It was hard to say good-bye to a fantastic August and a memorable summer. We both climbed hard and climbed fun in Squamish with some new personal bests to take us into the fall.
We spent a ton of time trad climbing and working on our crack technique. Graham onsighted Horror’s of Ivan (5.11c) with several other great sends including Yorkshire Gripper (5.11b) and a flash of the classic Squamish Grand Wall (5.11a). He also starting tackling harder routes, including Sentry Box(5.12a) and Zombie Roof (5.12d). Kim focused on trad-techniques-on-top-rope, with a few leads up to 5.9, reaching her trad lead goal of the summer.
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| Evening send of Yorkshire Gripper (5.11b) |
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| Cruising the Split Pillar (10b) pitch on the Grand Wall (11a). Picture was taken by the party ahead of us |
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| Dan and I topping out the Grand Wall! |
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| Kim leading a 5.9 in the Smoke Bluffs. |
A sunny August day on the SmokeBluff Connection
Taking down the tent on a windy morning
But our serious summer addition was sport climbing. Kim sent Face the Music, her first 5.12a, as August drew to a close. Graham capped off his season with accomplishments including Mr. Negative (5.12d), Heifer Down (5.12d – second go) and Boiler Room (5.12c). Graham also sent The Bulb (V8) and Chicken Lips and A**holes (V7 – second go).
Graham climbing in the Circus – Cheakamus Canyon
September represented the start of our new lives in Vancouver. Kim had a great first semester, and really enjoyed TAing Biogeography and getting her research underway. Graham got a job at MEC and at the Hive Bouldering Gym – perfect fits in the interim while looking for other work. We have been bouldering all season at the Hive and have started to form a great community of awesome Vancouver climbers.
Today we headed up to Squamish for a day of bouldering in balmy -1 degree weather. It was fantastic!! Graham nearly completed an awesome climb (Immunity Challenge –V7) and Kim sent a long time project (Bo Bo Jones – V3). Despite the cold everything was dry, and we can’t wait to make the trip up again.
Graham working on Sesame Street (V9)
Kim on BoBo Jones (V3)
