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Finally got up to the boulders that Jeff Smith has been raving about for years now. Only a short drive from Boise, a 5.3 mile hike and you’re there. Jeff and I went up for Saturday and I shot some photos of almost everything we tried. I sent the Prow, a MM problem that is one of the best I have been on since the Flame in Hueco. Jeff did a new line on a small boulder in the main area, no name or grade yet, I sent a problem near the Prow that is really good, in the 5-7 range, big moves and fairly good holds.

The first is Jeff on Camouflage, the second is Jeff on an unnamed ridiculously hard compression problem that neither of us could really even hold body positions. The last two are me on the compression line in the act of trying to do the first move, and Jeff on a new line he almost did on the boulder just uphill from there. Headed back next weekend to try some established stuff and find some new and amazing lines to try. We think the talus goes all the way up and over the ridge, and if it does….

Now that Mike and Kaiya have moved back to Idaho, I am going to start featuring their blog again. Here is their first post from a few weeks back:

Been a while since the last post, the past couple of months have been pretty hectic and didn’t involve a lot of climbing. Mostly moving from SLC to Boise, Idaho to prepare for the fall semester and hopefully do some new alpine exploration in my home state!

Moving from Salt Lake because I wanted to go to Font in the spring, do a lot of climbing in the fall and winter would have pushed my graduation back at U of Utah another 2 years, in Boise I can finish in 3 semesters and then take off and go climbing with an actual sense of freedom.

On the climbing front, Kaiya, me and the McClures made it up to the McCall scree after a near death experience with a whitetail deer for a couple of days of cleaning boulders and climbing. Many problems were sent, some amazing, some not so great but still good, with the best and hardest not even attempted since we were all wasted and way too low on skin to try anything else. Photos and soon to be video at climbidaho.com, the excellent website of Mr. McClure.

Kaiya has been sidelined with a stress fracture in her left middle knuckle, so she has been taking time off and doing Crossfit workouts, a killer workout program that has a different workout every day, and periodical rest days as well. She came up to check out some boulders on Highway 55 with myself, Adam Healy and Morty on the 4th of July. Couldn’t think of a better way to be independent!

We found some amazing stuff, one boulder in a creek that will be host to 3 great problems, two of them being pretty damn tall and scary. Adam found a beautiful line of slopers one would expect to seen in Font or the southeast, and we worked on it for quite some time. I managed to stick all but the first and last move, the first being due to some needed removal of more dirt from the landing, the last because of…uuuhhhhh. Not strong enough on it. Anyways, here are some photos from the day, I am psyched to head back up there and try the thing again in cooler temps and with stronger muscles

So the “potatards” were out in full force the last few days at Castle Rock. On Friday, Mike, Tammy, Kaiya and I walked through a blizzard to get to the Taco Cave. For those of you who have had the privilege of climbing at Castle, the snow was coming down so hard that from the parking lot, the Comp Wall was invisible through the sheets of snow.

Turned out to be a rewarding trip of postholing the mile up to the cave. I managed a third go send of the Smell of Africa, and then was pleasantly suprised when I did all of the moves of Columbian Bowtie, a Anthony Txertudi problem that I couldn’t grunt out a single move on the year before.

Tammy and Kaiya started the day working the Smell, a fantastic problem that has it all; burly opening moves that lead to a tall, spicy and committing topout. Tammy has continued to crush since her return from the trip to the south, looking like she has been able to blend the power and technique better than ever, resulting in making moves look incredibly easy.

Three days later, we were headed back with hopes of better weather, only to be greeted with more snow and a brisk wind that chilled to the bones. The hike up warmed up the body, but warming up the climbing muscles and the fingers proved to be difficult. I had high hopes of sending Columbian Bowtie, but after three tries of falling trying to do a finger pullup with my right hand and once falling off the jug, regression began. Mike McClure urged me to try Jared’s Roof Right, a cool little problem that I ended up sending first go. It climbs the bottom of JR, and then busts out right to a full on mantle at the lip. Cool problem that felt good to send something that day.

The highlight of the trip was by far Tammy’s send of Jared’s Roof stand. She had worked it for much of last season, scared of the potential death fall at the topout (haha), but after pressing out the mantle a couple of times, Tammy took a short rest and then walked the problem. Look for the video soon on Climbidaho. Congrats to Tammy, nice work!!

Kaiya found another cool problem to send the next trip: Tacos for Two. She came off the last move on her best go of the day, and like me, began the regression period shortly thereafter.

Next go for sure…

Itching to get outside climbing since we got to Salt Lake, Kaiya and I managed to get up to Castle Rock to meet Tammy and Mike McClure and their friend from Boise Nate Moody. I had met Nate at Swan Falls a couple of years ago so it was nice to see him again and climb with some good, fun people for the day in one of the coolest most beautiful places I have ever bouldered.

Post-holing through two feet of snow all the way up to the Taco Cave kinda dashed any ideas of making it up to the Green Wall, but turns out everyone was psyched on something in the cave. Start with the Martini Roof, remove the dabbage potential, add way more independent lines and many, much cooler holds (not to mention ALL of the problems top out and don’t end on an adjacent pebble) and you have the Taco Cave. Amazing.

Kaiya and I had been here in September at the beginning of the road trip, Kaiya had sent a couple of things, and I had struggled to send anything due to being out of shape from lack of climbing for three months.

Kaiya has had a slight style change in her climbing since the beginning of the trip, here she is on Jared’s Roof Stand.

Ever the steep climbing enthusiast, Tammy has Jared’s Roof broken into two parts and had four or five really good redpoint goes, sticking the first and hardest move like 8 times. Move three pulled casually here by Tammy McClure.

In his first stop in the Taco Cave, Nate Moody was really psyched, coming oh so close to sending Jared’s Roof Stand, and making some really good links on the Smell.

Mike has been working Warpath, the huge linkup, for a few seasons now, and he thinks this spring might be the time. Having been here a lot over the last year and a half, I think he looks stronger on all the moves than ever. Jared’s Roof Sit, the second section crux, and the big cross move before the lowest percentage move ever on Out of Africa.

Kaiya was on last time; Mike McClure had just left after a pretty good couple of days after some frustrating ones not having enough time to send on tours, bad weather etc… Brian Veseth joined us on the 13th, bringing his energy from the snowy wet and cold depths of home in Moscow to crush here in Hueco.

Brian had an amazing first day, sending a lot of problems in the 4-6 range and finding himself a project for the trip in the Martini Roof. Here is a shot of him on Baby Martini, an 18 move V6 that he ended up coming agonizingly close on his last day here in a complete blizzard and rainstorm.

Brian and Kaiya both ended up sending Chris’ Arete, a really good problem right near Free Willy that Kaiya actually couldn’t do the first move on last year and sent on her 4th go of the second session of the trip. Brian also dispatched the climb quickly on the second day. Here they are shortly before they both sent doing their best Zoolander impressions…

And here is Kaiya sticking the big move early in the problem.

Earlier that same day, we had gone to Short Order Cook, a really good problem that is just above the ranch house where you watch the video. Couple of tension moves lead to a bicycle and then you throw up to a small hueco with a very sharp edge to it, keeping the toe hook engaged to stop your swing. Brian demonstrating how to overshoot the hold with his abnormally long hand…

Darryl here on Diaphanous Sea shortly before he injured his wrist/hand. He is home in LA for a few more days before he returns with Claire to tear up the mountain with her and his 7 functional fingers. Hopefully with time to recuperate and heal (and build some lats) Darryl will be back to crimping slopers in no time at all.

A bunch more photos from random days that we went on tours to East Mountain and Spur from Full Throttle, Better Eat your Wheaties, Hector, Diabolique and others that Kaiya and I managed to shoot in between frantic attempts to send something hard before we leave…

We have 2 days of climbing left here in Hueco, and that also means that we have that many days left living in the Foosa on “the road”. We have made tons of new climbing friends, met up with some old ones that we knew from the past and overall have had an amazing time.

I have one thing I want to send before we leave and Kaiya has two. I think she will be more successful than me but time will tell. Diabolique for me, Big Iron on His Hip and King Cobra for her…three days from now and hopefully no chalkbag kicking, shoe throwing or Punter Family McClure/Bockino (ing) from either of us and the best 2 days of the trip will be complete.

Stay tuned.

The weather has turned to 60 and sunny in El Paso…finally. The first day we were here it snowed and for the rest of the week it was frigid with one day being incredibly windy (gusts up to 50 mph) McClure flew home a few days ago and Darryl showed up day before yesterday…incredibly psyched I might add. Mike sent Left Martini on his first go of the day which was awesome. I started to work out the moves on Big Iron on His Hip. A pretty hard v7 that is the second half of Right Martini. I managed to send Girls of Texas, a problem I could not do last January. Mike is working out the moves for Tequila Sunrise and is consistently sticking the first move of Loaded Direct (which is the crux.) We are going out to East Mountain on Tuesday so he can try and send Full Throttle. I am going to try Hobbit in a Blender, a classic 5 on East Mountain that I made all the moves on but got distracted by a v7 with some sort of blender in the name as well that was a little more appealing to work on because it was not in the blazing sun. Never thought I would be chasing shade a week ago. Here is a picture of me working on Hobbit in a Blender:

We are taking two rest days, this being the second. Yesterday we spent most of the day at The Percolator, a fantastic coffee shop downtown. After we went to Target and had a little fun there. Here is a picture of the lovely duo on our rest day:

Today Mike and Darryl are hoping to get into the park to take an easy day (no reservations) But it looks like we may be just heading into town soon to see what else El Paso has to offer.

It is crazy we only have ten days of climbing left on this trip. Seems we have been out on the road for a long time even though it has only been 3 1/2 months. Thanks to everyone who has offered a place to stay, shared their bottle of wine, given beta, spotted and encouraged, shared chalk, given us a good laugh, and hung out around the campfire with us during all the cold nights. It is good to know there are so many genuine climbers to meet and I hope I get to climb with you all again soon!!

One more thing…looks like we are moving to Salt Lake City so if anyone has some useful info on where to live etc that would be awesome!

Will post more pics later today possibly. Running low on battery:)

-Kaiya

Day 5 of climbing in Hueco Tanks have yielded yet another V13 for Mike McClure, and some more sending for me as well. Mike sent Tequila Sunrise, the sit start to Dirty Martini on the Rocks, a hard start to the dyno problem outside the Martini Roof. We both sent El Techo as well, I came away with a flash of Purple Flowers, sent Dirty Martini on the rocks, and came soooo close to Left Martini. Just a lil’ update, there should be some vids up on climbidaho very soon, and some photos to come as soon as a rest day is taken somewhere close to the interweb….until then, back out to East to try Full Throttle.

Kaiya and I arrived in Flagstaff last night with virtually no idea where we were going to sleep (Priest Draw was my first though…) and walked into a coffee shop to check hotels and directions to the Draw to camp. Just so happened that the coffee shop that Kaiya chose employed a friend that I met through Jeff Hamlin a couple years ago named Tedd! Scored a place to crash while we are here and looking for a place to live in January.

I also managed to remove myself completely from 8a on a complete accident. I was so eager to log on and post my sends that I tried to do it at Subway somewhere between Joe’s and Flag, and now that website won’t work due to some random infiltration into Kaiya’s computer by the “Wildblue Service Activation”. If anyone knows how to fix it PLEASE!!!!!!

Looking back on the near two months spent in Joe’s Valley we managed to make two very good new friends, Darryl Dodson and Claire Hayati. They are on a 9 month trip and had been in Joe’s for a month before we got there. Darryl, while we were there sent the actual sit to Worm Turns, starting on the big foothold as a crimp and doing a huge move out to the tufa and finishing on it…in the V13 range for sure but he refuses to grade it.

Claire sent her very first ever V7 here, a short powerful problem on the Small One boulder called the Runt (ironic, it should be renamed the Ninja Smurf). She also has been sending a lot of hard problems in the V5-7 range. Here is Claire sending Runt at the UMWA area.

Mike and Tammy McClure periodically stopped in on off days at the winery for some sending and beer drinking. Using their patent pending SEARCH AND DESTROY method of climbing, they both ticked off ascents quickly, Tammy sending Runt, Chips and too close on Bring the Heat(whol). Mike almost flashed the Skeleton Key, sending in sub 15 minutes on the second trip of the fall, after a successful trip sending the Masterpiece, a V13 first done by James Litz and Andoni Txertudi.

Through the entire trip Kaiya was the more consistent of us, ticking off V7 and V8 with amazing quickness and finally on the last day finding a project to come back to: Groundation. It was flashed and sent quickly by Ben Spanish and Ryan Silven and the grade they estimated and settled on is V9, so Kaiya was really psyched that she stuck the crux moves on her first session on the problem and then we had to leave. A quick hit list of the things she sent over V6:

V8
Sunshine Daydream
Dark Continent
Dirty Harry
G2-07
V7
Shadow of Death
Runt
Chips
V6
A lot of them we can’t remember now

Here she is on the send of Sunshine Daydream, making the long lockoff to the crux moves.

Mike and I did a little joint FA called the Black Dahlia, one of the best and most amazing looking lines at Joe’s, here is a photo of me doing the huge “shoot from the hip” move and the inspiration behind the name…

And the photo of the climb

Arthur Debowski and his friend Tris Tarantino joined us for a week and Arthur tore the place apart…here he is on one of 7 sends on day 1, Big Boy, a sandbagged and hard V7 at Area 51

Hueco starts on the 2nd of December, so we will be heading out from Flag that morning or the night before, we are headed to look at apartments right now, while keeping the minds on climbing…until next time here is a vid of me on Dunkin’ Donuts and Claire on the unnamed V6 at Area 51

After an exodus from the skin tearing granite of Bishop, Kaiya and I started to send once again in the Shangri-La of Joe’s Valley. I managed to send some more problems in the 10-12 range, including the 3rd ascent of Kill List, the 2nd of Dunkin’ Donuts, and I made the FA of an amazing problem called the Black Dahlia, a V10 that would be a contender for the best problem in Joe’s Valley…

Kaiya has also been on a tear, since we returned she has ticked a V6, 7, and 2 V8′s: Sunshine Daydream and Dark Continent. Darryl Dodson and Claire Hayati, our two friends that we met here and quickly became climbing partners with have also been sending, Claire sent her first V7, Runt on the small one near the UMWA boulder on the right fork. Darryl is currently working on the Vegas Project, a V10/11 that broke and is now nearing the 13/14 range and very, very reachy. I can’t span the holds to do the first move…He is headed out tomorrow to do Hydrogenated Oils and the sit to Beyond Life, a V11 and 12 respectively. The first video is of Kaiya on Dark Continent and Arthur Debowski, a friend from Spokane, climbing the Kraken, a 30 foot V5 near Raiden on the left fork. Two days from now, we are headed out to Flagstaff, AZ to find somewhere to live in January, and then to HUECO BABY!!!!!!

Flambe!!!!!

Fueled by thoughts of IKEA, Tammy McClure crushes Chips, V7

After spending nearly a month in Joe’s Valley, Kaiya and I decided that it was time to head out to Bishop to hit the Buttermilks and hopefully send some long standing projects. Now after almost 2 1/2 months on this road trip, I should have a good idea that something crazy or unexpected would happen, and I am shocked that I didn’t see it coming. Four rest days and we were ready to tear skin off on our respective projects…but to no avail. We climbed at the Buttermilks for two days, Kaiya sending some of her projects that she had worked on the last time we were there, The Rising, Lululator, and Birthday Direct, all uber-crimpy and techy. I quickly found out that the Buttermilker was no longer hard for me, moves I had previously struggled on were done nearly static. The only issue that arose was the nagging pain in my left knee got worse and worse, finally preventing me from even high-stepping to engage the bicycle on my project.

Enjoying some Indian Creek wine and the sunset from the campsite at the Buttermilks

Rest day #1 we realized that we weren’t really that psyched to climb anything in Bishop…I had worked Spectre and came really close to sending the Mystery, and Kaiya was working Saigon and Soul Slinger.

The Mystery, V12

Kaiya killing it in Bishop, on Saigon

As Kaiya and I drove to town to sit at the Looney Bean for 9 hours, we looked at each other and both said “Joes is so much more fun huh?” An hour later we were on the road and headed back to Joe’s Valley to problems we were psyched on and the fun climbing of the sandstone. Now that we are back here, some more hard sends, photos and videos will come. Mike and Tammy McClure are headed down this weekend, and Mike is going to try and flash the Skeleton Key, and head up the hill with me to send Kill List…

Footwork falls out the window on Kill List, V12

So I switched my videos over to YouTube so that Brett and Mike can watch them from their IPhones, this is the video of me on the Skeleton Key at Joes Valley.