Season 2012: Wet & Clean - Update on the Update

Two posts ago I wrote about reclaiming the Ivy Boulder from the English Ivy that gave it its name. This post is an update on that cleaning project.

I was hoping that after the first cleaning and the heavy rain that I would be able to go out and find it fairly clean and ready to climb some problems that haven't been done in a decade.  Instead it was still dirty and seeping a lot of water.  The ivy still on the boulder was holding together an bunch of soil and therefore a lot of draining was happening.

So I trimmed the ivy back over the top of the boulder and made it look all pretty. It is going to need to dry and still have some fine tune cleaning done, but it is mostly ready for fun.

Just leave a comment to this post if you do any problems with potential grade and beta.

Thanks

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.

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.