High Desert Solo Bouldering / Fort Sage; Doyle, CA 11/29/16

     Late November I found a break in the storm cycles, along with a break from my busy schedule at Granite Chief Mountain Shop.  Naturally, I took the opportunity to do some climbing in an area entirely new to me, about 1 HR north of Reno called Doyle CA.  The specific area is part of a sanctioned Off Road Vehicle driving area which is a concept I had never really encountered before in Nevada.  Frankly, I thought the whole state was one big Off Road Driving Area, or at least that's how we treat it.  The boulders of Fort Sage, as it's called, are easily accessed by an AWD and offer a variety from lowballs to high ball test pieces and everything in between, though the average may be on the smaller side.  The scenery is terrific if you're looking for some quiet moments away from work, and I could really see the draw to camp out here.  This is a small-scale version of the Buttermilks.  Oh yeah, the grades I climbed?  Well I sent a solid v2, hope to return with more people and more pads...

Personal Review of Area :  Rock/Climb Quality 7/10 - Size 7/10 - Accessibility 4/10

Public Information :  http://tinyurl.com/zvqj6st

Approx. Location :  http://tinyurl.com/h36tzp5
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Full Day Climbing; Woodsford Canyon Markleeville CA 11/11/16

Foreword-

After completing my bachelor's in Business Management I began looking for a new job involving entry level management work.  As the weeks turned into months my need for a change of work simply became more urgent.  I came to KFC at the middle of August as an Assistant Manager with the offer to be a General Store Manager within 6 to 8 months.  The experience was as bad, perhaps worse than you might expect.  I began polishing my resume and looking for work in Tahoe, a market I previously ruled out due to my severe transportation constraints.  By the end of October, I was hired as the Manager of the Ski Rental Department for Granite Chief Mountain Shop, Truckee CA, for the 2016/2017 season.  My next act of business was to Finance a more appropriate vehicle.  By mid-November, I was feeling more like myself again.  I made a trip out to Woodsford Canyon with a familiar friend to go climbing...

Cruising in my freshly waxed 2010 Subaru Impreza 2.5i Premium All-Weather Edition car I arrived at the boulders just after noon.  Joining me was Craig Black of Garnerville NV (Level 1 Rope Access Tech), and Melanie Letalik of Carson City NV (U.S. Geological Survey Field Technician).  We warmed up on the East Face of the Mamma Cat Boulder appreciating the firmness of the granite and the lack of traffic this area sees.  Later we found some gradual slab climbs on the Mamma Kitten boulder, as well as a v4 ( Zun's Problem ) sit start that seemed to shut us down.  Heel over hand foot matching and catching that familiar scent of dust and chalk as you hit the pad, I must say this was an outstanding day of climbing for me, if for no other reason than to turn a page of my life and to begin another.

After  leaving the boulders I drove back toward Reno.  I decided to pull off 395 to drive up to the Egg Boulder next to the Lakeview Slab just above Washoe Lake before you drop down the hill.  For the first time in my life, I felt the urge to break out a headlight and climb into the night, sleep in my car, and wake up to do more of the same.  I've never pictured myself as a "Dirtbag" climber, but the idea of staying in nature, in the real world, even if only for a little while longer; before it's back to work and back to the news, back to sirens and timecards, back to greetings and people, for the first time in my life I felt like I understood this perspective just a little bit more.

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 3/10 - Size 1/10 - Accessibility 7/10
Public Information : http://tinyurl.com/hmr46on
Approx. Location : http://tinyurl.com/zan49p2
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Afternoon Climbing; Thomas Creek Galena NV 8/4/16

Early August I made an afternoon trip out to Thomas Creek with my long time friend Craig Black ( Level 1 Rope Access Tech ) in order to flash the overhanging 5.11 route at the top of the crag, as well as onsight the 5.10 climb known as Spat.  Craig was able to finish the 11 by getting a little off route, though not preferred.  And I was nearly able to onsight Spat had I not gotten shut down near the top feeling pumped with a difficult clip to negotiate.  This was just above the arrette rest spot for the climb, the proper solution I believe requires either a hand jam, or a lieback position with an awkward clip.  On my next Thomas Creek trip I would love to try and onsight the overhanging 5.10+ - 5.11- sport climbs which are located west around the corner of the main wall on a seperate formation of rock.

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 3/10 - Size 2/10 - Accessibility 6/10
Public Information : http://tinyurl.com/jmk9bce
Approx. Location : http://tinyurl.com/hy7uybx
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Weekend Climbing; Lover's Leap Strawberry CA 7/16-7/17/16

Mid July we spent the weekend at Lover's Leap in order to on sight Pop Bottle, a 400FT 5.7 crack climb on the East Wall of Lover's Leap.  We arrived Saturday afternoon as we set up camp and prepared ourselves for an early morning start on Sunday.  This was our first 5.7 multi-pitch together and the more involved and technical sections of rock were exactly what we were in the market for.  I would agree with all the available beta about this climb regarding the crux sections of the route.  The beginning of the second pitch involved a short traverse away from a single bolt, followed by a long reach up to a dike, this was our favorite section and it can be seen in the video provided below (1:05).  Amanda was left with a strong sense of accomplishment after only her second multi-pitch and her second time camping.  Overall Pop Bottle is a good quality climb with sections of 5.7 and a variety of moves and exposure.


Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 10/10 - Size 10/10 - Accessibility 9/10
Public Information : http://tinyurl.com/j2oyx8t
Approx. Location : http://tinyurl.com/heluslw
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Half Day Climbing; Prison Hill Carson City, NV 5/28/16

Late May I caught up with my long time friend Daniel Mayes ( PHD Student, Physics Dept. UNR ) of Stead, NV, and his Fiancee Lindsay Dorio ( Anthropology Major ).  We arrived around 3 and found calm temperatures with an approaching storm from the East.  After a rough warm up on Reno 911 with just a single pad for protection, we walked south and found a little VB perfect for Amanda ( Level 2 Patient Access Rep. ), her second boulder outside to date.  To complete the day Dan and I worked through the V4 arete climb on boulder "A", which apparently has no name.  The bottom of the climb may as well have been an actual ladder, but towards the middle the climb involves a right hand crimp on a good edge, a left hand sidepull on a hold that really seems to blend in to the wall, followed by a high crouched left foot (recommended higher than as seen below in picture 1), a crux right hand crimp on the arete itself, and a powerful bump with the left hand towards the top to a jug.  This was my first V4 climb outside in over 12months and I was pretty excited by the finish.

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 3/10 - Size 2/10 - Accessibility 8/10
Public Information : http://tinyurl.com/zvqj6st
Approx. Location : http://tinyurl.com/hhwmla6
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Full Day Climbing; Lover's Leap Strawberry CA 5/18/16

Mid May I found time for a full day trip out to Lover's Leap with Craig Black ( Level 1 Rope Access Tech ) of Gardnerville, NV.  We decided to climb a fun route for our first multi pitch as direct partners with each other.  We arrived at the Hog's Back formation around noon and ascended the 5.6 route known as Deception, considered the best line on the Hog's Back.  The first pitch was really more just class 5 hiking, but the real crux came near the end of pitch two in the form of a 5.7 finger crack section with sparse protection.  Both mountain project and super topo consider this variation of the route to be a grade harder and much more interesting than the main crack formation, that's one word you could use to describe the section...  Overall we had a blast as seen below.  We also got the chance to test out Craig's latest idea, renovating a 70's van for camping/climbing.

Personal Review of Area : Rock/Climb Quality 10/10 - Size 10/10 - Accessibility 9/10

Public Information :  http://tinyurl.com/z7yhnlc

Approx. Location :  http://tinyurl.com/heluslw
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Evening Climbing; Thomas Creek Galena NV 5/11/16

Mid May Amanda Mac ( Level 2 Patient Access Rep. ) and I left our apartment to have an ordinary workout at the BaseCamp Climbing Gym above Virginia Street.  The gym was temporarily closed due to construction in other parts of the hotel, a 6yr long ongoing renovation process.  We decided to make a trip out to Thomas Creek in South Reno above the Galena community.  For our climb we did the brief 5.9 pitch known as Orange Marmalade.  Mountain Project reviews consider this route to be sandbagged, though I can't say with much certainty if this is in fact the case or not.  Of the climbs at Thomas Creek this may be my favorite.  I have yet to climb the Torch Light route, or the blocky choss lines on the East side of the area, but I have climbed every other line at some time or another, and I can attest that this line is among the more clean and secure routes for this area.  For locating Thomas Creek the Mountain Project directions are your best source of information, additionally I have provided a picture below of the goat trail leading from the "mountain bike" trail which is used to access this area.  A closer look at this photo and you can see the base of Thomas Creek crag at the top of the photo.  If you don't mind a short but arduous approach and a little bit of choss this is a great summer location given the cool breeze of the canyon and the constant afternoon shade topography.

Personal Review of Area :  Rock/Climb Quality 3/10  -  Size 2/10  -  Accessibility 6/10

Public Information :  http://tinyurl.com/jrqx36z

Approx. Location :  http://tinyurl.com/hy7uybx

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Evening Climbing; Dinosaur Rock Carson City NV 4/7/16

Early April I made another visit to Dinosaur Rock with my good friend Craig Black of Gardnerville NV ( Finance Major and Rope Access Technician ).  We arrived towards sunset with the hope of flashing the classic 5.9 "Color me Gone" only to find there were other climbers on the route.  We went around the corner (west) to the Dead Man's Rappel for a warm up.  Craig is seen below taking an easy rest mid climb, the upper section presents much more interesting climbing.  After this we went several climbs west around the formation to an unknown unmarked climb we graded between 5.6 and 5.9.  To describe the climb, we ventured up a dirty set of ledges which protected well and then traversed left onto an arete.  The arete protected well with a .5 and a 1, and began as a 5.7 jug ladder finishing with a slightly run out section of more blank looking slab which was protected by a bolt.  There were two bolts with chains to rappel from and the climb was about 60FT tall.  We each flashed the climb and later celebrated with some victory sushi, the aftermath of which is seen below.

Personal Review of Area :  Rock/Climb Quality 5/10  -  Size  3/10  -  Accessibility  10/10

Public Information :  http://tinyurl.com/hr7dqr8
Approx. Location :  http://tinyurl.com/hs36fz6
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Exploration; Pie Shop South Lake Tahoe CA 4/2/16

Early April I took a break from a long week of High Rise Window Cleaning to hike and explore a popular trad climbing destination for the Tahoe area known as Pie Shop.  Having never been here before I was concerned about navigating the area, this was compounded by the fact there is no printed material available for these climbs, only a sentence here or there on Mountainproject.  We arrived by noon and spent about an hour hiking from the car to the base of the "Main Wall", though we might have saved 20minutes if we were more familiar with the spot.  The granite looked amazing, the slope of the wall was great for smearing, there was snow melt runoff in spots trickling down the slabs, honestly it seemed like one of the better quality areas I've visited in Tahoe in 5years of climbing.  I plan to return and hopefully to lead the 5.7 center crack by the name of "Crepes Corner".

Approx. Location : http://tinyurl.com/zt5x6le

Public Information :  http://tinyurl.com/zhvdnup

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Half Day Climbing; Prison Hill Carson City NV 3/12/16

Mid March we had a dry weekend, albeit a windy one. Amanda Mac ( Health Science Graduate ) and I got out to Prison Hill on the 12th by 1030 to do some bouldering.  Temperatures were great and we were able to locate the majority of the circuit.  The highlight for me was trying the not so short Reno 911 v0 climb with no expectations.  With more time we would have loved to project some harder climbs but the wind began to kick up by noon and we had eaten our share of sand.  This is a great winter/spring spot with a number of moderate to harder climbs, not all of which are chossy like you might expect.

Personal Review of Area :  Rock/Climb Quality 3/10  -  Size 2/10  -  Accessibility 8/10
Public Information :  http://tinyurl.com/zvqj6st
Approx. Location :  http://tinyurl.com/hhwmla6
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Half Day Climbing; The Book of Red Gardnerville NV 2/24/16

After a long break from climbing while I finished my degree program and had oral surgery I happened to find time to get out for a day with my longtime friend Craig Black, of Garnerville, NV ( Finance Major, Certified Level One Rope Access Tech ). We reached the base of the spot by 1 and proceeded to warm up leading the 5.11 arete (we each used the finger crack on the north face of the granite which I believe is OFF for this route). Next we TRed the 5.9 crack called Skull and Cross Bones, a climb which we felt proved more difficult with our lack of crack climbing skills. Temperatures were perfect and the calm sound of the Carson River made this a great afternoon out with our tight schedules.

Personal Review of Area :  Rock/Climb Quality 2/10  -  Size 1/10  -  Accessibility 9/10
Public Information : http://tinyurl.com/hmpon3b
Approx. Location :  http://tinyurl.com/j85evrl
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