Tag Archives: Trad Climbing

Mar21

Climbing at Dalkey Quarry

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Sunday, 06-July-2026



I swear, I still rock climb.

I mean, okay. It’s been like… a long time. A really long time.

I’ve been lifting weights about once a week, but I’ll be real here – it’s been months since I’ve gotten to the climbing gym, and even longer since I’ve gotten up on actual rock. I mean, I brought all my climbing gear to Ireland with me! I just… haven’t used it.

That finally changed, thanks to an invitation from a classmate and his wife – The chance to touch rock! To climb stone, place gear, and enjoy a bit of time outside of the city!


Now, what did I climb? Well. I’m glad you asked!
– Drinker’s Direct, 5.4, Trad lead! Twice!
– Honeypot Crack, 5.5, Trad lead!

And… I think that was it. I may have done a variant of Drinkers Direct, but… yeah. Just a nice calm day on the rock.

With a lovely burger to finish it off, of course!

Jun12

A spring day on the rock at Ozone

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**Note this was posted on 06-July-2023, but is backdated to 12-June, so that it fits in with the correct timeline. Apologies!!**


29-Apr-2023


Holy crap it was hot.

Like… April, man… why was it hitting 90s? Global Warming my rear… this is Global boiling. Global blow-torching. Global “It’s getting too hot!”-ing!

Anyways Jess and I went climbing!

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Ozone, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect… but thankfully, Mountain Project was there to help guide us, and my memory wasn’t quite as bad as I was worried it might be. Minimal exploration was needed, and lots of great climbing was had!

I didn’t end up taking any pictures, since photography while climbing is a bit hard… I’m either climbing, or belaying, and neither option lends itself to free hands. If you’ll forgive the lack of photography, though, I do have a list of climbing that we rocked!

Simple and easy ones, I didn’t push too hard… though that final 10a was definitely an appreciated challenge! The rest were simple – stretching my muscles, letting Jess break back into outdoor climbing… it was a good day, in no uncertain terms.



Routes:
– Wellwisher, 5.6, Trad, Lead!
– The Beared Lady, 5.6, Mixed, Lead!
– Pippin, 5.6, Trad, Lead!
– Merry, 5.7, Sport, Lead!
– Prancing Pony, 5.7, Trad, Lead!
– Bag Ends, 5.7, Trad, Lead!
– Mirkwood, 5.10a, Top Rope!

Aug16

My first outdoor Oregon climbs of 2022! Ozone!!

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Saturday, 23-July-2022

(Edit: 20-Aug-2022, I realized that these weren’t my first outdoor climbs of 2022! Instead, my first outdoor adventure climbing was at Rumney, back in April! How crazy is that… I’ve climbed equal amounts on both coasts!)

How has it been over seven months, and I haven’t climbed outside??

I mean, I don’t think I have… And I have to admit, there’s good reason. An excessively rainy spring, far longer than most, leading into a summer approximately a billion degrees during the day doesn’t really lend itself to getting out of town and rock climbing.

But none of that matters now because I went climbing!!!

My friend Lexi and I headed out leisurely on a Saturday… it was a bit impromptu, with our plans varying the few days before. Thankfully, everything worked out in the end, and we found ourselves eating breakfast sandwiches in the morning and then starting the drive while the day was still comparatively young.

Our goal was Ozone – to do a bit of exploring and just feel out the climbing. This would be our first climbing trip together, and her first outdoor climbing in 7 years or so, and we weren’t aiming to push grades or do anything particularly crazy… just get out on the rock and enjoy ourselves.

So… we did! We climbed, we crushed, and we had a great time!

Okay, so… photos. There really weren’t any. Since, you know, we were climbing. But I did get a cool shot of Lexi looking up at an impossibly tall section of the wall! And of some BBQ that we had afterward!



What did we climb, you may ask? Well, ask that I may answer!

Stairway to Heaven – 5.6, Sport, Lead

Stigmata – 5.7, Trad, Lead

Rusty Cage – 5.8, Top-rope (climbed on Stigmata anchors)

Stigmata variant (Left) – ~5.8, top-rope

Ripper – 5.9, top-rope

Ripper Variant (left) – 5.9, top-rope