Mount St Helena—The Bubble
Climb Review:
We climbed various routes on The Bubble at Mount St Helena.
I thought The Bubble was a very popular crag for something that took two miles to get to. During the time we were there, we must have shared the rock with about a dozen climbers. Thankfully, there are so many routes on The Bubble (and there are other climbing locations near by), that we never felt crowded or rushed.
It was so cool that there was a path to set up top rope anchors for the easier routes on the left side. I was ready to lead, but it turned out that it wasn’t needed.
The rock felt great. My feet didn’t slip all day and I just needed to adjust my mind to trust my feet on even small foot holds, as they were bomber.
The parking lot fills up fast, so we were glad that we arrived around 9am.
The rock got pretty warm around 1-2pm, so much so that the climb didn’t feel so great compared to earlier in the day.
Bubble Slab, Right (5.7; The Bubble)—My introduction to The Bubble was the Bubble Slab, and I was smitten. The rock quality was great, with lots of friction no matter where I placed my feet and hands. I thought the route was a great way to warm up.
Chimney (5.5; The Bubble)—I have an affinity to chimneys, so I just had to try this route. The climb was really fun, but I couldn’t utilize all my tools as my right elbow still hurt from a possible bone bruise that I suffered at Pinnacles. Still, it was fun climbing to the top (and then down climbing/traversing to be lowered).
5.9 Face (5.9; The Bubble)—I was a little scared of this route because it was a 5.9 and I wasn’t sure I could do it, but it really wasn’t that bad. I did have to pull off at two points, but it was because I didn’t keep track of foot holds and I just couldn’t see them. Once I leaned back and saw them, the route wasn’t that hard at all.
Fistful of Hueco (5.8; The Bubble)—We moved our anchor further to the left and I climbed this route with a fun name. The name comes from this hueco cluster near the top of the route that presents itself just as one runs out of hand holds. The rating was bang on, as I found this harder than the Bubble Slab, Right, but easier than 5.9 Face.
What I Learned:
I screwed up while moving the anchor and made the climbing rope run over the anchor’s twisted accessory cord. Because we only ran one climb this way (and slowly), it wasn’t a huge issue, but I was embarrassed. I should have visually checked the anchor/rope, but failed to. The anchor also got twisted because I kept myself tied into the anchor, which was just laziness.
I brought my trad gear, but didn’t place any. I mean, we were top roped, so it wasn’t needed. Maybe next time!
Scarlett and Annabelle didn’t want to climb at first, so to earn their lemonade later in the day, they opted to do 50 pushups instead. The funny thing is that they ended up trying to do 50 pushups, and then climbing anyways.
The four photos directly above were taken by Jo.
Friends:
Jo and Scarlett camped with us, so we carpooled together. Venkat met us at the parking lot and we climbed until around 2 or 3pm. The girls played so well together and the adults got to climb all that we wanted to.
What Happened?
~4 miles, 5 hrs, 930 ft of ascent
I had walked by The Bubble when I hiked Mount St Helena last year, and so it’s been on my mind to climb this great looking crag. After a year, I finally came back with friends to climb some of the routes.
When we arrived, there were these two climbers who were getting ready to send the Old Ladder route. They were very friendly and we chatted about The Bubble and various other nearby crags, as well as sharing beta.
Venkat and I climbed up to the anchor points, and we started climbing. After Venkat and I sent our first routes, everyone else gave it a go as well. The three girls tried their hand at the Bubble Slab, Right route, and all got up to around the halfway point before giving up. Jo tried her hand at the Chimney route and got a little above the half way point before throwing in the towel. Venkat and I climbed a few more routes before we switched the anchors to the left.
We had Jo try her first outdoor belay with Venkat tied in, and she did a great job at it. She was totally attentive (and definitely stressed) and used the textbook techniques that she had learned in her belaying class. I think Jo tried one more route with this anchor, and Venkat and I got in the routes that we wanted to do too.
Around 2 or 3 pm, the girls were getting a little restless, so we packed up and headed down. Venkat drove back home, and the rest of us drove into downtown Calistoga for some delicious Italian food at Mangia Mi.