Gym Climbing in Tacoma

Well I've been stuck in Washington state the past couple of weeks for work without any of my gear and I wanted to do some climbing. I decided to hit a gym and get some indoor bouldering in so I looked up some places online and decided on Vertical World in Tacoma.

It was a pretty nice facility with mostly bouldering and just a couple of routes that could be set up for top rope. There were plenty of bouldering problems in a wide variety of grades on everything from low angle walls to big overhangs. They definitely had enough to keep me occupied and happy and I was completely pumped in about an hour and a half. I haven't been climbing much lately due to work and weather, I haven't even hit the ice yet this year, and I could tell this has affected me negatively for sure.

The staff there was really nice and helpful and the facility was pretty big for just having bouldering. They probably have the nicest padding setup I've seen, it was all covered in a vinyl like material with sewn seams so there was no gaps or separation in the pads, it was just one huge pad. They had minimal weight and cardio equipment so if you are looking for that sort of thing this probably isn't the place to go, but again the bouldering problems were excellent.

In summary, if you are in the Tacoma area and looking for a gym to get some bouldering in I would highly recommend Vertical World. Day passes are $12 and student passes are $6. You can check them out at Vertical World They have multiple locations throughout Washington if you happen to be somewhere else in this beautiful state.

Washington

Well this last week it dumped snow on Tacoma, that's about a half inch of ice not that bush. Then finally today the sun popped out and, bam, a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier.

Off I-80 an onto I-5

Continuing my trip to Washington found me on I-5 northbound out of Sacramento today. As we headed north we eventually were able to catch a glimpse of Mt. Shasta.

View of Mt. Shasta looking North along I-5

Another view of Mt. Shasta from the south on I-5

View of the mountains along I-5

Eventually we made it to the town of Mt. Shasta where we pulled off to get some more pictures and fuel.

View of Mt. Shasta from the road towards it

Another view of Mt. Shasta

Finally into Oregon.

My trip accross I-80

So in my quest to reach Washington state this week, today I drove across I-80 to Sacramento. I've never driven this stretch of road before so it was a nice little road trip. I've heard a lot of people say it is a boring drive but I thought it was plenty scenic. Below are some pictures I took when we took a little detour through Donner Pass.

A view of Donner lake from the top of the pass

View from the lake shore.

Really Donner Party? Really? This is the dreaded
amount of snow that drove you to cannibalism?

By the way it was extremely windy up in the pass. I jumped out long long enough to get these pics and then jumped right back in the truck to seek shelter from the cold wind.

My newest toys

Check out my new toys.

Went to REI today and picked up two Black Diamond C4 Cams. So excited! I can't wait to go out and start learning to build anchors with them.

I'm heading out tomorrow for a road trip to Washington state. Hopefully I will get to see some cool stuff and be able to post some pictures from the trip.

Save Red Rock!!!!

Me climbing at Red Rocks. It would be such an eyesore to look over my right
shoulder and see a huge development.

So Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Clark County, NV (about 20 min west of the strip) is currently threatened by development. If you care about keeping our wild place wild please visit www.saveredrock.com for more information and to learn what you can do.

To sum up what is going on they want to build a major development with around 7000 homes with all the support and infrastructure buildings and items you need for a development this big right across the street from the entrance. (i.e. schools, police stations, fire stations, gas stations, strip malls, etc.) Some people have argued that this is not that big of a deal, but if you have ever visited RRCNCA you would know that this will be a major eyesore and create a multitude of problems.

Please write the Clark County commissioners and let them know you do not support this plan. The Access Fund has a form letter you can use if you can't think of something to say on your own. Some people suck at coming up with things to say, I get that I'm usually the same way.

My dilemma

Well I went climbing today with a friend and took Ares with me. While climbing I realized I have a small dilemma, I really want to start photographing climbing. I have ideas in my head for so many awesome shots but I never have the chance to take them. Obviously I could go out and take pictures of random climbers climbing, but the problem with that is that is time I could spend climbing myself. I think the only solution is to start climbing in groups of three or maybe four. That way when I'm not belaying or climbing I could be taking pictures.

Of course part of the problem with that is most of the people I go with I am bringing all the gear, which doesn't leave me with my own gear to rig me up to take pictures from different angles. I could just take all of my photos from the ground or from places where I can hike up, but that's kind of lame. I'll figure something out, one of my friends just bought some gear and another is about to so maybe I will start having the chance to take more photos, if only I can get more friends to go out climbing at the same time.

On a side note Ares was stoked to use his new camelbak (water backpack as he calls it). He thought it was very cool and had a lot of fun hanging out with us. He was very good and waited somewhat patiently for the sucker my friend Phil promised him if he was good.