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Post by jcm on Apr 18, 2016 14:26:08 GMT -7
I have a trip coming up to Lander and have a few questions about planning, conditions, and training. I know that there are some folks on this board who have a good bit of experience with Lander climbing, and figure there is some good information to be found.
First, conditions. We are going for 8 days at the very end of May and the beginning of June. Where we spend most of our climbing time, Sinks vs Wild Iris, is conditions dependent. We are most interested in Killer Cave routes, but I am concerned it will be getting hot. I know that cave gets shade starting in mid-afternoon (3-ish??). Assuming we are smart about seeking shade, are good conditions likely to be available in Sinks at that time, or is it getting to be too hot for "sending" conditions? I'm pretty heat-averse. I assume that Wild Iris will be pretty good- snow just melting out, temps still pretty cool- is this correct?
Second, route suggestions. I'd be interested in trying a few of the 13a or b routes in the Killer Cave. Suggestions? Samsara looks appealing, or perhaps Nirvana or the Throne. Endeavor to Persevere looks amazing, but might be a bit too hard to finish off in the time available (plus I don't want to spend the whole trip on one route). Also interested in suggested 12c or d routes to try to onsight/flash. I don't have any routes in mind at Wild Iris, but am open to suggestions there.
Third, training. My general plan is that I am using the Lander trip as a bridge between spring power training and early summer endurance sport climb goals. I am in the strength phase now, through the end of April, then have a week of forced time off (travel, no reasonable training resources) during the first week of May. This gives me 3 weeks for the power phase before the trip. I assume that this would work out perfectly if climbing at Wild Iris, due to the short bouldery routes. What about Sinks? I have heard that, despite the greater height, many of the Sinks routes are still more power-oriented, with low cruxes and then jug hauling above. Is this true? If I get on some of the taller Killer Cave routes, am I hosing myself if I don't train endurance before the trip? I'm generally more of an endurance-oriented climber anyway, so I'm thinking about just orienting my training to maximize power and relying on baseline endurance for the pumpy bits. Or would it be worth sacrificing some power to train some PE before the trip?
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Post by MarkAnderson on Apr 18, 2016 15:08:53 GMT -7
First, conditions. We are going for 8 days at the very end of May and the beginning of June. ...We are most interested in Killer Cave routes, but I am concerned it will be getting hot. I know that cave gets shade starting in mid-afternoon (3-ish??). Assuming we are smart about seeking shade, are good conditions likely to be available in Sinks at that time, or is it getting to be too hot for "sending" conditions? I'm pretty heat-averse. I assume that Wild Iris will be pretty good- snow just melting out, temps still pretty cool- is this correct? I've never been to Lander in exactly that timeframe, so I'm extrapolating a bit. I went to Wild Iris in 2011 around June 20th or so, and there was still a lot of snow in the wooded areas. We were still able to get everywhere we wanted to go, but it is possible, depending on snowpack, that you won't be able to get everywhere you want to up there in late May. As for Killer Cave, I've climbed there (briefly) in July and in late September. It depends a lot on the weather that week. During a single trip in September it was too hot one day and too cold (for a normal person--no such thing for me) the next day. But, it does get evening shade (I would say more like 4pm, but it really depends on the route--the left side gets shade earlier, then it swings around to the right). It also gets a lot of morning shade on the right side of the cave. Bottom line, it's going to depend on the weather each day, so I would recommend a loose plan for each area and do what makes sense. Second, route suggestions. I'd be interested in trying a few of the 13a or b routes in the Killer Cave. Suggestions? Samsara looks appealing, or perhaps Nirvana or the Throne. Endeavor to Persevere looks amazing, but might be a bit too hard to finish off in the time available (plus I don't want to spend the whole trip on one route). Also interested in suggested 12c or d routes to try to onsight/flash. I don't have any routes in mind at Wild Iris, but am open to suggestions there. Pretty much all the big lines in the Killer Cave are awesome. The Throne, Successor, Mr. Majestyk, Nirvana, Samsara. You can't go wrong with any of those. Endeavor is a top 25 sport climb in the US, but it's solid at the grade and significantly pumpy. If you make it to Wild Iris the obvious choices would be Cowgirl (which may be hard to reach due to snowpack) or one of the Rodeo Wave lines like Cow Reggae. For 12c/d, Killer and Cartoon Graveyard are must-dos, though it can be tough to truly onsight them since they share starts with many of the previous routes. There are tons of other 12s elsewhere along Sinks too. I hear the Addiction Wall is rad but I haven't climbed there. Good luck onsighting anything near your typical onsight limit at Wild Iris  Third, training. My general plan is that I am using the Lander trip as a bridge between spring power training and early summer endurance sport climb goals. I am in the strength phase now, through the end of April, then have a week of forced time off (travel, no reasonable training resources) during the first week of May. This gives me 3 weeks for the power phase before the trip. I assume that this would work out perfectly if climbing at Wild Iris, due to the short bouldery routes. What about Sinks? I have heard that, despite the greater height, many of the Sinks routes are still more power-oriented, with low cruxes and then jug hauling above. Is this true? If I get on some of the taller Killer Cave routes, am I hosing myself if I don't train endurance before the trip? I'm generally more of an endurance-oriented climber anyway, so I'm thinking about just orienting my training to maximize power and relying on baseline endurance for the pumpy bits. Or would it be worth sacrificing some power to train some PE before the trip? Your assumptions (about Sinks) are correct. Pretty much everything starts with a burly pocket or crimping boulder problem, then gives way to pumping jugs. There's usually a few awesome rests along the way. Based on what I know about you as a climber, I predict you would do much better (grade-wise) at Sinks. The stuff at Sinks is pumpy by Lander standards, but not too bad relative to Maple, etc. I think you'll be fine on the longer routes without any specific endurance training. On the flip side, the stuff at Wild Iris is no joke. You have to be super powerful and awesome on tiny pockets to climb near your usual limit. I think to enjoy Wild Iris you would want to drop down to whatever grade you typically send 2nd or 3rd go and try to send a few things quickly (that's what I've done anyway). Onsighting is very hard there because it's really hard to read how to use each individual pocket (which hand, which fingers, how do you get the fingers stacked optimally), and it's super scary to commit to some shallow tweaker thing when you don't know what the next hold is going to be like. On the other hand, my first 13b onsight was in the Killer Cave, which is a lot more straight-forward. |
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Post by jcm on Apr 18, 2016 15:39:29 GMT -7
Awesome, thanks for the solid info. Sounds like the best plan is to (A). Skip the PE training and just do a normal 3-week power phase, culminating in the Lander trip (with Lander essentially being week 1 of PE), and (B) Show up with no specific plan as to where to climb (Sinks vs. Iris) and choose based on the forecast and snow conditions.
I have no intention of trying anything remotely close to my peak RP or OS grades at Wild Iris (I prefer my tendons intact...); climbing there would be much more about touring around (and an exercise in humility). Sinks I think will suit me a lot better and would be more reasonable for goal-oriented climbing.
I've been putting in a ton of work the last 6 months trying to address my big weaknesses (fingery powerful things), so Lander should be a good checkpoint for progress. Trying my best to not be a one-trick Rifle pony. Also, last time I climbed in Lander was close to 10 years ago, as an 11a climber, so it'll be an entirely new area for me this time. Super excited.
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Post by erick on Apr 18, 2016 20:36:13 GMT -7
I will second how hard it is to OS at Wild Iris. I will also add that it would be worth talking to the folks at Wild Iris sports about what crags are best. The developers in Lander have been on a tear the last 5+ years and Wild Iris/Sinks are just two of like 10 world class areas in Lander. So if Wild Iris is in Snow and Sinks is too hot, there will be other fantastic areas to check out. I have been really wanting to check out Wolf Point but I don't this I could hang with the crowd the climbs there.
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Post by jcm on Apr 19, 2016 7:33:00 GMT -7
I will second how hard it is to OS at Wild Iris. I will also add that it would be worth talking to the folks at Wild Iris sports about what crags are best. The developers in Lander have been on a tear the last 5+ years and Wild Iris/Sinks are just two of like 10 world class areas in Lander. So if Wild Iris is in Snow and Sinks is too hot, there will be other fantastic areas to check out. I have been really wanting to check out Wolf Point but I don't this I could hang with the crowd the climbs there. Interesting. Any particular new crags in mind? We'll be driving a low-clearance rental, so that rules out some of the options (like Wolf Point), unless we hitch a ride from someone with a truck. |
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Post by erick on Apr 19, 2016 8:43:11 GMT -7
I can't think of anything off hand since I have really only spent time at Wild Iris myself, but a new guide for the area just came out and I flipped through the pages when I swung through Lander last July. The new guide is almost twice as big as the old one. Having a rental may make things a but more difficult since I think road conditions to all these different crags change depending on the time of year so talking to locals will be important. I think it makes a lot of sense to plan around Wild Iris/Sinks but you will have other options as well I'm sure. Have fun, its great place!
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Post by Chris W on Apr 19, 2016 20:51:40 GMT -7
Interesting discussion. Lander is on my list of places I'd love to visit some time. It's a bit far and expensive though. Is the snow-in-June thing just because of dense snow pack? What are the actual temperatures and humidity like at Wild Iris at that time of year?
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Post by MarkAnderson on Apr 20, 2016 14:52:04 GMT -7
There are a few areas that are north-ish facing and surrounded by woods, hence the snowpack. You would have no trouble driving to the parking area or reaching the south facing cliffs (which are the vast majority of cliffs). But the Erratic (home to the best 13a and 14a--Cowgirl and Throwin the Houlihan) is one of those crags that can still have a few feet of snow in late May after a big winter. When I went there in late June, we were able to climb at the Erratic no problem, but we had to weave around some huge snow drifts to get there.
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Post by Chris W on Apr 20, 2016 18:43:51 GMT -7
I'll bet my kids would go nuts seeing snow in June! They'd be soaked to the bone in seconds and we'd have to wait until they were stiff and slow before we would be able to get them out. I keep reminding myself that the NRG is a world class area only 6 hours from home, but the grass is always greener...
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Post by the menace411 on Apr 24, 2016 14:45:33 GMT -7
Not sure about weather but fossil hill is great and easy to get to. I also agree that on sighting at WI was not easy and I got humbled at first. Also hard to read the rock there. I find it best when going to a new area to spend a couple days doing the moderate stuff to get use to the stone then up the ante after that. My wife and I homeymooned there las summer for most of july and august so there was no snow but mosquitoes at the erratic so bad we only went there for a day. Because of the heat we only went to sinks a couple times. Killer cave is amazing but can seep. I also prefer shorter bouldery routes so I never tried any thing to hard there. To train I hung on small crimps and 2 finger pockets and campusing. I onsite 12a in the south and project 13. I did 1 13 at WI called tres hombres I think? What ever you climb I am sure you will love wild iris it is a beautiful place with great stone. I am jealous!!
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