Jun 22, 2009

Lake Tahoe, Day 5-7, Slip Slidin' Away

Day 5

Location: Grouse Slab

Routes:
Rocco's Demise, 10b, 2nd go (soloed a gully to set TR, short, hard, pure friction slab)
Insidious Crack 6, follow (fun, kinda hard)
Cream Puff, 10b, 1st try (TR, friction slab)
Caifura, 9+, onsight, trad (like the The Grack, fun, forget small nuts and didn't place gear until 30ft)

Day 6

Location: Big Chief

Routes:
War Paint, 9, onsight (long and rad)
Witch Doctor, 10c/d, onsight (short, steep, and burly)
Pow Wow, 11a, onsight (the steepest 11a I've been on, super rad)
Peace Pipe, 11d, 1 try (fell between last bolt and chains, NEGATIVE)

Cliff went into the sun.

Random Bouldering in Tahoe Donner (pretty rad, but semi-Private Property)

Day 7

Location: Black Wall, aka the hell approach

Routes:
Cannibal Gully, 7, follow (would be a little scary to lead)
Primer, 9+, onsight, trad (super rad)
Lubrication, 9, onsight, trad (a little wide, but I like that)
Rhythm Killer, 12a/b, epic fail (I was not warm and was shredding)

Alex getttin' some steep goodness at Big Chief

Drop it like it's hot

Big Chief and Little Princess

Bouldering 5 minutes from the cabin

Looking in vain for a topout jug

Distractions from climbing

Notes: Falling into the road trip trap with a series of mediocre days. Medium amount of climbing at medium levels.

Big Chief is a super rad crag. It is steep, well-featured volcanic rock, very much my style. It is disappointing to find out about the cliff near the end of the trip.

I'm taking a rest day and will rage against the dying of the light.