It's the Climb; Plus Tentative Planning
A little insight into this whole “writing process” thing:
I have now written 3 versions of this blog post.
The first one I wrote ended up being a love letter to all my long-lost climbing buddies in the states. Not that you don’t deserve every word of it, but I’m starting to feel a bit like a slightly stalkerish broken record and I’m not trying to give y’all a big head.
The second version tried to be a summary of my climbing journey for the whole year (did you know I climbed approximately 65 days outdoors in 2021? That’s nearly 18% of the year!), but that has definitely all been covered (and like, how many more times do you want to see a group photo next to a rock? OK I’ll give you just one more).
It did make a hilarious reference to the previously not explicitly mentioned time(s) that I pooped my pants after eating probiotic-infused protein powder for too many days while I was briefly vanliving on a street in Queens, and I had to clean myself up in a public park bathroom sink (classic). It’s been enough time now that I feel ready to divulge that information, so there you go.
The third version turned into a sort of philosophy on climbing and the lessons I take from the wall into my daily life. While true, it felt kind of cheesy and cliche, so we’ll leave the climbing metaphors to Miley Cyrus and the other professionals.
What I really want to tell you about is all the amazing climbing that Squamish has to offer in the hopes that you will 1) be super impressed (please give me validation) and 2) want to visit (please come see me). So here goes--fourth time’s the charm, as they say.
I said it before but I’ll say it again, the Squamish climbing season is officially Officially Over. We were able to squeeze a few more dry days out of October, but alas, dropping temperatures (even below Sending Temps), early (like, 4:00pm) sunsets, and, of course, rain (we’ve gotten so much of it in the past few weeks that some of the boulders are partially under water), have thwarted all recent attempts to the crag. It appears we won’t have any more outdoor climbing days until probably March or April of next year (thus begins the winter of my discontent).
Or something like that.
I only got to see a small portion of what’s available here in the last 4 months, but it’s evident from my experience and from what I’ve gleaned from the locals that there’s a bit of a learning curve when you first start climbing in Squamish and the surrounding crags. Coming from climbing mostly in the Eastern and Southwest United States--where the rock is generally some kind of sandstone and has texture and like, things to hold on to--it was quite a shock to come here and find smooth, seemingly bare faces which somehow require power, control, and techy footwork all at the same time (e.g. there’s this Ultra Mega Classic V3 called Titanic (which I still haven’t sent (yet)) that starts on two overhanging, razor sharp crimps, then deadpoint off slippery feet to a relatively decent edge, then basically campus to a mantle top out (to my non-climbing friends, read: hardest “easy” climb I’ve ever been on)).
So I spent the majority of the summer calibrating to my new surroundings. I’ve certainly not mastered anything, but I’m pretty proud of my progress! Some highlights of the season include:
Easy in an Easy Chair (V4)--A slopey, traversing line and perhaps the most-climbed boulder in all of Canada.
The Cutting Edge (V6)--Nearly nonexistent holds on the overhung corner of a huge block. Haven’t sent this yet but I am stoked to get back on it in the Spring.
Not many photos for these sport routes since neither Jamie nor I can simultaneously operate a camera and belay, and Photo Mom Morgan doesn’t follow me around anymore.
Minds of Winter (5.11a)--Super delicate, wandering slab which I sent on my second burn!
Tyranannosauress (5.11c)--A little bit of everything with a bulgey crux, and the hardest sport route I've sent to date!
Jeff and the Giant Reach (5.11c)--As the name might imply, you need length for this (or you can go the arguably more difficult (crimpy) route like me and forgo the big move). I will return for this one next season now that I’ve unlocked all the beta. NIKHIL, YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS ROUTE.
Look! I have friends! Here's Laurie and Marcia doin' their thang.
Face the Music (5.12a)--A pumpy start leaves you primed for the reachy crux. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever send this one, because it’s really sustained the whole way through and the hard moves are low-percentage, but I took several proper whips on this thing and I’m proud to have given it a go.
The whole area at Cougar Crag--The climbing here is limited to a mere 8 lines, but it’s located literally in a river studded with swimming holes and natural water slides, so I am definitely taking you all there in the Summer.
I’ve felt like I’ve been on holiday since I got here, and it’s been amazing, but it's weird taking a climbing trip without you and I am so looking forward to getting to spend time with y’all at the crag again. Speaking of...
*TENTATIVE PLANNING*
Remember how I had a shotgun wedding so I could start the immigration process and none of you could attend because a pandemic forced every country to close its borders? And then I kept saying there would be an Anniver-Ceremony on July 21, 2022 and we would treat that as the (f)unofficial wedding and you all were invited?
WELL.
Turns out, it’s actually kind of difficult and expensive to plan a wedding (who could’ve known), and Vancouver in particular has some prohibitive COVID-related rules about wedding parties (no food and drink can be served, for instance, which is really the only reason to even go to a wedding, amirite). Plus, how am I supposed to have epic climbing adventures AND meet Jamie’s family for the first time AND try to remotely coordinate getting my non-English-speaking mom across international borders AND have epic non-climbing adventures AND execute a perfect but cost-effective, casual but ceremonious gathering with everyone I love ALL AT THE SAME TIME? (???????)
I don’t know how people navigate those waters, and it seems really stressful, so I’m just not going to.
However, I still want to do all those fun-on-their-own things, SO INSTEAD, I’m thinking I want to spread the activities out over the course of a month. I’m obviously still very much in the early planning stages of this whole thing, but some things I do know:
It will be July/August 2022 (new COVID-variants notwithstanding).
One or two weeks will be for family, because Jamie and I really ought to meet each other’s parents at some point, right?
Two or three weeks will be for friends to cycle in and out, to engage in capers, antics, and general tomfoolery (e.g. going to the beach, eating good food, making up for lost time, camping, and of course, climbing).
There might be some informal wedding-type activities sprinkled in here and there (am I still allowed to have a bachelorette party?), but I haven't gotten that far yet.
More specific details to come.
