Yesterday we got out for our first session of 2010. The forecast for Lander was cold, but Dubois was supposed to have much warmer weather. Davin introduced me to Torrey Valley on Labor Day, and said that the north slope boulders were good in winter. It still seemed like a risk driving over an hour north and to a higher elevation to get warmer temperatures. I also worried that the gravel road might be snowed in. But the farther we drove the less snow there was, and when we got out of the car I was pleasantly surprised at the warm temps. We still wore out all our winter clothes in case a wind picked up.
Sierra wore her new pad for a couple hundred feet, but then she asked me to carry it.
The boulders were even warmer than the parking lot. I swear the air temps had to be 60-65 degrees, and there wasn't any wind all day. I couldn't believe how perfect it was.
Ashley warming up on the Croquet Ball.
Ashley climbing a good sit-start line on the Croquet Ball.
The Torrey Valley scenery is spectacular.
We did a couple fun slab lines on the Coco Cabana, just up the hill.
One of the lines.
Then got shutdown on this short problem just behind the slab.
Our favorite problem of the day was this very good traverse.
Ashley working the crux of it.
Rushed by the coming sunset, we didn't take good rests between attempts. We didn't finish it, so we'll need to return.
If only the winter days could be longer.
2 comments:
Great blog, especially as I have little ones of my own. My oldest is only 15 months. I am curious at what age you started taking your kids out with you and at what age they showed interest in climbing themselves (indoor vs. outdoor)?
Thanks. We've taken the girls out almost every weekend since they were born. When they were really young I carried them in the car seat, brought out quilts, and for quite a while I would haul a "pack-n-play" play pen to bouldering areas. We gave up roped climbing for quite a while. The hardest stage is when kids begin crawling, and put everything in their mouths. Both of them started to try climbing when they were 4. Sierra got a lot better when she turned 5. They've mostly been into gym climbing. Sierra is 6 and is just starting to boulder outside. I'll write a post on kids and climbing soon.
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