A while back I got a special request for some beta on Encore une Fois. So last weekend I posed down for a photo shoot to compile a sequence of photos that describe this problem well. I’ve got commentary for each picture. Hopefully it’ll help you send! As I was writing down the descriptions for the moves, I realized how involved this problem really is. There are so many subtle movements that contribute to a successful send. This has got to be one of my 5 favourite problems in Squamish. Everytime I do it, it takes me a few tries to get it just right. It’s like I get to work out the moves every time.
How was everyone’s long weekend? Did you know we don’t get a long weekend in June? WTF? I knew February was a write off, but at least it’s only 4 weeks. The two extra days in June require a holiday – every other month has one… Anyways, let’s talk about May’s long weekend. I spent each of my three days climbing of course. But the kicker was that every day was at a different crag.
Day 1. We drove from Vancouver to Gold Bar on Friday night. Goldbar is on the way to Leavenworth (foreshadowing). I had driven by it 2 times already this year. Access to the boulders is hard. You need either a 4×4 or pure determination to hike up a hill for an hour. On Saturday, however, we compromised. We went to the “Five Star Boulder”, which is only a 15 minute hike from the road. Kelly Sheridan, the author of the area’s guidebook, believes this is the best boulder in North America. Although it hosts some amazingly fun lines, I have to disagree. The boulder itself is next to a 4x4ing road. All day we heard the sounds of Rednecks revving their Jeeps up and down the road. It was kind of fun/funny to watch these dudes (and dudettes) maneuver through talus, roots, and washed out rivers. Still, it takes away from the serenity of outdoor bouldering. Click on the pics below for bigger images of Goldbar bouldering.
Day 2. After our session at Gold Bar, we made the drive over the pass to Leavenworth. Spent the night then woke up to beautiful day. It was soo hot out. We chased shade and ticked a few lines. The sun drained our motivation, but there was still a bit left for the last sends of the day. We got on a high ball V6 that gets 4 stars. The rest of the day was spent playing with Thomasina’s adorable Cedar. We drew pictures in the dirt, traced our hands and feet, and clipped and unclipped chalk bags.
Day 3. We had a whole evening ahead of us. We contemplated spending our time with beers by the campfire, but instead we chose to drive 4.5 hours to Smith Rocks! I wanted to visit the friendly folks at Metolius and we were all a little powered out from bouldering. So why not do a few easy routes for the 3rd day on? We woke up to 20 degree temps. By the time we got to the crag, it was pushing 30. Climbing in the sun was not an option. We went to the Phoenix wall and did 3 easy 5.10s. Quality. I repeated Heinous Cling, a route that used to be my nemesis. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s had that relationship with this route before. The thing is pumpy! Vikki got on it and cruised it first try with running beta. It was unreal. Her first day in Smith ever and she flashes a route that took me like 10 tries to do. Very impressive!
Long weekends are the best thing ever. That one extra day off goes a long way. They give people a reason to do something special. Kinda like this guy. America! Fuck Yeah!
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Nice pics Jamie!