The Creek!

Finally an Indian Creek post... better late than never!

When I returned home from Youth Worlds in Imst, Austria last year I was bummed about sport climbing, tired of dealing with injuries and feeling jaded. It was an amazing experience, a great way to end my time as a young'n in the youth climbing circuit, but the five years I spent competing locally, training for worlds and competing at worlds had left me a little gassed. The remainder of the sunny weather last summer brought me back to Squamish, but I'd lost all motivation to get on the sport climbs I'd been working on all summer, and I found myself in the Smoke Bluffs.

I lead a couple single pitches on my own, and followed Sean up a few multipitches on the Apron, but since last summer I've taken the Fall 2011 semester off climbing because of school, and was off school for the Spring 2012 semester skiing and working, but was still not ready to pull hard and start training again because of my weak and useless tendons. Lucky for me, finger locking and hand jamming don't hurt the tendons a bit!

It's a bit of a blow to the ego transitioning from climbing hard sport to feeling completely sketched leading a 5.8, but the challenges of trad and crack climbing are so different to sport climbing. It's refreshing to have something else to focus on. Sean and I decided to make a trip down to Utah  to try our hand at the world class splitter cracks Indian Creek has to offer.

Road side noodles

We were soon on a dark highway beneath a star studded sky, Bob, Gaga and Lonely Island bumpin on the speakers, amped up on red bull, en route to total crack climbing mecca. Upon arrival we headed into the charming little town of Monticello for some gas and cheap diner food, then next on the agenda was finding a campsite. Driving the road through Indian Creek for the first time is an insane experience. There's so much rock, miles and miles and miles of it, all lined with perfect crack like some sort of endless barcode. You're left completely speechless and in awe that a place like this could even exist.

The first couple days left me a little confused as to why I thought going on a crack climbing trip was such a great idea. On the second day there we visited a wall called Blue Grandma, and got on a left facing 5.9 corner crack. It was tight size 3 Camelots, so mostly too big for cupped hands, awkward, and painful. Instead of climbing I swore and fell and complained, tried to make fists work and eventually grovelled my way to the top on TR. To be blunt, it was completely miserable. I had a couple more experiences like this, but soon after on a day in Donnelly Canyon I got on Chocolate Corner, a "clean, dark right-facing corner in the center of the Elephant's trunk. Superb at the grade", to quote the guide book. I sunk my right hand in, dropped my thumb, slotted my left foot, twisted and dropped my heel... so far so good... I stood up and repeated the same with the opposite limbs. The next thing I knew the clouds had parted and light from the heavens of crack climbing were cast upon me. My hand jams were staying in the crack. Having searched the Google machine for instructions on how to hand jam numerous times I could never really wrap my head around the idea that it was supposed to be easy... it was so bloody hard! The fluid movement of climbing has always been what's attracted me, and my ignorant sport climbing noggin never thought it possible to experience that kind of smooth connection of moves while in a crack. Finding a hand climb that was actually my size restored my faith in all trad and crack climbing (number 1 red Camelots for anyone who's wondering, they're perfect), and the rest of the trip turned out to be flipping fantastic. I slowly but surely learned to appreciate the challenge of learning how to make every size and shape of crack work for my body.

Parking lot dinner after a full day at Battle of the Bulge

Incredible hand crack is one of the most popular climbs at the creek. It's grown from tight number two Camelots to big number twos from all the wear on the soft sandstone. One hundred feet long, 5.10 with a beautiful roof section right smack in the middle. I got on it on top rope, and fell a couple times getting to the top, but I've never smiled so much while climbing a route. The roof section stumped me at first, rattly cupped hands with your feet jamming in the roof. The hands felt horrible but I gritted my teeth and jammed as hard as I could and made those hands stay! I somehow managed to get through it, don't ask me how... but something about just trusting my insecure hand placements lead to success. Sean had just climbed the route before me on lead, did it clean with some pre placed gear, and after I lowered off we pranced around the crag with gigantic watermelon-slice-shaped grins on our faces, giddy from having climbed such and awesome line. After that we walked further along the wall to Supercrack, another mega classic at the Creek.

"The climb that started it all" takes some smaller gear through the bottom bouldery section until you get to a ledge. From the ledge you climb up, maybe one or two yellow Camelots then it's relentless blue number threes all the way to the chains. This size is super difficult for those of us with smaller hands, but because of how deep the crack is (waaaaaay deep, super deep) I was able to shove my arm in up to my elbow and cam it. It felt surprisingly secure. The challenge for me on Supercrack wasn't making the climbing feel solid, it was pushing through the intense cardio workout of repeating the same strenuous move over and over and over again. It felt good to make an awkward sized crack feel secure.

Taters and coffee, great way to start a morning.

Once we'd sampled a few of the classics we decided to explore some new walls. Getting to the Optimator Wall was a little bumpy in my Civic, but once we got there and made the hike up we were rewarded with some rad climbing. Anunnaki is an awesome zig-zagging 5.11+/12- that hides just inside a cave out of the sun for most of the day. It starts with some wide cupped hands for me, and then gradually gets thinner. While trying this route I realized that I was starting to really love the challenge of fighting my way through wider cracks. I had to focus a lot more on my body position and it takes a lot of determination, making it even more satisfying once you get through it. Sean came close to bagging the onsight but fell clipping the chains off an awkward left hand finger lock. Heart breaking. We returned to the wall a day later after some rest and Sean got the send! His hardest trad climb to date. After some whooping and hollering and celebrating we spent the rest of the day trying the rest of the awesome climbs at Optimator.

My first 5.10+ onsight! Cave Route.

What made climbing at the Creek the most fun for me was that on almost all of the climbs I could fall without worrying about slamming into a boulder or scraping down a slab like I so often do in Squamish. During a day at Battle of the Bulge I got on Swedin-Ringle, 5.12-. I was able to make it through the tight red Camelots in the middle and kept getting spat off in the ring lock/ finger lock transition near the end. I never got the send, never even came close, but it was jolly good fun being able to try my hardest and whip off knowing I had a clean fall below, and good gear to hold me. I'd fallen on my gear before in Squamish, but never that big, and never before had it been so much fun. The finish to Swedin-Ringle is a doozy, trying to clip the chains off a finger lock with no feet. Such a challenge, and more falling than climbing happened to be honest, but this climb was definitely a highlight of the trip. Makes me smile just typing about it. :)

We tried out a bunch of the other walls, always falling in love with something we were sure we could send with a second day on, but never returning, wanting instead to explore every inch of the creek that we could in our time there. You could spend years there though, and still only get a small taste of everything Indian Creek has to offer.

Watch yo dogs!! Them rattlers be everywhere!

It was without a doubt the best trip I've ever been on. Good friends, clean falls, plenty of sunshine and no expectations. Never underestimate the power of just letting go and allowing yourself to enjoy the experience, chains clipped or not.

Back home now, have been for a while... and loving the granite. Since I've been back I've had a few days cragging in the Bluffs, trying to get used to the different style and even did my first route up the Chief! Sean and I did The Ultimate Everything, from wet slab crack to awesome dyke climbing to a hard last sport pitch, the climb offered all you could as for, super fun! I was stoked to finally be able swing leads with Sean on a multipitch and feel like I was pulling my own weight. My fingers have been holding up a little better lately and I've even been doing some sport climbing! I'm super stoked to climb as much as I can and get as strong as I can between now and when I return to school at SFU in the fall... maybe I'll even start competing again!

Hope everyone is out there enjoying some DRY rock climbs!

oxox