First multi-pitch of 2025! Took a weekend trip out to Fruita with my family and seized the opportunity to climb Independence Monument in Colorado National Monument. I learned about the difference between national monuments and national parks. Colorado National Monument was established by President William Howard Taft in 1911 to preserve its “extraordinary examples of weathering and erosion”. John Otto was the monument’s first superintendent and encouraged the establishment of the monument. He lived in the monument, solely built trails to encourage visitors, and even got married at the base of Independence Monument.

Winter climbing crag near Reno! Everyone knows about Tahoe but do people know about Pyramid Lake? It is only slightly smaller in surface area and is the termination point of the Truckee River (the only outlet from Lake Tahoe).

Met up with Alex and Abby to get in a final alpine day before the winter! We drove down to Lundy Canyon, just north of Mono Lake.

Would love to come back some day and climb the main face of Cathedral! Today we decided to do the scamble on the south face. This route is primarily a hike until the last bit which rapidly transitions from 3rd to 4th to easy 5th class.

From left to right, the pictured cracks are: 5.8, 5.8, 5.7, 5.5.

Southern California is apparently a huge canyoneering destination! Many of the canyons are dry and the Seven Teacups is a unique feature and one of the few wet canyons. Prior to heading out, we spent some time studying the canyon on ropewiki and a couple of great blog posts.

You want a squeeze chimney? This is the best bang for your buck. Was it a 5.6? Maybe - people solo it. Did it feel like one? Boyyyy!

On a warm spring day, we took a trip up to cannibal-mountain.. I mean… Donner Summit! This is one of the most popular climbing areas in the Lake Tahoe area. We were lucky to be the only ones going up Junior High on School Rock. Junior High is one of the few multi-pitches on the I-80 corridor.

After doing Nisleheim, we were a little tired but were eager for another climb. I mean, we’re already up here, right? So after a quiet night of rest in the Valhallas campground, we packed up our tent and bags, and head over to Wolf Ears.

Most people that come up to climb in the Valhallas aim to climb Gimli. Some day I’ll come back for it! This weekend we went up to bag two peaks - Nisleheim and Wolfs Ears.

A long weekend spent in the East Kootenays! Justin, James and I went out to Crowsnest pass to check out “Rags to Riches” near Emerald Lake. Let me tell you - those rocks are LOOSE. Canadian Rockies don’t mess around. Would definitely recommend strapping on the helmet right away.

On a whim, we decided to seize the two-day weekend and make a quick trip down to Idaho’s panhandle. On Saturday we checked out the Schweitzer bike park and the town of Sandpoint (along with its disc golf course). On Sunday we took on the Beehive Five (aka the Selkirk Traverse).

Sometimes I think I know what I’m doing sport climbing, but then I want to spell “crag” like “craig” and think maybe not.

Boyyy after a heck of a time driving to Colorado down from BC and a chaotic week - we wanted to squeeze in a quick lap of the first flatiron.

We started climbing Megawatts around 12:15 on Sunday afternoon and finished up around 3:45pm. We climbed as a party of 3 with Justin leading, Wesley in the middle, and me taking up the back. Wesley’s first multipitch!!

Squamish is getting busy!! Justin and I took a week off of work to spend some time on the coast. We showed up to Spirit of Squamish at 1pm and waited for two parties to finish before we finally hopped on the climb at 2pm. It was well worth the wait.

Adding this post to have some sort of written documentation of the Amazons multipitch in the KeTaMux climbing area in Castlegar, BC. The first three pitches of this climb are on Joan of Arc. All of the pitches are easily simulclimbed or perhaps even soloed for those that like to keep things spicy. While the approach is a bit of an I-spy game, and the climb is a bit dirty, it’s an excellent place to teach someone how to multipitch. The bolts are painted matte so route finding can be a bit tricky at times but the wall is incredibly well bolted.

Justin has been talking up the Bugaboos for as long as I’ve known him. We decided it’s time for me to see what it’s all about! It was Justin’s fifth or sixth time up and my first. I’m very lucky to get to follow him around.

On August 1, Justin, some friends, and I set out to climb Spineback per Vic’s suggestion. Like she said, it was very nice. What’s not to like about an enjoyable, non crumbly, short, limestone multipitch in Fernie, BC?

For July long, we took a quick weekend trip down to Penticton. In addition to walking around to different breweries and farmers markets, floating the channel and climbing, we got to go through the cave at Skaha!

Grand Forks is a bit of an underexplored climbing gem. About 29km up North Fork Road, you can find the Slabs at Lynch Bluffs. Parking is on the east side of the road. When we first approached Millenial Falcon, we accidentally took the right fork and almost started up the wrong climb. Remember to take the left fork on the trail! The drawing on the “Not a Guide” is actually quite helpful.

Justin’s birthday! I had never been up the Chief in Squamish and Justin was kind enough to take me up the classic easy route. So beautiful, so fun! We didn’t even have to wait in any sort of conga line.

Star Chek! My first time leading part of a multi!

Wow! My first time ice climbing! Didn’t take nearly enough photos. Also my first time on BC ferries!

I wanted to compile a few photos from multiple happy jaunts up Freeway. Is there anything more Boulder classic than a casual run up the Second?

Climbing season was going late in Boulder! I asked Joe if he’d be willing to take me up Bitty Buttress and he kindly agreed. I love a quick afternoon multi!

Kelsea’s in town! We decided to do a quick climb up the third flatiron on the standard route. Such a beautiful and fun playground. We saw the usual casual soloers in trail runners and hawaiian shirts, and belayers with no anchors. I think Justin placed 1-2 pieces per pitch. Nothing out of the ordinary!

The approach to the casual route is about 6.2 miles and took us about 2.5 hours. We followed the trail up to Chasm Lake and circumnavigated the lake through a large boulder field to reach the base of the climb. We overestimated how long the approach would take and arrived at the climb at 4:30am. We sat under a large rock and huddled until 7am watching the sunrise.

Geared up to do a quick run of the East Ridge of the Twin Owls. Short but sweet!

Though Justin and I tried to convince Eric to come up to Colorado again, he convinced us that it was our turn to drive down to New Mexico to visit him. After making the 6.5 hour drive down to Los Alamos, Eric asked if we would be up for a mini road trip down to another climbing area. Justin agreed right away; I was skeptical of the additional 4.5 hour drive. Never the less, we got in the car the next day and set off to Enchanted Tower.

The approach to Mainliner was about 3.5 miles. It was mostly gradual with a steep section at the end to approach the climb. We tried approaching this climb earlier in the year, but were stopped by raptor closures. This time we got to get on it!

Turkey Rocks - “one of the finest concentrations of crack climbing in Colorado”. What better place to learn how to crack climb? I had never been crack climbing and couldn’t miss the opportunity. I spent the afternoon on Friday trail running with my mom in Winter Park. I had a half marathon in Steamboat on Sunday. Could I squeeze in a trip to Turkey Rocks? Bien sur!

Cliff and I reconnected for the first time since high school after realizing we’re both in Boulder. I told him that I was excited that I had scrambled the Second and that I was interested in other scrambling – but nothing too hard. Cliff suggested Angel’s Way. The approach trail starts from the NCAR trail head.

Eric and Justin took me up my second multipitch! They definitely have me hooked. We did two runs up Wizards Gate: