Cedar Project - V10 (guest video)

Here is a short video Jess Firestone shared with me of his ascent of Cedar Project - V10 on the, you guessed it, the Cedar Boulder.  Nice send Jesse!



I'm always interested in promoting the Carver bouldering community, so if anyone has photos or videos they want to share of their victories or defeats in the Carver woods, let me know in the comments or send me an email at carverbouldering gmail com.

Looks like the weather for next week is really starting to shape up so make sure your chalk bag is full and your brushes are in your bag.

Season 2012: Wet & Clean (Sort of)

It was raining today, which made it a good day to walk the woods at Carver. The only trash I picked up  was a movie ticket stub.  Thanks to everyone for helping to keep the area clean.

I strolled out to the Titlest Boulders and cut back the nettles and brambles that are starting to grow along the trail.  My main reason for heading out there was to check out the condition of the boulders in that group.  I gave a shout out to Andy T. in my last post for cleaning the Water Tower Boulder (at least a large portion of it) back into a climbable condition.  Andy also cleaned and got the first ascent of Problem #17 on page 9 of the guidebook.  This problem is listed as the Water Tower Project in the bouldering guide, but now that it is no longer a project, Andy has named it Unearthed and goes at V1. Sometimes things are projects for the simple reason that no one else was ever motivated to clean it off.

Unearthed starts in the notch just behind the tree and heads up and right to finish just left of the high point on the boulder.

While I was out at the Titlest Group I rough cleaned the top of the right-hand side of the Titlest Boulder. I also cut back the landings around the James Dean and the Quota Boulders.

After that bit of work, it was off to the Bonzai Boulders to pick up any more trash I might find. There wasn't any, which was awesome! I was so stoked I rough cleaned the Ivy Boulder (on the map on page 35). This boulder hasn't been climbable in at least 6 years. There are two problems listed in the guide for this boulder on page 37, College Prep, grade unknown and Shop Class, V2.  Having now cleaned the ivy off this long, low boulder I also suspect there will be a lip traverse that starts the same as College Prep and heads right to finish Shop Class. There is also a little problem that will start under the little roof and move up and over for the exit.

The Ivy Boulder with a lot less ivy than it has been used too.

And after 4 hours of trail maintenance and boulder cleaning, some of it in the rain, I was really sweaty and REALLY DIRTY. My fingers even got dyed the color of my gloves.

So thanks again to everyone for helping to pick up trash, clean boulders and keeping the woods generally friendly.  Don't forget to be a patron of the Stone Cliff Inn every once in a while.  Mr. Rosenbaum has shown us a ton of support by continuing to allow climbing on his property and we should show him some gratitude by enjoying a beverage and some food in his restaurant. The patio does have a great view of the river.

If anyone has Carver photos or videos they would like to share via this blog, let me know and we'll set it up.

Season 2012: Dry & Green

Mark O. pressing the top out on a fun, awkward, steep & short V2 called Low and Inside.

I know it has been since last season since I've posted here and that is for a couple of reasons:

1. It is wet in Portland in the Winter and makes it hard to climb outside. Granted this winter was fairly mild and February had some good, crisp weather.
2. This one is more personal and even almost derailed the publishing of the guidebook - my wife was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, adenocarcinoma, on May, 11 of last year. She is 35 and a non-smoker and you can read more about her situation on her blog, Aquarius Vs. Cancer.

So after a very long year, I got back out to Carver, brushed some holds (OK a lot of holds) and had a fun afternoon in the woods. We cleaned a swath of boulders between the Cedar and Yosemite boulders.  

Climbing in this area also made me realize that I've left at least one problem out of the guidebook (I'm sure there are at least two more). Problem #3 on page 26 is an unnamed V0 near the Yosemite Boulder. There is also a V1 sit start on small crimps to the right of Problem #3. I guess we'll call it Problem #3a. I also cleaned off a problem that isn't in the guide that is probably V1. It is short sit start that climbs up though a slabby notch. If you look at the map on Page 27 of the guidebook, then this problem would be on the end of the Toe Boulder facing the parking lot.

I want to send a shout out to Andy T. who sent me an email several weeks ago. It seems Andy has taken some of his climbing time to clean off the Water Tower Boulder out near the Pioneer Church. I hope to walk out there tomorrow and check it out.

Here is another view of Mark O. on Low and Inside, but looking out towards the parking lot. Alison is standing in front of Problem #3a.

Thank you to everyone who has already bought a copy of the Carver Bouldering Guide. If you still need a guide, you can pick one up at:

• The Stone Cliff Inn (Make sure to go in a have a beer every once in a while)
• The Circuit Bouldering Gym (NE & SW locations)

Flying Squirrel - V6 - Video...OH YEAH!

Mark sending Flying Squirrel in the Columbia Boulders.

Missing Moss

First, to everyone who has already bought a copy of the Carver Bouldering Guide, THANK YOU! That thanks also goes out to the businesses currently selling the guidebook.

• The Stone Cliff Inn (the owners of the restaurant and the property are being very supportive of the guide and the climbing community - go in a have a beer every once in awhile)
• The Circuit Bouldering Gym (NE & SW locations) 

A lot of people feared that a guidebook would cause the woods to be overrun with loud, dirty boulderers. If the past two Sundays are any indication, then those fears are unfounded. Well, OK, we have been getting a little dirty reclaiming some lost problems, but yesterday there were 6 of us total in the woods bouldering between noon and 5:30p.m.

The hand full of us, between climbing some already clean problems, managed to clean off the top to Optimus Prime (V3 - Yosemite Boulder), Emil Muzz (V2 - Dragnet Boulder), Universal Head (V7 - in the Dragnet pit), Joe Friday (V2 - next to the Dragnet Boulder) and last week we partially cleaned Soldering Iron of Justice (V5 - behind the Traffic Boulder) and Chipmunk (V3) and Fox Squirrel (V1) - both of those are on the little boulder left of the Angry Squirrel Boulder.

Thanks to Mark, Mindy, and some others for doing some scrubbing instead of just climbing.

I'll have new photos up in the next post and hopefully some video as well. I'm tweeting @CarverBoulders if you want to follow me there to hear about blog updates, access issues, where guidebooks are available and when I'm planning on being in the woods at Carver next. Hope to see you there.

For Sale: Carver Bouldering Guide - $10.00

Currently the guide is available from me and I'll post on twitter when I'll be out at Carver or other random places with guides available to purchase. The cost is $10 - cash please and exact amounts are always appreciated. I'm also on facebook if you'd like to check in with me there.

I am working on having the guidebook available at the local climbing gyms around PDX.

There are also copies available for sale at the Stone Cliff Inn. They have really tasty food and the views from the outdoor deck are fantastic.

To get a membership card you must FIRST fill out your info on the Carver Climbing Club website and then print out your waiver to take to either ClubSport or the PRG.

Carver Trail Work & Guidebook Release Party!

THAT'S RIGHT THE GUIDEBOOK IS COMING! It will be available first to the folks who come help out with some trail work at Carver on Saturday, July 23. The guide is $10.00 and I take cash only.

Trail work is from 11am - 4pm and then there will be some appetizers and one free drink at the Stone Cliff Inn from 4 - 6pm.

Here's the sweet poster for the Trail Work and the Carver Bouldering Guide Release Party:

Overview Map of the Carver Bridge Cliff Boulders

So the guidebook is going through a few tweaks/edits to the rules and some grade changes. In the meantime, here is an overview map of the boulder fields out at Carver - you should be able to download/print/etc. It is 11x17 and all of the boulders with problems on them should be shown in Dark Grey. Good luck and if you have questions, please post to the comments.

This map was originally hand-drawn on a very large piece of paper by Jered Bernert and with some help from a friend it was scanned, converted to a JPEG and then I digitized it in Adobe Illustrator and added the other various peices that make a map a map.

If you have specific questions about problems and such, you'll probably have to wait for the guidebook to come out.

Carver Bouldering Overview Map

Trespassers Ye Be Warned!

But first:

• Thank you to everyone who has joined/re-joined the Carver Climbing Club and keeps your membership card with you while you are climbing. The property owners are pleased with how things are going.

• Also a thank you to boulderers who are taking some time to clean some of the moss and other debris off the boulders. The long, wet spring we had has made for a more robust moss crop this summer.

And now:

• If you are using the property without a membership card and refuse to leave when asked by a card carry member, then you risk being charged with trespassing by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department.

As a member, the process goes like this:

• Inform the climbers of the Membership Card policy and that they cannot use the property without having a card physically with them. If they refuse to leave, please inform the manager of the Stone Cliff Inn who will call the sheriff's department. Try and give the manager as much information about the trespassers as possible (# in the party, car they arrived in, location in the woods, etc.).

Do not get in an altercation with anyone. Be as polite as possible.

Thanks again to everyone who is doing the right things to help ensure that the property stays open to climbing.

First Day of Summer

And Carver is still wet. The moss is thick and seeping. It is looking better for the next few days. If you're planning on going out to boulder, take a nylon bristle brush and clean at least one problem in the main woods before you head down to the Bonzai (frontside) boulders looking for drier terrain.

Also be sure you're a member of the Carver Climbing Club and you have your membership card with you - wherever you are in the woods, bouldering or rope climbing.

Thanks from everyone who wants to make sure the access stays open.

Listen Up.

You must be a member of the Carver Climbing Club to rope climb or boulder at the the Carver Bridge Cliff.

One of the main requirements is being able to show your Carver Climbing Club Membership Card to other members, the land owner or any of the restaraunt staff.

You must have your membership card with you while you are using the property. Don't leave it in your car or forget it at home. You must have it with you. If it's at home I'm going to ask you to go home and get it if you want or keep climbing.

I had to ask three rope climbers to leave and had to get two boulderers to go back to their car to get their cards. It sucks. I know. But it is the only real place to boulder in the PDX metro area and to keep it open you must follow the rules.

Period.

First Day of Spring = First Day of the Season = Cleaning

Met my friend Mindy out at Carver last Saturday, the day it should have been full of climbers, but there were a total of five of us in the woods.

Most things look like shaggy versions of the Incredible Hulk - green, mossy, and rough around the edges. This is the Reggae Recipe Boulder (just below the routes around "Smirk" and "Uncola"):


We cleaned off the Birthday Boulder next to it which holds problems such as "The Birthday Traverse" V5, "Evildoer" V10, "All Smiles" V2 and a couple of others. Most of the problems never got cleaned last year. Set up a couple of flashes and did a mini fashion shoot. Here's one of yours truly on "All Smiles" (the 2nd time; the 1st time by left hand blew and I was able to scrap three knuckles at once).



Remember to check for current access info at the Carver Climbing Club Website.

Shaking Off the Winter

Hello Good Readers,

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. Since last we spoke the fate of Carver Climbing was in some peril. And even though we have stepped back from the cliff's edge, so to speak, we should continue to use the property as if it could be taken away from us at anytime.

I am meeting with the Carver Climbing Club President this evening and hope to have more info to report soon. There are updates on the Carver Climbing Club site which are good and important.

Until later, but not as later as this post was.

Hello Reel Rock Tour

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog. The season is wrapping up, but if you are a Carver Climbing Club member there will be a few days/weeks over the winter. Stay tuned. I am working on a Twilight the movie circuit.

Spencer

Busy Day on the Cedar Boulder

Had a good time with some friends on the Cedar Boulder. It would suck if we're counting down the days until Mr. Rosenbaum cuts off access. A rant follows the photo - you have been warned.


Finally got out to Carver yesterday. It had been almost three weeks since the last time I was out. But I've heard some stories from the land owner, Mr. Rosenbaum, via other friends who've been going out regularly.

He isn't very psyched with climbers right now. It feels like an unfair amount of the criticism is being leveled on the boulderers, some of it rightly so, but some of it is being shoveled our way because of some ingrained local politics.

Here are three events that Mr. Rosenbaum brought up to me yesterday or to some friends last weekend:

1. Group of boulderers hanging in the parking lot drink beers and passing the marijuana around after a session. (He is running a family restaurant and plenty of the Twilighters are kids as well. The group is lucky he didn't call the sheriff. The OLCC could also come down hard on his business.)

2. Couple of rope climbers pull up last Sunday while he is roaming the parking lot asking if people are members of the Carver Climbing and checking IDs. They tell him they are not members. He explains that this is private property and they won't be able to climb. They then cop an attitude and tell him they've been climbing out there for years and have never been members. (That kind of entitled attitude from climbers is one of the main reasons he is unhappy. We have to police this area ourselves. Ask people if they are members; if they are not they have to leave. Mr. Rosenbaum is not enjoying spending his weekends finding out if someone is a member.)

3. Climbers should to be out of the parking lot by 9:00pm. There have now been at least 2 instances where the restaurant staff are trying to leave, which includes locking the gate down at the road, only to have climbers' cars left in the parking lot. On one occasion the night manager had to call some employees back to help her check the woods for climbers. (That is money out of Mr. Rosenbaum's pocket to pay his employees to come look for your sorry ass.) I think that time involved some rope climbers up at the cliff. The staff told the climbers to leave so the gate could be locked (it was after 10pm already) and the climbers told the staff they weren't done yet. Quit being jackasses people. You'd hate it if someone came to your job and was just hanging around refusing to leave once you were ready to go home.

So I heard a rumor that the Carver Climbing Club met last week and changed the dog rule to be, "Don't bring dogs out to Carver anymore." Also, "No Drugs. No Alcohol."

If you want a beer, go have one in the restaurant (it is cheaper than losing a climbing area).

Hopefully the Carver Climbing Club will use its new website to:

* Advertise when the club meetings are so their members could actually attend and find out what the club is doing to keep climbing open at Carver.

* List a complete set of rules, especially ones that have changed recently.

* Organize some clean-up/trail maintenance days

- and maybe correct the spelling of the Stone Cliff Inn on the "Attention Climbers" signs that have been recently posted at a couple of the trail heads on the property.

You can email the Carver Climbing Club to let them know you boulder, you're a member and you want to know what's going on to preserve access. Be nice.

Spencer out

Carver Bouldering Has a Guidebook...Almost

So the proof copy was on my doorstep Thursday after work. I made a couple of tweaks and switched out two photos and sent it back to the printer. So it looks like two weeks before the Carver Bouldering Guide is available around Portland.

In the interim, if you are looking for a nice place to climb and still beat the heat, try the problems in the corridor behind the Cedar Boulder. There are a handful of problems back there along with a spot that stays around 65 degrees.

I bouldered there with my buddy Mark on Wednesday after work when it was 105. I was almost chilly in pants and a t-shirt.

So good luck and safe climbing.

Spencer out

Clean Holds on the Carpet Boulder

Out yesterday in the heat, we managed to eek out a pretty good session on the Carpet Boulder (situated between the two parking areas and looks like a submarine).

While we didn't clean off everything, there should be enough to get you going with problems from V1 to V8. It also sits under some shade, so that was nice yesterday.

Here are a couple of photos of a V5, Ten Dollar Bread. Crimpy, bulging, slopey: everything you want in a boulder problem at Carver. First up is Josh:

And this one is Dan making progress:

And the crux is getting past that bulge, so good luck and safe climbing.

spencer out

The Drake Boulder Is Clean

Went out yesterday afternoon and cleaned the Drake Boulder.

This boulder is next to the circle turnaround to the right of the Stone Cliff Inn. It is part of the Carpet Boulders Group. The problem this boulder is named after, The Drake, is now partially buried by the parking lot, but three other very fun problems still exist (and The Drake could be unearthed).

The problems are, Brakeman V3, Caboose V4 (recently broken hold), Rail Yard V0, Rail Yard Left V4, The Drake V3 (buried).

The photo of Avery on Brakeman is in this post. Caboose would start to the left of her feet (hold now broken, but still enough to start on) and climb into the arete. The other problems are around the corner to the right and exit up the slab which is now clean enough.

Also went out last week and sawed the fallen tree off the Water Tower Boulder, which is part of the Titlest Boulders near the Pioneer Church.

And the Guidebook has been sent to the printers.

Good Luck.

Spencer out

Carver Bouldering Guide is Very Close

Spent the last few days out at Carver taking new photos for the guidebook. Had to replace one photo that was in the guide because some new age restrictions are in place (sorry Otto). You must be 18 to climb at Carver.

You also need to sign the release form at either the PRG or the Circuit.

Set the flash up two days ago with a grid and dialed the ambient light down to black, to get this shot:

That's me on Kansas Mantle, V4 on the Mantle Boulder. The start is low and scrunched, but the slopers are some of the best in the woods. The texture on this boulder is a little slicker than most at Carver because of someone using a wire brush on it years ago.

My buddy Mark Oronzio snapped the photo above. He is doing really cool underwater stuff at Tiger Shark Productions.

Not Carver, but close

I went out hiking last week to an area I hadn't been to in years, The Magma Zone. This area is a small/short cliff band at Lewis & Clark State Park aka Broughton Bluff.

From the parking lot you hike East on the trail that parallels the RR Tracks for about a mile +/-. After you cross a couple of drainage gullies (one is starting to get deep) starting watching for a trail that heads up hill. Follow that and it should lead you to the start of the Zone.

There was chalk on one jug, but that was it - oh and fresh dog crap. Not a lot of hard problems, but not the best places for beginners either because the landings are narrow and fall off quickly down the hillside.

This is prow is a V2 called Magma Man: