Your Best of 2013

[W]

One thing I've always enjoyed on this site is reading about people's year-in-review highlights. Would love to see/read about others' adventures...post them up in here!

 

Haven't seen the topic yet this season, so I'll start:

 

2013 was another good one for me. Less about standout events or ascents-although a few come to mind along with visiting a couple new places- mainly it was just a lot of quality time in the outdoors with my wife, some great friends, and my awesome coworkers. I only wish I had taken more pictures, something I tend not to do so much while rock climbing.

 

But I took enough to tell some of the story. I didn't annotate the locations or routes here, for now just see if you can spot some of your favorite places and routes, along with maybe a few familiar faces.

 

Go to the Vimeo site and watch in HD. Enjoy, and good safe adventures to all in 2014!

 

http://vimeo.com/81777359

 

Some extra photo goodness in the above vid comes courtesy of David Gottlieb, Ross Peritore (TeleRoss), and Uwe Ehret.

[layton]

great pics Mark!

[keenwesh]

Incredible shots, I can't wait to get to AK and seeing more photos truly KEEPS THE STOKE ALIVE. Thanks!

 

I spent 5 months on the road this year. Here is a small sampling.

East Rosebud, MT

 

Almost to the anchors on the first pitch of South Seas, it's steep!

 

High on Sunkist, Tom Evans shot

 

Rosy Crucifixion, Eldo

 

South By Southwest, Lower Cathedral Spire.

 

Clowning around midway through a Tuolumne linkup. Matthes Crest.

 

Whoa, that's a lot! excuse me if I was over exuberant in my picture posting.

[W]

Nice, keenwesh!

 

Hmmm...I see a Matthes Crest...I'm going to guess #5 is somewhere in the Cathedral Spires in Yosemite...and #3 looks like El Cap(?),...but I'm stumped on the others. Where's the first photo from?

[keenwesh]

I labeled them all for your viewing pleasure.

 

What did everyone else do this year?

[Blake]

If a legit tough guy like Mark says bragging is ok, I wont resist.

 

2013 was a good year for local (Cascades) climbing and a few short trips to new spots I'd wanted to visit.

 

Early in the year an old buddy I've known since I started climbing ropegunned for us up Goat's Beard on a very sunny day. It was nice to finally have climbed something worthwhile on the Goat Wall, and now I wont have to be annoyed when it doesn't form for another 30 years. Thanks Vern and Craig for the PSA about it being formed!

 

I went to Spain with some friends and climbed the world's best limestone - and realized how weak most American climbers are, and how little we understand about moving our bodies over stone.

(Photo by my friend Forest Woodward)

 

 

Did not fall during a 23.5 hour linkup of West Face on CBR, Acid Baby, Solid Gold on Prusik, and Hyperspace on Snow Creek Wall with Max Tepfer. Then made Max drive to back to Bend, OR on no sleep since he fell once, in the dark.

 

 

Madeleine "Crusher" Sorkin and I took a trip to the Coast Mountains in BC and freed the Serl-Foweraker '86 route on the West Face of Mt. Bute then had a couple days in Squamish and did Northern Lights and The Shadow.

 

I finally bouldered V8, and realized that the trick to bouldering harder grades in Leavenworth is just to find higher problems!

 

A trip to the Bugaboos happened and even though it snowed every day we still climbed every day and I found next summer's project, Sendero Norte:

 

Chris Weidner joined me for a desert southwest goal, sending "Velvet Tongue" in Black Velvet Canyon:

 

And I did a bunch of Washington Pass climbing (more than I realized until now):

 

Supercave a couple times

The Passenger

The Hitchhiker

Thin Red Line

 

Lib Bell NW Face on a 4-spire day with a friend learning to climb

 

Mojo Rising (the original way) and West Face NEWS on a ski day

 

Freedom Rider followed by a direct start / freeclimbing version of Mojo Rising with my mustachioed amigo Graham Zimmerman

 

 

No major injuries was a nice change from 2012, so was doing a little alpine climbing with my wife and cheering her on for her first 5.11.

 

 

Happy 2014!

 

[W]

Looks like a great season, Blake, great routes and lots of variety.

 

Oh, and Blake, we're sharing here.

It's only bragging when it's done by people we don't like.

 

Parallel example: my uncle and his friends used to say, "an alcoholic is someone who drinks as much as we do that we don't like"

 

Sharing...

 

Let's see some more sharing. Blake reminded me to get back to the Bugaboos.

[lunger]

wow nice pics and adventures, lads. must get to Alaska soon!

 

yes, 'tis the season to be thankful. seeing the last of my firsts taking shape, aiming to make the firsts last. also scored other quality times.

 

i'll share a couple pics, many more in the video below. take a guess where...all Cascades:

 

 

 

 

 

W, you inspired me to try making a video for the first time, was actually pretty fun and v easy w/ Picasa to throw some pics from my albums into a chronological pile and run it. Think it took less time to create than it did Vimeo to convert. Not high quality (reflects newbie-ness and v little time invested), but a decent catalog of fun-hog.

 

Fun way to reflect on the year. Might have to tinker with this some more when have the time.

[mtep]

Good Stuff! 2013 was very memorable for me. I got to climb more volume and higher grades this year than any year previously. Stand out moments below:

 

Getting to sneak up the Weeping Wall and Polar Circus in March.

 

 

 

Climbing all together too much granite in a push (who knew such a thing existed?) outside of Leavenworth.

 

 

A relaxed ascent of the RNWF on Half Dome with a good, old friend who I used to climb with all the time, but don't get to as much anymore.

 

 

Playing around WA Pass and finally climbing some stuff I'd been eyeballing for a while.

 

 

A second trip to the Bugs. Ticked the Beckey-Chouinard and played around on the bottom pitches Blake's 2014 project. Snuck in an ascent of Let it Burn on the way home.

 

 

 

 

Spent two weeks climbing in the Sierra. Only climbed two routes. (but man, were they good) Venturi Effect and NIAD.

 

 

 

Passed my Aspirant Alpine Exam and Rock Guide Exam.

 

 

 

Climbing 'girlfriend' routes in the Fall with my amazing partner: Epinephrine, Moonlight Buttress, Sheer Lunacy, Monkey Finger, Texas Tower Direct, Touchstone, Rainbow Wall, Serenity-Sons, Central PIllar of Frenzy.

 

 

 

 

Finally finishing the year back where I started. Trying (and for once succeeding) to project at Trout Creek and Smith. Sent last winter's unfinished project and this summer's project w/in a couple of weeks of each other.

 

[ivan]

my favorite moment of the year - celebrating a successful get-up'n'get-off of the lost arrow in venutian temperatures in the ethereal upper yosemite falls

[W]

Wehrly, nice! Lots of swooshing in there. And I forgot you guys got the Zorro, glad you solved that one so no one else has to...thanks for the vid, great stuff!

 

Mtep, that's an excellent hardman tour of the stone, very inspiring. Awesome pics! Where is the second to last photo?

 

Keep them coming, all...

 

 

 

[boadman]

A short video showing one of my highlights. Voodoo holdless slab wrestling.

 

 

Some of the footage is a little shaky, but I think it's still fun to watch.

[lunger]

nice send!

[tanstaafl]

I have no photos as everyone I climb with is terrible about taking pictures, including me. I'm on the part of the totem pole of climbers that is buried under the ground, but I managed to get out and have a good time this year nonetheless.

 

Some of the highlights of the past year include:

 

1 Four days at Smith Rock with my sweetie to celebrate my March birthday: Amazingly, hardly anyone was there and we were able to get on many classics I've always just walked past since they're always such a gong show, including Five Gallons Buckets and Zebra-Zion. So much fun.

 

2 Finding an excellent new partner in Otto, who provided a sweet introduction to Squire Creek Wall. He actually does take photos, but he also already posted them.

 

3 Two – TWO!! – weekends in a row climbing with Ken Ford: Squire Creek Wall with Otto and a great weekend in Squamish that included a romp up Angel's Crest, during which he graciously let me lead all the best pitches. Since I normally get to see Ken once a year for one day, this was pretty awesome.

 

4 Finally climbing with telemarker, even if it was just cragging.

 

5 A month in Australia climbing in the Grampians, Arapiles, and Blue Mountains, getting my ass kicked repeatedly. The bummer was that every time we started to get used to the rock and style of climbing in an area, it was time to move on. If only we'd had three months instead of one, we could have done so much more climbing AND could have made it to Tasmania, but there is no such thing as the perfect trip, only the trip you can take now.

 

6 Summitting Kosciuszko, the highest peak in (mainland) Australia, putting me at two for seven re the easiest possible version of the Seven Summits. Also used the highest toilet in Australia on the way up. Is there a badge for highest seven toilets?

 

7 A leisurely four days on the Klawatti Icecap traverse, tagging Eldorado, Klawatti, Austera, Primus, and Tricouni in near-perfect weather.

 

Here's to more and better in 2014.

 

[tvashtarkatena]

You're Hernia Free on Lincoln Peak

 

You're hernia free! Lower gully. by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr

 

Ivan raps off the summit of the Lost Arrow after our Venusian style ascent.

 

Ivan raps off the summit by PatGallagherArt, on Flicker

 

The logistics and commitment it took to get there:

 

Camp 4, 5 AM by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr

 

and the heavy toll afterwards:

 

Post send gear sort by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr

 

 

Ass and Wolf's Head Still Life:

 

Creep! Liz (CO) and partner on the Wolf's Head by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr

 

Josh Kaplan, Alpine Morale Officer - Central Corner of the Haystack, Wind River Range

 

Central Corner P 3 by PatGallagherArt, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2013 by tvashtarkatena

[mtep]

Second to last photo is the top of the crux pitch on Sheer Lunacy. (the Sharp or Sharper Crack-I don't remember...)

 

Stern Farmer looks like good fun! I can't wait for the day that I'm lucky enough to spend day after day at Index.

[JasonG]

Great thread! I am humbled looking at some of the adventures above, very cool. My four "best" trips of 2013 were a bit more on the pedestrian side, but memorable nonetheless.

 

2013 started out with fantastic skiing out of the Burton Hut on Garibaldi Lake:

 

 

Followed later in the spring by stellar conditions on the Spearhead:

 

 

Summer climbing in the alpine was topped by a strenuous week in July where I managed to whimper my way up Nooksack Tower:

 

 

 

(and get back down in one piece)

 

 

followed the Stoddard Buttress on Mt Terror a few days later:

 

 

 

Looking forward to more adventure in 2014!

[Pete04]

While my trips pale in comparison...

I'm fairly proud of my progress this year. As of Dec 31, 2012 I had only sport climbed twice with most of my climbing being Cascade volcano summits. This year I learned ice (basics) in Ouray, learned trad (basics) in Joshua Tree, shared lead for a classic alpine route in the High Sierra, climbed Half Dome via Snake Dike, and bagged a ski descent of Shasta. Here's to hoping for more progress in 2014!

 

 

Half Dome:

 

Bear Creek Spire:

 

Ouray ice climbing class: