Saturday, November 9, 2013

Disappearing Evening Sun


As we welcome in November, we sadly wave good-bye to the beloved evening light that keeps us on the rock just that little bit longer. We spent as much time as possible throughout the dry month of October between Squamish and Horne Lake. With our new house being so close to the Iron Worker’s bridge, we can make it from our doorstep to Murrin Park in a mere 40 minutes.  The short commute made it worthwhile to head up after work even with reduced day length compared to summer. Graham has been working Vultures Circling (5.13b) and on October 23rd, despite many wet hand and footholds, walked away with the send!

The invisible footholds at the base of Vultures Circling


Traversing into the first rest on Vultures Circling

Vultures Circling upper rest

Moving into the upper crux, Vultures Circling

In addition to Squamish climbing, we have made several trips to Horne Lake this fall. On November 3rd, we celebrated by each taking home some hard-earned sends. After three days of working it, I was stoked to send Quarter Century Girl (5.12a). This is my first 5.12 on the island, and I was determined to send before my next birthday so I could be a quarter century girl on Quarter Century Girl. Graham cruised his way throughout a graceful redpoint of Fast Cat (5.13c), his second 13c at Horne. To finish the day off, I finally battled my way through a redpoint burn on You Enjoy Myself (5.11a), my first send in the amphitheater.  This is commonly referred to as “the warm-up” route, but the steep climbing is very difficult for me and not my style at all. Needless to say, I was thrilled, particularly since I have been working this route on and off since 2009.
Back in Squamish, Graham and I also made our first trip to Paradise Valley last week for some bouldering. The climbing here is FANTASTIC, I can’t believe we hadn’t been there before. Graham had a brilliant day, climbing over 50 points, including two V7s, one of which was a flash (Little Dragon). I flashed my first ever V4, and was very pleased to also send Tai Fighter (V4) on my 3rd go.
Kim getting ready to be dynamic on a V2

Airborne!

With the February Red Rocks trip on the horizon and the knowledge that we are less than a year (pending Graham’s knee surgery) from our big trip, we have decided to spend the winter months training hard. In addition, we have set some pretty ambitious goals for ourselves, which should be fun to try and achieve.

Kim’s goals:
#1. Bring my bouldering tally in Squamish to 100 problems before the end of winter (currently at 66)
#2. Climb ten 5.12s before we leave on our year-long trip

Graham’s goals:
#1.  Try some harder boulders. He would like to send a V10 before the trip
#2.  Double the number of 5.13s that he has currently (12) sent.

Wish us luck! <3