Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Sunshine in Sweden

So I've been back in Sweden for a month and a half now and until last week there wasn't much of a chance to get out.  Fortunately it looks like Spring decided to show up and along with flowers and rapidly growing daylight we're also getting some dry days and I'm trying to take full advantage.  The Swedes that have had the misfortune of spending the entire winter here are chomping at the bit as most of my friends have only touched real rock a handful of times since November.  Yes, Swedish winters suck.

On Sunday we took a short excursion to Bohuslän to brush some new stuff and revisit some old favorites.  Our first stop was a wall I'd stumbled upon previously and apparently it had been seen by several other climbers but no one had bothered to get on it.  It seems about time so we spent a couple hours of mostly getting our butts kicked and eventually we managed two sweet new problems.  After the flogging we mad a quick stop by Ramsviksland to show the gang Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie and brush some new stuff.  Here are some pictures from the Day.


Kim on the first problem we established.  This clean line was definitely harder than I thought it would be and took some time before Oskar nabbed the FA.  Pyssel would also send and the rest of us came up empty handed.

Oskar shows how to use a mono-fingerlock

Pyssel set up for the crux deadpoint.  Definitely harder than it looks 

Narrowly latching the last hold

The other problem we did required a delicate heel-hook and stained climbing.  This one was also harder than it looks but I somehow managed to scrape my way up it and Pyssel and Oskar both got painfully close (I'll actually sign Oskar's scorecard if he want)

Here is Kim on a cool sloper problem in Ramsviksland.  She ended up falling after grabbing the finishing "jug" due to slimy rock

We put up a couple new problems in Ramsviksland with Stefan's tricky and painful face-climb being the best of the new problems.  Many the the other projects I'd hoped to try in Ramsviksland were wet.  So it goes