The Bulge Boulders

Here's a short video of Kelly's Bulge (FA Johnny Goicoechea) at the Bulge Boulders in Leavenworth (see below post for rough directions).  It was a short but sweet spring season in Leavenworth this year... I hope everyone has had a chance to get out!

Startlingly, Uncannily Perfect

Spring has officially arrived early in Leavenworth this year, and the past few weekends out there have been truly sublime.  The snow has almost entirely melted at most areas in Icicle Canyon, but the north-facing slope across the creek is still snowy and frozen.  The weather has been sunny but temps remain in the 40s and 50s and the stone is clean, dry, and gritty.  Climbing in Leavenworth this time of year is startlingly, uncannily perfect...  Even after seven springs' worth of surprises, the beginning of the bouldering season in Leavenworth caught me off guard yet again this year.  I hope everyone else is getting out and enjoying the feel of crisp granite!

As usual, there has been a bit of new development over the past few weeks.  Cole Allen put up a difficult new climb at the Pretty Boulders, Last of A Dying Breed, which climbs the uphill right arete of the large boulder 50 yards uphill from the Pretty Boulder.  This past weekend, I revisited an old roadside area 0.3 miles before Eightmile Campground with Cortney, Johnny G, and Lauren, which yielded a number of high-quality new problems, including two new testpieces: Kelly's Bulge and Johnny's Bulge.  The Bulge Boulders are visible roughly 75 yards above Icicle Road and have probably been visited, briefly, by everyone who's spent any significant amount of time exploring for boulders in Leavenworth -- highlighting the importance of revisiting those old areas that didn't seem to have any problems three or five or ten years ago.  Go back and check them out again!

Work continues on the new Leavenworth Bouldering guide, but progress comes slowly, and the steady pace of development keeps the denominator growing...  In the meantime, everyone should feel free to email or message me for directions to any area I mention here.  Here are some photos from this spring:  

Johnny on Johnny's Bulge

(Please forgive the Urban-Climber-esque shots while I learn how to use my remote flash...)

Cortney Warming Up at the Carnival Boulders

Miles and Cole on Last of A Dying Breed

Cortney on Pac-Man

Joel and Geoff on a Project at the Pretty Boulders

Lovage

North Cascades Video

I went through some old footage this weekend and put together this video short of four problems in the North Cascades that we climbed during the early summer of 2012. 

North Cascades from Kelly Sheridan on Vimeo.

The first and last problems are FAs, while the middle two are unnamed/unknown.  Kudos to Drew Schick on having the vision and chutzpah to establish Blazing Saddles, a proud and intimidating problem with a terrible approach through a steep jungle of new growth.

Enjoy the glimpse of what things are like here in Washington when the weather is good!  I hope everyone took advantage of the sunny, dry weather in Gold Bar during the past week or two, as it doesn't seem like it will be sticking around... 

LT11 Forest Lands Video

I just came across this video from the Louder Than 11 guys and a strong group of climbers from Brooklyn who took a late summer trip to Leavenworth, Gold Bar, and Squamish.  The video includes high-quality footage of a good number of Washington's best problems, and is remarkably accurate with problem names and grades (save for the one Mount Baker reference).  Some of the dialogue is a little unfortunate, but it's nice to see a group of out-of-state climbers speak so highly of our home areas.  If only spring would come a little sooner...

Enjoy!

Forest Lands from Brooklyn Boulders on Vimeo.

Leavenworth Bouldering Guide Update

It's been a while since I've updated this blog, mostly due to the fact that the weather in the Northwest hasn't been especially good for climbing during the past few months.  However, it's also due to my spending most of my little free time working on the Leavenworth Bouldering guide...

Not Washington

I recently received word from Fred Knapp that Sharp End has fewer copies of the Central Washington Bouldering guide than he thought, and the book will likely be out of print by next summer.  I have stepped my efforts up accordingly, and my "sometime in 2014" schedule has changed to a "summer of 2013" schedule.  It's been exciting working on the book, adding color to maps from Central Washington Bouldering, creating maps for new areas, writing problem descriptions, and going through thousands of old photos to find shots worthy of being put in print.  It's very motivating!  The book will have loads of new problems, including:

Entirely New Problems

 (Joel Campbell on Aint' Nothin' But A Hueco Thing)

 (New Areas at Mountain Home)

 New Problems at Existing Areas

(Dyno at Swiftwater)

(Egg Rock)

... And Problems that were Projects in CWB

 (I Heart Jerry Garcia)

  I'll continue to post updates here as the project progresses.

Washington Pass

Here are some pictures, and a short video, from Washington Pass this August/September.  I hope everyone has been getting out and enjoying the cool, dry weather!

Here's a short video showing two of the best problems we climbed on.  Enjoy!

Mercedes FA

Here's a video of Kyle O'Mera climbing the likely first ascent of 'Mercedes' on the Five Star Boulder, the tall line between Ross Bongo, AKA Trigger Point, and the Five Star Arete.  The line has been tried by many strong climbers on and off with no success that I'm aware of, and people had come to think of it as the Five Star's last great project.

I write that Kyle climbed the "likely" first ascent of the line because I don't want to incite the type of "redevelopment" debates that sweep across Colorado like wildfires every summer, and in Washington, you never know.  The real kudos for this climb go to Bob Buckley, whose recent cleaning efforts on the boulder have given it quite the hi-pro glow...

Nice job Kyle!