The Winterlong Belay: Bishop and the Sierras

Hey Everyone!

So its been a few days since our last post, and since then Eric and I (Lee) took a drive from Eric's (Wysocki) apartment to Venice Beach and then up the pacific coast to Big Sur. (By the way, Jeff has been in Joshua Tree since we left and was reunited with us in Bishop.) It was a beautiful drive and it was surreal to be on the beach in 80 degree weather, with our feet in the sand and a frisbee in our hands. We got to big sur a little after dark, and set up camp with an incredible view of the ocean. We woke up and did some hiking in the national forest. It was awesome to have a lush forest to hike through, and even more beautiful was the coast, abundant with bluffs and coves. From there we made the horribly long drive to Bishop, a drive we realized that despite being only 200 miles as the crow flies, was a 400 some mile drive that took us withing 130 miles of LA. not very good planning on our part but its all part of the experience.

We pulled into the pit at 11:30pm, our home for the next two weeks, and crashed in the jeep for the night. I woke up, looked out the window, and saw the beautiful sierras towering over the campground. That day, tuesday, we went to the happy's. It is a valley cut into a plateau, filled with hueco like volcanic boulders. We got on some very cool classics, and i managed to send Rene, v5, in three tries. Its a really nice 15 degree face that stands at about 18 feet. It all comes down to locking off a two finger pocket crimp and standing up to a crimp rail. Eric was close, but was having trouble getting his alleged sausage fingers into the pocket. so he shotgunned a beer to dull the pain, and jammed them in, but didnt quite send. He is close. We have all racked up projects and were hoping to put them down and gain some more.

On Wednesday Eric and I went to mammoth due to 9" of fresh snow on tuesday night, and skied glades and fresh snow all afternoon. it was a nice change of pace, despite being way expensive.

We are waiting for better weather to head to the buttermilks, due to it being set in an alpine meadow, and thus conditions are always colder. in due time.