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| Stephanie at the French Cattle Ranch. Photo cred: Tony Kim |
Blue sky
Green grass
Country music
Mountains
Flies
Lots of flies
Winding roads
Clear creeks
Alpine lakes
Delicious trout
Moose
Delicious trout
Moose
Oh yeah, climbing
Lots of climbing
Miles and miles of climbing
BBQ
Whiskey
Trucks
Late mornings
Afternoon thunder storms
Best guidebook ever
Climber's Festival
Friendly locals
Climbing
Falling
Climbing
Vacation
I'm not sure how else to summarize Ten Sleep Canyon. It is my happy place. A lifetime worth of established climbing with another lifetime worth of potential. It is the most relaxing climbing area I have ever been to. Generally nobody climbs before about 1:00 PM because that's when most of the walls go into the shade. That means long mornings filled with fishing, reading, and big breakfasts followed by long evenings of amazing sport climbing. What more could I want out of a climbing vacation?
This was my second visit to Ten Sleep. Stephanie, Reed, Tony and I drove through the night from Seattle to meet up with James, Melissa and their friends Dan and Stacy. Overall we spent 8 days in the canyon.
Of course, everyone absolutely killed it on the rock. This was one of Stephanie's first real climbing trips and she really hit her stride on the edgy, pockety Bighorn dolomite, flashing a whole bunch of 5.10's and getting up her first couple 5.11's (including one 5.11c! damn girl!). Reed hit a big milestone when he sent his first 5.12a, called Oo La La. It is a gorgeous 100-ft sweeping arete that requires good pump management. He and Tony worked the route together. Tony sent first (EDIT: I have been informed that James Higgins started the send train), telling us all to be quiet rather than cheering him on, which made for an intense redpoint. Not cheering can be really hard! Reed was up next, just in time for a thunderstorm to roll in. He climbed confidently and rested well, even managing to hold it together when a crucial heel hook blew. He crimped his way through the pumpy face above the arete with thunder clapping overhead and finally clipped the chains on his first 5.12, and a proud one at that. I'm not sure who got the "most intense redpoint" award of the day.
Sadly we eventually had to return to civilization and were bombarded with stories of police officers shooting people, people shooting police officers, and Pokemon taking over the world. Never leave the mountains, kids.
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More photos!
Miles and miles of climbing
BBQ
Whiskey
Trucks
Late mornings
Afternoon thunder storms
Best guidebook ever
Climber's Festival
Friendly locals
Climbing
Falling
Climbing
Vacation
I'm not sure how else to summarize Ten Sleep Canyon. It is my happy place. A lifetime worth of established climbing with another lifetime worth of potential. It is the most relaxing climbing area I have ever been to. Generally nobody climbs before about 1:00 PM because that's when most of the walls go into the shade. That means long mornings filled with fishing, reading, and big breakfasts followed by long evenings of amazing sport climbing. What more could I want out of a climbing vacation?
Of course, everyone absolutely killed it on the rock. This was one of Stephanie's first real climbing trips and she really hit her stride on the edgy, pockety Bighorn dolomite, flashing a whole bunch of 5.10's and getting up her first couple 5.11's (including one 5.11c! damn girl!). Reed hit a big milestone when he sent his first 5.12a, called Oo La La. It is a gorgeous 100-ft sweeping arete that requires good pump management. He and Tony worked the route together. Tony sent first (EDIT: I have been informed that James Higgins started the send train), telling us all to be quiet rather than cheering him on, which made for an intense redpoint. Not cheering can be really hard! Reed was up next, just in time for a thunderstorm to roll in. He climbed confidently and rested well, even managing to hold it together when a crucial heel hook blew. He crimped his way through the pumpy face above the arete with thunder clapping overhead and finally clipped the chains on his first 5.12, and a proud one at that. I'm not sure who got the "most intense redpoint" award of the day.
As for me, I was able to send Kyberspace 5.13a/b, which may or may not be my first 5.13, depending on who you ask (I previously did a couple routes with the enigmatic 12d/13a grade). It follows a gorgeous line up some cool compression features that end with a crux stab to a pocket, followed by another 60 feet of pumpy technical face climbing. Amazing! I also managed to onsight a bunch of 5.12s and almost snagged a second-try send of Crown Prince Abdullah 5.12d until tragedy struck. I was above the crux, going for the send when I stabbed to a two-finger pocket and felt something wet. I looked at my finger and it was covered in blood. Turns out that pocket has a nice sharp edge on it that tore a monster flapper on my middle finger. That was the end of my day. Fortunately tape and super glue kept me going for the rest of the week. Next time, Crown Prince. Next time.
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| Myself on Crown Prince Abdullah shortly before circumcising my finger. Photo cred: Tony Kim |
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More photos!
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| Oh baby. |
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| Cool drone shot courtesy of Tony. |
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| Meadowlark Lake |
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| Tony on Vitamin K |
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| Unfortunately this is the only photo I got of Reed on Oo La La. This is him working the moves on top rope, sadly I forgot to take photos of him during the redpoint. |
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| Reed's Catch from Ten Sleep Creek, just below Meadowlark Lake |
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| Ten Sleep Climbers Fest |
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| Team Slip Nips |
