American Fork Canyon - My Favorite Choss Pile

This weekend, I had the privilege of participating in Bruce Wilson's American Fork Project. For the uninitiated, this is Bruce's adventure documentary that tells the story of the genesis of American Fork's climbing and its role in progressing sport climbing in the US. Bruce's Facebook page gives a very good description of his motivation in creating this documentary, why it's important to remember the developers of the area, learning from its history, and respecting the climbing area and community that supports the sport of climbing.



As we continue to be flooded with the dearth of internet climbing videos showcasing one's ability to crank hard, I felt compelled to give my perspective into the meaningfulness of Bruce's American Fork Project, especially as we come face to face with the consequences of climbing's growth. To bring some context into this perspective, I'm gonna start with a little introduction about my initiation into climbing and my cumulative experience climbing in American Fork Canyon.

I first got into climbing in 1997 while I was still in college. I was addicted to climbing, couldn't wait to launch a full-fledged assault onto any climbing wall I could get my hands on, and always hungry for the latest issue of Climbing or RockandIce cos those were my only sources of paparazzi news from across the pond. This was way back in the day, way before online climbing sites and blogs.

The stuff about climbing in North America was my source of inspiration and climbers like Boone Speed, Alan Watts, Scott Franklin, Jeff Webb, Dale Goddard, John Bachar, Lynn Hill, Todd Skinner, Robyn Ebersfield, just to name a few, were the stuff of legend. All the hype was about Smiths Rock, City of Rocks, Logan Canyon, Charleston, Potosi and of course American Fork. So imagine my excitement when I finally made my way across the Pacific for school at the U here in Utah!

When I first got to Utah, Jeff Webb gave me a tour of American Fork. We've met many years before when Jeff was a professor at the National University of Singapore, so it was a treat to have a local and a person involved in the progression of America's climbing, give me a personal tour of American Fork. As he went on pointing out the climbs at the different sections around the canyon, I could only marvel at the beauty and serenity of the forest and in awe of being at the base of some of the America's test-pieces. Well...ONCE UPON A TIME, America's test-pieces. As I spend the next couple of years climbing in American Fork, I began to realize that each climbing area and its climbing community inevitably become part of climbing's progression. As I spend most days with my wife mostly alone climbing at some sectors of American Fork, it's strange to imagine the hype it once received. Gordon Douglas, who was one of the early developers of the area, related to me that when the Hell Cave sector first went up, there were easily a congregation of 60 climbers. In contrast, it's mostly just me, my wife, with Gordon and Mindy this season. I guess this is exactly how crags are in the progression of the sport...the most hyped up places, the test-pieces of today, will become the warm-ups of the future and the chosspiles of yester-years. Nevertheless, we're grateful for all the pioneering effort, for if it wasn't for those dedicated few willing to equip the canyon, we wouldn't have such a privilege to enjoy such a sport and environment.

This brings us back to Bruce's documentary. Here, we have a guy who's passionate about showcasing American sport climbing pioneering history and what a climbing community truly is. It's simply about a community of everyday people, with day jobs, with classes to take in school, with kids, with dogs, with a spectrum of climbing abilities, getting down to their local crag at the start, middle or end of the day and simply roping up and having a great time. You're not gonna find a climbing flick flashing exotic locations, rock jocks pumped full of testosterone, takedowns of 5.15s and V16s, or 5.14 onsights. Even if there are, these feats will fall victim to the progression of climbing and become forgotten classics and warm-ups for the future generation.

So if you're one who thinks that American Fork is just a chosspile and that you're better off cranking at some exotic Euro destination, you may be right or you just may be a rock-snob...so until the day I have the money or time to travel to some far out destination,  American Fork Canyon will always remain my favorite chosspile.

Matlab vs climbing

It has come to the point that I'm actually deriving greater enjoyment writing Matlab codes than climbing. As I continue to recover from my finger injury, I suppose typing on the keyboard can be considered some kind of therapy.

The summer heat continues. Strangely, Linus finally yielded today. Wasn't expecting to send in 90F weather. Moreover, I was all but ready to try out new beta in the event of another failed attempt. Oh...and I also want to mention that I started from the ground as opposed to a cheater stone or stump. Anyway, decided to call it 13D instead of the printed grade of 13C. This is done with mindful consideration on how hard the sum of its parts are, the difficulty in comparison to the other 13Ds on El Diablo wall (ie. Dead Souls, Cop Killer, Body Count), and time spent projecting it. There you have it, you're a sandbagger Mike!

This season has been quite a struggle, constantly shut down on moderates as opposed to previous seasons. On the one hand, it may be a prep for harder projects. On the other hand, I've pretty much been picking sandbagged routes this whole time, which may explain my predicament stalling on the "moderates" like Linus and Hammerhead. Anyway, just relieved that I can move on to the biz-nizz for the season...Cannibals Direct, originally graded 14a but now a 14b since James Litz broke a crux hold off a couple of seasons back. Hangdogged the climb today and concluded that it feels relentless right off the ground. And as if things couldn't get any worse, one's gotta pull the "bats out of hell" crux to clip the chains. This thing's gonna take a while.

Meantime, we're headed back to the Compound at Maple for Ling to send 9/11. It's great the fire's 100% contained and they've opened up the canyon again...otherwise, "death by turd" will  be the worst send-off Maple can ever get.

The Heat is ON!!!

There's been a recent spate of wild fires here in Utah, Colorado and Arizona. Conditions are ripe for fires with the recipe of high winds, scorching temps, low humidity and absence of rainfall. Some of these fires, especially those in Colorado, are devastating. An example is the Wood Hollow fire in Sanpete county that burnt approximately 46, 000 acres. If you're reading this post, please note that a fire has broken out in Maple Canyon just this afternoon. Utah fire officials has labelled it the Dizzy Rock fire. Right  now the canyon has been evacuated with no access to any climbing area. Updates can be found on http://www.utahfireinfo.gov/

Though the cause of the fire is still under investigation, friends on facebook has began speculating the cause as human...poor potty etiquette and negligent disposal of toilet paper. Anyway, super bummer for us cos I was psyched on returning to the Compound and Tanleng's super close on sending 9/11. Looks like it's back to AF this weekend.

Love...a Subaru

We've finally gotten ourselves a car more suited for our lifestyle...a Subaru Forester. Gotta love a Subaru, especially a scooby nut like me..total cost...$3900.

Our first weekend going off-roading out to the Compound, Maple Canyon. Terrain was pretty harsh unless you have a real truck platform...still much better than our Acura Integra.

There's always been a special place for a Subaru in my heart. Here's the Bugeye I had when we were still living in Spore...which cost $37000.
 


















It's a shame we're broke now cos I'll love to doll up the Forester and pimp it up like these ones...
 

On a separate note, my 2012 climbing season has taken an unfortunate start with a ruptured A1 pulley on my right ring finger. Contrary to popular accounts of "popping", it kinda sounded like a carrot breaking when it happened. It's been 3 months since the rupture and I've been careful in nursing it. Been on the rope more than bouldering so the prognosis looks optimistic though it's not back to full strength yet. Having said that, I'm not banking on any super hard sends in American Fork this season. Meantime, we've been heading out to the Compound more than the Hell Cave...can't say it's been a joy cos I'm getting my ass handed to me...like I needed any kind of reminder that I suck at cobble pulling.