One last Way Lake posting to wrap up the season. Jeff Sillcox sent his amazing high-ball project on the Talladega boulder. After we rustled together as many pads as we could find, he sent the thing on his second try. The line is basically a direct start to Drunk Chicken and climbs up the gently overhanging wall through consistently small crimps.
After sending, he literally packed up and drove out East on a road trip. Nothing like sending your project at the 11th hour!
Here is another cool line on the Meadow Roof boulder. While they call it v8, I really didn't think it was that hard. After all, it only took me about 100 tries!
After checking out Justin's blog the other day, I saw that he climbed at an area called Way Lake near Mammoth. We headed out over the Labor Day weekend to see if the area climbed as good as it looked on the East Side Bouldering blog. Jeff Sillcox (of East Side Bouldering Blog fame) was nice enough to show us around, spot, give beta and repeat hard problems with no apparent warm up.
The climb above, Meadow Roof, was put up by Tim Steele a few years ago and is one of the most classic problems at Way Lake. Steep climbing with good holds, something you don't find too often in granite areas. The rock is reminiscent of Rocky Mountain National Park and is probably gneiss as well.
Randy Puro on Meadow Face [v9]
Across the 'meadow' from Meadow Roof is another Tim Steele classic, Meadow Face. The feet down low are very technical and the moves at the top are physical - culminating in a desperate throw to a decent pinch.
Randy Puro on Knife Dance [v7]
We warmed up near the bottom of the talus on our first day and an obvious line that drew everyone in was Knife Dance. The climbing is probably more scary than hard, but it is pretty hard to climb when all you are thinking about is the exit strategy. Only after getting comfortable with the moves, do you realize how fun they are.
Jeff Sillcox on the unnamed v6 at the 1-6-9 boulder
Off in the trees lies the 1-6-9 boulder, so named because the three problems on the boulder are rated v1, v6 & v9. The v6 doesn't have a name but should since it's so fun. Ugly Duckling [v9], to the left has a move where you finger lock and twist into a deep drop-knee - probably the first time I've ever done a move like that!
Directions are a little tricky. Go past Mammoth towards Lake Mary and follow signs for Cold Stream campground - park at the trail head in the back. If you have Google Earth, click HERE to see where Meadow Roof is.
