A Review of Western Gold

The weather reports have failed us lately.  We've ended up at the wrong places on the wrong days, and I personally don't have much new climbing to report on from the last couple weekends.  But I have enjoyed watching Western Gold a few times, and I'd like to share my thoughts about it.

Western Gold showcases high and difficult bouldering around Leavenworth, Castle Rocks, Red Rocks, Cody, and Squamish.  A full hour and a half of primarily climbing, with a minimum of story, and some great time lapsed landscapes.  The type of film that often gets denigrated as "bouldering porn."  But I love this film, and feel it's one of the best that I've seen.  There are quite a few reasons that it has won me over.

The most appealing aspect for me is the film's authenticity.  It's a bouldering film, made by a dedicated boulderer, for other dedicated boulderers that doesn't exaggerate anything in order to get a bigger reaction, or appeal to a wider audience.  So it feels very honest.

Another aspect that lends integrity to the film is how often local climbers and developers are showcased.  The boulderers in the film are some of the people you might run into if you visit these areas.  It's nice to see local boulderers documented, in addition to their areas and problems.  It's a type of climbing journalism.  And female climbers are well represented, but not conspicuously so.

The film is also beautiful and artistic.  The natural aesthetics of the problems and their surroundings is expressed with angles and camera movement which convey depth to the scenes.  The entire film has been meticulously crafted with an attention to detail unmatched in other bouldering films.  The flavors of commentary, scenery, climbing, and humor are balanced without any of it feeling gratuitous.  The music fits the tone of climbing, is often timed to the visuals, and isn't distracting.  Almost all bouldering films have at least one song, scene, or story that I find distracting or annoying, but this one doesn't.  It renews my hope for the genre.

And finally, I must admit that it's the content that impresses me the most.  There are two reasons I really like the areas that the movie covers.  The first is that they're fresh.  At this point, I've seen Hueco, and South Africa, and Font, and Switzerland, and Colorado covered in so many bouldering films that I'm losing interest.  If a problem has been well documented, in a professional video already, I'm generally not interested in watching it get climbed again.  For most areas, problems, and climbers in Western Gold, this is the first time they've been filmed.  But the film is also relevant to me, because the areas and climbers are familiar.  I've visited all the areas in the film, other than Idaho, within the last year, and have even met a few of the climbers.  A coincidence that makes me somewhat biased towards the film.

On the surface this film is very similar to other bouldering films.  It's mostly just people climbing boulders.  To truly appreciate a bouldering film takes some effort, and to me, it feels like the people who put bouldering films down aren't able to, or aren't willing to make that effort.  If you aren't an experienced boulderer, you won't be able to know what a problem feels like by watching someone climb it.  If you are an experienced boulderer, you can feel the problems as you watch them, when you try to do it.  If you put yourself into the climbing shoes of the ascensionist, you can get a sense of how committing the problem is, how the problem flows, and what the holds actually feel like.  If you've developed problems, you can get a sense of the effort that went into finding, cleaning, and making the first ascents of all the magnificent lines.  And if you've ever tried to make bouldering media it is immediately clear how much effort, time, and talent Alex Savage has put into making this film.  As you watch Western Gold, look deeper, and you'll enjoy it all the more.

More Photos, Less Writing

It was an incredibly busy weekend, but I had fun and saw a lot of new stone.  No time for many words, here are the photos.

Sweetwater roadside areas: Pirates of the Caribbean

 "Manscape"

I put up a new problem at the Glass Factory that I really like.  A V4 that I've named "Old School," but I didn't take photos. 

At the the end of the day, we checked out a new area Jesse told me about.  We didn't have time to climb, but we'll be back. 

Jesse's first ascent, "Weapons of Mass Destruction"

Today, I found more to explore above Torrey Valley.

Have a good week, and consider downloading the bouldering video "Western Gold" at Savage Films.  I highly recommend it, and will write more about it soon.

Spring Break

Last week we had Spring Break, and we decided to follow the same path that we did last year. It's a good trip. We went to Red Rocks, stopping at Little Cottonwood Canyon on the way. We had perfect conditions at the Cabbage Patch. Boulders don't get any more convenient, but the Cabbage Patch might actually be too close to the road. Road noise and the smell of burning breaks hurt the ambiance. The problems are really fun though.

Ashley climbing a perfect arete problem called "Fat Albert Gang."


"Fungus"

"Salad"




We also enjoyed "A Bit Slopey" as described in Utah Bouldering published by Wolverine. But it's probably V6/7 rather than the 8 points it's given in the guide.
"Double Dyno," just up the hill, is a moderate classic that shouldn't be missed.

Then we continued our trip to Red Rocks.

On our first day we went to the Kraft Boulders, and I saw my first chuckwalla. It ran into a crack and inflated itself, just like the guidebook said it would.

Sundance enjoyed the sun.

And Ashley did too,

but she was sick with some sort of flu/pneumonia, and lying in the sun was all she could do. She worked so hard during the last few months, with the spring break as a mini finish line, and then got sick as soon as she was off. It's an unfortunate, but pretty common occurrence for teachers. It usually happens to me the during the first week of summer break. The body seems to have trouble when stress lets up abruptly.

She didn't feel well enough to hike up Gateway Canyon, and most of the Kraft Boulders were catching a lot of sun. The only shaded face was the north face of the Monkey Bars boulder. I'd given up on "Monkey Bar Direct" last year, but I didn't have many options, so I decided to try it again. Long story short, I made unexpected progress, and then came back to spend another day on it. I came close to sending, but didn't manage to do it on this trip. The line took most of my energy so I didn't do many new problems this year. It would have been nice to finish it, but I'm not too disappointed. I enjoyed working on it, and now I'm motivated to make a greater effort to get stronger, which for me means training as usual, but getting lighter.

Ashley was feeling well enough to climb a little on the final day. While I projected, she climbed anything she could in the vicinity including a very short climb with good moves called "Umpa Lumpa."


One windy afternoon, we got half a session of climbing at Red Springs before sunset. It's a good place to find shelter from westerly winds. "Cherry Garcia" is a nice problem and full value for V2/3.

That's all the climbing news and photos I've got to share from Spring Break this year. Some ideas are bouncing around in my head, but they'll need to wait until I have more time to write.

The Best Laid Plans, Can Be Revised

Thanks for indulging my odd sense of humor with the last post. Here's a standard one.

With unusually warm weather, and no recent snow, the mountains looked completely clear from Lander. So clear that we thought we could make the drive to Devil's Kitchen. I met Jesse and Chris, and we jumped into Jesse's recently acquired 4 wheel drive boulder recon vehicle to make the trip. It was a beautiful day on Saturday. And we saw a lot of pronghorn on the drive.


But one large drift forced us to turn around. It's likely that many more large drifts were waiting at higher elevations, and we'll probably need at least a few more weeks without snow before the Kitchen will be accessible.

Washakie Reservoir was our backup plan. We went to a couple nice looking sandstone boulders that I had scouted last winter. We began cleaning, and Jesse established a V3 called "Fat Boy on a Diet."

Jesse climbing his first ascent.


At first inspection the sandstone seemed just like that found in Sinks Canyon, but the more we climbed on it the more we realized that it was much softer stone. Jugs kept breaking off in our hands, and Chris had to back off when he realized that a very large flake might break off and crush him. I made a quick hike to a cave I had already inspected on a very snowy day, and discovered that with the snow gone, the cave was too big to boulder. The features were all too high to reach. We left, and now I know that Washakie Reservoir isn't worth another bouldering visit. The sandstone isn't solid enough, and the cave isn't good for climbing either.

We hadn't gotten a workout, and it wasn't too late, so Jesse and I decided to go bouldering up the Falls Trail in Sinks Canyon. Jesse hadn't done a couple problems that I knew about, and he wanted to re-establish an old classic that he had seen on an old topo. We warmed up on the upper part of "Rio's Face" and then climbed it from the, first move crux, lower start. Then I showed Jesse "Silver Spoon," and he flashed it.
Jesse firing "Silver Spoon" first try.

I began brushing "Poorman's Cocaine Corner" which is named after a famous boulder problem in Yosemite that it closely resembles.

I thought it would be clean enough, but fell on two attempts due to dirty holds. Jesse grabbed his stickbrush, went to the top, and cleaned it properly. If you like the problem, Jesse deserves the credit. We both climbed it, and it's now one of my favorite problems in the Lander area. Thanks Jesse! A three star V5 with a physical crux down low, and a mental commitment required up high. Here is the best shot I got of Jesse on the line.

We finished the day with a little exploration in the talus field. Now I'm making plans to return to this problem.

It's an established line. I don't know the name or the grade, but it looks like fun.

Optimism often works, but the best laid plans sometimes fail. Keep revising, and things can turn around. That's what happened on Saturday.

Two Advanced Sending Techniques Revealed

Do you want to send harder problems? Of course, we all do.

A standard post will be coming soon, but today I'm posting a special instructional video.

These are two advanced sending techniques that I've decided to share. Many climbers aren't aware of these surprisingly effective and modern methods of climbing harder problems, or don't take advantage of them as often as they could. They've helped me climb so many problems that I couldn't, or maybe wouldn't, have done otherwise. Learn them, practice them, and send more.

How is History Made?

On Sunday, we went out to Sweetwater with Kyle. I got the first ascent of our project and named it "True Grit." Ashley climbed it too, and we discussed what we should rate it. It felt like V8 to Ashley, and on the easy side of V7 to me. So I've settled on V6. It's probably slightly easier for people who are taller, and I don't want to over grade it. I don't think anyone would find it easier than V6. Some of the holds are pretty slick and core tension is required to keep them. Conditions weren't perfect, but not bad either. Warm temps were improved by a stiff breeze, and a cloudy afternoon.

Kyle rode out with us, got a tour of what we've done so far, filmed us on a couple problems, and did three first ascents.

Kyle standing on the top of the second problem he established.

And topping out on the third one.


Kyle does good film work! And his current project is a film documenting the history of climbing in Lander. Which got me thinking about history and how it shapes, but is also created by the future. Because history is only history if it is important, if it affects the future in a significant way. But in the moment you never know what events will end up being significant, and which will be completely forgotten. Probability is involved.

Ashley and I are just bouldering for fun, at generally moderate grades, at an area that's been bouldered at sporadically for over a decade now. We aren't making history. We're not trying to, or expecting to.

But if others join in, and development of Lander bouldering continues. And the Lander area one day becomes a significant center of bouldering activity. Then the areas we helped develop could have some significance in that progression.

Future events decide what will be history, and what won't be. So future and past times are tied together in a mysterious way, somewhat detached from the present moment. And it's like this for everything. And I should get some sleep.

We went out for an after school session last week at the Cheesegrater boulders. Smoke from prescribed burns up canyon made it smell like we were bouldering right next to a campfire, but also made the sunset look pretty.

Well, I really do need to get some sleep. That's all the history for this post. We'll see what else is history later.

A Double Dose of Sweetwater

Beautiful weather at Sweetwater in March?! I'd never seen it in the forecast before, so I had to check it out. Jesse came with me on Saturday, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Then the same type of day was forecast for Sunday so I took the family back out. Sunday started nice, but got windy and cold pretty quick. We toughed it out, and got a workout. Ashley made the third ascent of "Gimme Three Steps" and the second of "Davy Jones" which you will see below. We spent the rest of the afternoon at a sheltered project we've named the "True Grit" project. It will be an enduro V7 for me, but requires Ashley to do moves that are probably V9 since she can't skip the bad holds. It's still a project, but hopefully it won't be for long. I'll post photos once it's been done.

On Saturday, the weather was incredible. Cool, sunny, and air so still the enormous landscape was silent. Jesse wanted to show me some new projects, but snow and mud forced us to turn the van around. Luckily we had a good back up option. Plenty of lines have already been scoped at the God Eye area. Before we hiked to them though, we warmed up and both repeated "God Eye."

Jesse likes tall problems, so I made sure to avoid the short lines. We began at a tall line I thought would be V3-6 from a stand start. It ended up being V3 from the sit start, but starting at obvious jugs it's a perfect V1 that climbs just like a Hueco problem. Jesse flashed the sit start and got the first ascent. It's named "Gimme Three Steps" and is an instant classic.



Jesse continued his first ascent streak with a V5 he named "Sheep Go To Heaven." It has a committing top out over a marginal landing. Jesse was willing to go for it before I was ready to risk it. After I saw that the top would go, I repeated it without too much trouble, but Jesse deserves props for going for it before knowing exactly how it would go. It's a great addition to the area.

"Sheep Go to Heaven"



Just behind "Sheep Go to Heaven" was a line I'd always wanted to try. We were short on time, so instead of hiking to "Norwegian Wood" we jumped on it instead. The boulder isn't tall, but it is nicely overhung with a really interesting hueco feature. I got the first ascent of the line, and it felt V5 to me. The problem is short, but really cool, so I named it "Davy Jones" after the recently deceased member of the Monkees.

"Davy Jones"

Shots of "Davy Jones" looking out from the sit start.




I'm excited that we were able to get started at Sweetwater so early this season, and hope that the good weather will continue...