What's New?

It's been a while since the last post, largely due to being busy with work, a little routesetting, visitors, climbing, and being a dad. Oh yeah, there's also the fact that we had a stretch of less than ideal (I'm talking highs of single digits on some days, rain, snow, and wind) weather recently. However, the 30 degree Celsius reading on the big bad mini van's thermometer today gave me some extra energy and I figured it was time to update some of the things that have been happening in Okanagan bouldering.

So, due to the fact that it had been snowing up on the hills until last weekend, and the loveliness of a burnt truck on the KVR road blocking access, the Boulderfields still haven't opened up yet. That has meant that most of the bouldering energy in the valley has been focused on the lower lying areas. From Cougar Canyon in the north to Boulder on the Bench in the south, there has been some good action.

Before the big trip down to Joe's Valley, Jay had been working a new project in the Prickly Pear Cave at Skaha. This one will be in the double digits and is supposed to be great. He also put some time into a historically overlooked highball wall at Pebble Beach. This is nice because the water level of the lake has come up quite a bit in the past 2 weeks, and this wall is before either of the 2 points that now require a bit of wading to get around en route to the main bouldering areas. This wall is just after the last houses and dock moving down the beach and has probably been overlooked because of the amazing views on the beach and lake and the fact that people are zoned in on getting to the other lines at Pebble. In the end, Jay cleaned up 2 lines (except the top-outs) and he and Aaron climbed them to the top without actually pulling over. One line is called Fun Factory (V3/4) and the nicer of the 2 is Fear Factory (V6). Fear Factory starts with some great moves under an overhang and moves up to some technical face climbing before doing some balancy and exposed moves on an arete to the top. To the right of these 2 lines is a straight up face climb that looks good and technical and likely be in the V8ish range. I had a chance to get on these and they were a good time. We just have to get down and clean up the top to finish these babies up.

I know the Heywood boys (Ryan and Bennett) have also added a 60 foot-ish long traverse further down the beach at Pebble, but I haven't had a chance to have a look yet. Hopefully soon.

Jay on Fear Factory (V6)

I know that recently, Aaron and Ryan made a trip down to BOB, climbed some lines and scoped some new ones. Braden and the McCrea family made a trip into Ellison for the great granite bouldering there. A good amount of people have been bouldering at Pebble Beach, I've actually seen boulderers in  Cougar Canyon (rare sight), and I'm sure Doug has been up to some shenanigans down in the south Okanagan.

Nikita Taylor on an unnamed V6 beauty at Pebble

Personally, I've spent a bit of time at Pebble Beach recently, but most of my time has been devoted to Cougar Canyon this spring. It's funny how the seasons and conditions really determine where we boulder in the Okanagan. For as long as I've been bouldering here, we tend to start the year down near Penticton where it's dry and warmer at the end of the winter, move into Cougar Canyon, Ellison, and Pebble Beach a bit as it warms up, then flock to the Boulderfields when we can get in there. Finally, we kind of reverse it all as the season closes out.

With the Fields not being accessible yet, the fact that it is close to work and home, and with it's beauty and almost non-existent amount of traffic, Cougar Canyon has been an awesome place to spend my time lately. I've been lucky enough to get in with a lot of stellar people (Braden, Rachelle, Ryan, Bennett, Dave, and of course Staci and Cedar) and every time I'm in Cougar I'm reminded how special it is and how much I love it. This place really is terrific and I still stand by the claim that it has the best concentration of quality bouldering in the Okanagan. I started the season with some great progress on Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger (V11), but have become very sidetracked with a new, more exciting (in my humble opinion) project in the last while (more on that in a bit). I've also been showing people around a lot and in the process we've climbed some neglected beauties, seen what amounts to a lot of new lines, and added some new stuff. For example, just yesterday, I put up a direct line to Thunderheart (V8) that is terrific and probably comes in around V5/6ish. That could easily be a routine day in there for a while to come. It seems like over the past year or so we mention that Cougar might be a bit tapped out, but then we get back in there and see that it ain't done givin'!

Dave Bailey on In Good Company (V4)

Bennett on The Short Boulder (V0)

Bennett on the V Problem (V1)

The seasonal Moss Hollow waterfall 

And that brings me to my latest labour of love! Earlier this season, Jay was in Cougar scoping out some new lines and I got in one day to have a look at them as well. He mentioned a tall arete problem that could be hard and when I had a look, I immediately remembered the tall, steep face beside it. For years, people have looked at this face and written it off as too hard, too high, not having enough holds, or having a bad landing. For a long time, I've been one of them. However, this year, I had a closer look at this thing, and figured "why not?" I cleaned up some holds, imagined a couple sequences, fixed up the landing and started working on it. As of now, I've had a couple good sessions on this baby and I'm hooked. I still have yet to clean up the higher moves and HIGHBALL topout, but the lower moves make me feel like a fat kid on a smartie. MMMMMMMMMM! With powerful, technical moves on small crimps/ edges, and even a mono, I'm super stoked to keep going at this one. Right now it's feeling like it could fall in the V10/11 range, but that's without trying the higher moves that actually look like the crux!

 

The steep project wall

Squeezing those crimps on the project

So, while I wait for the Fields to "open up," I'm more than happy in Cougar Canyon showing people around, bagging FA's, projecting wicked new lines, and giving the neglected beauties some love. Anyone care to join me?

As always, if you want any info about Okanagan bouldering areas feel free to email me at okbouldering@gmail.com