Skiing in Tromso, Norway

Skiing the fjords of Norway! I had seen the pictures and read the blogs. Yet I was instantly blown away by the endless maze of perfectly pitched peaks above the Norwegian sea. The plane landed on the small airport at Tromso, and I rushed into the rental car office and out to the nearest hill. April, and the ski season was almost over in most of Europe but here, it seems, there were no signs of Spring. I couldn't remember the last time I felt this mixture of awe and childish excitement. May be climbing in Moab for a first time. May be never.
I was also trilled to be above the Arctic circle. A meaningless landmark, considering that everything around me looked unlike anything I had seen before.

Romantic Warrior

Тhe best climb at The Needles. It is also the longest at 8-9 pitches. Pitches are short but clean, exposed, and gear fiddly. In other words: full value. RW follows an amazing natural dihedral system for almost the entire length of the Warlock needle. The isolation of this climb and the exposure makes it feel like climbing El Cap.

But before I go into details I should make a little chart for my top ten favorite climbs at the Needles:

1. Romantic Warrior: best overall

2. Pyromania: best pitch

3. Don Juan: best 5.11 multipitch anywhere!

4. Davy Jones' Locker: crazy good if a bit painful

5. Atlantis: can be done in two superfun pitches

6. Pea Soup: a bit of work to get there but so worth it

7. Airy Interlude

8. Guerrilla Warfare

9. The Spell

10. Ankles Away

 I have two big, burning holes: Nautilus and Shiver Me Timbers. 

Equinox

One of the most aesthetic cracks of the west. As with all things beautiful it comes with certain amount of pain. The kind of pain you remember. I can think of only one crack that was more painful, the aptly named Love Supreme in Yosemite.

But pain is only physical and fingers will heal. Equinox is a crack of very rare beauty, the best in Joshua Tree, and in the company of dozen or so in all of California.

More beta and pictures below.

Midnight Lightning

Midnight Lightning is the stuff of magic, myth and legend. It is a sequence of moves so unlikely beautiful and visionary, it boggles my mind still that it was done in the 70s--long before crash pads, campus boards, and plastic holds.

When I first approached Columbia boulder in Camp Four in 97, I remember my pulse rising, heart pounding--I recognized the lightning bolt graffiti---aah, Midnight Lightning. It was for real, I was looking at it, touching it.

Phoenix

A Ray Jardine climb, said to be the first 5.13 in the world. Certainly one of the best pitches in Yosemite. Beta and a bit of a story below.

Konstantin and I first got on it in the fall of 98, following a short list of cracks by Jim Herson. Better than any guidebook. Phoenix starts with a delicate climbing in a shallow pin-scared dihedral, that builds up some pump. It is followed by a steep finger traverse, which is the crux. Past it, the crack widens to thin hands, gently overhanging, and stays that way to the end. One of the best thin-hand endurace stretches in the valley!

Half Dome in a Half Day

How to climb Half Dome (RNWF) in a half day? The secret, according to Kibum, is to use bikes.

part 1: http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/lasan911/344

part 2: http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/lasan911/343

Splits:
Dead Slabs: 1h 20min
Regular Northwest route: 4h
Valley-to-valley: 8h.
Car-to-car: 9h 20min, including swimming in the river.

Pyromania

photo: Andre

In a place where most climbs are 5 stars on a 5-star scale, there is one that stands out. I will drop it: Pyromania is the best climb at the Needles, at its grade. Grade correction is important since most climbers don't consider 5.13 a recreational challenge. And because, the overall best climb at the Needles is the multi-pitch Romantic Warrior at grade 5.12.