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