At about the mid point on trip we decided that Hatchers Pass that was worth a visit regardless of the weather. We just had to know so we drove into the night and had an amazing 2am twilight approach and were very impressed with the beauty and climbing potential.
We had an amazing first day where we checked out a very short and stout boulder called the Crucifix Bloc bc it was one of the only boulders that we had the beat on and thought it would be nice to see what the locals were visioning on the amazing granite that abounds in those passes. I have to admit that I thought the area was absolutely beautiful but when I climbed on that boulder was a little bummed and so I went for a hike and kept having the shrinking boulder syndrome and was starting to think Hatchers was not to be the Shangri La that I had envisioned. So after a couple of hours at that bloc where the guys crushed all the bunchy crimper problems we decied to really get into scouring for boulders mode. As chance has it we happened upon where all the locals have been recently developing and is basically the fresh and new new. The rock for the most part was exceptionally sharp but some very classic lines were around. We were lucky enough to run into some locals, Todd, Drew and Will give us some direction onto the classics to be had and we spent the last couple hours Climbing the amazing 'Captain Caboom V6', flashing 'Premature V7', and finishing it off with a second ascent of 'King Louie' from the stand which is V8 in the total rain with most of the pads being held over the holds to keep them only moist instead of soaking, pretty reminiscent of my time in Fontainebleau.
I spent the whole next day exploring for new bloks and hopefully a whole new sector while the others had a moderate session. I was very excited because I found an amazing sector that appeared to be not developed at all with some real promising lines and this is what I was super psyched to get back to.
The next day was very dreary and I rallied everybody up by 8 so we could drive down the hill and desperately find a TV that was showing the World Cup Finals. This proved to be very difficult in the rural farming communities of the Matsu Valley of Alaska. But with only missing the very begining of the match we found the diner in town that would tune in for us. The match was amazing and it was a tone of fun to watch powerfully defensive futbal teams go head to head and war it out in extremely physical and political style, I am of course speaking of the referee here.
We used the opportunity to re-stock on supplies. I had exchanged numbers with a local named Drew and e gave us a call to let it be known that the whether was actually quite nice up the hill so we scrambled to get up there and get a half day in. We set Brian out to hitch hike to the airport and push his adventure levels and we were off.
We went back to Independence Mine and made sure that Tom dispatched with 'Captain Caboom v6' which he did and it was in good style no less. Then we head to the Fantasia boulder as Zack was psyched to use his crimp bone and try the 2 V8's on the blok. I also decided to pull on and nearly flashed both the 8's using inpromtu Ander beta and believe they are in the v7 range but of good quality. After a couple of minutes drying the lip in which I blew the flash on I static-ed both climbs second try each. On a personal note I have been training very hard while at home and exclusively climbing on a 65 degree was and thus have no real idea of where my ability is at but I have truly enjoyed feeling more control and strength on the rock, it is genuinely a connected feeling with the geo-puzzle in front of me that motivates this.
After I convinced Tom and Zack to use some gangle beta as I belived the concepts would still apply to them they dispatched and moved on to the King Louie blok so that Tome could try the stand and I could try the sit down start. Long story short after battling with some more rain we were both able to complete our goals in a session. I made the second ascent of both the stand up and the sitdown which is believed to be 'King Louie SDS v10'. It was a really complex problem revolving around compression and tension. I really love this style and was very exited to be able to interact with such amazing climbing in my home state of AK, needless to say it was beautiful raining hike out.
The next day we set out to develop the sector that I had found a couple days previous. AFter mostly brushing for the day we left the area about 15 new climbs that ranged from good to absolutely amazing. I will keep it short as I am sure that all of you have heard about the excitement that comes from developing a thousand times over. But I will say that the area is called the Coming of Age sector and I established a new majestic boulder 'Carnal Knowledge V9'. I am very proud of seeing this line and being able to actualize it in the same session as it was cleaned. Rising to remote and beautiful natural challenges is really becoming the most powerful inspiration in bouldering for me. Enjoy some pictures and let me know what you think.
AR
Sending Bryan on his first hitch hiking mission
Zack eyeing down the first move of 'Darth Mal V7' in the Tatlanika Boulders
Tom going up the perfect angle of 'School Yard Crush V4' in the Coming of Age Sector
A view of the valley from the Coming of Age Sector, lots more work to do
