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Mikey Schaefer Photo

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do.
I’ve been very busy climbing and guiding and moving and enjoying summertime- and alas- have failed to keep my blog updated. So, over the course of the next few days, I hope to fill in some of the blanks . . .

To start, I must mention The Call of the Granite (IV 5.12 A0), a fabulous climb up a forest service road near Powell River. topo I met up with Kate Rutherford, Mikey Schaefer and Chris Geisler and headed out for a great adventure on the Sunshine Coast. We found our way across multiple ferries, up a long logging road that is closed between 6am and 6pm- and then up to our destination at the base of the West Main Wall.

The Call of the Granite was put up by Aaron Black and Sean Easton- and consisted of four seasons of extended effort. The route ascends up the beautiful and clean granite face for 2,200 feet and requires only a little bushwacking and a tyrolean traverse across the river. The route has many classic steep pitches and a few incredible cracks connected by some slabby pitches requiring jedi knight footwork.

We decided to take a low stress approach and use our first day to scout the approach and climb as high on the wall as sensible to suss out the style of climbing we would be faced with. Afterall, five years had passed since the first ascent and there was no way of knowing weather or not all of the cracks would be filled with foliage and if the climbing would require excessive scrubbing before being climbable. Miraculously, we made our way up the approach without delay (less than 2 hours) and up the first twelve pitches before our time was up. Mikey did an incredible job of sending two of the difficult first pitches- and the cracks were impeccably clean! We got psyched.

The next day, we slept in, went swimming in the river, and strategized. We slept at the base the night before our next attempt hoping to climb the route in two days- allowing enough time to work out as many of the pitches as possible. We hoped to find a ledge to sleep on that appeared to be less than one rope length down and right from pitch 15. We began our journey- cruising through the first pitches where we had been before. This time, we began marvelling at how fun the climbing was- and enjoyed our time immensely. We could not help but shout insults at, Aaron, however for the excessively sandbagged “overlap” pitch and a few slab moves that required more mind control than we knew how to muster.

Miraculously, the ledge we were hoping for materialized into the perfect four person bivy with a lovely cedar providing a boundary between us and the air below.

The next day we mustered the last of our energy and worked our way up the steep headwall of the upper pitches. The climbing was varied and sometimes looser than the first half and sometimes much dirtier- but definitely consisted of some of the most classic pitches on the route. I would highly recommend this route to my friends- and hope to be back sometime when I have my jedi head on!

Well, plans change. Thats to be expected. I was hanging out in Talkeetna- contemplating heading up on the big mountain for some skiing- but heard rumors of blue ice- and then the weather turned. Pouring rain and sleet are not inspiring camping conditions. So, I hopped on the plane and made my way to Squamish- where the sun has not stopped shining. Only one little problem, my fingers have been in gloves for about 6 months, and rocks are hard!
Ross Berg- always psyched- if he’s around- happened to be around- and was psyched to get up on the rock. After much debate- we decided to head up Freeway Lite- a climb both of us had been up before. I must say, I was relieved when he asked to take the first pitch- it was muggy and sweaty- and AK had not prepared me for this. My pores were freaking out. The first pitch is always a crusher- cause it looks so benign and low angle- then requires some intense zen concentrating keeping your feet on the non-holds while working up and around the corner. Ross only said “watch me” twice- and sent. Following with the pack had me sketching slightly- until I took control of my wayward brain reminding myself to calm down because I can climb this. It worked. We made it up the first pitch- but not without some bitching.
I looked down at my hands after finishing the traverse- to note that all of my fingertips were peeling like bananas- every single one- it was scary looking. Ross arrived at the belay only to confirm that, yes, I probably have leprosy. Ross split the next pitch- something that I’m sure he regrets- cause I then proceeded to take hours leading the second 30 foot section- because more than my physical lack of fitness- my brain will not allow me to climb above any gear whatsoever in a crux. (This might be why I am still crushingly sore three days later). But again, we both sent. Then, being the chivalrous man that he is, Ross offered me the final pitch. Yikes! It didn’t look like it had been climbed yet this year- cobwebs filled the key holds and water seeped out of the cracks. I began grumbling about chivalry being a thing of the past- but for some reason, racked up anyway. Hours and hours later, I found myself nearing the big roof that marks the end of Freeway lite. Yes! Finally. By this time, poor Ross was getting bored and silently expressing this with a bigger than usual loop of slack. I too, was ready to be there, and so placed my last cam- in a crack- extended with a doubled up cordalette (about 7 feet long) and climbed about fifteen feet above it. On good holds, I began a traverse back to the right when my left foot covered in moss and seepage skated. Falling! I yelled- but Ross seems to remember me calmly flying through the air. I remember panic- as I watched all of the pieces go past.
Sadly, I ripped my new Mountain Hardwear pants- and lost my favorite Mountain Hardwear Hat- it was brown with pretty yellow flowers embroidered in the side- but, I did get some air time- and hopefully will loosen up a bit knowing that the system actually does work. Truly though, Squamish in the Springtime- when the sun shines bright- and the rock beckons- could not get any better.

Well, AMS did it again- put together an awesome group and enabled another radical adventure in the mountains. Glenn, Bill, Chetan, Ti, Cindy, Hugh, and Matt kept me company (not all at the same time) allowing me to rediscover the Pica to be a little slice of heaven (although maybe just a touch colder and with a few more evacuations than I normally like). We lost Cindy and Hugh in succession to medical issues, but despite our loss, we kept chugging along- and by day eleven found that we were actually having a pretty good time.
Before . . . And after . . .
The mountains were friendly though. Most of the team members were beginners before this trip and I believe are now four true mountaineers capable of route finding through fields of glaciers, assessing hazards in the mountains, living the good life on snow, and going places that before was simply a dream.

We climbed Big Arapile, got turned back on another objective, climbed rock and ice, and navigated through the gnarly Italy’s boot ice fall.
I must say, day eleven was my favorite- first Bill cooked all of us pancakes with strawberries, then Ti made us all real espresso with the most incredible “Handpresso Wild”, Matt and Chetan headed off to try and find some snow they wouldn’t punch through to their wastes on, while the rest of us took a ski lesson that culminated in the always tricky and simultaneously hilarious feet of skiing downhill while roped up, then we came back to practice advanced crevasse rescue techniques, did emergency shelters, and practiced searching for beacons. Somewhere between all the madness of day eleven, I found time to bake a cheesecake (aka mix and refrigerate)- which we needed at the end of all that work in the sun. Then we packed up as much as possible for our AM flight back to Talkeetna- and all the comforts of Alaska in the summertime.

AMGA Ski Guides Exam

I have been having a hard time embedding my youtube videos lately- so just click on the link above to see some photos and video of my latest trip to Alaska.
I just finished my final exam with the American Mountain Guides Association. There are three disciplines one has to pass to receive the international certification as a mountain guide: rock, alpine, and ski. The process took me six years and I had been guiding for four before that. After passing coursework, an assistant level exam, and accruing a number of actual guiding days, we are permitted to enroll in the exam. The ski discipline was my last. For eight days (and much longer beforehand) the candidates guide examiners and each other through glaciated, technical ski terrain. Rob Hess and Colin Zacharias, masters of their trade, were our examiners. We had unusually clear and hot weather, forcing us to wake up in the dark (not easy in Alaska in May with 18 hours of light) so that we could finish each day before the sun warmed the snow making it dangerous. We suffered through some ‘firm’ ski conditions but found some beautiful sun softened snow as well. I learned a lot on this exam. I will leave the process of certification sure that I have lots of room to grow as a guide. But also knowing that I have come a long way.

Check out the link to Crested Butte Mountain Guides to see the video that Colin Zacharias made of our exam.

Valdez09 on YouTube