Squamish, BC
09.12.09 - 09.13.09
Emiko and I logged a couple lazy days of climbing in our favorite granite Mecca, Squamish, BC. As in lazy I mean, that we didn’t pull into Squamish until about 4:00PM on Saturday (so we only climbed about 3 hours that day); Sunday, we rolled out of bed at around 8:30, had a nice breakfast at the White Spot, and then meandered casually to the base of the wall at around 10:00. Long story short, although we were excited to be climbing in Squamish, we’d come with no particular goal in mind (other than to relax and have fun). We ended up climbing a bit of a Squamish sampler—good times!
Two highlights of the trip: First, Emiko put up an impressive lead of the ultra mega classic “Exasperator”! She did an awesome job. I
(Eric) must admit, I was super nervous for her to lead the route; although I know she’s an excellent climber, Exasperator is a climb
much more difficult than anything she’d led before; hence, I fretted. My fretting, however, proved to be without merit as Emiko did an
excellent job. During her lead, Emiko actually took a fall onto gear (during which she screamed—she’s quite the screamer when she’s scared.
You should hear her on carnival rides—yikes! But I digress.). The fall didn’t
hinder Emiko a bit; as soon as the rope caught her (and she stopped screaming), she looked down at me with a big smile on her face which communicated
a “Go figure—I fell. No problem!” type sentiment. Two seconds after the fall she was back to her lead. I was so proud of her I could hardly
contain myself—had I been wearing a shirt with buttons, surely they’d have popped off!
Second. Around 11:00 PM Emiko and I were parked at the tiny Squamish shopping center in search of food--unfortunately, other than a lone pizza and a liquor store, the shopping center was closed. Our dining options limited, we opted for--you guessed it--pizza and beer. When our pizza was done (it was carryout only), we left the pizza store and got into our truck. As I started the truck, I noticed a gentleman standing conspicuously close to my truck door. “Hmmm,” I thought, “this is strange; why’s this guy just sanding in the empty parking lot, and why isn’t he moving?” He was creeping me out a bit—I figured he was just some local weirdo; however, just as I was about to drive away, I realized the guy was looking at something. Following the direction of the man’s gaze his strange behavior suddenly made sense—he was looking at an enormous black bear not 30 feet away! I turned to Emiko and said in an inappropriately casual voice, “Oh look, a bear.” She said, “Yeah, right!” But as she turned her head to catch a glimpse of the hairy black beast she quickly changed her tune. “OHHHH MYYYY GODDDD!” she hollered, and promptly jumped out of the truck
(!!) with her camera. Unfortunately, it proved too dark to get a good picture of the bear, but the bear’s massive figure is, nevertheless,
forever etched in our minds. Too cool. Guess, like us, the bear was in search of some late night dining;
fortunately, neither climbers, pizza, nor beer appeared to be on his menu.
Howe Sound from Malamute.
Eric leading “Paul’s Crack” - 5.10a.
Emiko following the same.
Emiko at the top of the first pitch of “Apron Strings” - 5.10b.
Emiko nearing the top of Apron Strings’ second pitch.
Emiko at the top of the climb (I think our truck is actually visible behind).
Emiko leading “Exasperator” – 5.10—Awesome!
Emiko on her excellent lead! Awesome!!
Awesome!!!
Awesome!!!!
Emiko preparing to climb the first pitch of “Peasant’s Route” – 5.10a
Emiko working Peasant’s Route.
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