Cold Stream

There's been a few new North shore spots getting the love these days: Summit Lake is very cool with nice bullet granite and Cold Stream (once briefly known as the "Death March" boulders) has proven to be a new amazing zone with many blocs on different tiers of slabs. There are many steep featured lines of excellent quality and projects all around.

Here is Kyle O'Meara's mega line "Maverick Renegade" V10:



Check out this great video of Jon's documenting some good work on a giant boulder:



Check out these phtogs!:

Another 4 star Kyle O V8 called "Kids These Days" at Cold Stream Canyon. So sick! I love this climb!

Really cool new line I just put up at Cold Stream. "Zun Factor" V6



Siemay Transversing the rail into Jon Thompson's amazing "Rock and a Hard Place" steep compression line...

Even Baby Z loves this place!

The amazing crag behind the first tier boulders that has amazing 5.12-5.14a climbing including Jimmy Hayden and Kyle O'Meara's 5.13a/14a (direct) 4 star "Meteor Shower" route and D. Griff's amazing 13.a "Constant Sorrow.". Sport climbin'!!!

One of the best bouldering lines I saw up there was the 4 star line "Return of Fern" opened by the one and only Tom Fern on a brief visit here with his kids. I recently sent this rad V9 sloper squeezathon, and today added the super cool sit to bump the grade up to a 10-banger. Joel Zerr and Kyle O got psyched also and climbed the new addition quickly. Kyle also did the Fern Transverse, V11; a sweet vario traverse in with amazing moves done by Moses Potter. Moses is cranking after a long trip to Rocklands! Nice Moses!

Today was also a productive and beautiful day with the Team. Joel and Kyle and I developed several classic new lines today in the V6-9 range and tried a hard new project at sunset.

I also did an FA of a radically gymnastic and bold dyno called "Twist & Shout" V9. Though not tall, this 45 degree overhung double dyno has a totally insane swing to control. This line's move is really really cool, and I will try to get a video.

Joel did a sweet steep power V10 on the final approach to the second tier as well. We also did a really nice sloper V6 on the same boulder. I will have more video and photos in the coming days. rock climbing is so much fun!
This area is too difficult to give beta to in the blog, but it will be in Hatchett's guide due for a spring release. It is definitely one of my favorite spots in Tahoe and the bouldering here is secluded and sublime.

Get out and crank! The season is almost here!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

2nd annual Tahoe Bouldering Competition

This coming Saturday Sept. 15th! New areas, lunch, beer, Slackline comp, dyno comp & more!

Check it out: http://www.tahoebouldering.com/

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Polar Opposites V12

Congrats to Kyle O'Meara for his proud FA of a really sweet line at Sugarpine called "Polar Opposites." Here are some pics:






This rad line took Kyle several long sessions and he finally did it earlier this summer on a solo mission! This climb is just past Sugar 1 right off the trail on the right. I can't wait to try it! Kyle has brought incredible motivation to the Tahoe scene, and he has put up several sick lines along the way. He is now a bona fide local even though he lives in the Bay. Kyle has some impressive flashes under his belt such as Thriller V10 in Yosemite and Integrity V10 in South Lake (a 4-star Jarrad Wycoff problem at the Beavers.)

Video:



(Kyle modestly called this V11, but it took him 6 sessions and he has since upgraded it! Only time will truly tell with more consensus as many of us are chomping at the bit to try this in cooler temps...)

There is a lot of action in South Lake this summer and new problems are going up all around as Dave Hatchett finishes up the first extensive West/North Shore guidebook to bouldering in the amazing and vast Tahoe basin.

Apparently, our old friend Jason Kehl is coming for a month to climb projects, write an article about the Tahoe Golden Age, and join the boyz in the forests getting crazy on perfect granite!

I will have posts soon about Cold Stream Canyon and a rare non-climbing post about our recent week out at Burning Man with photos galore.

Stay tuned!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Jesse sends The Arch, V13

Congratulations to Jesse Bonin for a sick season in Rocklands this summer and a send of the elusive Fred Nicole line, "The Arch."




Matt Wilder and I saw this line a few years back and were intrigued at the difficulty and coolness of the line, although it did appear Dabby for a bigger climber.





Jesse is the best project climber I have ever met. Check out his words and some epic pics of this sick, sick line. Nice one, Jesse!

http://www.jessebonin.blogspot.com/

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

The Gerbler! Tahoe's best roof?

Here is an amazing new line at Lost In Space at Emerald Bay:



Video of Noah Napier's ascent:



The man with the vision for the line, David Outcalt, cleaned and climbed the beauty for a proud First Ascent. He named this stellar line "The Gerbler."

It may be V8 when it's not 80 degrees up there, but either way, it is an instant classic and must do in the basin. I found the first move to be difficult, but the beta is amazing and subtle.

In other Lost In Space news, there have been several new FA's: I put up "Neighbor" V9 today right next to "Moon Dog," and I also did a cool new slopey compression V8 called "Place Holder." This cool new line has a righteous sit start that adds 2-3 grades and remains a stout proj until another sesh or better weather.

I also added a very hard short arête called "Close Encounters," but I am unsure of the grade. It's in the V7-10 range and has thwarted all other attempts so far.

This area is special indeed.

BETA: To get to Lost in Space, take the trail as for Eagle Lake in Emerald Bay. Walk 15 minutes up the trail, crossing a bridge, until you see slabs. Walk another 2-3 minutes looking for a big boulder across the stream. This is the first boulder of the area and the remaining boulders abound in the forest and talus above.

As I have been telling you, Dave Hatchett is mapping, creating and crafting a world-class guide to the immense Tahoe Basin. Lost In Space, although still under development, will be in the guide.

Please email climb420.geo@yahoo.com if you do any new First Ascents in Tahoe that you want included in the guide.

Yeah, it's hot... But we are training for fall and still crushing!

Oh yeah, Ty Landman made a visit and got a tour of some spots on one of the hottest days of the year. He and one of his buddies, Will, both fell off of the sunny, greasy TOP of Ground Control in 80 degree heat. It was amazing seeing them do the crux of this hard V11 in short time and in such horrible conditions!

Get Psyched!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Location:Emerald Bay

Lost In Space Update

Here's an update for those keeping track or interested in this dope new area in emerald bay:

Hatchett went to work on the moderate circuit after nearly flashing "Ender's Game" (he did it in a couple go's.) Several blocks of very high quality stone yielded many problems in the V0-V4 range, rounding out the area nicely. Jarrad Wycoff also put up a sweet V5 on the red wall called "Locksmith," and Kyle O'Meara added the obvious "Celebrity Golf Tournament" V7 which I repeated. It is a good tall-man line fo sho.

Joel Zerr put up the sweet line to the left of Space Race; a nice steep edgy/crunchy affair called Space Cowboy. It climbs into the same top out as Space Race and is awesome (but tweaks my knees and feels very crunchy!). This one was done in horrible conditions by Joel (80 degrees!) and will probably settle at V9 in better conditions. Joel also flashed Ender's Game V8.

With better beta, almost everyone has done the four star Ender's Game, V8. Here's a video of Siemay crushing:



I also put up the sit to Buck Rogers and it is a very cool V8 that shares the start and exit to Ender's Game. I know, I know: that does not sound classic, but the climbing is so cool, it's 3 star and worthy!

Additionally, Siemay and I ventured about 10 minutes past the Mothership boulder to the "outer belt" and put up an amazing line called "Moon Dog" V8. Check out the vid:






The Lost In Space area is 15 minutes up the Eagle Lake trail, across the stream at a visible big rad boulder that has untouched projects that are being saved for colder conditions secondary to the aspect of the boulder. The boulders are in the woods in a 5-10 min radius.

Here's a great vid of some of the area classics that David Outcalt just put together:



All these new areas and problems will be in the new definitive guide from Dave Hatchett which will go to press soon!

It's amazing that Tahoe summers are so climbable despite the heat... It's so dry and mornings and evenings can be cool on even the hottest days in the valleys.




What a special and blessed place we live in.




Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Mother Brain V7

Jarrad Wycoff strikes again, this time with an excellent steep V7 called "Mother Brain." Jarrad has quite the eye and has put up some of the truly legendary lines in Tahoe such as "Integrity" V10 and others. check the vid by Brad Perry who has repeated this line several times because he likes it so much. I have to go do this one, Epic!

This problem is a little obscure, but will likely find its way into a future South Shore guide from Hatchett. (It is off Pioneer near the Armstrong connector mountain bike trail.)

Anyway:


Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Lost in Space Boulders, Emerald Bay

Brad Perry found some killer new rock and a sweet new zone on the west shore up the Eagle Lake trail. There are many rad boulders. I put up a very unusual problem at this new area; check out this amazing span move:




"Tall Man's Gift" V? (morpho, felt like a 9-banger) photo: Brad Perry

Sure it felt like V9, but who the hell knows!? It is almost definitely undoable if a climber is under 6 feet. Tommy Herbert tried it and may be able to do it at 6 feet. The left hand is a horrible sloping mono stack and then a dyno for the lip jug. RAD!!! Pure and aesthetic as hell. Two sick moves. How can you grade something like this? It is an interesting question. There are many V14 climbers who would have no chance on this rig... It was a very enjoyable first ascent since the line looked highly improbable upon visual inspection. Could I even span it? It was shocking to find out how barely I was able to stretch and span. A remarkable problem!

Just to the left of this line, a sweet V7 was put up by David Outcalt called "Space Race." It is a thuggy hoss to moderate compression climbing and it is stellar!

I also put up a four star V9 called "Ender's Game" at this new area which is currently known as the "lost in space" boulders... So cool. There is much more development to be done, and although it is hot out, it is dry and we are psyched! There will certainly be room for some test pieces when the temperatures drop again.

For now though, classic lines are plentiful and the crew is amped.

Nice find, Brad!!! There will be a video of The Tall Man's Gift soon and I will post it.

This truly is the golden age of Tahoe bouldering. Dave Hatchett's guide is going to be an eye-opener to many!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Squamish

Squamish is a climbing Mecca. It is convenient, concentrated and has bullet granite. The movement is cerebral and often times very subtle beta changes will make impossible moves seem easy; dynamic moves go static. This intellectual problem solving is very rewarding and each climb in Squamish feels like a piece of art; a sculpture.

That being said, there is plenty of thuggery! Check out this vid for example:

SEND THE PAIN BELOW V10


Here are some pics from our trip and I will be adding videos and stories in the coming months as well...




The Bulb, V8



Best warm up ever? High V0



Master Plan V7



Ben getting super close on Dreamcatcher 14.d



Tim working the low moves to a proj. He had just sent the stand "room service" a Sean McColl line. Matt Lucas spotting.



Matt D. On Minor Threat V6



Testing Zun's tolerance for forest humor.

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

New Beaver Action

Well, well. The Beavers continue to deliver. Several Amazing new lines have gone up including "The Slug" V7 & "Bandit" V6 on the project boulder past the "one eyed willie" boulder.

Then there is the amazing "West Nile" Project which I sent as a stand start at V7. One more hard V10 move will put it together for a really cool sloper problem from a legit sit start. The stand alone was classic, too.
Here is a video of a new V6 called "Blood Donor" that has really nice movement on granite slopers. A great video by Brad Perry and a great FA by Noah Napier. It shares the same top out as "West Nile" but climbs totally differently.



We cleaned another new very cool short and stout sloper line called "Fungazoid" which is cool despite being so weird. It will likely be a V8 or 9 from the sit and will be very nice when it is a little colder.

The Tal Memorial Boulder has some very cool V4-7 problems including the four star technical arête V7 "Tal."

This year, the Meyer's Bouldering Competition will feature the Beavers and all of these amazing new lines!

Get out there and find a boulder!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Angora Lake part deux

Here's a rad vid of the new V7 "Loki" from Jon:



Yesterday we went back out and Kyle and I tried the Odin variation but it was not to be. HOWEVER, Kyle then straightened the line and perhaps betterfied it by going straight up to make "Odin" V8 Highball. Such a sick line! Where Loki exits right in the above video, Odin goes right hand first instead of crossing and goes straight up via hossy moves.
What a line!

In other news, a very fit Kyle O also sent the long term v12 project at Sugar called "Polar Opposites,". This was also known for a while as Red's project or the monster project. It's unsane. Legit.

Get out there and train for fall!!! It's nice and cool finally in Tahoe!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Angora Lake

I found these rad blocks about 5 years ago and always wanted to come back to them. It's an easy approach although you have to pay $7 for parking...

It was as if I was keeping these boulders for the day when everything in Tahoe seemed tapped out.

...I guess I finally realized that Tahoe will keep giving for many more years and I might as well check these lines out. Although temps where in the 80's, our crew was psyched! Three sick V7's went down, one of them was four star. Also a four star V6 went down and Dave Hatchet quickly sent the second ascent.

Check out these pics; this boulder is unbelievable. Video to come!




Hard jump start to slopers. "Loki" V7, up right. Slick moves to a committing as hell upside down jump move into juggy compression! NINJA MOVES!


"Odin" project, up and left. Could be 10-12 banger or harder.


Don't soil your shorts, and stop salivating. Sweet V7 on left side "clear and present danger" and VHard project up middle.


Under V7


Warm ups.

I will be putting together some media and blog about Squamish in the days to come and post the "Loki" video when Jon puts it out! The movement and holds and position and aesthetic of these lines are truly incredible. This Area will be in the new guide!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Motion on Monzonite

Best Bishop climbing vid I have ever seen. Hands down.

Amazing work by Tahoe's own John Thompson.

Enjoy.



...Squamish was amazing as usual. We are going back mid Sept to Oct! I will have several posts and videos in the coming days so check back!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Tahoe Bouldering Competition

September 15th @ 9 am. Be there!

Sign up on line: http://www.tahoebouldering.com/

Visit & like the Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/events/188008207993797/

Come see new "secret" areas and badass problems! Drink beer! Eat and be merry!

Strong Tahoe locals and developers will likely not compete, so the field is wide open and the prizes are insane (crash pads, shoes, hang boards, money, etc. in all categories!)

See you there!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

One Eyed Willie V7

Many of you have heard about the beavers, South Shore's best new climbing area. There's also the mountain beavers which is a big hike, but the beavers is a fairly convenient two minutes from the car!

These areas are basically out south upper Truckee River road on the left, across the river.

Here is one of our friends completing one eyed Willie, a super classic granite problem.



By the way, there are many more projects to be done there, and we are excited about cleaning and putting up
New lines! This day, I put up a low right exit to OEW @ v6, and figured out the moves to a low left start to OEW at about v9. We also did a cool new steep v6 called "cricket" on the untouched death block boulder. There is a mega project to the right of this new line that starts on cool underlings...

Although Tahoe keeps giving, it is getting hot and buggy. Siemay, Zun & I will be packing up the truck camper soon and heading to Goldbar and Squamish for the summer!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Trundle City

Surprise: another new Tahoe area. Check out the work we did to reveal a four star V7 called "Ice Crushers."



Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Joel's new boulders - North Shore

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million.



Amazing as usual, Joel!!! Nice work!

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

An amazing new highball!

Well, I finally roped down, cleaned and climbed a line I had been spying for years! You may recognize it right away from the video, but first Siemay demonstrates the ultra techy/slopey V6 "Siemay's Arete." Check it:



This new line is one of the most enjoyable tall V7 (ish) lines in all of Tahoe. Siemay and other friends were referring to it as "Noah's Arête" while I was working it and cleaning it, and the name stuck. I generally do not like eponymous titles, but my arête there is big and Siemay's arête right there is small and the thought of the two Arêtes just sitting there together for all time seemed kinda rad. Is that corny or what!!? I guess having a son makes you a little sentimental!

It is V7 off the ground, to 12a, to 5.11a to the top which is about 30 feet.



The crux, above. Very cool moves on good rock!


On massive jugs right here, a good rest and then a 5.9 big move to the top and an easy but airy top out!

Siemay's arête, from the video, is about 20 feet away from this roadside monster. There are some other climbs at this "locals spot" that will be included in the upcoming Tahoe guidebooks.

This area is high up in Woodfords, above the curves on Hwy 88, a couple miles west of Momma Cat right off the north side of the road. The big split boulder is just down the road from Sorensen's and Hope Valley Cafe (the cafe is owned by Lisa and has the BEST baked goods in the Tahoe region... There are also sandwiches and local beer on tap for a post epic highball celebration brew!!)

Call me anytime to do this thing! It is mega and I can rally mad pads, set up a proper TR and bring the psych!

...In other news, the Tahoe crew is coming together and doing new FA's all over: Joel Zerr has two new badass lines above white lines; one is tall and burly and one is short and burly.

Also, I added a cool V9 sit start to the "Great White" problem at middle Bliss yesterday.

The snow is melting fast and psych is high for another rad Tahoe spring season! Updates to come.

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Motion on Monzonite

Back from Joe's and feeling fit (but a little heavy at 190 lb!) I decided to cruise down to Bishop to hook up with my buddy Jon Thompson who has been living there. Jon has been capturing some super crushers doing there thing.

Here are some of them in a preview to Jon's new film, "Motion on Monzonite."


Nice work Jake! Such a cool line. I need to get on this thing.

Jon and I had a blast. We had the Buttermilks all to ourselves. Although it was a little warm in the sun, the shade offered nice temps. After a nice warm up session the night before, we headed up to Matt Wilder's epic line: "This Side Of Paradise" V10 Highball. Really highball.

This line is so good. I rapped down it and rehearsed the 5.7 top several times for a warm up. Then I did the long move at the transition. The climb favors a taller frame and I worked out the moves fairly quickly. I tried the rig from the ground several times, but mostly jumped off. We only had two pads, and now that I have a son, blah blah blah, yeah, I pussed out.
Mad props to Matt for his SOLO (ie. by himself send, and practical free solo) first ascent of this amazing world class line.

Here's Nalle crushing:


After TSOP, I went to try my hand at "A Maze of Death" V12. I had tried this beautiful line a couple times in the past, but I could never find beta that worked for me. I finally feel I made some progress and have a method that will work for me that involves long reaches bypassing the small sharp razors. I felt the session on it was productive. I was inspired to get back on it after Tahoe legend, Jesse Bonin sent the rig a few years back after posting up there and dedicating days to this amazing Dave Graham line.

Here is a bunch of dudes making it look doable nay easy:



Finally, the last day, Jon and I were beat and decided to do some moderates. The best of the lot was a newish V7 that Matt Birch apparently added to the Peabody boulder, although something tells me that the "Go Granny Ho" variation has been done many times before. It's kind of obvious and right there.

Here is Local Lisa and Jon demonstrating:


Nice.

I did this problem as well, but did the long man first move instead of messing with the shouldery underlings.

Check it:







Etc.

Doing this line made me want to piece together "The Mystery" which I have tried before. It was magical to have the Buttermilks all to ourselves and a nice way to end the Bishop season and get ready for the Tahoe spring season.

Now who wants to rally a crew to finish off "This Side of Paradise?!"

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.

Joe's Valley 2012

This was a really fun trip this year! Although somewhat of a rehabilitation trip for most of us, we met bunch of interesting new people and got to climb on some really cool new climbs:

Joe's 2012:



After coming out to Joe's in March this year we met up with our good friends Matt & Sandy Wilder and David Outcalt.

It was also very cool to see Matt and Sandy's boy Bayes play with our boy Zun!

Climbing highlights of the trip included a couple really cool v9s for Siemay, a bunch of cool new v10 problems such as death scream and lactation station for the boys, and a few really nice new climbs; fear factor V9 and how the West was won also v9 & highball (and four stars.) All are highly recommended.

Also very cool was meeting up with the Salt Lake City crew: Scott, Chad, Joe, Blake, Griffen and Duffy. Our good friend Kyle O'Meara and his friend Lisa also showed up later in the trip. Kyle made short work of the amazing new v10 on left fork called "superman" for the 2nd. He also basically did Black Dahlia in a couple tries, but I dabbed him accidentally on a concerned spot. ...Don't you hate that?

Here is the young and strong Griffen making the first ascent of this rad problem found and cleaned by an old friend and legend, Steven Jeffery:

Superman V10

The Salt Lake crew is hilarious and taught us how to "Tatonka" something and also validated my suspicion that other climbers independtently implemented the "Lookback" technique (although I may still have the lockdown on "the pump.")

To wit:

Beyond Life V10

And...

Bunny Crushers V9

Lol, anyway...

It's nice to be back in shape, and it looks like Tahoe may have an early spring season! The locals are getting excited! It's a bummer that the Mandala broke in other news, but there're so many other classics to climb that it's hard to complain too much.

Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.