Proof of climbing in Maple

[Climbing one of the cruxes of Orgasmo] We did actually climb some great routes in Maple this year. At the end of the three weeks, Ben and I had sent most of the projects that we had set out to send, gotten back into shape and had pretty much the best time we could imagine. Ben even managed to snap some photos of climbing.
For me, I was pretty excited to finally redpoint Orgasmo. This is a 12c that I had worked on last year, but could never manage to fight the incredible pump that builds up towards the end. The climb has 3 distinct cruxes, two of them being hard boulder problems and the third being a steep section of slopers and finger locks right at the anchors. If one were to hang right before entering this section, it would feel pretty easy. But approach it after 80 feet of overhanging 5.12 climbing and I never could seem to find the strength to pull the final moves. I kept falling one move before the anchors, which after a good 20 minutes of strenuous climbing can be incredibly frustrating. I would fall off and then immediately want to be back on so I could figure out what to tweak in my body to make the move possible. Unfortunately, I would have to rest for an hour and then climb up all the way to the end to experience that split second moment when I am about to fall and have to move my butt 3 degrees to the left in order to allow my body to move up and over the roof. Anyway, I finally got it on the end of the trip and boy did it feel good.
[Me on Deliverance] I was able to put down a few other climbs as well which felt satisfying at the end of the trip. The only project I left open was "Deliverance" which is another 12c/d, but this one is much shorter and much more bouldery than orgasmo. I had it all wired and could do it with one short hang, no problem, but by the end of the trip, I had run out of opportunities to get on it while feeling well rested. Oh well. Next year.

[Wendy on Dry Times] We climbed with some great people on this trip. Here is Wendy climbing a 12a/b called dry times. It has been described as the only "real line" at Maple Canyon since it actually follows a crack up the edge of a cave. Guy is a fellow from Texas who spends more than half the year on the road with his dog Mica. I think I wrote about Guy and Mica last year. Megan fell in love with Mica. We ended up camping in the same site as Guy for almost the entire three weeks. The only time he left was to go over to Canyonlands and ride his motorcycle around the 100 mile White Rim Trail. His big plan is to ride the Baja 500 next year. Oh yeah, and he climbs 5.14. [Guy and his dog]



Last Sunday, we took a rest day and ran into the Australian Shepard Dog Show in the city park of Mt. Pleasant. This girl owned these three dogs and was more than happy to explain all about them. She even let me give them a treat. I was kind of afraid to pet them because I didn't want to mess up their coat for the big judgment, but they were cute. Her little brother had a cool tie on. He kept getting into the cage and running around with the dogs.

And then, the last camping night, a Thailand sized beetle wandered into the Van. This thing was two inches long and make a horrible squeaking sound like pieces of broken glass being rubbed together. Yuck. I swear it bit my leg and now I am turning into super beetle.
So now I am back in Seattle for three weeks to do some work. I return to Thailand on September 24th. Funny, it seems so far away.
Marshall