Strong Medicine and Tasty New Photos

JJ Schick catching the sports action of Joel Unema on the second ascent of
Pressure Drop 5.12+
Photo Wade Forrest

Squeezing the prow on
Donald Duckin' It 5.12d
Photo Blake McCord

I've written previously about how much I love the Oak Creek Waterfall and how influential it has been in my climbing.  The past year has been one of great change, both for me and for the Waterfall.  There has been a wave of new development, opening many new hard lines, a fresh crew of young climbers has sprouted up and begun sampling the fruits of the Waterfall, and the imposing reputation of the crag has begun to change.  I had a chance to shoot a few of the new routes with Blake McCord a couple weeks ago and couldn't help but share some of the new photos plus a few others I stole from MountainProject.

 Around a year ago, I had my first taste of establishing new routes there, beginning with Alex Kirkpatrick, establishing the mental testpiece Walking Far From Home 5.12-.  A few months later Dave Bloom and John Crawley began a new wave of development and I jumped on board!  Just this season, Dave and John established and impressive list of FA's up there, several of which I have had the pleasure of climbing for the second ascent.

Staring down the crux on the second ascent of
 Donald Duckin' It 5.12d
Photo Blake McCord

Comin' in Hot 5.12a
I'm on my Bike 5.11

Wasp Whisperer 5.11

Wolverine 5.13-

Terminal Mocha 5.11

What Are You On? 5.12b

Inz and Outz 5.12c
In A Blunt 5.12-
Donald Duckin' It 5.12d
A White Bread World 5.11

My good friends and some of Arizona's most prolific route developers JJ Schlick and Wade Forrest put up a handful of exceptional routes as well!

No Utopia 5.11+
Aquarius Rising 5.11
Darkest Hour 5.11

Joel Unema pulling the roof on the FA of Follow your Doubt 5.12
Photo Blake McCord

I also had a chance to put up a few of my own routes with John, Dave, JJ, and Wade and made the FA of the following:

Slaughterfall  5.12
Suzie and Ishmael do the Nasty 5.12+

Broken Chain 5.12

Follow your Doubt 5.12

In the past year the crag has grown and matured, and a new crop of enthusiastic young climbers are cutting their teeth on the classic testpieces of the Waterfall.  It has been inspiring to watch Mike Broad, Casey, Kevin, and Robbie pushing themselves and showing the Waterfall some love.  The Waterfall is a great area to hone gear climbing skills and sharpen a climber's mental edge.  It was pivotal in my development as a climber, and it is great to see others attending school in the basalt classroom.

Jonathon Mosher arranging gear before pulling the roof on
No Feelings 5.10+
Photo Heather Mosher

Matt Swartz considering his options on
Walking Far From Home 5.12-
Photo Joel Unema

The number of 5.10 and 5.11 climbers venturing up to the waterfall has swelled in the past few years, and it is great to see newer climbers making the hike up to sample some of the finest intermediate level gear climbs around.  A few years ago, it seemed that the Waterfall had a reputation as a hardman crag, fraught with peril from rockfall and home to difficult and scary climbing.  With the passage of a few years, more and more climbers have been giving it a chance and braving the approach and rockfall.  Many who have taken a chance and tasted the strong medicine of the soaring basalt pillars are hooked and have acquired the taste for single-pitch adventure cragging!  

I have tasted the medicine, swallowed the pill, and become dependent   The strength of my dosage has increased, the frequency of use has become obsessive at times, and even after repeating all the established lines, I crave more.  The cracks will get thinner, the gear will get smaller, and the climbing will get much much harder, but I'll be scrambling up there, braving the poison ivy, swarms of bees, rattlesnakes, raging storms, and falling rocks to get my fix.

   Huge thanks to Blake McCord for shooting the great new photos of the new routes.  Check his work out at http://www.blakemccordphoto.com/ or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/blakemccordphoto?fref=ts