Can't get enough Bohuslän

It might have something to do with the crap weather in England but I still haven't fully transitioned back since our trip to Sweden. It's always a little unfortunate when your climbing psyche is for boulders that are a long way away.  Since returning I've found myself looking at old pictures/videos from Bohuslän and jonesing to be back.  Man I love that place.  Anyways, I thought I'd share a few pictures from Bohuslän to entice and motivate folks.  

And for those that don't know, every blogpost is labeled by country, city/town and region/area so if you want to see all the posts from Bohuslän (or somewhere else) just scroll to the very bottom and click on the appropriate label.  I wanted the blog to function like a climbing reference of sorts and at some point I'll make it more user friendly.  Hope you enjoy the little photo tour of Bohuslän  

Most of the areas in Bohuslän are small but the quality of problems are often exceptional.  This problem is located at an area consisting of only a few boulders but they are well worth the visit.  I can't remember the name of this problem Kim is doing but it is classic.

Sunshine Arete is a problem I miraculously managed to FA on a warm summer day and is located at the same area as the previous problem.

This granite cave has serious potential for some hard enduro lines.  Two of the three most obvious  straight-outs are done and here John works on the undone project.  We almost did all the moves that day but have never been back.

Another shot of John on the same project.  The next move is the one we never managed to do.

Abiyoyo is one of my all time favorite FAs and I even did a whole blogpost about it.  As far as I know it still hasn't seen a second ascent.

Sioux City Sarsparilla is one of my FAs that actually see lots of traffic as it is regarded as one of the best in Bohuslän.  This one also gets it's own blogpost and there is even a video of the FA.

 Yet another FA, Cuerop de Hombre can also be counted among the best in Bohuslän.  It is located in Häller, which is considered the epicenter of climbing in Bohuslän for both bouldering and trad-climbing. There is also an old video of the FA.

Hippopotamus is another classic problem in Häller.  This power-endurance problem has alluded me and is one of the established problems I'm most excited about getting back to.

Incredible rock, world-class bouldering and spectacular settings combine to make Bohuslän one of my favorite places in the world.

I tend to put an emphasis on harder problems as the sparsity of grips and general blankness that make climbs beautiful also tends to make them difficult.  Fortunately Bohuslän hold lots of amazing moderates as you don't have to be a crusher to enjoy the climbing.  Here Spang demonstrates how it's done on his classic problem Falsifierbarhet.

And for those of you that are crushers there are plenty of projects to be had.  This particular project will require strong fingers and a good head as the hold gradually get smaller the higher you get.

This project should have been done years ago but we've never been back to it as one needs a boat to reach the island.  One of these day.......can't wait to return to Bohuslän.

Home Sweet Hem: Bouldering in Bohuslän

It's funny how you sometimes have to leave a place before you can really appreciate it.  I always thought the climbing on Sweden's west coast was exceptional but it wasn't until it was no longer my backyard that I realized how incredibly good I had it.  We just arrived back in England after a whirlwind 3-week vacation in Sweden and I'm missing the place more than ever.  I wish I had more time to revisit all the places I love but instead I'll just have to look at pictures......  

Here are a few photos from the first week of our trip spent in the mecca of Swedish climbing that is Bohuslän.  It was awesome going back to some of my favorite areas and I even got to explore and put up a couple new problems.

Johan on the classic Beach Bum at South Beach.  South Beach is a small area that has several great problems right on the beach

Another shot of Beach Bum that shows the idyllic setting.

About 50 meters of water separates the sand of South Beach from a small island called Blåbergsholmen.  We spent an afternoon exploring and found quite a bit of climbing, with a couple walls that are well worth a return trip.  I only actually managed to do this one new problem as it took more time and effort than anticipated (and I was shut down on the other things I brushed up). 

The first move of North Beach is a dyno to the lip of the roof.  A lower start is possible for those with long arms and strong fingers.

The 2nd to last move is the crux, requiring a long reach from an odd "crimp-mantel".  Good times.

Another idyllic climbing area in Bohuslän is Ulorna.  While Ulorna is known primarily for its trad-climbing there is also some top-notch bouldering and an impressive amount of potential.  Of course if you're looking for fa's here you'll need to be bold, fix some landing or have plenty of pads as most of the boulders are located in a jumble at the base of the cliff.

Markus on Lego, one of the few problems in Ulorna I know the name of.

This hanging arete is rarely done despite having a decent landing.  Maybe it's the locker heel-hook and tenuous moves at the top that deters people.  

Not all the development in Ulorna requires lots of pads.  I brushed up this one because I could climb on it by myself.  I ended up figuring out all the moves but never pieced it together.  Here Jesper tries to find purchase in the summer heat.

This striking arete/dihedral has seen some attention in the past but to my knowledge it had never been done.  We spent about 3 hours figuring out some cryptic beta that leads to a committing windmill-dyno at the top.  I managed to send by the skin of my teeth and I'm calling it Apple Bomb.

Local bouldering and and a few new problems in Sweden

Here is my last post on Sweden (unless I actually edit some videos) for awhile....

Gothenburg is littered with urban bouldering as pockets of rock are scattered around town and some real gems can be found.  I never really considered that I'd find much more climbing in the middle of town so when Henrik told me about a good looking wall 300 meters from my apartment I was surprised.  This wall is a little hidden but I'm still not quite sure how I missed it.  

Kim on The Notorious Pocket at the local wall.  I seems that this wall was once used as a shelter of sorts as a couple holes are left from where something was fastened to the wall.  One of those holes make the starting hold of this problem.  

 Here is Henrik on one of the warm ups we established.

The hardest problem the local wall yielded was a cool compression problem that required a little trickery at the top.  I called it Home Court Advantage due to it's location.

And despite my limited climbing days and propensity to punt, I did manage to climb some other new problems in Sweden this year.  Here are a couple new problems we established in Bohuslan before the weather gods killed climbing....

My buddy Kalle told me about an arete a year ago and for some reason it took me a spell before I checked it out.  I'm not sure what took me so long as I knew this problem was a classic the second I saw it.  Pyssel made short work of it and I struggled my way to the top.  Anyone looking for a great problem up in Bohuslan should check out Reichenberg.  And the sit is possible for those looking for a real challenge.  

To the right of Reichenberg is another great problem that deserves some traffic as well.  Estelle briefly uses the arete of Reichenberg but is an independent line and great climbing, complete with a committing crux move at the top.  It's worth mentioning that the boulder yielded two other problems as well. 

Mud-cake is a roof that took quite a bit of cleaning and work to do.  The key beta is a kung-fu heel and the red-point crux is a desperate slap to a jug after the lip encounter.  Fun climbing and considerably harder that I thought it would be.

Next time an update from 'merica!

Some of the Latest Development

Here are a few pictures of some problems we've recently put up around Sweden's west coast.  I'm actually not sure what we ended up naming most of these as I've forgotten or we never found a fitting moniker.  

Novak on a random boulder I found out near Härryda.  The easier problem goes straight up but if you like it spicy you can head right to a high crux.

Tumle on a fun compression problem off Härskogsvägen. 

An awesome problem that climbs out a roof and ends with a crux helicopter dyno.  Pyssel, not surprisingly, got the FA when I took him here and I'm psyched to get back as I never put it all together.

Mathias on Ménage à Quatuor, one of Bohuslän's best moderates.  We put up a few other problems in this area but this striking rail feature was the gem.

Mathias on one of the other problems near Ménage à Quatuor.  Around the corner from this problem is an amazing project that is above my pay-grade but could go for someone with fingers of steel.

Collaboration, Instagram, and a couple Pictures

The blog has been going along at a snails pace recently and I apologize for that.  At some point I'd like to make some serious upgrades to Kearney Journey but the time required to do so deters my feeble efforts.  That being said there are a couple recent developments for those with a voracious appetite for climbing media.

Firstly, I've joined forces with my friends at Climbingpics.  If you haven't seen the blog it is pretty much what the name suggests as we post a new picture Monday to Friday.  Anyways, I'll be posting pictures there from time to time so if you can't get through the day without your dose of climbing porn you should check it out.

Secondly, I've just signed up for Instagram.  I figured I've got a smart phone so why not pepper folks with pictures from my adventures.  Those of you that are interested in new development will probably like this as I realized most of the pictures on my phone are new areas/problems.  I'll posting the pictures to my Facebook page for those of you without Instagram that want to follow.

And a report from Norway is a bit overdue but it is coming.  In the meantime here are a couple pictures of some problems from Sweden's best coast.

Pyssel on the the FA of Rainbow Rocket 2.  It's surprisingly difficult to coordinate the double-step dyno.

Henrik trying Executive Privilege, a problem I put up a couple years ago.

Sefan on the amazing Hippopotamus with trad-climbers spectating.  

Slaying a Giant: Abiyoyo Goes Down

Last year I posted about a giant boulder up in Bohuslan and I made several mentions of an amazing arete on said boulder.  I still remember the sheer joy I felt when first laying eyes on the arete as lines like that one are the reason I spend countless hours scouring maps, driving back-roads and bushwhacking through brush.  It is a king line on an impressive boulder and it just "needed" to be climbed.  Unfortunately on the first day of cleaning/trying we were so totally shutdown that the arete became "a problem for the future" that I put on the back-burner, hoping one day my skills would suffice.  It took about 5 years before I paid another visit to the giant boulder where I was greeted by wet rock but I was reminded of how great this problem looked and the arete got bumped up to the top of my list.  So after returning to Sweden this yearI figured it was time to start going down that list.

At first the arete felt every bit as impossible as it did that first day but slowly things started coming together.  In the end it only took one long session of work to unlock the sequence and a return trip with fresh skin and muscles to send.  This problem had been stewing for years and seeing as how the boulder itself is gargantuan I figured I'd name the arete after the giant Abiyoyo.  Abiyoyo is from South African folklore and made famous(ish) by Pete Seeger.  This is up among the best FAs I've ever done.

Here are a couple pictures. 

Thanks to a smaller adjacent boulder we start the arete at an obvious "jug" in about the middle and the problem avoids being airy.  The low start definitely goes and almost doubles the climbing and will add a good amount to difficult.  The landing might look a little sketchy but the risk of falling to into our makeshift landing is minimal.

Gearing up for the red-point crux.  The climbing is the perfect mix of strength and technique and there is no place to take a breath until the lip.

Hold a swing then just a few more "easy" moves before the 6 meters of victory climbing to the tiptop of the giant boulder.

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

Low Water

Occasionally over the years I'd drive by a lake up in Bohuslan and see this impressive looking boulder just on the other side.  I'd resisted the urge to check this boulder out because the landing has always been in the water and I've generally got a lot of other projects in the area.  Well, this year when I drove by I noticed that the water level of the lake is way down and figured it was time to take a closer look at this boulder.  What I discovered is a striking line up the middle of boulder that will be well worth the effort of building a landing should (when is more like it) the water rises to normal levels.  All the holds are there and I'm psyched to head back to this amazing project.  

The boulder and a visible water mark.

The line to do will climb the steep face then continue up to the left once reaching the "lip".  I think a slightly easier escape can be done by rolling over on the slab but it will still be hard.  We did a problem on the right arete that can have a sitstart added, at least until it is under water.

The Mega-block

Some years ago Spång took me to a massive boulder in Bohuslan and I giddily circled the boulder, spying several great problems and a couple super lines.  That day we brushed and failed on a striking arete and I told myself I'd be back.  For some reason it took me several years to return and while we didn't try that arete (it was wet) or the other amazing highballs we put up a few worthy problems.  I'll be back as soon as I can rally some folks.  Anyone keen?

The mega-block.  We brushed the arete on the right several years ago and I'm excited about trying it.  A little more than half the boulder is more suited to sport climbing, the rest offers top notch bouldering.

The backside of the boulder.

Tumle on a fun roof we did (You can see the roof on the left side of the previous picture).  Cryptic climbing and great moves

Tumle attempting a striking dihedral I dubbed "Upper Half".  This one tops-out on the massive boulder thanks to an adjacent boulder making it a reasonable height.  

Tumle reaching the slopey crimps on Upper Half

This is another nearby boulder with a couple good looking lines