Bishop Bouldering

Although I tend to think of myself as a rather independent person, I was still fairly hesitant about embarking on a solo weekend adventure to Bishop.  Would I be too scared to climb without spotters?  Too shy to make new friends?  Could I motivate myself to climb alone?

My fears turned out to be unfounded.

We received 32” of snow between Thursday and Friday morning so I decided it was necessary to take a few ski runs, and after doing so I jumped in the car and headed towards Bishop.  I sang loudly in the car and watched the beautiful scenery pass by as I cruised down the surprisingly dry roads on 395. 

Not related to climbing in Bishop, but a picture from the snowy portion of my Spring Break 

I arrived in Bishop around 4:30 and decided to stop at the Happy Boulders for a bit of climbing before it got dark.  I warmed up on some of my favorite slab climbs and then jumped on a cool V5 that I had attempted a few times on a previous trip.  The climb is low to the ground, traverses a lip, and finishes with a very difficult mantle (mantles are one of my biggest weaknesses in climbing).

After a few tries, I was at the end of the lip, poised for the mantle!  I bumped my hands around, adjusted my heel hook and rocked over and partially onto the boulder.  I was so close!  I was also so stuck.  At this point in time, I would normally jump off the boulder.  But instead, I felt something I have never experienced before in my bouldering.  I was thinking!  In my head I heard myself say, “don’t let go, take a deep breath.”  So I didn’t let go, and I breathed.  “Finish this.”  I awkwardly flung my feet around and switched from a right heel hook to a left and did a funky beached whale movement and suddenly I was standing on top of the boulder!

I did it!  I used my head and my willpower and I didn’t give up and I sent the problem.  I was psyched!  I went on to flash a super cool V3 called Slap Happy and enjoyed it so much that I repeated it right after finishing it.  The recent time change meant it was light enough to climb until just after 7.  What a great day!  I went to sleep happy and psyched for the next day of climbing.

Some crazy cloud action going on at the Buttermilks

 Yesterday, I woke up and decided to head to the Sads.  I arrived at the parking lot to find that it was EMPTY!  Quite a contrast from the last time I was there where there was no space to park.  I enjoyed the solitude for about an hour before one more person showed up.  It was crazy!  So quiet and peaceful.  I climbed around and worked on Erotic Terrorist V6.  I feel like I can definitely send this climb but the boulder right behind the line causes you to dab almost every time you get on it.  As the day went on more people showed up and the Ice Caves became crowded. 

Time to head to the Buttermilks to see if they were dry!  The forecast had been saying rain and snow for days and it was supposed to rain while I was there but it turned out to be nothing but blue, sunny skies.  The Milks were dry and I met up with a friend, Mike, and one of his friends and we jumped on the Roadside Highball V3.  I watched Mike do it and decided to give it a shot.  Soon I was up quite high and decided I definitely didn’t want to fall from this point.  I was scared for a minute, but pulled myself together and ended up flashing the climb.  I was so psyched!  It is always a huge victory for me when I can overcome my mental blocks while climbing. 

Mike on Roadside Highball V3

After that we tried a few more things and as the temperatures dropped, I decided that rather than camping and climbing a bit more in the morning, I would just drive back to SLO.  I loaded up my tired puppies and motored on home, not stopping once during the 6-hour drive, somehow using only one tank of gas.    

So there we have it.  I went skiing for spring break and enjoyed every minute of riding in fresh powder every day (122” was the storm total for the week!)  But most importantly, I went CLIMBING.  And I loved it.  

(Note: sorry for the lack of pictures!  I was intending to make a really cool video but then my video camera stopped working)