Heretic vs. Midnight Lightning Round 1

So yeah I learned a lot in the first round...a round in which I wholeheartedly got my ass kicked...

• Early morning or late day sesh are best times. Depending on how warm the valley gets. But even mid 70s equates to bad conditions given how slick the features are.
• Wow...those feet are SLICK. Luckily one of them can still be used during the opening sequence.
• Close crimp left. This allows for a pivoting/drawing in effect vs open handed crimping (which only allows you to down-pull). Close crimping allowed me to static to the sidepull right.
• After getting the press right, bump right to the pinch (a couple of dimples for the fingers, then engage the thumb against the arete). From there, get the left foot on and bump right again to the side pull.
• The holds aren't so bad. The mantle isn't so bad either. Just a matter of putting the moves together and figuring out the rest of the beta ground-up!!!
• The downclimb looks relatively mellow~ SCORE!!!

That's all for now on Round 1. Next up Round 2 (in March)!!!

Sent The Yogi Variation V9

'Nuff Said~ haha Here's the vid:

Some Pointers:

1. Don't rest at the rest point. It hurts the leg and if you cinch it in long enough, you cut off circulation. It's better and more energy efficient to just burn through it.
2. Chalk up the sides of your PANTS to avoid the Chalk Bucket/Bag DAB. Then just slap your pants whenever you need to rechalk.
3. DO NOT underestimate the V4 portion just because it's V4. It's "JTREE V4" i.e. it's burly and beta intensive depending on your body type. Have your beta DOWN.
4. This problem takes more muscle than it does tendon strength. So you crimpers are gonna hate it, but you sloper/compression folks are gonna love it.
5. The mantle is easier than it looks.

Cheers!!!

The Road Already Traveled...

Tonight while training at S1, I saw a familiar face for whom I have not seen or spoken to in a couple of years. Though the guy didn't look at cut as he was yesteryear, he was just as muscular and in the off moment I was resting from my training set, I caught a moment of his climbing. To no surprise, he was climbing hard as nails. Holy crap these young bucks have all the energy in the world.

Later in the evening as I was saying my goodbyes to a few friends around the gym, I found my way over to the kid. We shook hands and hugged each other, acknowledging the long period of time that had past since our last conversation. Asking how he's been and what he's been up to, he gave a somewhat vague answer, not really eluding to any particular activity. I referred to this as simply "time off" and asked how long it has been. His only reply was "awhile...". Further asking him how it felt to be back, his reply was surprising...

"I feel heavier for sure."

"It's all good brother, it's like riding a bike, it'll come back."

"Doesn't feel like riding a bike."

"It's always tough in the beginning, when you're starting up again."

"For sure..."

I gave him a hug again and encouraged him to keep hittin' it, and that I hope to see him back at S1 soon. It's always good to see him climbing as it's such a big part of his life. Equally as much I've always respected him and his brother; both such strong climbers and great guys. Very polite and courteous, well-mannered young men. It's a privilege to be in their company and to share in the same sport and community.

Admittedly, tonight was an unusual instance in that despite climbing hard, there was a strong sense of defeat and disappointment in his voice. I very well know what it feels like to "feel heavy" while pulling; it's as if you're carrying the weight of true failure on your shoulders. And not just in a literal sense but in a deep-reaching, mentally and emotionally blocking sense.

As much as I tried to encouraged him (one of my long-time inspirations in climbing), it seemed as though his own thoughts of self-defeat were getting him down and lowering his psych. In hindsight, I have to take responsibility for not communicating better with him. As a typical guy, I defaulted to a very typical guy response when confronted with emotional needs: "It's all good", which technically is on par with "You'll be ok" or "It'll be ok".

It would have been much better to simply give the guy a hug and say "I understand how you feel. And it's OK to feel that way". My initial answer, though intended to instill a sense of support, instead has an underlying negative aspect; I doesn't acknowledge how he felt. I could sense that disappointment, could hear it in his voice, yet didn't say a thing to acknowledge it, and instead offered up words meant to circumvent his emotional state.

If I could rewind, I would offer him a simple bit of comfort with that acknowledgement, then equally as much remind him of one absolute fact; he's already traveled this road. With that, if he chooses to take it again, he already knows his way, and he already knows what's on the other end. With so many accomplishments and titles under his belt, so may elite level problems with sends recorded with his name, he only need to look to his past to know what he's capable of. It's not a matter of if...only a matter of when. My apologies to the young brother; feeling down about yourself can be tough on your mental game. Your feelings are shared with many and you have our love and support. We're here when you need it!

I've been listening to this video at work for the last couple of days. I'm surprised I haven't heard this speech before! Some amazing and inspiring words from our former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Worthwhile for anyone to listen. And I'm sure my young friend would greatly benefit from the message being delivered:

Cheers!!!

The Love/Hate Relationship between Finger Tendons and Climbing

So thus far in 2014 I have strained my right ring finger twice. Once in mid January and again mid May. That first one was kind of a downer as most of the season had been spent breaking through that V5 plateau and finally pushing into V7. The second was a bit unexpected but didn't keep me from continuing to climb hard within a matter of a few days. The funny thing however is that, in both instances, I didn't experience those typical emotional stages a lot of us go through after similar injuries;

• Denial - we keep climbing
• Anger - it hurts more but we just tape it up and keep climbing anyway, fighting through the pain
• Disappointment - we rest for a few days because it hurts too much at this ponit, then try to return to hard climbing much too soon, resulting in re-injury
• Sadness/Depression - we just have to stop now because we can't even hold a glass of water without pain

Sound familiar? Yeah it's pretty much a DEATH MARCH toward being out of the game for several months, even running the risk of permanent injury!

...A Death March never ends well, no matter how adorable or cute it may look on the surface...

Despite having followed that recipe for disaster over the years, I've finally just accepted the fact that I AM NOT SPECIAL, I AM NOT SOME MUTANT WITH INCREDIBLE CRIMPING STRENGTH, ETC.. I'm just an average guy who, without proper warm up and stretching prior to hard climbing, will undoubtedly get injured! With that, recovering from a finger injury does NOT go beyond the normal facets most must utilize to heal from such injuries.
That said, I've managed to get right back to climbing hard within an exact and highly predictable time-frame. In fact, after recovering from that first one in January, I managed to send my first V8 outdoors by mid April, on no less than an overhanging crimp traverse problem (anything consistently crimpy is my anti-style)! Even after the most recent strain, I was back to pulling lead and clocking in 1000+ feet of roped climbing at Sender One in about a week's time.
Now how did I accomplish this despite the severe finger strains/sprains? I did this by doing what many of us probably already know. In fact, I'm sure a lot of you reading this have already tried my approach and may just be looking for validation. Well I'm more than happy to validate! Those who haven't tried this approach, I'm happy to say that it has helped keep me off the long-term injured list for over a year now. In fact, had I known how simple this all really was, I would have managed to recover from numerous finger injuries over the years, and wouldn't have plateaued at V5 for so many of them.
My approach is based on Dave MacLeod's article on finger injuries and layoffs. This is NOT some miracle way of curing finger injuries or a sure-fire way to heal them faster. What my system does is give you an extremely accurate time table to full recovery, depending on severity. No blindly telling you to rest until it doesn't hurt or any of that BS, because we know that simply does not work.

1. Week 1 - STOP CLIMBING!!! Yeah pretty much the first week has an obvious action; NO ACTION AT ALL! Reason being is that you need to let the swelling go down. Depending on the severity, this could take a day or three or a full week. In any case, just rest. A week isn't gonna hurt you. The main thing is to bring down the swelling, which can be done in a variety of ways:
   
   • Icing it - I recommend a bucket, 5-6 big ice cubes, a towel and good TV show while you freeze your hand to a point of numbness for about 30 mins (that tip from my aunt who's been running her own medical practice for the better part of 30 years.)
   • Ice Water/Hot Water - This is a typical approach to training recovery that is used to promote blood flow throughout the body using 30 seconds of freezing cold water then submersion into hot water for about 2-3 minutes. For our purposes, just have two buckets on hand. The hot water should be hot enough that you have to get used to it but not so hot that it burns you.
   • Vitamin I - AKA Ibuprofen. I don't necessarily recommend this but it is the most convenient form of anti-inflammation.
   • DMSO - I got this tip from Jimmy Webb, who used it to rehab a severe tendon injury a few years back. There is speculation that it is simply a placebo, but I have used it on minor finger strains and attained full strength in a matter of 1-2 days.
   Again, the key thing during the first week is to bring the swelling down, which may only take a few days. Once the swelling is down and the finger can bend without discomfort, you are ready for Week 2....
   
2. Week 2 - Nothing harder than 5.8/V0 Yes I know that's a tough thing to do. But you're just getting back on the wall! Be glad it's only been less than a week and not longer! Your discipline and willpower from Week 1 brought you to this point so let's keep it up and stay focused on your recovery!
   Week 2 is as crucial as Week 1 in that now you have to test your finger to see how much it can take (within reason). There are a few key points to note here:
   
   • Since the swelling is down, we can now start restrengthening the tendon. This is possible so early in the recovery phase because the same facets the body uses to get stronger are the same ones it uses to heal from injuries. Ergo, mild training/usage at this point will expedite the healing process, not hinder it.
   • It's gonna HURT!!! Your finger is STILL healing, so yes of course it's gonna be sore as hell. On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest level of pain and 1 being no pain or discomfort at all, you should probably be between a 5-6 about this time. This is completely natural and will start to subside over the coming weeks.
   • Climb slowly, statically, and deliberately. This means no dynos, no dynamic movement, keep all four points on until you are ready to move, maintain balance at all times...basically climb the way you SHOULD rather than some bro douche bag campusing through every move on that V1 (lame). Make use of efficient footwork and overall technique.
   • Nothing but V0 JUGS. I can't stress this point hard enough. And no this isn't "your definition" of jugs; literally nothing smaller than a V0 jug for this week. Just so that we are on the same page, here's a picture of a JUG; anything smaller is unacceptable at this stage:
   
   • Avoid putting direct pressure on the tendon. If you're grabbing a jug and it's pushing into the injured area, readjust your grip. Be cognizant of those pain/soreness signals at all times.
   • This may be totally obvious, but keep an open grip at all times i.e. no closed crimping...closed crimping is probably what got you in this mess in the first place, so how about you stop that crap all together until such a time when you're actually strong enough to open crimp that shit...
   • Stay off steep walls and overhangs...that will come in the following weeks so take it easy on that for the time being!
   • DO NOT TAPE IT. That cannot be stressed enough. Let the finger get stronger again naturally; taping it will prevent that from happening. Just don't do it.
   After about a week of easy climbing, take an honest assessment of your finger; does it still hurt just as bad as the beginning of Week 1 or does it feel a lot better than a week before? Make that assessment a few hours after your session, when your body isn't flush with adrenaline. If it's still really bad, take a 2-3 days off and repeat Week 1. Otherwise if you've stayed disciplined about Week 1 and Week 2, your finger should feel a heck of a lot better, leaving you ready to start up Week 3...
   
3. Week 3 - 5.9-5.10/V1-V2 So about this time your pain level should be between 2-4, meaning you should still be experiencing some weird tingling or discomforting feeling. However compared to the first week, it should feel much better and closer to full strength. This week marks a bit of a jump as you should allow yourself to hold on to full pad edges, slopers and big pinches. Slight overhangs would be great for this as well but continue to avoid steep overhangs and roof problems. Otherwise follow the same exact regime as Week 2 but up the ante to 5.9-5.10/V1-V2. If your previous max level was V4 or below, just repeat Week 1 as you want to stay well below your max during this week.
   Once you've completed Week 3, take an honest re-assessment of both your pain and current strength levels. If your pain level is above a 4, repeat Week 2. Else if you're below a 4, then congratulations!!! You're ready to move on to Week 4.
   
4. Week 4 - 5.10+/V3-V5 This of course is dependent on your original strength levels. If you were at most a V4 climber, just repeat Week 3 again as you still want to stay below your max. Otherwise step it up another grade notch while keeping it significantly under your maximum level (by at least 2 grades). As of this writing my max is V8/9, but even in Week 4 I will still keep it V5 and below. This is NOT the time to push yourself and pull hard....not yet. That should come next week; so just one last week of easy climbing.
   At the end of this week, take another honest assessment of your finger. Make that assessment a few hours after your session, when your body isn't flush with adrenaline. If some slight soreness should still be there, don't sweat it; still perfectly natural to experience some continued soreness for another couple of weeks. But notice now that you should be climbing much stronger than you were just a few weeks back.
   

After Week 4, continue on in a gradual uptick in difficulty per week until you get back to your maximum climbing level. By the time you do, you'll notice that most of the soreness or weird tingle feeling is gone and that your open grip strength should be back to normal. Rest when it feels like it may be getting sore again. Otherwise if you've followed this process exactly as stated, the most you'll be off the wall is 1-2 weeks, and you'll be back to full strength in about a month's time. Much better than sitting out half or an entire season!
Now, if the above process does not yield the expected results, please do not hesitate to contact a medical professional and have your finger checked out! The above absolutely assumes you did not completely rupture or snap the tendon in half or anything else that may require x-rays or surgery! Play it smart; if you think you might need medical attention, err on the side of caution and get some!
I'd love to hear what has worked for you, what hasn't, etc. Have you tried this process before or something similar? Have you made the mistake of taking way too long of a break after similar injuries? Share your thoughts.

Master Blaster V9? More like V7 (or Chasen-6)

I've seen a few YouTube vids of this short, powerful and sharp-as-hell problem throwing out V9, which is the guide book grade for the problem. Now...I would say it's all relative to the climber and depending on your preferred style and strengths this problem may be (like any other problem) harder or easier. That said:

1. No harder than V7. I'm basing this on a couple of general thoughts and experiences at Tram:

• Tram is generally overrated. Some problems have classic ratings (reads: JTree Ratings) such as Franks Roof (IMHO the hardest V3 in the entire park). But a two-grade diff from the guide book? How is this possible?
• Grades were inflated in the guide to attract attention to the place. There are a number of problems that over the years have either taken downgrades or have been discovered to be really soft. One of which is Vanishing Point. NO SINGLE MOVE on that entire problem is harder than V7, yet the problem goes at V9 consensus. This argument excludes problems where easier beta has been discovered such as Gluttony (V8 potential downgrade to V7) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (V7 actual downgrade to V4).
• Not much harder than Re-Animator. Most of you probably know this problem as "Slot Machine". Notorious for its accuracy crux (i.e. hitting that tramslot), but moderate at V6. IMHO soft for the grade compared to something like Flight of Osiris. Given that Re-Animator is moderate V6 and Master Blaster not being that much harder, I can't say this problem is much harder than V7. V8 would be extremely generous and more like sugar-bagging.

2. Condition Dependent. That start hold can be pretty slick from the angle it's at and, like most any climbing problem/route, better to wait til you're freezing your ass off before attempting.

3. There's a very slightly dimpled, three-finger sloper about a foot underneath the farthest right-hand crimp that makes compressing this baby a lot easier, and allows you to skip the farthest right-hand crimp altogether.

Nonetheless this is a great little power problem and I'm extremely happy that it's finally getting some well deserved traffic. Props to ma' boyz Chasen, JPace and Laggy for putting this shit down like Bosses. These guys always inspire me to push harder and I'm always stoked to follow their lead in crushing hard problems!

Edit 7/27/2014: Sent it. Yeah it's a pretty hard V7 but nonetheless I felt this was still within upper V7 range. Hard for the grade. Soft V8 (low in the grade) is reasonable as well.

Edit 8/9/2014: After further consideration, IMHO the problem falls within the 7/8 range, thus V8- (low in the grade).

Cheers~

And Suddenly It Wasn't So Hard!

Git your mind outta the gutter! I'm talking about some long-standing problems at Tram that I thought I'd never be strong enough to work on. Now they seem not just possible, but very probable to do in just a few sessions.

Vanishing Point: Great progress thus far. I've managed to do it in 3 parts; Flight of Osiris (the V6 ending to the problem), the start into "The Big Move", then actually doing the big move. Didn't stick the swing but was able to actually make the swing and it felt pretty easy...just that when you're swinging that big it's more fun that serious. Kinda like when you were a kid on a swing and you yelled out to your mom "Yay! Mom look I'm swinging!!" hahha Yeah that was good time. Overall A LOT of progress on this as that Big Move seemed so hard when I first tried it a couple weeks back. Then trying it yesterday it felt so easy, I think I stuck it second or third try.

Master Blaster: Damn you Laggy for showing us this problem! Short, powerful, crimpy and sharp as hell. Great problem! I must join Laggy on his next session up here for this problem. Damnit! Had to add this to the project list. Pretty short though for this season as I'm concentrating only on a small handful of problems

Byron's Roof: Henry D's big summer project. I can see why; the big move into the roof is serious shouldery business. And HD's big-ass shoulders serve him well on this problem. hahah As for myself, I was able to actually do the first few moves on this thing. That's big thing for me considering we were near the end of the day and it's a V9+. haha

Now a bit of discussion over the starting point of Byron's. Take a look at the pic below (courtesy of Vimeo and our lovely and UBER-strong LA Bouldering Queen Jess Chen):

The blue circle indicates the accepted starting hand position for Byron's Roof, where the climber can match, cross-match, etc. Upon observation of ma' boy Laggy working the problem, I noticed a bunch of chalk right where the purple circle is in the photo. Tried it out and to my surprise, starting left hand on the low part of the sloper (blue circle) then right hand pinching the slopey arete (purple circle) felt much easier as it facilitates a compressive start vs. a pull-down start. Establishing in this fashion, you simply fall into the first move.

I realize this may get some backlash from people who've sent the problem saying the "official" start is matching on the lower part of the sloper, but then again I'm actually starting the problem with my right hand at a lower point, thus not violating the "Unwritten Bouldering Laws" that state you cannot start a boulder problem any higher than its first hold (i.e. anything below the start hold is fair game).

It's also worth noting an email conversation I had with Wills Young a few year's back when it came to problems in general. His words of wisdom: "Names, grades, even the problems themselves are not real. They are mere mental constructs in the mind of you and I. The rock is simply inert, unaffected by all the naming and grading, the defining and constricting. It has no knowledge of these things."

What I took from this statement was simply ... climb it how you want; the only one it matters to is you~ =^D

Lastly, shout outs to ma boyz Laggy and JPace for making it an awesome Tram session. Props to JPace for sends on Vanishing Point and Master Blaster! Puttin' 'em down hard brother!

Cheers~

Noel

Spent Star Wars Day bouldering in Red Rocks~

As total luck would have it, and as much as I wasn't expecting anything more than a session at the local climbing gym (props to Nevada Climbing Center) while visiting family in Vegas, I woke up May 4th around 9am and was greeted with surprisingly cool temps and mass amounts of cloud cover. It was still a slight bit humid but nonetheless driving out I decided to make the most of this great "Summer" weather, dropped off the gf at the local Coffee Bean so she could study, and set off like a speed demon into the park for some covert bouldering!

The sun still peek out from time to time but not enough to stop me from hitting up a few problems. Also took the opportunity to hit up next season's mega project: Ride The White Horse. MAN those slopers are gonna be awesome come October! I'm super stoked! Definitely gonna be training all Summer for that baby!

Here are a couple of vids from my short but excellent sesh. This V2 was way harder than it looked, moved awkwardly, but nonetheless was pleasing:

This V1 had a rather committing slab move (book gives it V3?). I had to repeat it and do the direct version as the first attempt I veered off route and escaped up the easy exit to the right (V0):

See that short overhanging arete to the left? I vaguely remembered it from somewhere but then did some searching online...it's a V8/9 according to the FAist. "Blackbeard's Delight" haha So wrong but so right...check out Max's video. Fun power problem, hardest move is pulling your ass off the ground with the high heel hook. For the right hand, you can start on the big pinch he uses in the vid or a more square-cut pinch closer to the right heel hook. Using the latter I was able to pull my ass off the ground but was unable to generate enough power to hit the first jug. Once you reach the first jug (right hand), it tapers off to a nice V1 (the book gives this V4?). One move wonder, but I love short power problems so I'll definitely come back to this one in October as well:

Red Rocks - A Few New Boulders from Max Moore Photography on Vimeo.

Until next time~

Noel

Holy Crap it's been AWHILE

Wow so much has happened since the last post....hahah jeez I'm a lazy blogger~ So where to begin...Well I finally sent Streetcar Named Desire! Check it out here..oh yeah I started up a YouTube Channel as well.

Also got that first V7 finally (although it was super soft...V6+/7-?):

Also made that 1st Ascent of "The Court of Owls" at Barker Dam in JTree:

Yeah been really working on staying fit, getting stronger and climbing harder in general. Naysayers and haters can suck it! haha~ Anyway I'll try to keep up with the blog stuff going forward, especially now since Blogger has all these awesome templates! W00t!

Til next time!

Dancing Queen aka The Cube

So yeah I never blog but I had to to spew off about this past Saturday...I'm on the V1 finishing moves (the last two) of the The Cube and right when I go to match my hands, my left hand blows off completely (too sweaty). I land right on my right ass cheek. Damn hurts to sit right now! Oh and then I had my hands on the sloper corner and I go to place the right heel hook and both my hands decide to slide off, landed right on my left hip and elbow. Yeesh...pretty banged up right now. Going back Friday evening for a send. I think I'll get it...anyway if I do I'll post a pic or two~! w00t! Til Friday (or next quarter? hahaah)

Quarterly Update?? (Are you serious?)

Yeah I don't blog very often...yeesh...

- Joe's Valley (Memorial Day weekend) was both a huge success and a total flop. Success because I sent the project I was aiming for (Killed by Numbers V5). Here's a video of a hot chick sending it. haaha But yeah took about 30 mins to figure out all the beta and try a few moves, then about 4-5 goes to link it. Just over an hour.
Katinka Muhlschlegel sending Killed By Numbers V5

So why did it suck? Oh because the next day, I was warming up on some short crimpy V4 on the Scary Monsters boulder and ended up straining two fingers on my left hand (ring and middle). This effectively killed the ENTIRE trip. 900+ miles to Joe's Valley, barely 2 days of climbing out of a 5 day vacation! DISS!!!

It was all good though because we found time to hit the BackCountry retail store in SLC, then tour through a state park, then headed back to Las Vegas for a night of dinner and gambling!! w00t!!!


- Injury update - went to Tram yesterday and instead of being able to warm up on V4, it took me two hours just to send one.....SUCK. Oh well at least I'm still climbing at V4....Tape is my best climbing friend ever...hahhaahah

Til' next time~!

Long Time No Blogging Pt II

Wow, it's been a while...let's see what's going on....

JTree Update

Progress on Streetcar - One move. One move away from topping out. It's actually very exciting. Just need to compress that dished out sloper. However the temps are starting to pick up, so I'm not so sure it'll happen this season...going back Easter morning for one last go before I escape the desert heat. I'm not stressin' though; it'll be there next season when it's cold again. Plus, it's not like I haven't worked on a single problem for 2 years before (see Outcast~) hehe.

Dream Sequence V6 - A sweet compression problem on sidepulls and slopers up to perfect edges, to more slopers. RtM showed me this problem, near the West Entrance. The rock is much like the smooth granite at Tram; very uncharacteristic of the typical and unforgiving Quartz Monzonite that JTree is infamously known for. Anyway I think I've got my beta down; very intricate and somewhat footwork intensive. However I think I've discovered an easier sequence through the beginning.

- Start from the sit, but right heel on the right sloper, right hand on the lower incut crimp.
- Crank the heel and slap up to the first slope.

From there I have my beta down pretty well.

Yabo Roof Traverse V6. Ok, some breakage...urg...nothing bad. One Saturday morning after the rain had stopped, I decided to brush out the undercling (the original starting hold for the problem, not the slots as it is documented in the guidebook). As I started brushing, mud started coming out from underneath the hold. I figured I'd just clean it out as much as possible...unfortunately this lead to a HUGE chuck of stone falling out. Now the undercling is uber-bomber, vs. a pinch undercling. Great. Anyway I also decided to try a different sequence and ended up tearing off a huge knob off the lip. Great. After two breaks...urg. I decided to pack it up for the day on Yabo Roof rather than risk significant breakage. However I did manage to find good beta (for short people):

- Lockoff on the undercling, right foot really high, pressed against a small slope under the undercling.
- French flag left underneath to a highest (decent) foot.
- Lock off and bump out left to the jug sidepull. The right foot at this point is providing compression force in conjunction with the left.
- Flag out far left, edge into the crack if that feels ok.
- Right hand static up to the first sharp jug.

From there, finish off the traverse. I've finished the problem from there, so it's just a matter of repeating with a few strong moves added to the beginning of the sequence.

Gritty Butt Butter V4. Broke a start hold on here. oops...compression rocks...compression kills rocks too. It's ok though; I re-established from a sloper, making the problem more consistent. See Gritty Butt Butter V4

Master Cylinder V5 - Woulda sent it if it hadn't been for my buddy greasing up the hold prior to my attempts. DAMN!!!! Next time I guess...I'll chalk up that hold first. Damnit JPace!!!

Penguins in Bondage V4 is TALL!!!!!! Holy crap. Need spotters and crash pads for this one...

Steele Valley Update

Morpheus V4. Sent it. Super fun problem. Big gym-like moves between edges, to some precarious slab climbing. Almost a perfect climb, just that the holds are sharp as hell. However I hit it on a really cold and windy day after work, which left my fingers pretty numb. Great stuff.

The Shotgun Boulder is now home to some serious urban art. This wouldn't be so bad but we've lost a bunch of problems off the face. A bit too slippery to hold or step. Oh well. I think the city of Lake Elsinore may do something about it, though they say the land is actually county land and thus beyond their jurisdiction. The climbing community may need to sponsor some sign postings...

Whew!!! anyway that's it for now....I'd post pics but they'd be too big and I don't have much time to edit them....Until next time!!!!

Outcast aka Don's Dyno (V5)

Ok finally sent Outcast V5. Two years in the making! haha One project down, a few more to go on the Tram list before season starts up! w00T!

Increased crimp and core strength combined with lighter weight and power training and BAM, on the last try of the day, it all came together. Super stoked to finally get that off my project list and on the tic list.

STILL working on Streetcar...

Man this thing is tough, but I'm SO close to sending it. I met a guy today at Crossroads Cafe and we were of course talking about climbing and started talking about Streetcar. He asked if I jump to the top and I said:

Me - "No, I want to stem as far up as possible then static the thing."
Him (Andy) - "Yeah none of that weak hopping crap huh? When you send something, you wanna OWN it, not just get by on it."
Me - "Nicely put."
Him - "Y'know, Michael Reardon said that."
Me - "He did? Very nice."

Awesome quote, says it all and so simply. I'll keep that quote in mind next time I hit it.

Update on Projects

Haven't written anything in awhile! Busy with the new job, hehe.

1. Finished Yabo Roof Traverse on New Year's Eve 2009. Crazy; I start the year by getting White Rastafarian on January 1st, end it getting YRT December 31st. No way it's a V6 though, too easy. Couple of friends say it's a V4. I think it's a V5-. One big move right in the middle off a bad greasy slot, the rest is just really technical footwork. Fun climb though, 3/5 stars.

2. Streetcar....going DOWN this Sunday? We'll see, my new beta has gotten me really far up the dihedral.

I'll post again after this Sunday~! Back to work!

Breathless (V5)

Finally finished Breathless. Took 3-5 deep breathes right before the send. Cleared my mind of all things except the vision of me hitting each move. Right before the dual crux came a quick thought of simply committing to getting the pinch really well. Hit it; took a deep breath, then let my feet cut in a very controlled manner, as I've done so many times before. Then as looked down at the high left foot, I took another deep breath and I thought again "Commit". Hopped the left foot up really high, swung the right leg around for the heel smear and bumped to the juglette. Now, one last commitment move; bump the right hand off the bad pinch, up to the good pinch. But by this point it was a different feeling than before (the last trip out there, where I almost had it); this was a feeling complete confidence. I stuck the bump with an iron grip, promoted my feet to the juggy edge and started my pre-celebration of V5!!!

Eric kept saying "well ya gotta top out first...", so I did. Then let out a loud "YEAH!!!!!!". Such a good feeling to finally break through that barrier. It ALWAYS feels so impossible...then one day you just get it.

Anyway one amazing journey ends yet again, leading to the start of another new journey, or maybe just freeing up more time for the continuation of other journeys which have already started...more to come later!!!

Thanksgiving JTree Day session this Saturday

Awesome. A bit of an update:

• Streetcar Named Desire - Went back to it recently on a short day session. got PWNED. Spent most of the morning trying to remember what I did last time. Finally got it AND wrote it down so I wouldn't forget! It was all about the first left hand stem...Confidence level currently at 100%


• Breathless - Still just have to link the start to the finish, as I've done the crux move into the finish, and the start into the crux move. Having already made the crux move at the beginning and at the end of each piece respectively, it's simply a matter of connecting. Confidence level currently at 95-98%. Very challenging climb for me thus far.


• Yabo Roof Traverse - Gym style V6. Definitely want the clean, pure send by avoiding any contact with the adjacent boulder. Worked out most of the moves, though I still have to figure out the transition from the crux to the mantel, then actually hit the crux. Confidence level currently at 80% since I still need to work out some of the sequence.

Other than that I hope anyone reading this has a happy Turkey Day!~ w00t! See you at the crag~!

JTree was awesome!

Damn I made so much progress on my V5 project as well as significant progress on Streetcar Named Desire! Damn, my first V6 is gonna go down soon! nice~ Photos to come later~!@

Finally got the Western Roll!

Damn this problem has been plaguing my existence since last summer. But yesterday with unfortunately no witnesses, I sent that baby 2nd go!!! Would been a flash but i slipped off the first go to the "cranky" left sidepull. Another project down baby!!! w00t!!

Short person beta - after grabbing the undercling and right sidepull, hop up the right foot to the bulge right of the shelf. Your left foot should be on the lower sloping foot under the shelf. THEN, bump the left foot up to the shelf and LEAN in on it hard. lock off right hand and the bump with the left hand is easy! Then straighten out your legs, stand straight up, THEN slap for the lip.