Bishop 2017

We love this place. Bishop, California: land of snow-peaked Sierra mountains, rich-smelling desert sage, local donuts, baked breads, cheesy bagels and frozen yogurt. And beautiful, beautiful boulders.
 

We drove four long days from Mexico to California, to spend the first 10 days of March in Bishop. We were rushing to make it in time for the 2^nd Annual Flash Foxy Women’s Climbing Festival. We met Shelma Jun, founder of Flash Foxy, last season. After volunteering in the successful, inaugural year we knew we had to make it back for round two. The event this year was a blast yet again, with more than two hundred women descending upon the small mountain town. Thinking you may want to attend next year? Click here for a quick recap that captures the vibe of the festival.

▴STΛTIC owner @tayylor_j @kimstagraham.mcg & @melsolvesproblems volunteering at the2nd @heyflashfoxy Festival #happyclimbing #heyflashfoxy

A post shared by ▴STΛTIC (@staticclimbing) on Mar 3, 2017 at 8:02pm PST

THANK YOU to all the beautiful ladies who came out to #bishop this weekend for the 2nd #womensclimbingfestival! Your energy and psych was so incredibly inspriring! Excited to also announce that we raised over $2000 for the @accessfund through our raffle and over 100 ladies at our stewardship projects yesterday. Look for more photos in the coming weeks! 📸 @etteloc #flashfoxy #climblikeagirl #outdoorwomen

A post shared by Flash Foxy << badass girlcrew (@heyflashfoxy) on Mar 6, 2017 at 3:16pm PST

We traveled to Bishop with Chris, and met up with several friends including Paul and Janelle, Lea and Katie, and Rich and Senja, in addition to many new and old friends in town.

Lea and Katie - girls trip!

Some goofballs we hang out with :p

In climbing, we immediately felt the burn in our bodies that comes from a lack of power when one returns to bouldering following a hiatus, but that burn was a welcome change. 

Hard moves are harrrrrrrrd

By the end of our seven climbing days we were putting down classics and wishlist items. It was a fantastic short stint, and we (as always) can’t wait for our next visit.

Kim cranking over the bulge on Erotic Terrorist (V6)

Graham finessing his way up Hands-Off Slab (V0)

Graham = captain of the toe hooks on Captain Hook (V5)

Katie cranking moves over a sea of pads on Mr Happy (V5)

Kim tests some precarious heel hook beta on The Clapper (V6)

Graham climbing up from the depths on his send of Los Locos (V7)

Photo shoot of a photo shoot? Making moves on Paper Crane (V8)

Now we are off to Utah for the next two and a half months for a mixture of sport climbing, bouldering, trad climbing, and desert towers!

So long 2016, Hello 2017

That’s a wrap 2016! Somehow this year seemed to just fly by. It was a trip around the sun filled with both ups and downs, but overall has left us in a place of happiness and anticipation for what’s around the corner next. 

While reflecting over the year, we came up with a list of the eleven most memorable moments for us in 2016, and of course a second list of our ten biggest climbing highlights ;)

Eleven Biggest Moments of 2016 

1. Following a whirlwind battle with cancer, we say good bye to Nanny (Kim’s grandmother) on January 3^rd

2. In an attempt to gather more “lifer birds”, we add Burrowing Owl, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, and White-faced Ibis to our list at the Salton Sea in mid-January

3. We connect with Shelma, founder of Flash Foxy, and help out with the inaugural Women’s Climbing Festival in Bishop, California

 

4. We experience the Death Valley “super bloom” in March, which hadn’t occurred to that extent in over 10 years!

5. We get engaged!

6. Summer 2016: Kim spent the summer in Alberta, making new friends, finding cool plants (like pitcher plants in fens!), hiking, canoeing, and doing a bit of climbing. Graham spent the summer in Vancouver, getting in lots of climbing and adventures in Squamish. Living in different provinces for four months was difficult, but we both had tons of valuable and awesome experiences.

Photo credit: Jesse Archer

7. We buy our first guitar and both start learning to play

8. Our dear friends treat us to incredibly fun surprise bachelor and bachelorette weekends

Photo credit: Melissa Gillespie

9. We get married on a stormy October day <3

Photo credit: Brodie Frehlich

10. We spend an awesome weekend on Valdez Island in the company of people we love 

11. Vancouver is treated to a wonderfully snowy December and we have snow at our place all month long

Top Ten Climbing Moments of 2016

1. Graham climbs Xavier’s Roof, his second V11

2. Kim climbs Gastonia and Gastonia Sit (V8, V9) her hardest of the grade

3. Kim sends her 100^th route 5.12 or harder, and her 10^th 5.13

4. Kim sends the scary, run-out, Full Heinous Cling (5.12c R) on her second attempt

Photo credit: Yannick Neufeld-Cumming

5. Graham adventures up CardiYak Rhythm on Yak Peak with his good friend Doug the Slug

6. Kim’s second article for Gripped Magazine appears in the August print issue, and she starts a climbing-writer job for the online adventure hub, The Adventure Junkies

Photo credit: Alyssia Jebb

7. Graham sends his two-summer-long project, Division Bell (5.13d)

Photo credit: Dan Beland

8. Graham sends Permanent Waves (5.13d), right before the rains swallow Squamish for the rest of the season

9. We start training in late October for our upcoming trip in January and begin to see improvements

10. We quit our jobs and move out of our suite - #retirement2017 here we come!

#utahisrad

Utah is a rock climber’s dream land. The state has so much high quality climbing to offer, spanning almost every discipline. We were immediately drawn into the incredible limestone sport climbing in the south west corner of Utah around St George.

We met up with Yannick and Kirsten to spend the following four weeks climbing with them. Our good friend Cory was also down for a few weeks visiting family and was able to squeeze in a week of climbing with us, and we had the pleasure of seeing Yannick’s dad, Robert! We spent our first few days at The Grail in Lime Kiln Canyon, technically part of the Arizona strip. The Grail offered a slap-in-the-face intro with its dead vertical, long (sometimes as long as 55m) routes. It was great to feel a pump again. The middle of the main wall offers the best rock quality: blue/grey stone consisting of phenomenal edges and features with often slabby feet. The area is a technical climbers’ heaven.

Graham on his flash of "Vesper" (5.12b)

A rare shot of us climbing together...... thanks to Kirsten Hundza!

Kim on her onsight of "Greyhound" (5.12a). Photo credit: Kirsten Hundza

In addition to The Grail, we spent most of our time at two other crags about 45 minutes out of St George: Wailing Wall in the Welcome Springs area, and Black and Tan at the Woodbury Crags. The styles at these two walls complement each other beautifully – Wailing Wall offers mostly vertical or slightly overhanging routes 5.11+ and up, and the style ranges from sustained powerful routes, to lines with hard technical cruxes. Black and Tan on the other hand has mostly shorter routes, often with heinously difficult, steep boulder problems. A delightful combo! Some of our highlights from the month included Graham ticking the three 13c classics at Wailing Wall, “Treebeard”, “The Cross”, and “Pucker”, Kirsten sending her first 5.12a, “Jumanji” at Black and Tan, Kim finishing off her project “Resurrection” (5.13b) and climbing her 10^th 5.13, and Yannick sending “The Cross” (5.13c). Throughout March, we reunited with several other friends and met a lot of wonderful new people that we were lucky to spend our time with as well!

Kim warming up at Black and Tan. Photo credit: Bonar McCallum

Graham on his send of "Talking Smack" (5.13b) at Black and Tan. Photo credit: Bonar McCallum

Kim on "Minus Five" (5.13a) at Black and Tan, which she sent second go! Photo credit: Kirsten Hundza

Bonar cranking out the steep roof moves on "Smoking Drum" (5.13b) at Black and Tan

Kirsten sends "Jumanji", her first 5.12a!!!!!!!!

Yannick on his send of "The Cross" (5.13c) at Wailing Wall

Graham mid-crux on "Treebeard" (5.13c) at Wailing Wall

Graham on his send of "Pucker" (5.13c) at Wailing Wall

Our new friend Melissa, making use of her full reach on "Pucker" (5.13c)

Lea cranking out her send of "Dull Boy" (5.12a) at Black and Tan

Enjoying a campfire on our last night in St George

We wrapped up around St George in early April and headed north. We stopped for a day in Zion National Park, where we made use of our endurance on the long overhanging bolted routes at the Namaste Wall in Kolob Canyon. Wow! The juggy huecos on this wall were incredibly fun and pumpy to climb.

Kirsten staring down the Namaste Wall in Kolob Canyon

Graham on his send of "Namaste" (5.12a)

Kim working the crux on "Huecos Rancheros" (5.12c)

On the next day we arrived in Orangeville, home to Joe’s Valley. Knowing we would have only about a week, we got right to it, immediately climbing three days on. Heavy rain kept us inside on our rest day, and then we punched out another four days in a row before leaving. Bouldering that many days on is tough on the body, but it was worth it! Graham finished off “Worm Turns” (V10/11) and “Resident Evil” (V9/10), Yannick made quick work of the classic “Worst Case Scenario” (V9) among other goodies, Kim finished off some projects from last year like “Kill By Numbers” (V5) and “Double Delicious” (V6) and Kirsten sent her first two V5s, “Gatorade” and “Mono E Mono”! We had the pleasure of staying and visiting with our friend Nikki and her pup Stella while we were in Joes, which was super great as well. What a switch to have the comforts of a house to return to after a day on the rock.

Yannick warming up in Left Fork

Graham finishing up "Big Joe" (V7)

Kim working her project "Planet of the Apes" (V7)

Graham on his send of "Resident Evil" (V9/10)

Kirsten setting up for the throw on "Stand Up Comedian" (V5)

Yannick on his send of the super tough "Scary Monsters" (V6)

Kim on her send of the techy problem "Gatorade" (V5)

Graham warming up in the Boysize area

Kim eyeing up the final tough move on "Double Delicious" (V6)

Having spotters adds peace of mind on "Worst Case Scenario" (V9)

Graham working moves on "Battletoads" (V10)

Stella and Nikki! Stella a bit nervous in the FalcVan....

Typical weather in Joe's..... sunny and stormy simultaneously!

We had a good run in Utah, but even after six weeks we barely scratched the surface. Hopefully we’ll make it back next year to sample even more of what this state has to offer. For now though… off to Smith Rock, Oregon!

Black-throated Sparrow one morning at Black and Tan