Some Swan Falls and the Valley of the Trolls

Very quick post this morning.  Last week Travis and I ventured out to Swan Falls to boulder on some of the slick basalt out there.  Most of our climbing went down on the Spice World Boulder, including the V3 (Scary Spice) below:

I rested for a few days after Sunday, then decided to explore an area that Travis had mentioned called the Valley of the Trolls.  The Valley sits between the Warm Springs Golf Course, and the Tablerock Mesa.  There are a lot of boulders there, though some are on private land, and some are composed of low-quality sandstone.  I "established" a V1 I call Pale Lip because of a prominent and oddly colored hold near the top of the climb.  During the first ascent an edge broke off and I contemplated naming this route "Cookie Crumbles."  

There is a lot of potential at the Valley, though it looks like I am the last to know about the area, ha!  I found ample evidence of previous climbers establishing their own routes higher up on the trail where the rock improves.  

"I think we took the long way..."

Day 3 of the IMF is noted in my notes as being the "BEST DAY EVER."  Since I have not looked at these notes, or this blog, in a couple weeks I had to peruse my notes to understand why Day 3 was so great.  And now the memories are rushing back.

Day 3 opened with a lead climbing clinic with Johnathan "J-Star" Seigriest.  J-Star is an internationally renowned climber with many 5.14 sends to his name.  He also recently established a handful of 5.14 climbs in Idaho:  http://www.climbing.com/photo/roadtripping-the-northwest/   J-Star fits the mold of the elite climber:  he is small, lean, and excited about life.  I didn't learn much from the clinic as it was geared towards sport climbing newbies, but it was still fun to hear what he had to say.

In the afternoon we wrangled up a group of about 10 climbers and drove to the City of Rocks, and the Morning Glory Spire.  As the name would imply this formation is a tall, proud point of rock boasting large craggy features.  I led a cool, beta intensive climb called Fall Line, but opted for a 10a variations.  The  sequences are cryptic but the climb never leaves you without holds.  I definitely want to return to send the 10c variation.  After that was an interesting 5.9 climb called Scream Cheese that began as pockets and transitioned into low angle friction climbing.

The real highlight of Day 3 was the party and the swag giveaway.  Travis and I played tug of war, which ended with me being dragged through the grass after 45 seconds of frantic pulling.  The MC compared it to a Cummins diesel dragging a Prius around...  I won some swag, a Reverso, and that made me pretty happy since I needed to buy one in the near future anyhow.  

On Day 4 we packed up, then our 10-man group ventured back to the City and to an area called Site 18.  Everyone got in some lead climbing practice, and our cameraman Jason got some great shots!

The climbing wasn't especially noteworthy, but the after-climb pizza at Rock City was!  I think it is requisite for all famous climbing areas to have a pizza and beer shop nearby.  Honestly, I would put up Rock City against Pies and Pints in Fayetteville anyday!

"I'm so glad I brought handwarmers."

Day 2:
The first morning of the IMF proved frustrating.  I woke up to the sound of rain/snow bouncing off the rain fly of my tent, and when I poked my head out to survey the weather I noticed a ring of ice and slush around the tent.  Thankfully Ben Eaton the event organizer already had hot coffee going for us early risers.

The morning snow was disheartening but Travis' optimism kept me excited for the rest of the day.  We made plans to run up a three pitch sport climb called Zinger.  After a 10am clinic about mental preparedness we met up with Travis' friends Morgan, Kim and Felix to organize gear and demo some new gear.  Multiple sponsors make the IMF possible each year, and some significant companies showed up to show off at the event.  I demoed a Singing Rock harness and the famed La Sportiva Miura climbing shoe.


With our gear arranged the five of us made the hike to Castle Rock and an area known as Hostess Gully and Travis and I got on the route Zinger.  Zinger is a three-pitch 5.8 climb that affords great views of the meadow once the climber reaches the 3rd anchor station.  The route proved to be an exercise in optimism and focus as both Travis and I had to pause multiple times to warm our numb hands.  My toes went numb sometime during the second pitch, and I was grateful that I was only climbing 5.8, and that I had a competent leader (Travis teaches climbing clinics at BSU).  We had handwarmers in our chalk bags and would alternate dipping each hand into the bag to try and warm our digits.

Rapping off of Zinger with no feelings in my extremities.  Good decision...

At the second anchor we quickly chose to finish the route since there was little fear of mortal danger.  If the leader, Travis, fell he was well protected by the bolts and realistically we could always just haul up the route if things got too cold.  I'm glad that we did finish the route since it meant I had completed my first multi-pitch climb, and we got some great views of the meadow.

After spending the majority of the day being cold I opted to travel to the hot springs after dinner with Thomas and Mikey from Asana.  In the process we lost track of the woman who would drive us down there and wound up hitchhiking to the hot springs from the parking lot of the tent city.  The hot spring itself felt wonderful, and most of the IMF participants were there, including Jonathan Siegrist!  If you are unfamiliar with Siegrist, he is a high-level climber who established several new routes of grade 5.14 or harder (2 of which are in Idaho!).  Meeting him was like bumping elbows with climbing royalty.  I chatted Jon up a bit before rounding up Travis and Mikey and leaving.

Once again our ride flaked on us and we found ourselves hitchhiking from the hot springs parking lot.  This arrangement worked out well for Mikey and I as we were able to find accommodations with people we already knew.  But Mikey wound up riding with a man who looked like the blond, nerdy Fabio and a woman I can only describe as a serial hugger.  Upon returning to tent city Mikey informed us that his ride back had been interesting, and that he was sure the two were crazy.