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Trip: Lovers Leap Road Trip - Corrugation Corner and others Trip Date: 09/18/2016 Trip Report: In honor of the new software, here's the last TR I tried to post over a year ago, before giving up after 17 failed attempts to cut and paste. Anyway, this was a 9-day road trip to Lovers Leap near Lake Tahoe. Despite the epic drive, we managed to climb something every day. Day 1. Crossed Snoqualmie Pass in a monsoon and continued south to drier Central Oregon. Snacked on some crappy Safeway potato salad and headed to Smith, where we were greeted by sign saying ‘all parking full’. Not true, but very busy indeed! Headed off to Voyage of the Cowdog (3p 5.8). With parties of three ahead and behind us, it was a collective voyage, though plenty congenial. At the top, we ditched the rappels for the ledgy walk-off, arguably as adventurous as the climb. Pleasant enough, but a bigger change in scenery was required. Final pitch of Voyage of the Cowdog at Smith Day 2. Headed southeast through the dry lake country, passing Lakeview, Susanville, Reno, and South Lake Tahoe, reaching the Leap in late afternoon. The local store provided us with a new Supertopo guide and beta from uber-local “Squirrel”. We got right on Ham and Cheese, a 3 pitch 5.7 on the Hogsback. Squirrel assured us all we’d need was “8 draws and two beers”. Good beta! High desert near Lakeview Oregon During the 10 minute return to camp, it sunk in how sweet this place is. Excellent walk-in campsites 15 minutes from multi-pitch classics, with a rustic lodge, bar and gear shop nearby. Giant food/gear bins at each site, great bouldering, no RVs, all for $10 per night! Sweet walk-in camping at Lovers Leap Day 3. Monday morning and the crag was quiet, so we jumped right on Bear’s Reach, a super-classic 3 pitch 5.7 on the East Wall. After a taste of dike-laced slab, several hundred feet of steep flake grabbing and intermittent cracks. In the running for the best 5.7 I’d ever done, at least for the next 24 hours. An easy walk-off led back to lunch and Preparation H (the climb, not the ointment!) and upper Haystack at 5.8, which was more of a true crack climb, with small overhangs to spice things up. East Wall of Lovers Leap (borrowed from the web) Day 4. Hit the supreme 6 pitch link-up of Surrealistic Pillar to Corrugation Corner. The Pillar (3 p. 5.7) wanders up steep dikes with sections of crack climbing. A classic in its own right, it was quickly overshadowed by Corrugation Corner, surely the most awesome 5.7 anywhere! The first pitch is nice corner climbing with a couple bouldery spots and a fingery traverse. From there, we craned our necks back to assess the nearly vertical corner of pitch two. Holy shit – that’s 5.7?! You follow the corner 20’ then traverse left to an extremely airy arête, with positive knobs and fixed pins keeping it sane. Pitch 2 finishes with the fabled Beached Whale move. Pitch three has a bit of chimney climbing then a looong sunny corner, high on the wall. Just an amazing climb, every pitch a classic. Approaching the supreme link-up of Surrealistic Corner (center) and Corrugation Corner (upper left) Crazy dike hiking on Surrealistic Pillar Corrugation Corner next! (right above Andy's head) CC, Pitch 2 arete. Sooo much fun! All smiles at the top of the link-up Day 5. Wetness, WTF? Andy’s bag was soggy, so we headed to So. Lake Tahoe for a laundromat and hot breakfast. The showers cleared so we checked out the Luther Spires – tiny pinnacles with a not-so-tiny approach. Good way to stretch the legs anyway Luther Spires, pretty but a little....underwhelming Day 6. Clear but chilly. Foolishly jumped on the shady Better with Bacon (5.8). The first pitch is 5.6 slab climbing with tiny pro. The second pitch was also nice but freezing. Checked out the original Pony Express trail, which runs right through the campground, then packed up and headed north. Day 7. Graffiti along the Pony Express Trail, which runs right under Lovers Leap Welcome to Lassen Volcanic Park, sort of a mini-hybrid of Mt St Helens and Yellowstone. We checked the climbing box by bagging an actual summit. And though Lassen is a sizable mountain (~10,500’), it boasts a nicely engineered summit trail with interpretive signs every half mile! It’s obviously popular, based on the Wal-Mart size parking lot. From there, we checked out the thermal area known as Bumpass Hell. Steaming, hissing, sulphury mudpots with boardwalks and scary warning signs, just like Jellystone. Trail and summit of Mt Lassen Bumpass Hell, Lassen Park Day 8. Mostly an I-5 day, but with a short stop at Skinners Butte in Eugene, one of the formative crags of my youth. Great basalt climbing and fairly quiet, given the Duck game going on across town. Heck of a week! Skinners Butte Columns in Eugene, one of the best urban crags in the PNW! Gear Notes: Honda Pilot, camping and cragging gear, SuperTopo Tahoe guide Approach Notes: Road Maps

Trip: Canadian Rockies - Virtual Reality, Elliots Left Trip Date: 11/25/2017 Trip Report: Starting out to be a decent season so far in the Rockies, but they haven't gotten that deep freeze yet, so the pickins are slim. There are some rarely formed routes that came in well though. Virtual Reality is one that I have been waiting a while to get, and boom the pics on social media sent the crowds up there for it. It wasnt picked out though when we did it Thanksgiving weekend, but we did end up in a footrace for it! Worth the long drive and cough I had for the next few days from burning-out-of-shape-lung-stress. More on personal journal..https://waynewallace.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/canada-ice-11-17/ Gear Notes: screws Approach Notes: 1 hour 3 minutes

always nice to see places you've pissed before funny, i don't think any 13 continuous minutes on any el cap wall i've done didn't featured the word "fuck!" at least once - these fellas are choir-boys

Sweet!