Every climbing trip needs a starting point, so what better place than Smith Rock? This is where I climed for the first time ever, in the spring of '96.
Even after nearly six months on the road, it still ranks way up there on the list. Smith has it all, between the Crooked river gorge basalt and the welded tuff of the main rock.
This had been my training ground for two years, and I was used to the style and the rock. Smith teaches good technique with it's thin faces of pockets and nubbins, but the powerful overhanging routes are few and far between.
This meant that I would be weak in the power department, but as it turned out, I enjoyed the steep routes I encountered and had a great time learning the new techniques required to succeed.
Another advantage to training at Smith is the courseness of the tuff itself. My fingertips were super tough from the small, sharp holds and strong from all the crimping on them.
The previous summer I had put in more than 50 days climbing at Smith, so, even though there were still several hundered routes I hadn't done, I felt I needed a change...