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

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)

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.