Sierra Nevada, CA Climbing Report: “Incredible Hulk”

Sierra Stoke

words and photos by Emily Harrington

(editor’s note:  Emily is a professional rockclimber from Squaw Valley, CA who has been everywhere and done it all.  Enjoy more of her amazing adventures here:  EmilyHarrington.com) 

Last weekend [August 3rd, 2014] Adrian and I pulled ourselves away from beautiful Tahoe for three days of granite climbing on the East Side of the Sierra.  We climbed “Crescent Arch” in Tuolumne, “Sunspot Dihedral”, and “Tradewinds” – both on the Incredible Hulk.  All in all it was a super fun trip and we had success on all three routes.  

I was especially pleased to climb almost all of the pitches of “Tradewinds” cleanly, a superb route up one of the proudest lines on the Hulk characterized by clean corners, finger cracks, and the occasional loose block or detached flake to keep you on your toes.  It was a real alpine adventure and one that tested our physical strength and stamina as well as my ability to maintain a cool head on exposed runout terrain with less than optimal protection in some places.  The only spot that stymied me was the bizarre sideways dyno to the belay at the top of pitch 7.  

I tried every possible solution but in the end could not solve this one move wonder.  So I can’t quite call it a send but I’m satisfied with my effort nonetheless and am excited to finally feel some level of comfort and confidence with this style of climbing.  I feel like I’ve been working at it for a while now, but as I’m reminded everytime I attempt something like this; I’ve still only barely scratched the surface in terms of putting my time in and earning those merit badges that will hopefully allow me to really push my limits on high alpine walls in the future.