Sport Climbing Around Lander

Tom making a long reach on "Empire" at the Sanctuary.

On Monday, I went out climbing with Tom and Jesse at The Sanctuary. Tom helped develop the cliff, and he put me on some good routes. It's a granite cliff above the Falls trail in upper Sinks Canyon. I climbed "Obscured by Cloud" and "The Seldon Plan." And I now have a new project called "Foundation." With three climbers, I was able to get some pictures of Tom climbing while Jesse belayed. Here is my favorite.

Tom working "Rimfire."

All the necessary info is in the new guidebook from Steve Bechtel. It just came out, and copies are available here.

The Sanctuary has a wilder, more alpine, feel than the dolomite walls in Sinks Canyon. The feeling is accentuated this time of year by the roaring Popo Agie river. The climbing is also much less straight forward than climbs on the dolomite. Vertical puzzles that are very difficult to onsight.

On Wednesday, Ashley and I spent the day at Wild Iris. We got on four routes. I redpointed "Wind and Rattlesnakes" and Mike did too.

Two shots of Mike climbing "Wind and Rattlesnakes."

It was a great day, though the wind was distracting. Eventually it chased us out, but not before we got a good work out.

Today I introduced Ashley to the Sanctuary. She was unnerved by the exposure, loose rock, and big reaches. She declared it a "guys' crag" and she doesn't plan to go back. I fell off the very top of "Foundation" on toprope twice. Now I'm ready for redpoint attempts, so I'll need to get back out with the guys.

Sport climbing is a lot of fun, but I feel the need to go bouldering too. The Loop road just opened, and there are a lot of boulders waiting up there.