2013 - Year In Review

Since I started mountaineering in 2010 I been trying to figure out my identity. What do I like the most out of many sub divisions that make up what we call “climbing?” What am I good at? Should I focus on ice climbing? Crack climbing in Yosemite? Big walls? Long free climbs? Scrambling in the Sierra Nevada? High altitude mountaineering in preparation to tackle conga lines on 8000M peaks? I can’t do it all and continue improving on all the fronts, right? Wrong! I finally figured that true reason I fell in love with climbing is because there is so much complexity to it, however it could be as straight forward as getting a crash pad and walking up to a boulder. My mood changes, so does the type of a climb I seek. In 2013 I had an enormous mix of experiences which did not only lead to appealing photos, but changed the way I view myself and the world.

 

Alpamayo - one of the most beautiful peaks in the world

Cheburashka on "Thank God" ledge (NW Face of Half Dome) . He invented Honnolding before it was cool.

Chacraraju Oeste and Este as seen from Chopicalqui

Mt. Darwin as seen from Mt. Mendel. It is one of nine peaks along the Evolution Traverse. I completed this traverse car to car in 27 hours. One of the most challenging days of my life.

There were some unexpected surprises, especially when it came to climbing big walls. Although climbing El Capitan was on my bucket list, I did not know I would meet my climbing partner while carpooling with a few strangers. “My friend and I want to climb Lurking Fear next weekend, you should join us,” offered always-enthusiastic Alix. Even though it was winter, I did not really know her and she had no completed walls on her resume, how was I gonna turn down that offer? Nevermind that I met her friend (our third partner Daniel) in the Bugaboos when he soloed Pigeon Spire’s West Ridge in a rain storm – the guy was legit, he was wearing swimming trunks! We ended up having an epic time on El Cap and topped out during a winter storm. A mix of wind, snow and rain prevented any sense of accomplishment or safety, we were forced to resume roped climbing on the summit slabs. Harsh conditions and lack of daylight forced us to bivy on top of the formation. After this experience Alix and I became friends and on our following climb had much less of an epic – a few weeks following the Lurking Fear in a push outing, we climbed the mega-classic Nose over four days. Aside from these two outings Hamik and I continued preparing for Peru by climbing SW Face of Liberty Cap, NW Face of Half Dome and The Nose on El Capitan (all car to car without sleeping on the walls). Season of climbing walls in Yosemite paid off and we finished it with a speedy ascent of La Esfinge in Peru.

NW Face of Half Dome (Hamik and I climbed it car to car in early Spring)

Alix super excited about climbing on El Capitan (The Nose)

Hamik getting hit by a small slide on Moonage Daydream WI4 M4 (The Watchtower). Climbed this route twice.

Climbing big walls is more gear intensive, but when things depend on climbing skills training more and eating less helped me lead my first WI5s on ice, and 5.11s on rock. Before the year begun, I put Ho Chi Minh Trail (V 5.11a) and Positive Vibrations (IV 5.11a) as goals that I did not think were really doable for me in 2013. These goals seemed way harder than difficulty of climbing I was used to in 2012. My rock climbing highlight for that year was climbing the Beckey-Chouinard, North Buttress of Merriam and leading clean a 5.10b crux on the Red Dihedral. Climbing seems very unpredictable and cards could not have aligned better. I made a return to the Hulk and climbed the Positive Vibrations with my good friend Hamik. We alternated leads, both got to lead a 5.11a pitch and completed the route without falls. We met another SPer Dow Williams and a pro-climber Joe Kinder. The latter made a small movie where my photo and I appear. The climbing, setting, company and experience was incredible. Year was so good that I totally forgot about including SW Face (Harding Route) of Conness in this report. Onsighting that while leading the OW pitch with no trouble gave my self esteem a little boost after I read this.

Huandoys as seen from high up on Chopicalqui

Dow Williams and partner P. Valchev climbing on a spire across from the Incredible Hulk

Beautiful Alpine Lake in Peru

The experience that makes me a bit more proud however is climbing the Ho Chi Minh Trail a few months prior with Gleb. This climb takes a proud line up the North Buttress of Middle Cathedral. It follows the DNB for six pitching and splits off taking a more direct and more sustained line of climbing. The route is almost 20 pitches long and difficulties continue to the top. Even though there was only one 5.11a pitch (crux pitch of DNB) the difficulty of pitches rarely drops below 5.10. After topping out we descended the legendary Kat Walk. Both of us were thirsty, hungry and beat. Even though there were many things that could have negatively influenced my mood, I was in high spirits after onsighting my first 5.11a and every pitch of this beautiful climb. There were many other long free climb but these two really stick out.

At the moment I am more excited than ever about technical climbing. In the end of 2013, I put together a training program which should produce even more results, and by the end of 2014 I am hoping to have some of the legendary free-climbs like Astroman and Levitation 29 within my grasp. Saying my tick list is long, is a big understatement!

Hamik rappelling after we climbed the North Face of Quitaraju

Cleopatra's Needle was my first WI5 lead on ice

Me leading a 5.11c fingercrack on The Rostrum

Hamik enjoying the sunset after we climbed a 20 pitch rock route on La Esfinge (5325 m)

Major progress on high altitude peaks was also made. Hamik and I summited Chacraraju Este, which is a very difficult/dangerous 6001M peak in Peru. When looked at from below difficulties of the route seemed moderate, but the hardest climbing was found in the last 200 ft of climbing. Unstable near vertical powder snow climbing, giant cornices, snow gargoyles and thin ice pillars guard the summit and bump up the rating of this mostly moderate AI2-3 climb to ED1. After we finally managed to summit we were faced with a game of rock, paper, scissors to determine who will rappel from the summit first. Even though neither of us wanted to use the buried picket in powder snow as the anchor, neither of us wanted to be the one stranded on the summit if the picket failed. Fortunately we made a safe descent and climbed many more peaks in Cordillera Blanca. Chopicalqui 20,846' (6,354 m) became one of my dream peaks because my friend Scott had a few incredible photos of the peak’s summit pyramid up on summitpost. On this trip I was fortunate to see it in real life and stand on top. Alpamayo is considered as one of the most beautiful mountains in the world by just about every list that mentions the “ten most beautiful mountains.” Climbing it and a peak across (Quitaraju) was one of the most enjoyable outings I have ever had. Huascaran Sur, wasn’t really a big goal of mine for this trip, but it is the highest peak in Peru, and became my new altitude record. What I liked the most about the Huascaran outing is the style of our ascent – Hamik and I stood on the summit less than a day after a taxi dropped us off at the trailhead (3000M). Summit of Huascaran is at 6,768 M, so we climbed a mountain that is 2000 ft higher than Mt. Denali, and gained 12,500 ft in under a day (with only one bivy).  

Me leading the Scepter (WI5)

Rapelling from Eichorn Pinnacle (photo by Chad T)

Alpineglow hitting Alpamayo - incredible mountain. Hamik and I climbed it and many more while we were in Peru

One climb that without a doubt I am MOST proud of is finishing the Evolution Traverse car to car in 27 hours. Here I was challenged on multiple fronts:

1) Soloing long stretches of 4^th class with difficulties up to 5.9,

2) Nine mile ridgeline that covers nine peaks whose height is over 13,000ft,

3) Completing a day with 36 miles hiked, and about 16,000ft of elevation gain.

Golden Triangle on the Evolution Traverse. Soloists love a good selfie :)

Leading Cleopatra's Needle (WI5)

Golden alpineglow hitting the tip of the Incredible Hulk

It was an incredible physical challenge. When I mention these numbers I still have a heard time understanding how massive this climb is. Mental challenge here was even greater – believing that on my first attempt I will find my way across terrain that took Peter Croft several attempts before he completed the First Ascent in 1998 seemed a bit ridiculous. I soloed one 5.8 in my life prior to this outing and 18 miles with about 8,000 ft of gain was probably the biggest day I had in the mountains. Majority of strong parties take 3-6 days for a round trip from the parking lot. Voice of reason I heard told me to keep dreaming, but the dreamer in me reminded me of my friend Ben’s mantra – glorious failure is better than mediocre success.

At times I see people talking about climbing as if it isn’t a selfish activity, but some quest for divine knowledge. On this particular climb I learned more than a few things about my will power and how much my body was able to endure. I came out of it physically beat, but excited about the future and hungry for new challenges. For the first time in my life I identified that sky as the limit.

Summit of the Incredible Hulk

Hamik and I on top of Chacraraju

Alix and I after we topped out The Nose :)

Alix and Daniel on our first ever trip up the "Big Stone"

On a summit of Quitaraju 6040 M

More glorious selfies. Almost filled a 48 ouncer!

At last, I would like to say thank you to the partners and people I met climbing in 2013. It is thanks to you the year was so memorable for me. Since climbing attracts people of all walks of life, it is awesome to get to know and understand what drives some of you. It is interesting to learn about your goals, find out how you got into climbing and some of the things you guys have done outside of climbing. I continue to get motivated by some of the things you do! Meeting new people and keeping the old partners is another big goal of mine for the year ahead. Thank you for reading and happy climbing in 2014!

Happy Vitaliy

Happy Cheburashka

Beyond Lunacy (7 pitch 5.11c)

Unlike many I find winter to be as enjoyable as any season, especially for climbing in Yosemite Valley.  With decreased amount of daylight it is much more difficult to complete long climbs, but it gives me an opportunity to focus on shorter climbs of higher difficulty. Also it is a great time to sum up the favorite climbs of the year and pick a few goals for 2014, but more on that in the next blog.  

No matter how much I go here, I keep coming back

Cool snow flakes on Merced river

Reed's. Beyond Lunacy goes pretty much up the middle and tops out on top of the formation

So aside from going to Indian Creek, Red Rock, and flailing at Arch and Cookie cliff, I got to complete one of the newer multi-pitch climbs in the park – Beyond Lunacy (7-pitch 5.11c).

Established in 2008 as a 5.10c A1, it was climbed free in 2009 and rated as 5.11c at the crux. This climb is a continuation to Lunatic Fringe, which is already one of the most classic single pitches in the Valley. I found a few posts about several attempts at Beyond Lunacy, but none that actually completed all seven pitches. Even though no report described the whole route, all people who attempted it agreed that pitches they have done were really fun and worthy.

With an available topo and positive reviews, it was not hard to convince Tom to give this route a try. Even though it snowed only about a week prior to our attempt and morning temperatures kept us wrapped in down, by 10:30 we finished our coffee and decided to make our way up to the base. The approach was exhausting – two minutes! Since I never led Lunatic Fringe I asked Tom if I could take the first pitch, and he was more than happy to let me have it. After the first pitch we swapped leads all day and continued to the top of the formation. To my surprise we both led and followed the whole route completely free and without falls or takes.

Lunatic fringe is the obvious crack with a white streak. Pitch two goes up from pedestal up the broken up cracks above

Tom cranking on the 2nd pitch.

The monkeys don't place gear

First pitch is stellar and involves all sizes from fingers to perfect hands. The crux of second pitch involved a really thin crack and a lot of stemming. Delicate pitch of high quality. Midway up the thin section there is a little flake that was flexing, I wonder if it will stay there for long.

To start the third pitch I walked left and around an arete. Short handcrack in a corner was a little wet but after I reached the second tier it was quality dry climbing to the top. Pitch four required a committing step left off the belay and a mantle to a decent knob, before you get to clip the first bolt and exhale. Tom and I thought the crux was when the knobs disappear around the third bolt. I thought I was gonna fall on this section but some miracle kept me climbing. The roof in the middle of the pitch was really fun and not as hard as it seemed from the bottom.

Tom on pitch 3

Climbers climbing Reed's Direct

Tom on pitch 4

On pitch five I had a WTF moment. To protect the move over a roof I tied off a knob above it. After taking a long time to figure out the move over, I went for it, and in the process knocked off my "protection." I was in the middle of the not so easy crux with another knob tied 20 feet below. The sequence I figured worked good enough that I mounted the knob and was able to tie another one before clipping the "thank god" piton, there was a happy ending to this mini epic. Another roof that was less dramatic and a sea of knobs took me to the belay below the crux.

Me on pitch 5, trying to figure out how to mount a knob without any footholds above it

Tom on the crux 5.11c

Traverse to the anchor is fun

Tom led it without looking too bothered. On the other hand it took every little gram of strength and endurance to keep my half of first knuckle in a jam and a lie back to pass the left facing corner above. With a pump through the roof, the "hammock traverse" was super exciting following it with 20ft between protection pieces. I was happy the pads of dirt allowed my passage, and am sure someone in the future will not be as lucky :) Per topo the last pitch is a 5.10d/5.11a and was my last lead. I knew it was the only thing that stood between us and climbing the route all clean so I fought the temptation to forfeit my lead to Tom and did my best not to screw it up by climbing with confidence. Mounting a knob to a first stance was exciting since it is right off the belay ledge and involves climbing an overhang. Than you get to clip a bolt and do a few more insecure moves before you clip another two and come up to the final mantle.

Other crags seen from Beyond Lunacy

Campfire was also a success

I have not done the mantle on the Nutcracker, but with the last bolt way below me I worked hard not to f-up the exit. Tom followed clean and we both took in rays of sun before starting the rappell. Both of us were really excited about climbing this not yet well-known, but soon-to-be classic.

North Face of The Rostrum (IV 5.11c)

Getting out to Yosemite is always fun, but even better when a good friend is celebrating his birthday. Hamik and I have not climbed together since Peru, but were psyched to try something difficult.

Two psyched guys + birthday climb = The Rostrum

We talked about working up to this route since the Spring. I was skeptical about getting on this Yosemite test-piece in 2013. Concentration of 5.11 pitches seemed high and just a few weeks earlier I got spanked by Don Juan Wall (5 pitch 5.11b). I did not want to fall all over this route and cause a traffic jam. However, I saw photos of other people climbing the Rostrum, got excited about trying it for myself and wanted to see if I can correct some of the things that went wrong on Don Juan. In addition, Gleb and Mark were also joining us on the route to maximize the stoke.

Me starting up the first 5.11 a crux

The Rostrum

Reed's Pinnacle

The Rostrum turned out to be as good as I expected. Pitch after pitch of steep crack climbing made me wonder how did the nature create such a perfect climb?! My personal battle was to avoid overprotecting tough sections and to commit to hard sequences once I managed to place adequate gear. After Hamik led the first pitch, I got my first test – a thin 5.11a section. It was went well and I did exactly what I planned to do. I placed a piece from a good stance, fought off fear, and climbed past the crux till it widened enough so I can get a semi-solid hand jam. It felt good. Hamik took the third pitch to the large ledge where we had lunch and discussed how thin and scary the crux pitch looked. Before jumping to pitch four, I must say the third pitch is one of the best pitches on the route. Not hard enough to spit us off, but very sustained and interesting. It has challenging sections which involve lie backing, stemming, and straight jamming. 

Hamik on pitch 3 (5.10b)

Me on 5.11c crux

Hamik on pitch 5 (5.10d very fun pitch with a powerful lay-back crux)

Hamik higher on pitch 5

Since pitch four is the crux, we used ‘rock, papers, scissors’ to decide whose lead it was. Last time we played this game was on the summit of a 6,001 meter Chacraraju, in a whiteout. We wanted to determine who will abseil from the sketchy anchor first. On the Rostrum this game was much more pleasant! Like on Chacraraju I won. Since I never led a 5.11c pitch I was a little intimidated. I can’t even ‘flash’ 5.11c in the gym! But after picking the rack (mistake #1) I started up. To my surprise I found good finger-locks, placed adequate number of cams, and ran the 5.11c fingers section to a rest stance. The rest stance is sort of active, and I couldn’t get a no-hands rest. I went into the ‘5.11b lie back’ and found it to be very different from what I imagined. It was more like a delicate face climb through a series of flakes. Here I made my second mistake – I got pumped placing a piece right before making the last few moves to the intermediate anchor. Even though I transitioned into the final crack on my left, I did not have any juice to do a thin hand jam. It was a little frustrating because after I fell and took a few minutes to rest the moves seemed trivial. Even though I did not “send” the pitch, and no longer could glorify my mountain-project tick list with “soft, flashed the 11c pitch brah,” I was proud of my attempt. By the way, my first mistake was taking all the gear to link the two mini pitches. Even though it helped us with time management, it did not help me carry less weight. Who knows, if I dropped off all the gear larger than a single BD .5 cam, maybe my ticklist would be a little more impressive!? : )

Mark is stoked!

Showing off the butt or something at 5.10c traverse (pitch 6)

Guy from Europe cruising pitch 5

He is moving through the powerful lay-back on pitch 5

Back to the climb itself, Hamik took the next pitch. Eh… just another one of those amazing cracks with a fierce 5.10d lie-back at the end. If you saw that gnarly youtube video and wondered “How the fuck am I ever gonna climb the Rostrum?!” yes, this is THE pitch. Hamik took a BIG fall going for the glory on the lie-back. If it was my lead I do not think I would have a chance in hell to get it clean. My arms were feeling like spaghetti on the final moves, but somehow I got to the final jug. With the pump through the roof it took me forever, and a small fall, to figure out the 5.10c traverse to start the sixth pitch. Not sure what my mistake was on this section, maybe I just suck at face climbing? But after figuring out the traverse I was surprised by the strenuous climbing ahead. I expected to walk the next section, but getting to 5.10a OW required work, and the OW itself was a bit burly. I expected an Indian Creek style splitter but was rewarded with hand stacking and calf jamming through a few bulges. After I thought about it, I agreed with a 5.10a for this section. If Generator Crack is 5.10c and Vendetta is 5.10b, than this has to be a 5.10a.

Hamik leading the last crux pitch (5.11b)

Campfire that night was awesome

Yosemite as usual was stunning

The Rostrum. Doing the route without falls is a big goal of mine for 2014

Pitch number seven was a bit burly and took us some time. It featured an overhanging hand crack and another mix of crack climbing to the anchors. The final thin crack seemed like the crux to me but I managed to get it clean. Since we started a bit late, took our time climbing the route, and let a party pass, the light left us earlier than we wanted it to. Pitch eight had to be climbed by headlamp. Even though this pitch is considered to be one of the easiest sections of the route, it sure did not feel trivial in the dark. Getting over the roof and into the OW was not easy! After both of us joined my friend Gleb on the summit we walked back up to our cars with moonlight illuminating the path. All of us were impressed by how good the climbing was. Even though I had two hangs, I felt happy about correcting some of my usual mistakes. One step at a time and climbs that I have on my bucket list will end up on the list of goals for next season! The weekend basically kicked ass and I had a lot of fun that night with old and new friends. On the other hand, in a semi-comical fashion, the birthday boy suffered a shiver bivy at a camp ground!