Mount St. Helena, Feb 5 2005

Well about f*cking time!

First we didn't go to J-tree for the holidays, as the weather sucked, then I missed out on a bunch of stellar weather for Valley climbing due to a badly sprained thumb (note to self, don't try mantling off of just your thumb ever again). All of my weight training for Jailhouse down the tubes. Guess I'll just have to start over from scratch again.

The plan had been for Daniel and I to leave on Friday night after my birthday party, and crash at a friend's place in the Petrified Forest. However, by the time the party was winding down, neither of us were at all willing to drive, so we delayed the departure until early Saturday morning. But this was good, as it enabled Rod to join us. The next morning, despite traffic on the Richmond bridge, we made it up to Mount Saint Helena in good time, arriving at The Bear at around 10. It's been years since I was last there, but luckily Daniel had been there recently and remembered the drive, as both of us had forgotten to bring guide books.

Daniel started us out on Mark's Moderate (5.9), a fun stem problem in a chimney/fissure. Then I led the Arete (5.10b), a Mount St. Helena classic. We continued the warmup with Silverado Squatters (5.10b), which is very fun with lots of big holds, then I decided to give Jason and the Argonauts (5.12b/c) a shot. I remember trying this with Rod and Hussein last time I was here, and remembered finding it hard, but not impossible, so I figured that it should be doable now. I got on it, clipped the first bolt, then it got hard! Awkward back step, strenuous pinch, lie back an edge, flail! Much flailing. I finally figured out the sequence and go to the second bolt, at which point I decided that if this was any indication of the rest of the climb, I was in trouble. So I came down, led The Beast (5.11b) - a non trivial climb in it's own right, with a bunch of interesting moves and thin flakes - and set up a TR. After Daniel and Rod had TRed The Beast, I had another go at Jason, and eventually made it to the top. Thin, sharp holds were de rigueur. No wonder it's called a test piece! If I were willing to work it, I'm sure that I could send it, but it seems more pain that it's worth. And I'm not that dedicated a climber.

(1536x2048 at 1089 kb)
(1536x2048 at 952.5 kb)

Charles and Daniel on the Arete

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Charles trying to make sense of Jason and the Argonauts
before moving onto The Beast

After lunch, we did Rampage (5.10c), which has some really cool rock crystals on it, then TRed Jekyl and Hyde (5.10b), which looks like it's missing it's 3rd bolt, making it rather run out unless one brings some gear along - a #1 camalot with a long sling would probably do it.
We were slowly losing the sun, and were climbing in the shade by the time we moved on to Black Hole Sun (5.10d). Very fun - some interesting body positions unlock what otherwise seems like a few very hard moves. Since we were right there, we also did Old and In The Way (5.11b/c), which has it's crux just above the first bolt. It took me a few trys to find out where the holds were, as they're damn hard to see from below, and they're a bit of a throw. Once you get to 3 moves past the first bolt, it's all over and you're into easy 5.8 territory. We finished off with Napa Valley Party Service (5.11a), which is also cruxy down low, then becomes pretty easy. A good climb none the less, that demands good footwork and some clever contortions.

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Rod on The Beast, and Black Hole Sun

It was getting a bit chilly, and our fingers were getting sore, so we packed up and headed down to The Bubble, to maybe do another climb there. When we got there, it was covered with climbers, so we headed down to the trail back to the car. The other reason for making the trip, was to go to Brenda's surprise birthday party, and we got there just in time for the fireworks, and the barbecued chicken. Yum! During the course of the evening, I was chatting with some local climbers, who revealed that some holds had broken off of Jason and the Argonauts, making it considerably more difficult than it used to be. D'oh! So it wasn't just my advancing age (or expanding waistline)....