Has the bouldering season already started? Is it going to be sunny in Gold Bar and Index from now until infinity? Is climate change real? Is the snow going to melt and are the boulders going to dry in Leavenworth over the next week? Is it actually going to be 67 DEGREES IN BEND ON THURSDAY?
These are all questions I’ve been asking lately (except the climate change one).
Taking advantage of this break-in-the-weather bonanza, Matt, Ariana and I headed to the Index River Boulders for a sesh yesterday. We weren’t really sure EXACTLY where we were going when we left Seattle, just whatever felt right and was dry. If the River Boulders were dry, we planned to climb there. We were looking for fun, easy boulders, and I had the plan to try The Enigma V4 if I felt up to it.
We started at the Boulder Drop Slab, a perfectly polished V0 that looks like it’s about 45 degrees less than vertical in the guidebook. In fact, it might only be about 45 degrees, but this thing is deceptively hard. I got shut down despite crimping the hell out of the seam halfway up it, and Ariana and Matt weren’t really into it. It must be said that Matt was feeling under the weather.
Then we went to everyone’s third favorite unnamed V1, called, aptly, Unnamed V1. This is the shelf/ledgey problem around the corner from Finger Crack V3, and directly across from The Enigma V4. As the guidebook states, it has great movement for the grade. Ariana sent it after a few attempts and despite getting quite stymied by it at the beginning, and Matt sent it in approach shoes. And then we turned our attention to The Enigma V4.
The thing about The Enigma V4 is that it looks like an absolutely epic problem, but the first move is done over a gaping pit leading to the river bed below, so I’d never been able to commit to it. But with our plethora of pads and spotters it felt much more secure, and indeed the first moves aren’t that bad, i.e. scooting around the arete, just a little scary. Then the real problem begins. You have good handholds on a kind of jug horn, but basically only smears for feet. At some point you have to (I think) start laybacking the arete above you, but I’m not sure if you’re supposed to try to get a foot up on the jug before you do that. I didn’t. And I don’t want to watch videos (even though I already did a long time ago), because I’m a stubborn cow and want to figure it out. I did make progress, it must be said. And also took quite a few falls. And it was scary. But I think it could easily go on the next session. Or not. It could take 10 more sessions. It’s one of those where it’s hard to judge just exactly how close you are.
After The Enigma V4 we went up to the Leggo Boulder, home to one of the better V2’s in the area in the form of Leggo Arete. Ariana, who only just started climbing a few months ago, had just sent her first outdoor V1 in Unnamed V1, and the proceeded to FLASH Leggo Arete, for her first ever V2 outdoors. Epic. She made it look quite easy, and then tried to re-send it on video and struggled a bit more, but when she actually got the beta dialed made it look effortless again. Matt also sent it, and I went to the top and then tried to downclimb down, since I didn’t want to get my shoes or feet dirty walking off the back.
Almost on a whim I started tooling around on Leggo My Ego V6, the area classic whose start has firmly shut me down in the past. I tried the start again and still got shut down but it somehow felt much more doable, and then I just started trying it matched from the slanting rail. I was able to get my right foot on, but not able to go from there to the right thumb catch. However, it felt quite good. I was happy with the progress, especially since I hadn’t planned to try it. Just goes to show it can be good to take some whatever burns and just mess around on a bloc.
The traffic on the drive home was, to be expected, horrific. However, the sunset coming into Seattle was gorgeous, and it felt good to get outside and have a session with the homies. As I said earlier in the blog, the forecast for the next week is amazing, so I’m sure there will be more sessions like that to come.
Where’s Wetzler exclusive: Ariana sending her first outdoor V2 (Leggo Arete V2, Index, WA).