasan and most of the guests went out onto the balcony to the next room, allowing us to avoid what would have been probably the 3rd or 4th open flame policy violation of the year in that dorm room.  

I also fondly remember the trip that Dasan, Peter, and I took in Peter's bus to the Oregon coast to go mushroom hunting.  I had been helping Pete tear apart the floors and seats of the bus to make it his home, and he decided he needed a break.  We took the bus West with no seats, bare metal flooring and wires hanging out of the ceiling for its maiden voyage and invited many friends.  We had the usual share of rain and sun on that glorious trip, sleeping in rich neighborhoods hoping no one would find a bright green ex forest service bus out of place.  I was no mushroom expert, I was mostly there for the hiking and the expectation that Dasan, Peter, and Emily's knowledge of fungus would protect me from poisonous mushrooms.  Dasan was his own spirit that trip.  At Cape Kiwanda Dasan invented a game where we took a piece of bull-whip kelp, spun it as fast as we could and then barely touch the spinning end to Dasan's knife, sending the end soaring about 50 feet into the air, which was deliriously funny.  At Devil's Elbow State Park we parked the bus and Dasan went the other way, climbing a giant Fir just so he could get a better view.  That day we found a giant patch of chanterelles and ate royally in the bus as the rain beat down against its metal roof.

My final story of Dasan was in the winter of 2011.  I just finished an ethnographic paper interviewing the Bivy Dwellers at Smith Rock as was eager to do the North Face Gullies of Mount Hood while the conditions were great.  I borrowed Scott's Buick LeSabre and made my way to Dasan's house.  He had his hand built skin and frame kayak there, and his basement room below his parents was a temple to the mountains, his wood carvings and posters of Hood and Denali adorned the walls, with ice tools hanging off the rafters.  We talked shop and traded stories, you could tell by now that alpinism had lit a flame in Dasan's eyes, one that he could hardly hold back.  We barely made it up Cooper Spur road in the LeSabre and stormed up the hike to Tilly Jane.  We walked through the burnt out forest with a brilliant starscape, and the hike above the timberline felt like we had left Earth and transcended to the Moon.  Dasan and I felt great that night, reaching the hut in record time, only to watch the mist descend upon the mountain in about 10 minutes.  I was nervous that Dasan would want to press on despite the conditions, but he accepted my request to turn back without regret.  We sat in that hut for an hour, talking about our devotion to the mountains, and about our fore-bearers and the future, and turned back.  Dawn broke just as we reached the car, Dasan promised me he would stay awake the whole ride back, when not thirty seconds later, I heard him gently snoring…

I miss you guys.

So What Happened Jon?

In February I did my first Portland Mountain Rescue Mission, rescuing a skier who dislocated his hip in a fall down Little Sandy Canyon (it was not a little fall!).  With tough terrain and snow conditions it took us about 11 hours to move him 2.5 miles, almost the entire mission was during the night so that was a pretty challenging first mission.

I also got some winter pitches in, the highlights being a barely-there onsight of Moondance and a send of Latest Rage, my first 5.12b!  LR was one of those climbs that feels impossibly sustained, then you figger it out and it flows like buttah...

March was spent trading skin with the hateful crimps of Crossfire.  It's one of those long endurance routes with cruxes up high that are really hard to focus on when your tying in.  I got pretty tired of climbing Karate Crack cuz of that one.
Crossfire

I also started a really poor paying landscaping job which I did for about a month, waiting for other opportunities to arise.

April was a good month as well, I sent Majestic Pigeon, a pretty good new line up in Aggro Gully that has great pockets to a roof pulling crux, and I also sent Vision.  Vision is so far my favorite 5.12b, with great movement, a dominant position on top of the hill, and pumpy moves all the way to the anchor.  I managed to fall on the last move twice, once upside down and once on a send go!

I also had time to get a quick solo up Cooper Spur.  It felt really special to be on the North side of Hood with no one else but me to enjoy a sunrise and some rockin tunes.  The mountain was good to me with solid conditions, a little ice step, and nothing falling down.

Topping Out!

I also vanquished 5 Easy Pieces, walking down on a hot early summer day and sending it as a warm up, I think I drove back knowing something good was coming up.

In May I moved out of my place, got ready to switch to a guiding job on Mount Shasta, and got on the send train!

I sent my first 5.12c, the Quickening in Aggro Gully.  It suited me really well and felt as tough as my 12b sends, with an overhung low crux leading to some sustained face climbing.  As usual I fell on the last hard moves a few times before reeling it in on a nice cool evening.

Dreamin'  Made it all the way to the second roof

Here is a picture of me after sending Chain Reaction a few days later, maybe my favorite climbing achievement.  I'd just come off a near flash of Dreamin' (now my favorite 5.12a in the park!) and had no expectations.  I had fallen halfway up the route on a tough move going around the corner numerous times, but surprised myself by barely grabbing it and at that point I was pretty sure I had it in me to finish the rig!  The next day out I sent Crack Babies in full on alpine conditions and almost got bitten by a rattlesnake stashing my stick clip.

I curtailed my cragging for a little bit to start working for SWS Mountain Guides, based in Mount Shasta.  I am extremely excited to work with a group of great guides and pick up some awesome skills. Shasta is a pretty sweet mountain for honing my skills and getting my lungs used to altitude.

Sunrise on Shasta

In June I got a quick trip in to Leavenworth to see my buddy Brayton.  Not too many sweet sends because the clouds kept us in the crags but I did get to climb my first Beckey route and get some sweet simul-climbing in.

Damnation Crack, one of the best 5.9s I have climbed!

 I also turned my attention to my trad climbing goals, leading 2 11bs in the Gorge and onsighting almost all the remaining 5.10s I want to do down there.

I met a really cool partner also named John and we accidently got on the wrong multipitch and I climbed all of Freedom's Just Another Word without falling.  I'd love to go back to the 5.12b arete pitch one day but other things beckon.

John on Freedom's

The last week in June was definitely an eye-opener for me.  On Thursday I was guiding on Shasta when my boss got his leg taken out by this huge chunk of ice.  Our awesome guides got him in a chopper in 3.5 hours though, it felt great to use a bunch of skills successfully that we had been practicing for.

Ouch!

Another too-good-to-be-true-Central-Oregon-sunset

 When I returned to Oregon for the weekend I was involved in the recovery of a climber who perished on Leuthold's Couloir, falling to the base of the Sandy Glacier Headwall.  It was certainly a tough mission, but once again it felt great to be a part of a great team and bring closure to his family.  12.5 hours, almost 6,000 ft of elevation gain and loss, 11.5 miles.  PMR guys are fit!!

Staging area at the McNeil Shelter

NW Alpine Gear Review: Black Spider Hoody & Big 4 Jacket

I've always been a fan of US-designed, US-made climbing gear.  NW Alpine is the newest company to come to my attention and they have done a great job of blending style and functionality into light weight pieces.  I met Bill Amos the owner in the Smith Rock Crimpfest and its obviously nice to have a personal connection to your manufacturer.  The Black Spider hoody is a light weight base/midlayer hoody with thumbloops (like an R1) and the Big4 is a lightweight softshell that competes with softshells that weigh much more.

I've had an R1 hoody of some sort for the past 5 years, and I practically live out of them.  The thumbloops and deep chest zip of the design make it highly functional for climbing, you can vent and unvent very rapidly.  Combined with a baselayer and a windshell I think you can tackle 90% of alpine conditions out here in the NW.  The minus of the Patagonia design is that it is a little too warm for pure baselayer use (more of a mid layer) and the hood is a little intense in that ninja style kind of way, which is great when your chin is cold but if I'm wearing outside of climbing its a little much.  The NWA hoody does an excellent job with these two drawbacks.  The fabric is basically the same R.5 material of the thumbloops and hem of the R1 hoody making for a much lighter feel over and its very comfortable next to skin.  The NWA hoody is also a much better fit for the under the helmet style, it doesn't impede on the chin and it is more streamlined overall.

The Big 4 Jacket is just over a pound and a relative bargain in the softshell catagory.  The hood is non adjustable but fits well with and without a helmet, while the one chest pocket and two inner glove pockets are ideal for what you really want in a climbing shell, all the pockets can be used with a harness.  I like the orange color, its bright but not overly obnoxious and the fit is excellent for me.  I don't use it as much for rock climbing as I do for alpine stuff, which is where it really shines.  It stuffs into its hood exceptionally well and so it is barely noticeable in the pack, which is important when carrying 2 or more pieces in the pack during the approach and fast moving parts of a climb.  Like any softshell, it has to lay somewhere on the breathability to weather protection spectrum, the NWA Schoeller style is certainly geared slightly towards stretch and breathability.  It has no membrane and therefore will let in some wind.  My previous soft shell was a Patagonia Ascentionist which was unfortunately lost/stolen which in comparision was thinner, less stretchy, and perhaps more weather resistant.

I'm looking into getting a membrane style soft shell, but if your carrying a hard shell anyway your looking for maximum breathability in the soft shell and thats what you get with the Big 4.

Over the next few months I plan on using these as my primary "action suit" pieces in my alpine and SAR work, and I'll really get to test the versatility of these pieces from NW Alpine

Black NWA Hoody, Grey/Blue R1 Hoody, pretty much the same fabric (Patagonia lists as 5.4oz Polartec Powerdry

June 2013 update

I'm surprised people actually read this!

If I were to describe the Big4 in one sentence it would be 'a softshell that will work in 75-80% of conditions you'd use a hardshell for, with great pockets for stowing gloves.

And the Spider Hoody: a lighter alternative to the R1, its a little too warm for a base layer and I wish it wasn't black so I could wear it i the sun.

West Face of the Monkey and Other Things

The year has started off a little bit slow on the sends, but I'm happy so who cares?
Dasan, Pete, and Brayton made an awesome effort on the Black Spider:

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1097458

I was gearing up to join them when a PMR rescue came in.  I was going to catch up with them but my rescue turned into a 12 hour effort, so I was psyched anyway but good on those guys for hitting up some Hood Ice.

Last Friday me and Jesse went up the West Face of the Monkey and got some rad photos!
We have been getting our Aid game in recently, and it was nice to get on something a little easier than the Picnic Lunch Wall after a little mini epic when Jesse pulled 3 out of 4 cams that were equalized in some mungy pin scars.

 Pitch 1

Jesse Jugging Up

Photo from the top

Highlights of 2012

2012 was freaking awesome to me.  I made a conscious effort to log my climbing, which I would recommend to anyone hoping to improve.  I made an outlandish goal of climbing 200 days in 2012, but often times setting an unreasonable goal but still putting your all into can turn into something pretty fantastic.  All in all I had about 139 days of climbing, I had a pretty broad definition (long days, couple pitch days, lots of time in the gym...).  I climbed for the first time in California, specifically Bishop, Yosemite, and Trinity Aretes,  all of which I hope to get way more time into.  My bouldering grade outdoors went from a handful of V4s to a handful of V4s (Jedi Mind Tricks being a fantastic highlight) and sending two V6s (Saigon and the Hulk) in Bishop.  Having been to Bishop in the Winter I got to try a few of these problems and fantasizing the exciting sequence of Saigon really helped me pull through a pretty brutal and boring school semester and really showed me the power of visualization.  In sport climbing I went from a highest redpoint of 11c (Heresy, at Smith, which is pretty awesome but almost short enough to do with pads) to 5 5.12a's, a few 11d's (which are often harder than the 12s!) and flashing 11c's.

Finishing off the Hulk, most of they guys spotting sent right after, which was so awesome!

I definitely had to dig deep for those redpoints, certainly more so than my bouldering improvements.  Some of the 12's took perhaps over a dozen efforts, and that really started to weigh down on me.  When I counted my efforts it became easy for me to compare myself to others and think 'aw man my buddy flashed this thing and here I am falling endlessly on this thing'.  I'm not sure counting attempts is really that important or useful for us mortals without 8spray scorecards, often times I felt worse the more attempts went into the book.  Ironically my first 12a, Planet Mechanic went down second go, and in a way I felt almost cheated because I wasn't sure it was really as hard as the other ones were, but looking back now I realize I had to dig into the crux crimpers pretty damn hard and that the style of climbing (relatively straight-forward positive crimping) is one I am pretty good at.  Next came Heinous Cling Start, which was a little bit of a head game but once I sent it I have climbed that section cleanly maybe 6 times in a row while working the upper section.  On the Morning Glory Wall I sent the extensions to Overboard, Cool Ranch Flavor, and Magic Light, which were all long pumpy routes which surprised me as this Smith Enduro style was something I blew at.  I also sent Zebra Seam, a sneaking 11d that when I first tried made me feel like an obese kid on his first day on the rocks.  A couple of days working it with Alan Collins led to me sending on my first lead attempt, putting all the draws up, and having never gotten in clean before hand.

Me and Nic Sabo also did some rad multipitching at Smith, avoiding rock fall and choss on Evolution Theory to hit up a rad 11d roof section that Nic styled.  We also put two efforts into Astro Monkey, a little climbed classic on the Monkey Face that adds a spectacular 11a trad dihedral and a 11d/12a knob start onto Monkey Space.  I didn't climb either of these cleanly, but it really opened my eyes to where I can go in multipitching in 2013 with a little bit of improvement to my trad climbing.

Nic on Evo Theory

And improve I did in trad climbing, though not as much as I wished.  Previously my best trad climbs had been a few softie 10a's that I knew well enough on my first leads and I didn't really push it on gear.  My breakout trad climb was Cruel Sister, which although is also only 10a, I didn't expect I would do well at all on it and pretty soon I was panting up the final fist crack section, having onsighted my first sustained crack climb.  I also put down a few 10b's the proudest for me was Badfinger which might be the best 5.10 finger crack in Smith.  Towards the end of the year, I met two rad Canadian dudes (Fraser & Martin) and I kept hinting that I might want to try Wartley's, a phenomenal 11a in the volcanic tuff of the Christian Brothers.  I had done it before with a top rope, but mentally wasn't sure I could pull the moves with gear below me, but I knew Martin would catch me if I didn't get the last move, rested well and pulled it off first try.  Fraser and Martin then both proudly sent afterwards, and went on to kick some serious ass in South America.  I can't wait to get a chance to climb again with them.

My slab fall in June, not so pysched

I also got a few days on the Gritstone in England, not nearly enough and not alot of hard stuff but I'll represent that in the pictures.

Double Ropez WTF?

Phew I feel pretty psyched on 2012 as you can tell, if everything goes right with 2013 it'll be just as rad!

The One that got away: 5 Easy Pieces, hopefully this one will go down next year!

First Entry

Welcome to the blog.  I gave quite a lot of thought into whether or not I wanted to start something like this having seen plenty of other people fail to maintain a blog so here is my attempt.  If you don't already know me I'm a climber who just graduated college and now I'm grappling with the new-found freedom that comes with it.  In December I had a chance to visit my childhood friends from Connecticut and see how they are doing which really made me feel lucky because of how far I've gone.  Climbing and mountaineering have really taken hold as passions in my life, and looking at so many people who are trying to find their purpose in life at my age I'm pretty blessed to have such an opportunity to pursue my climbing goals and lifestyle.

There are a few reasons why I decided to start documenting what I'm up to on a blog.  I realize I need something substantial to show people what I'm up to, I think it's pretty easy to just say "oh I went to the crag, it was fun" and not really go into depth about some climb or goal that we are working towards.  I'd like to use this soap box to keep friends and other people (stalkers?) to keep people up to date with a couple plans I have down the pipelines (some rebolting, possible new lines, Portland Mountain Rescue events).

I've always thought of my first year out of college as a potential break-out year, where I can truly put 100% into climbing and get great rewards.  I know of lot of people are on that cusp of really starting to train and devote your mind completely to climbing (or some other passion), and I see the blog as a way of keeping myself accountable.  If its online and people are reading about it, maybe I'll get that nagging desire to actually follow through with what I'm spewing about.  You'll get to hear a little bit about my first (and far too late) attempts at training periodization and that will certainly keep me honest about it, even if I'm the only one reading about.

Another goal, that will take some time, is to develop my own writing style as a climber and outdoorsman.  If you've made it this far into the blog, you probably already know that I have some work to do in this aspect.  Right now it actually feels a little embarrassing to be writing about this stuff, I think I generally like to keep a low profile and not 'spray' too much but I need to find the fine line between self promotion and giving attention to the climbing and also showing off what fantastic climbers that happen to tie in with me.

I just moved to this place, yeah that's the West side of Smith Rock, no big deal

Couple of Arete Projects: Latest Rage 12b, in 2011 trying this once gave me raging elbow tendonitis,  now it'll go down relatively quickly

Chain Reaction 12c, not sent yet, but probably the one I'll be most psyched about

Krischa Berlinger snapped this rad picture of me dynoing the last move on Heresy, definitely one of my favorite pictures.  I'm not sure how I'm doing this as I am clearly not looking at the hold.

Cam and me just before Christmas.