I heard about a sandstone bouldering area just an hour from Yellowstone and I thought I had better check it out while I was in the area. I would rather see a new place than go back to an area where I’ve spent a lot of time. I like to travel in case you hadn’t guessed that already! You never know what to expect when hitting a new place and that’s what keeps things interesting.
Marc
Yellowstone exists constantly. It exists without people. Yet for a moment you can jump into the beauty that lies within.
I left Squamish last week on my long journey back east to Atlanta to catch up on family time and to edit my film. My plan for the trip was to stop in Yellowstone for a few days before heading to Denver to spend a couple weeks climbing in Colorado.
the road
At some point while driving through Montana I started wondering if there was any bouldering to be done there. A quick google search yielded a Montana bouldering blog which indicated there was a bouldering spot a mere three miles off the interstate near Butte. I’d never heard of any bouldering in Montana but I had to at least check it out, right?
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Unfortunately the weather window I was hoping for never came. After waiting out the rain for a week and looking at a bleak forecast, I knew my time in Squamish had come to an end. Squamish is one of the wettest climbing destinations in the world and after the summer ends dry days become scarce and the forest needs several days to dry out. I know all the moves on World of Hurt now and I’m pretty confident I could climb the boulder which makes leaving all the more frustrating. But that’s how life goes sometimes. Opportunities can slip through the cracks and leave you wishing circumstances had been kinder to you or wishing you had made things happen sooner.
I do have something to come back for which isn’t such a bad thing and I also have some motivation to find some big lines in other areas to push myself on.
I spent just under four months in Squamish which is the longest time I’ve spent anywhere in the last year and a half, and with good reason, in my opinion Squamish is the best bouldering destination in North America.
The rock is some of the best granite I’ve ever touched, the climbing involves very interesting and intricate movement, there is something for everyone here from classic moderates, challenging slabs, and hard highballs. The sheer amount of bouldering here is immense and constantly growing with new areas and blocks being found each year. If you factor in the amenities the town of Squamish has to offer within walking distance to the boulders, as well as world class trad climbing, it’s hard to compare Squamish with anywhere else in North America. The only major problem Squamish has is the weather, which is to say it rains A LOT. Generally the driest months are July and August. This year was pretty wet in June/July, and dry for August and the first week of September.
Squamish is one of four spectacular areas in my film Western Gold and I can’t wait to share that. Until then, check out Mike Chapman’s flickr page to see some amazing photos of Squamish.
I filmed two sessions on World of Hurt in recent weeks including Jeremy Smith’s ascent which will be featured in Western Gold. I hadn’t had a chance to try it yet myself but was psyched to see what it was all about. After hauling more than a dozen crash pads to the boulder and engineering a landing, I was ready for my first try…or was I? After a few short moves you quickly get into highball territory. I stuck the huge move out left to the half-moon sidepull and proceeded to set the heelhook in front of the tree.
World of Hurt
The weather for the past 6 weeks has been blue bird sunshine and 75 degrees. Last week the weather flipped out of summer mode back to nonstop clouds and drizzle. This was about the time I decided I had enough footage for my film and started focusing on my own climbing again.
We’ve been rallying pads for highballs lately and one of those sessions was under Animal Magnetism which was originally a three-bolt 5.13a. It was bolted and first climbed by Jim Sandford in 1992, before crash pad technology existed. The landing for this one is bad so you can’t throw two big pads down and call it good. Jason Kehl was the first to climb it without a rope back in 2006. It’s probably seen a handful of ascents since then.
For the first three months of the summer I didn’t even consider this a boulder problem. I saw the bolts, the terrible jumbled landing, didn’t see the holds, and couldn’t imagine bouldering it. It’s such an exposed line up an overhanging wall.
A few weeks ago I filmed Jeremy Smith climbing the line so I knew how it went but hadn’t tried it.
Jeremy Smith on Animal Magnetism
Our house has seen a lot of action lately with new folks arriving and old friends flying out for a quick visit. All the new and old friends has definitely been the highlight of the summer and so far one house guest has risen above the others.
My friend Anthony Tarascio came to visit for a few days and ended up extending his flight not once but twice! Squamish tends to suck people in and make you want to stay!
Anthony projecting the sit to Worm World Cave
A summer day at Alice Lake
If you haven’t seen Keith Bradbury’s classic Fontainebleau film Between the Trees, read on.
A lot of lower budget films have been popping up recently (including one of my own) but Between The Trees is still by far my favorite in that category. This movie was one of the major inspirations for me to create my own full-length bouldering film.
It follows Keith and Ty Landman climbing tons of Font classics and in particular Ty ticking off an astonishing quantity of the forest’s hardest. It properly captures the personalities of Ty and Keith by showing their focus when climbing and their laid-back, goofy attitude when off the rock. There is enough story and funny moments to keep you entertained but not so much that you want to fast forward to the climbing. The soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard and the editing is polished to keep the movie flowing nicely. Even if you’ve never been to Font and have no plans to go, I highly recommend watching this film.
You can watch the trailor below and download the film at Keith’s website.
Our four friends from Colorado have left but not before dispatching a few projects.
They started off their trip on the receiving end of the Squamish Shutdown. V4s were a challenge at first but after a few days in the forest they learned the style a bit and were enjoying the slabs and technical problems. It turns out Flannery has an abundance of slab skills, they were just dormant at first. She managed quick work of the V3 friction slab that I had to project and she far surpassed my highpoint on Black Slabbath.
Video still of Flann trying Black Slabbath V7.
Black Slabbath.
Written by Flannery Shay-Nemirow.
We’ve gotten lucky with the weather, managed to roll into town in the middle of a pleasant, warm dry spell. It’s been a bit too warm, but not too bad after a sweltering, yet rainy, Colorado season. It’s my second trip to Squamish, and I spent most of Colorado early season looking forward to it. I’m traveling with a ragtag team of misfits, each bent on crushing the boulders of the Grand Wall. After a somewhat harrowing 24 hour drive, we stumbled into the forest unprepared for the difficulties we would soon face. Maybe it was fatigue (we were 36ish hours without proper rest) or maybe it was the unfamiliar style of climbing, but performance was lacking on our first few days. Or, maybe, we all just paled in comparison to Asher’s climbing. 1 hour out of the car and Asher had already made new friends, scammed some beta and put together a quick ascent of Black Hole (V11). After a marathon sleeping session, the rest of the (mortal) crew was ready to take on the forest.
Our first day brought us Alex Savage, film maker impresario. Alex began our tour of the forest by taking us to Squamish’s most frustrating slabs.
Asher on Skin Graft V4. Photo by Alex Savage.
Other than V2 slabs I haven’t done any bouldering in the three weeks since I hurt my tendon.
Left Rib V2. Photo by Asher Shay-Nemirow.
