Ascents by Nick Boldt

#2. The struggle is real. Cheated a bit, eventually got up there on TR.

#6. With a rope on Woolf of Wall Street, tried to start this a few times, gave up, did the start of the 5.9 and then jogged left as much as possible. Doable if I can figure out the ground start next time.

#5. Moved the anchor from Woolf at the Door to this route, and did it on TR.

#4. Fell off partway up, possible between 3rd and 4th clip. Jugged up, grabbed the draw in anger and just kept going after that. That's kind of an onsight, right?

#4. Closer to the day. Went up Knockdown Street, but instead of the bolt anchors went over to Dreamberry Wine to lower back down.

So I climbed it, and rapped down with the intent to pull the rope, but the sandpaper edge refused to budge. Will jogged up and saved the rope & threw it down to me.

#3. This was a workout.

#2. This was fun. A few more laps on TR and I'd consider leading this, now that I sorta know the beta.

#1. Will lead, I just TR'd. Could probably lead this next time, though would have to climb it differently.

#1. I cleared some deadfall across the trail above JP's arete (maybe near Univ. Wall?) while Will and his son set up this route, then had a quick go on TR. Nice route on TR, would be hard to lead.

#2. Will climbed up with my wire brush, clearing the muck on the ledge and above.

Can be done as a sport climb, if you're OK with a bit of a runout near the top -- not sure why it's listed as a mixed route.

#3. Will scrubbed this on the way down from This Town, but perhaps not in the correct spots.

An attempt was made. Broke off a number of crystals. Gave up on two crux sections and just jugged the rope until I had good hands, so not logging this as a success. Would consider attempting it again.

Then Will's son found a great side pull off to the right in an area of uncleaned lichen and moss, that both will and I had missed.

Route still needs more cleaning, as there's a tonne of lichen & moss obscuring the holds.

#3. So. Wet. Not a fan.

#5. WAAAY easier than the first time I led this. Even skipped a bolt near the top.

#4. Will led, with pauses, and went far left into the bushes, using a tree stump at one point.

I then went up on his gear, and tried the right side of the overhang instead, which was a bit grovelling and felt ballsy... but great. Ultimately the beta is probably to just pull OVER the face, but hey. Will definitely do that one again.

#1. Lead, with Karla and Peter on the trad line to the left. Felt really good -- my slab game is improving!

#2. Big stiff for a warmup, but Karla and Peter had moved over to Crocodile Tiers, so we moved on to this instead.

Would do again, but oof, glad I was on TR for the overhang crux bits.

Left a draw on the 2nd bolt on the way down, making Will have to climb up to that, unclip it, then unstickclip the bottom draw. Whoops!

#1. Warmup and an opportunity to teach Will how to do a top-belay. He brought his pre-tied quad for easy in/out. Cold day! Felt like a 5.9 getting off the ground. Attempted the pull through the hand crack at the right side near the top (the traverse/crus bypass) but couldn't find feet; so went the tried and true way to the left.

#2. OMG so much fun, this one, despite the wind. Will stayed in the dihedral and did some delicate lean-and-clip moves for the first bit, then it opened up and he moved more into the main line; I was able to follow his beta but went right into some juggy flakes earlier, making for an easier clipping stance (or unclipping stance, as I was cleaning.

We split it into two pitches, as there's an anchor set up on the ledge after 5 or 6 bolts, and then carried on from the ledge, traversing right and into the beautiful clean white granite.

NOTE: this route can have nesting birds on it, so avoid during nesting season (May?).

#3. Will hung the draws and then dared me to lead it, which I did! Gotta love slabs with two-finger single crystal pinches. Will definitely try this again on the sharp end.

#4. Decided to TR this because of the ground fall potential between 1rst and 2nd bolts. Needed a rest and a few careful attempts, but did solve the beta. May need another pass on TR before I will want to lead this.

#2. More Trad. This time I placed a micro cam above one of Will's but placements, just to remind myself how to plug cams. Nut placements were good.

#1. Will placed gear, then pulled the rope and I lead it on his placements.

#5. Cooldown. A nice simple 5.6.

#3. A reminder that slabs can be brutal and near-vertical ones are even worse. But a nice intro (on TR) to the tiny "handholds" available in the 5.11 world. Single finger pulls! Crystal crimps! barely-a-foot smears (and then decent ledges). A world of hurt, considering I'd punctured the pad on my third finger a few days earlier at Columbus Wall. Will put this up, Ben struggled but also completed it.

#1. Will and Ben put this up (with effort) and then I had a whack at it. Did OK, but with several hangs, rests, bouts of cursing, etc. Would try again if someone threw a rope on it for me Definitely not ready to lead it, but could be an interesting project...

#2. I'm calling this an onsight... even though I was 1 move from the anchor and was feeling rushed for time, so rather than flailing and maybe falling, I decided to just grab the quad that previous climbers had left and pulled up on that.

Next time might skip the stick clip and will also sort the ending slab-arrete madness all the way to the top.

Route climbs like a 5.8-5.9 until the upper third, when it definitely goes 5.10.

#4. TR, cleaning on the way up. Felt way better than my last lead attempt w/ Karla, but still a struggle. Will was NOT a fan.

Will only placed three cams for the bottom section: gold, green?, and red; the last one repositioned once he was higher up, so a 2nd red would have also been useful. Once on the ledge, headed left to check out the exit crack and decided not to bother, as he'd not brought gear for anchoring on the tree. He placed draws on the bail biner bolt, left in the gear as backup, lowered down, and then I went up and cleaned it to rap off & end the day.

#3. Will crushed this on his first attempt, needing only a small rest to sort out the beta for the top bit. I then tried it on TR and while it was not nearly as flowy or continuous, I did suss out all the moves, including the awkward "pinch a crystal and stand up on the ledge, then carefully flow right to the rail" section.

Unclear why the last bolt exists, as it seems to be in the middle of a field of nothing.

#2. Will led, I TR'd. Would have been a sketchy lead for me, but might have to go back at some point at try it myself.

#1. An easy climb, easily protected.

#3. With the draws already hung, was able to try Will's beta -- staying low under the bulge with a knee bar to rest until ready for the big move to get up on the face. Next time will need to figure out how to hang the draw, climb back down, rest, and then push through.

#1. Warmup. I still have a tendency to jog left at the crux instead of pushing through the direct line, but hey.

#4: great route - mix of styles from jugs to overhang to delicate traverse to slab.

#2. With Will's beta, I think I might be able to actually lead this clean next time. That left toe crux move though, yikes.

#5. Had a long rest as someone else was leading this, and was taking some time to finish the upper bits. I also gassed out part way up, partly due to the bloody hole in my right index finger pad. Did eventually finish the route, but getting the chains on TR was a bit of a struggle as I likely needed more slack to make the move, and communication with the ground via my broken Spanglish wasn't great.

#3 in a row. Hangdogged twice, was definitely pumped out after this one. Went for a rest by the river pool and soaked my feet and arms to bring down the swelling. Beautiful spot to camp or just swim.

#4, after resting. No problem getting through the 5.7 start, then needed 3 or 4 attempts to figure out the 5.10a crux at the top. Would do this one again.

#1. Nice warmup and intro to Cachi rock. My guide told me it was too easy for me.

#2 in a row. Easy peasy, might have gotten a suggestion from the guides on the ground, so will log as a flash instead of onsight.

#5 on the day. Temps were dropping a little and hands / feet were getting cold. That's my excuse for having to hangdog a couple times in the middle of the route. The bottom: easy. The top, no problem. The crux in the middle: yeah, that'll require some projecting to get it dialed in. Made a mess of it and flailed around, but did finally finish it.

#4. An interesting enough climb but probably not worth the messy rappel off unless you like landing in bushes.

If I did it again I'd likely link it with No Call Waiting -- little value in the belay anchor at the midpoint. Felt easier than a 5.10a.

#1. Nathan led, I followed. Super good feet and decent hands, despite being an all-slab affair. Definitely a challenging route for a warmup, but very enjoyable on TR. We did not climb it as a mixed -- just a sport route. Bring alpine draws to minimize drag.

5 out of 5, would climb again.

#2. Nathan led, I followed. Fun route, ending in the chimney I encountered the last time I did Flakin' (when Kevin went off course). Definitely a more interesting climb than Flakin'.

Guidebook has this as 5.10b, for one small section that's definitely some effort. Rest climbs much friendlier.

5 out of 5, would climb again.

#3. Stick clipped the start because hey, why not?

Interesting couple of moves, then you're 3 clips in and it's a walk up / scramble. Almost missed the 4th bolt next to some bushes but clipped it cuz it was there, not because the difficulty merited it. Never found the 5th bolt.

Guidebook calls it a 5.10a but there's nothing really to it once you get the first couple moves done.

If I did it again I'd likely link it with Safety -- little value in the belay anchor at the midpoint.

#4. Ran up this in trail runners to see if I could. Doable, with some commitment.

#1. Karla led, I ran up in my trail runners to clean it. Doobie doo, same ol' same old.

#2. First lead since back in NS. Fun times! Easier than I remembered. Could be because for the opening move, I remembered to go left onto the face, pulling on the horn.

#3. Lead, much cleaner than last time. Still a bit spastic in the middle section, but with the help of a couple yellow and red cams, a green, and a micro cam, I sewed it up pretty well.

Then got to the hanging block, which MOVED and rotated out of the slot. Caution, it seems wedged but it can still be adjusted upwards. Could come loose with erosion and fall out.

Ended up on the 5.7 chains to the right.

Great route, despite the pants-moistening moment near the top. Yikes!!

#5. Did a second lap on TR after Karla and Kevin had been up it too. Attempted in trail runners but decided I needed a better toe for the crack feet, so came down, shoed up, and got er done.

And then it was sunset and time to hike out.

#2. First time doing this as a 2 pitch route. Kevin led and set gear anchor with a couple cams and a bolt. Josh came up next and did the unclip/reclip dance. I cleaned. Bit of a moment while Kevin was doing the second pitch as we realized a bunch of the rope was tied up in the anchor and had to redo that and re-anchor Josh with girth hitched sling.

Kevin then went off course towards the top and traversed right, to end up in a crack below the rap rings. Nice variation!

#1. Quick TR warmup, after Josh's lead on double stuck clip start. Kevin also led from single stick clip, and cleaned.

#3. Spent a bunch of time sorting out a ground anchor for Josh to belay me, which turned out to be very needed as I slipped off just below the last bolt and took a nice, clean whipper. Good times. Reset, went back up, stayed more to the left, and sorted myself out. Josh then cleaned (I just unclipped gear on the lower, but left them in) and Kevin TR'd as we were running out of time.

#1. Bit stiff for a warmup, but Jamie decided he wanted the extra challenge instead of warming up on Smoking El Bum Waddos, a 5.9 G. He cruised it pretty easily. First attempt: put in two pieces and then reset to start over. Second attempt: ran up it clean.

Then I fought the crack for a while, decked a couple times at the start (because being NS, the crux was getting off the ground, as usual!) and eventually made my way up. Gave up trying to jam the crack midway, and since I was on safely protected TR, opted to layback the middle section, only flailing and falling a handful of times.

Karla went up about half way and decided the battle wasn't worth the effort as she didn't want to be pumped for the rest of the day. WISE MOVE, as my horrible performance on Sleeper would later demonstrate.

Jamie then pulled the rope, ran back up the route plugging less gear, and completed it with what looked like very little effort. Delightful to watch & learn from.

Will have to try this again when I'm fresh, rested, and not thinking about dead family members.

#2. Apparently I had no gas left after my TR assault on Farewell To Arms. After Jamie led and Karla unclipped gear (but left it in) I had no choice but to actually get my ass up the wall to get the gear back.

Struggled to get off the ground, fell off 2-3 times. Got past the initial left hand jug at the start (once I found it, FFS). Made some grovelling progress, fell off again and hung about 4 feet off the deck.

Eventually figured my shit out and climbed it, but OMG not my finest hour.

Second pitch: Jamie led, and I went up after him as I was running out of time and needed to hike out to the car for a previous commitment. Second pitch was easier - Jamie only placed on cam (compared to the 4-5 pieces in the first, longer pitch). Karla came up last and they rapped back down while I hiked out.

#4. Since the anchors for TI are right next to Memories, Dave suggested we try it. So I moved the rope over for TR and we attempted it, both being shut down by the roof crux. The bottom 2/3rds was fun though.

#2 & #3. Stick clipped the first two bolts after spending some time scrubbing off moss and debating the best way to start the route. Cheated the top bit by jogging left into the bushes instead of taking on the direct crimpy face. Then Dave did a lap (also through the bushes), and I went back up on TR to attempt the face successfully. Would climb it again.