Our trip to the Izu Peninsula was a blast. We drove down the beautiful east coast to our hotel on Wednesday to our temporary home, the Star Hotel. The hotel was OK but we had private onsen access that was killer. An onsen overlooking the Pacific Ocean is very cool.

The next day we went up to Jogasaki to check out the coast there and to see what all of this seaside climbing is all about. Well I have to say that some of there areas looked great and others were very underwhelming. we hiked the trail above the cliff and located several great lines but all most all seemed very short. After a nice snack we drove up to Futo to check out Jackson boulder. This is not a destination boulder by any means. It also is not very beautiful, with three of it's sides covered in spray paint. It does tote a few 7a and a 7a+ problems. Their are a few easy problems on it too but nothing impressive. If you are there check it out, but do not make a special trip just for Jackson boulder.

On Friday we headed over to the west side of the peninsula for some sight seeing. Of course I was looking for some boulders or areas for some route. We actually found a few potentially nice spots. One of the areas is on the beach and has three large boulders. The main boulder is actually pretty cool. It is about 10 feet tall and on one side it has a couple of tiered sloper shelves that start in the middle and work their way up to the top. The start of this problem is on nice crimps. This would be the main problem on the boulder, probably V6/7. I could only play on half of the problem since part of the boulder was wet. This is the only thing with this boulder. It is rather close to the surf. But still climbable in the right tide. On the other sides of the boulder there are a couple of cool problems most v2 or 3. But on the seaward side there is a very tough problem on VERY small holds. The other two boulders are the same height and offer easy problems up to V4. Fun place, but not a destination area. We found a great lookout that gave us a fantastic view of Fuji and the Pacific Ocean at sunset.

On Saturday we headed to Joyama. I have to say that this is by far the best area that I visited on the peninsula. May great routes and long routes too. Up to 9 pitches it seems. In the sun all day, so great for winter climbing. When we were there it was about 8C in the shade and 12C in the sun. Great climbing weather!!!! With the little man in tow we hike up and climbed a bit but had to head out early. Gavin was ready way before daddy was. And so it goes.

All in all it was a killer trip. We found a few other spots with really nice rock and no sign og climbing due to the vegetation in and on the walls. I think this area has much to offer with more to come it seems.

Enjoy the photos. Gavin is starting to wake and I am on duty.