Black Mountain

Finally! A family photo! In our typical style, this is as good as it gets for getting us all in the same shot.

For Memorial weekend we were invited to join several other climbing families for a weekend climb/camp trip to Black Mountain. Kids made new friends fast and had loads of fun.

There was, of course, climbing things.

Checking out views...

Hiking in search of boulders...

Getting lost and proceeded to bush-whack on steep terrain with a bunch of little kids...

To find, and arrive, at the mothership of boulders... Once Upon A Time, v1X.

(not my photo.. found on Google to show the scale and look of this amazingly formed and placed boulder! Notice the additional pads placed at the bottom, left corner. It covers a crack that drops VERY FAR below.)

This was pretty much as close to climbing it as we got. Okay, several of us did walk up to the climb and feel the first hold. =)

Photo above IS my photo and is the view of the boulder on approach. While it is only a V1 rating, the "X" after the V1 means there is minimal protection for this climb. Aka.. spotters and pads might not be enough to stop a fall. And if you fall, don't fall into the crack cause it can result serious injury.

And to think, Alex Honnold just free soloed El Capitan via Freerider, a 5.12d/5.13a, with some V7 boulder moves in it...that's essentially like 10x harder and 200x longer than this climb that none of us was willing to try.

Break time = Snack time..

Definitely one of the nice things about car camping with lots of other people is that there is no shortage of food or anything that I might have forgotten to bring. I am so accustomed going about it in a minimalist, backpacker style.. my kids automatically knew to rushed over and asked the other parents (the ones cooking pancakes and eggs and bacon) if they could have some breakfast.

I admit, I also went asking around for extra coffee since I typical bring convenient pre-mixed coffee/cream/sugar servings which are just so-so coffee.

The climbing was pretty decent there too. A lot of boulders were relatively close to the campgrounds, so there was no need to drive. One of the climbs that I had picked to project was Gypsy's Day Out, V3. It's a short, but all power moves from start to finish. I came a few centimeters short from being able to reach the last hold. I stubbornly kept attempting a big throw to the end, but in hindsight, I think I need to change up the sequence to find a short person beta for it. So, this will hopefully be a send next time we go out here.

And here's Ryan on Gypsy's Day Out. It did take one try for him to figure out the moves, but he sends it. Liam's first time as camera man.



Ryan also sent another awesome climb, Visor Direct, V6. I kept taking videos of him as he attempted and worked the moves, but, of course, the one time that I was focused on tending to the kids instead of paying attention to Ryan, he completes and sends the problem. It was an amazing send too. Lots of people spotting him from below... he's hanging on the top of problem, feet dangling, figuring out how to get over the lip with people yelling all sorts of beta. "Step left".. "Heel hook right"..etc. He got it and there were cheers all around. It was great.

Ryan also set up a top rope for the kids to climb. This boulder turned out to be just perfect for the kids. There were good holds and feet, but due to the angle and slope of things, it required a bit of figure out body position and movement. All the kids gave it at least one try. There were a few tears, which required parental encouragement, but most kids did reach the top anchor.

Liam surprisingly had the cleanest climbing on this one. He likes to high step a lot of things, and for this climb, it turned out to be the right move to get him to the top.



Liam was the first to climb, and then Emilia next. First part of this video is funny as you hear Liam giving Emilia some advice.

All in all, it was another fun camp/climbing trip. We are starting to refine our gear and process for being more efficient on these trips. Each time, I learn more about things we need versus things we don't need, and how to make packing, food prep, etc more efficient. And the kids, they amaze me. They are becoming accustomed to these trips. They handle being out in various kinds of weather really well. They can hike several miles on rugged terrain with good balance (better than mom).