Everyday Adventure: Photo Post

Climbing everywhere!

Over the last four months I have been doing a good amount of exploring, climbing, and spontaneous adventuring.  Indian Creek, Salt Lake City, Joshua Tree, Gunnison, Zion... Most of this time I have been soaking up the experiences and absorbing as much as I can without taking too much time to share on the good ol' blog.  Instead my time reflecting has been on long drives, between belays, over beers, before bed, and spacing out in my natural peaceful state. I could write an intense blog post about it all, but honestly, I think that would detract from the big picture.  I wanted to explore and live life so thats what I've been trying to do.  Here are some photos from along the way... Credit to Andy Hansen and Ryan Strong for shooting some of the awesome shots from Zion.  

Enjoy

My van broke down in Gunnison Utah on the way home from Salt Lake City.

I attempted to aid solo the Rainbow Wall via bicycle in a two day effort.

Home Sweet Home in the canyons.

Discovered some cool street art while biking. 

Offwidthing hungover and almost barfed but didn't. Woohoo!

Will Stanhope came by and freesoloed Yin and Yang. 

A hummingbird flew inside the house to say Hello. 

Adam and I went to Joshua Tree and did some wide bouldering.

My van broke down in Gunnison again after being "fixed". 

Andy came to visit and we visited the monster offwidth. 

Dave and got on Desert Gold.

I discovered grumpy cat and laughed for days.

Built up a new bike then went thrifting. 

The good ol' boys join forces for some climbing shenanigans.
Top of Shune's Buttress 5.11+ in Zion.

A3 hook practice at Keyhole Canyon.  Both my hooks ripped shortly after this photo, radness!

Megamahedral 5.11 climbs the left corner system on the Minotaur tower.

Zion river crossing after climbing Megamahedral.

Inspecta-nut hangin' in Zion. Ain't no thang. 

Hanging belay on Shune's Buttress in Zion.

Andy gave me an "on belay" hug.

Belay party on Shune's Buttress.  Way higher and less comfortable than it looks!

High above the canyon floor about to top out Shune's.
Take note of the double long bus for scale.

Ryan and I keeping things real. 

Rope-Soloing: Solar Slab and One-Armed Bandit

Rose Tower summit shot after rope-soloing One Armed Bandit.

The desire to climb big walls has been my driving force in climbing ever since I first read about it in John Long's book "How To Rock Climb" back when I was in middle school.  Since then I have been gradually building the skills necessary to get close to accomplishing some of these goals.  This process has always has been a pretty natural exploration and it's really helpful that the skills build on each other and that one thing leads to another.  For me the next step towards big wall climbing seemed to be comfortably rope-soloing multi-pitch routes (aid or free). Being able to do this serves many purposes and is an excellent test of efficiency and rope management on the wall.  For me the main attraction was having an entirely independent and self sufficient climbing experience on terrain that usually involves two people.  To me the process seemed challenging and work intensive but it also seemed uniquly satisfying and meditative. So after gaining some confidence in a single pitch environment I soon geared up from my first multi-pitch rope-solo of One Armed Bandit 5.7 (5 Pitches, 500'). 

The challenge for me was not going to be the climbing difficulty (5.7) of the climb, but rather successfully implementing the rope system in a timely fashion in order to finish before dark while keeping myself protected and not getting stuck.  Rope-soloing is considerably more complicated and physically demanding than the conventional two person rope team because while rope-soloing the lone climber is responsible for every aspect of the ascent and must lead, rappel/clean, and ascend each pitch before being able to move on to the next.  (Not to mention carry/haul all the gear, ropes and water.) This up and down repetitive process zaps strength and time while adding an extra challenge that the climber must be prepared for.  Beyond the physical depends of rope-soloing it is also more technically difficult and requires an expanded knowledge of anchor systems, lead climbing, rope management, problem solving, and obviously a thorough understanding of the solo belay system.  Although this knowledge isn't anything too "out there" the experience is typically more serious and is often made a lot scarier (exciting) by being all alone on the wall.  There are many dangers and risks that are unique to rope-soloing and this style of climbing should not be considered by anyone lacking the proper skills and experience. Climb smart my friends!

An abbreviated explanation of the multi-pitch rope-soloing process.

I am hesitant to write too much about the actual rope systems involved because I don't want to be too brief in my explanation causing some people to overlook certain important elements.  That being said, this is not a rope soloing lesson.  If you're interested in this process get proper instruction and experience while safe on the ground.  In this post I will simply explain the general concept and process that is required when rope-soloing free climbs with enough provisions and gear for a one day outing alone (Grade III or less).

The Ultra-Basics: The climber will begin by setting a "ground anchor" for upwards pull at ground level.  This is your belay anchor and setting this up properly is one of the most essential components of the system.  The climber attaches to the rope (on the side attached to the ground anchor) with their solo device of choice (Soloist, Gri-Gri, etc.) and begins climbing up, placing gear as needed while clipping it into the lead line to protect the pitch.  The tail side follows and also hangs down towards the ground where it is neatly stacked. Great rope management is your friend here and back up knots are your best and only companion.  Eventually the top of the pitch is reached and the lead rope is tied directly (fixed) into the high anchor in preparation for a rappel back down to the ground.  The climber now rappels back down the rope and cleans the gear from the rock on the way down.  Once back down to the ground the climber gathers the remaining items (bag, ground anchor, rope) and prepares to ascend back up the rope to reach the current high point above. The climber ascends the rope with bag (otherwise a haul must be set up) and docks the bag at the high point anchor.   Another "ground anchor" is set up form this high anchor point and the process is repeated.  In essence the solo climber... 1) Leads the pitch. 2) Rappels and cleans the gear. 3) Ascends back up the rope and brings all additional supplies.  This process is repeated until the route is complete! Having fun yet?! 

Solar Slab (on left) in the early morning sun during the approach. 

After a successful ascent of One Armed Bandit I wanted to keep the soloist energy flowing and decided to aim for something much longer and more exposed than my previous ascent. I decided on Solar Slab 5.6 (13 Pitches, 2000') which was a sunny and classic long route I've been meaning to climb for a while.  The soloist approach allowed me to wake up early and easily get out there before any two people could probably organize themselves. Getting there first also meant I had the longest amount of daylight to complete the climb and without having any complications from other parties I was able to maintain my climbing cadence naturally.  I made quick work of the first 4 pitches up the Solar Slab Gully (an easy approach 5.3 scramble) up to the top of the lower tier to start my day.

After this I began climbing up the higher tier and into the heart of the route where I implemented the rope-solo system until the top.  This route has all bolted anchors which sped up the process a good deal, but my first anchor off of the big ledge was still a gear anchor because no bolted anchor existed at such a good stance. (Most people don't need an anchor at the ground here.) I set up my belay and immediately left the ledge and climbed up until the next anchor was reached after about 150'. I began getting into my rope-solo groove. So back down to the ledge I went, then back up to my high point with all my stuff in no time. I re-set the system and began climbing upwards again towards to next anchor above.  It was on this pitch that I started hearing distant voices of another party coming up gradually beneath me.  I fixed my line and started rappelling down just as the leader beneath me rounded over and onto the big ledge below.  This lit a fire under my already psyched ass and I knew it was time to cruise this thing! It was my goal to not get passed by any other parties and I knew I could keep a similar pace to an average team of two climbing Solar Slab for the first time. So I reached the anchor below and quickly grabbed my bag and hastily flung it over my shoulder in preparation for ascending back up.  Immediately I heard a loud bang/bounce noise and realized I had just sent a full Nalgene bottle flying out of my still open pack. "Shit, ROCK!" I yelled in loud embarrassment and watched the bottle hit the ledge two pitches below and explode with a Bellagio-esque fountain display.  Luckily the team beneath me was well out of the way, but still my mistake hung heavy on my head for the rest of the route and I was reminded I had ALOT more stuff that could still be dropped with much more adverse results.  I kept my pace but now with a new attention and focus to these "smaller" details.  Luckily for me the water bottle incident turned out to be my biggest blunder of the day and was only minimally stupid since I had came prepared with another full liter in the bottom of the pack anyway. From now on, everything gets a keeper loop. 

Solar Slab summit shot after 6 hours on route.

I continued upwards (and downwards) in a meditative yo-yo like trance always compelled to stay moving towards the summit.  Although the party beneath me was gradually gaining ground, I was able to stay ahead of them until the very last pitch when a big natural ledge is reached and easily shared.  From here I let them pass and apologized for the accidental water display earlier.  They seemed unfazed and were in return quite curious of my solo methods and even took the time to compliment me on my speed (thanks guys!).  We talked casually as their leader headed upward and we exchanged the last small amount of beta and descent info before the summit.  At this point I was pretty relaxed and took my sweet time climbing the last pitch and was soon scrambling to the summit.  Once arriving at the top I took in the amazing view and breathed a sigh of relief as I checked the time and realized I had climbed the route in 6 hours.  I was pretty psyched on the time (for doing it in this fashion) and started contemplating what other long routes might be possible solo in a day.  In reality the whole route could more easily be free-soloed (without a rope) in considerably less time but to me that wasn't the point.  I set out to implement an advanced and efficient rope-solo system to accomplish the route entirely independent and protected.  These methods and skills will continue to develop as I plan explore the more difficult and aid intensive routes solo this spring in Zion.  The perma-pyshc is still very much alive!

Offwidthing in Moab, Utah.

View from the base of Sorcerer's Crossing

Back in mid December I took a trip over to Indian Creek and the Moab area to get crushed by as many offwidths as my body and mind could simultaneously handle. When I arrived in the land of endless cracks my perma-psyche was at an all time high and I was eager to get out and climb! But unexpectedly my pysche was at a level that sleeping seemed next to impossible despite being exhausted from the day's drive. So in preparation for tomorrow's offwidthing we stayed up till 4am drinking beers of questionable quality blathering about who-knows what until we saw the people camping next to use waking up for their early morning start. At that time we decided it was appropriate to get some rest because soon we were going to meet up with Pamela and Jay to go climb some cracks in Long Canyon.  I was eager to explore the area and having these two show us around was more than rad. Onward!

Pamela Pack shows us the art of route finding in Long Canyon. 

Long Canyon might be one of Moab's best kept "secrets" so make sure to forget all about this post! Essentially this area is a lot like Indian Creek, except most of the lines are unclimbed and first ascents are everywhere!  It seemed a lot more adventurous to me because of the lack of other people around and the absence of some conveniences (poopers and good trails) that exist in Indian Creek.  Pamela pointed out a handful of Craig Luebben's route's and some of her own newer routes.  My mind was blown and they all looked awesome and hard!  So the only reasonable option was to go out and try a few of them... For me the most memorable routes I tried in Moab were Slither and Scream 5.11 and Done Lubin' 5.11.  Both these routes were featured in Pamela's article on Craig Luebben's "Top Ten Dessert Offwidths" that was featured in Climbing magazine and can also be read here.  Both of these cracks stood out to me as not only being aesthetic and impressive but they also demanded a truly unique amount of concentration and persistence that I might'a just had enough of. 

Matt Kuehl on pitch one of Done Lubin' 5.11.
Photo: Andy Reger

I happened to try Done Lubin' first. The rack for these types of climbs is always unbearable HUGE and makes even the "easy" climbing seem hard.  The start of this climb is a cupped-hand crack with a funky little foot-less section that would typically be no big deal, but now became surprisingly tricky with massive amounts of gear. After this section you can kiss your hand-cracks goodbye because it's nothing but offwidth for the next twenty minutes of your life (if you're lucky).  The climbing was very sustained and tricky throughout but the crux of the whole shebang has got to be when the crack widens and you can no longer hand or fist-stack the beast.  This 8" wide crack seems like it goes on forever and you can forget about trying to "rest".  You better love arm bars and thigh scums because that's all you get for quite a ways.  Simply and delightfully brutal.  I distinctly remember getting off this climb and looking down at my hands and arms and was convinced that this route had shrunk them and that I was forever a smaller and weaker human.  I was completely exhausted and nearly threw up.  It was the time of my life.

Matt Kuehl on the first pitch of Craig Luebben's Slither and Scream 5.11
Photo: Andy Reger

The next day we went to check out Slither And Scream 5.11.  I looked up at the route with an eager nervousness and debated internally about leading the climb or just taking the easy way out and top roping it, but the choice became clear to go for the lead. After some discussion about soft rock and ground falls I decided it would be wise to pre-place my first piece of protection for the soon-to-be lead attempt. So I went up on top rope to place the peice and sure enough I ripped off a huge chunk of stone and took a 10 foot top rope whipper right back to the ground. Gnarly! Somehow this gave me confidence and after I placed the good first piece I pulled the rope down and geared up for a lead attempt. 

 Pamela made it seem as if this route would fit my strengths (she always sandbags me!) so I was psyched and ever determined to make it to the top without a fall.  A majority of this climb is hand stacking and knee jaming on a sharp edged crack. Excellent movement that is pretty burly and exhausting.  Eventually the crack widens and you happily squeeze yourself in the crack for a rest.  What you soon realize is that the route is about to get seriously hard and that the rest of the climb is protected only by Big Bros. I delicately worked my way up as the moves became more precarious and difficult.  I placed an "OK" Bro that did not inspire much confidence in my now shrinking body. I tried not to think about it.  Continuing to slither up the crack I eventually got squeezed out and was now dangerously dangling outside the crack with nothing more than a brutal arm bar and leg scum holding me in place.  I somehow managed to place a better Bro but my confidence didn't really increase.  I worked my way up a few more feet and suddenly it hit me... I'm gonna fall onto this Big Bro!  And I thought to myself...

"DAMNIT YER GONNA DIE!"

Obviously I was a little dramatic in my own head, but after 30 minutes of climbing and then leading hard offwidth above Big Bros was, lets say, significantly intimidating. Luckily for me this inspired me to push myself beyond my perceived capabilities. At this point I knew I was totally committed and that I wasn't going to give up until I passed out from exhaustion.  So out of necessity I immediately development a new technique that has since been coined the "Super Try Hard" technique.  It is a mysterious technique that can only be used in very limited quantities, typically 30-60 seconds, before it is no longer useful and you are either completely screwed or undeniably sending. So after implementing the "Super Try Hard" I was able to place one last Bro and squeeze up farther to gain the last portion of squeeze chimney. From here you can catch your breath before running it out to the anchor. YES! Success! Once I returned to the ground I had wondered why Pamela didn't just send me up there with 9" and 12" Valley Giants so I could more easily protect the crux section.  I pondered this for a few moments before realizing that I had just sent one of Craig Luebben's classic offwidth's using Big Bro's (a device that he invented!) to protect the crux. Whoa, it all became clear and it was an amazing realization. I felt Craig's energy overwhelm me and I welcomed it all around.  

The rack for Slither And Scream 5.11

Jason, Jay, Pamela and Andy looking up at Pamela and Patrick's route Dark Passenger.

On a rest day we got to explore some other routes in Long Canyon.  Pamela decided to show us her and Patrick Kingsbury's new route Dark Passenger 5.12 and it was sick! We hiked into the base and it was truly wild looking crack, I've never seen anything like that before.  The crack on pitch two "squiggles" back and forth and I could only imagine it would be totally brutal to climb.  The am pretty sure Pamela ruptured a disc in her back on this pitch.  Read all about it here!  SOOO much more to share but I feel I have reached my capacity for this post.  More offwidth stories from Moab and Indian Creek will be added here and there for a while... as for now I am still taking it all in!  Thanks for reading and a special shout out to Pamela and Jay for showing us around this awesome place.  Respect!

Bro's Before Holes 5.10c

It's not often that a single pitch route in my own backyard stays on the to-do list for almost an entire year.  But the route Bro's Before Holes in Red Rock Canyon has captured and maintained my interest ever since I laid eyes on it in Jerry Handren's guidebook.  Described as an "impressive offwidth" that is "burly and sustained" the book recommends racking up with two #6 cams and six Big Bro's... an equally burly rack.  At the time I first read about it I only owned one of the recommended pieces. A single #6 clearly wasn't gonna cut the mustard.  So I began the slow process of tracking down all the gear needed to get on this beast of a route with a realistic chance of being able to protect it.

Big Bro's are mysterious pieces of climbing gear.  The adjustable tube chokes are coveted pieces for the offwidth junkie, but the majority of the climbing community has never placed one... especially not on lead.  Like offwidths, many people consider Bro's difficult to place, mostly scary, and a completely foreign experience. But with a little experimenting and practice the tubes become your adjustable buddies on your journey upwards into unknown territory at about the pace of a constipated turtle. That being said... once the gear had been gathered and the psych was ridiculously built up it was time to finally give it a shot.  I got my opportunity with Nick Rhoads and Jason Molina on an unsuspecting day in November.  What followed was certainly an unforgettable experience...

Matt Kuehl enjoying the burly and sustained Bros Before Holes.
Photo: Jason Molina

It was the first of the cold days to hit Red Rocks this fall and early winter. Temps in the shade topped out at about high 40's and the light wind chilled any bit of skin left uncovered.  The hike in up the steep and loose terrain was a great warm up for the day, but once we arrived I was eager to stay moving and start climbing before I chilled too much.  So we compiled all of our Bro's and I started eyeing up the crack.  At the base I scummed myself into the start and starred upwards at the massive crack and left the rest to be discovered in the spontaneity of my immediate future.  I felt prepared to do the pitch because I had done a handful of other cracks of this nature in the area.  But no crack is the same and this was truly a unique and challenging size demanding thorough concentration, commitment and strength.  The beginning isn't the most technically difficult because of some occasional fragile face holds, but as you work your way up you can feel the weight of the ground beneath you.  So you pluck the first Bro off your rack of seven and start precision fiddling, yanking, and bashing to secure your first piece.  More arm-baring and heel-toeing will keep your progress moving upwards as you gradually work your feet above your last piece of gear.  So you place another Bro and continue the grind for another 15 feet before all the would-be holds entirely disappear.  Now pleasantly forced to rely on true offwidth technique, I felt the character of the route really set in.  Only being able to occsaionaly rely on a chicken-wing and not being able to get my body fully squeezed inside the crack definitely made placing gear more difficult and strenuous.  I managed to place gear at about every body length until now... but now I'm stuck with a tipped out #6 and a significant amount of climbing to go.

Focusing my energy on moving upwards and relaxing my breathing I gradually slid the #6 up with me until the placement became more secure.  I placed another #6 above that and then slide it along for the ride, now entering the most technical portion of the climb.  This section required fist/fist stacking and some delicately insecure thigh/heel toe jam trickery.  If you are able to summon the ancients and not spin your wheels too much here you'll be just fine. Remember it's only 5.10c offwidth. After this section you are able to gain a small ledge which is an excellent rest spot and the ending of the truly wide difficulties.  What is left after the ledge is a 15 foot right-facing corner that could take a #5 or old #4 cam (that I didn't have at that time). Although this section seemed easier, it was still hard enough and I was already 10-15 feet above my last piece of gear.  I carefully moved upwards with foot jams, calf locks and baggy fist jams.  The rock was starting to get very questionable all around.  I delicately grabbed a small edge out right and begun to weight it while still quite run-out.  In an instant the entire section of rock in front of me had dislodged and crumbled apart hitting me directly in the forehead and torso.  I immediately yelled "Rock! Rock! Rock!" and watched as the sandy blocks hit the ledge beneath me and shattered into thousands of pieces raining down onto the ground. The rope went taunt and I feared rock fall had pinned the rope.  Beneath me Nick and Jason were just getting up after having just jumped into adjacent chasms to avoid the rockfall when they yelled up to me "Are you okay?". To their surprise I yelled back down "Yes... Don't take!" (The tension in the rope was pulling me down into the what-woulda-been scary as hell whipper.) Nick fed me slack as I brushed the piles of sand from my overalls.  I delicately continued upwards and managed to top out the route to complete a action-packed onsight of a route that's been on my mind for what seems like forever.  After I got down we played some Talking Heads and I believe these lyrics best sum up my experience...

"Watch out! You might get what you're after." - David Byrne

Trophy Crack

Click above to watch the video of me on Trophy Crack. 

While paging through the new Southern Nevada Bouldering guidebook recently I couldn't help but notice a photo of an awesome looking splitter crack problem.  With a little investigation I located the climb in the Sandstone Quarry area of Red Rock Canyon.  The crack is about 12-15 feet tall and goes from about 2 1/2 inches to 5 inches in width. The crack is also cut very clean with no face holds to help you along the way.  This splitter crack problem is a great way to practice crack climbing technique and it especially caters to those looking to learn some offwidth techniques.  This problem can be done in several different ways (probably) but the "kick-through" method seemed to be the easiest way for me to climb it.  Enjoy the videos and hope it's not too much beta spray!

Click above to watch my explanation of this climb.

Adventure Skunks

Andy Reger pulls off a pretty sweet little solo FA action.

Now officially back into the full swing of things here in Vegas means lots of work, climbing, and intriguing binocular findings out in Red Rocks. So far Andy, Jason, and I have checked out a lot of obscure areas that house a few less mentioned routes and a lot of unknown territory.  Most of these areas are tucked away far from other routes and always provide us with an excellent adventure and an exciting hike.  I think we all have something different envisioned for what route we might like to find out there, but I mostly look for clean cut cracks of wide nature.  This area is stacked with amazing features, cracks, and even unclimbed walls if you're willing to do the hike and pack in an increasing amount of ropes and equipment.  To me this is what this area is most unique for and I think we really enjoy embracing this adventure.  On our last climbing day we stumbled upon a great looking chimney that was long and clean cut.  A few moments after Jason and I walked past it we looked back and found Andy mid-chimney casually working upwards towards the top.  I think his eagerness to climb this pitch and also ability to embrace the unknown really sums up our climbing mentalities lately.  Nice solo Andy!

Jason Molina on the first version of our approach pitch.

We've found a few intriguing routes that we will soon be paying a weekly visit to. This will be our rock homage where we celebrate all aspects of adventure climbing by bushwhacking, walking into cactus' with sandals, and sometimes even do a little climbing! It's really a good time if you're into that sorta thing.  As of now I don't have much information to reveal but it goes without saying that I'm psyched to "stay after it" with many attempts and failures in the near future.  Because at the end of the day weather you win or lose you've always got that amazing Red Rock view... Now to the summit!

Craig Luebben on Offwidths in Rock & Ice #95

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