(2) Easy problems galore! Many of the new lines I climbed this year were quite easy (V0-V3), but the quality of the majority of these problems was fantastic. Jolly Green Giant had a few ascents this year, but no one has fallen off the crux (right around where Mark is) just yet. checking out the final moves of Jolly Green Giant (V1X) this summer, on toprope before trying it with just a pad. All but one of these FAs was at Frank Slide, an area that I thought was more-or-less tapped out. By the end of the year, I had accumulated 309 FAs, a number that I would have thought impossible at the beginning of the year. But then I found unclimbed clusters of blocks deep in the Gunwales, Hulkamaniac, and Lipsmacker sectors, and my total grew. I kept climbing, and kept finding new lines I passed 200 FAs (a mind-boggling number of new lines) by midsummer, certain that my run would soon end. As I passed 108 (my previous record for FAs in a year), I was astounded. Eventually my FA list passed 100, and I was thrilled. As the months passed, and my days of climbing grew, so did my tick list. For me, those dreams came back to life as I explored Frank Slide, and the number of first ascents I made there accumulated. However, when the USA/Canada border closed, our dreams of FAs of granite blocks in the pine forests of Montana were dashed. We were, of course, anticipating many trips to the Boulder Batholith in Montana, which is a VAST area of granitic outcrops whose bouldering potential is largely unexplored. (one of the talented routesetters at Coulee Climbing) and I semi-jokingly stated that we were going to shoot for 100 first ascents in 2020. (1) Without question, the biggest highlight of my year was the unbelievable number of new problems I discovered at Frank Slide! At the beginning of the year, Brayden B. So, without any more delay, here are my climbing highlights for 2020! 'First ascents' became my byword for 2020, and I had one of the most productive climbing years I've ever had.
My many solo trips to the Slide (to make notes and fact-check innumerable start holds, sequences, grades, and topouts) led me to explore the Slide more thoroughly than I had in a long time, which in turn made me realize that there were many undiscovered gems hidden among the blocks. Forced inactivity gave me time to work on the new Frank Slide Guidebook. Like any cloud, however, the COVID fog had a silver lining. Summer and fall trips to Montana and Idaho (home to some of the most amazing bouldering I've done in the USA) likewise fell apart. My summertime pilgrimage to the Boulderfields in the Okanagan (home of the amazing Rock The Blocks climbing festival) didn't happen. Spring bouldering trips to the desert evaporated. For example, I was in Roy, New Mexico when the initial restrictions were announced, forcing me to return home (quite) prematurely.įor myself (and MANY other climbers), this trend continued throughout the year. These policies may have helped limit mortalities, but certainly put a damper on the travelling plans of climbers across the globe. Ah, yes! 2020! The year that has been so widely reviled and debased! The broad spread of the coronavirus responsible for COVID19 resulted in a number of governmental responses (both in Canada and abroad) designed to limit the epidemic.
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