The Bouldering Process

This isn't much of a trip report, but just some thoughts sprayed on a page. 

When my parents visited Arizona a few months ago to escape the northeastern US winter season, they bought over the viola I used to play when I was younger. Although I barely remember how to read the sheet music, I did remember the process of learning a piece of music, which funnily enough is very similar to the process of projecting a boulder. 

Bouldering is a simple game- finding a suitable movement sequence that satisfies the riddle in front of you- and then being able to execute it. When you first start this game, you are completely outmatched by the rock- there are so many nuances that you need to consider, such as the hand sequence, the foot sequence, the hidden holds, the deceptive shadows, etc.. However, over time, you slowly become more and more familiar with the stone's intricacies, its strengths and weaknesses, and sooner or later you manage to find your way through using your own physical and mental capabilities. At this point the playing field has evened out and you work with the stone to perform a well-rehearsed dance. Like most things, the dance can always be improved. 

Everyone's process to the game is different. 

I write down my beta. It might be overkill to do so, but I find it helps me more than watching video, because what's more evident that you truly understand a boulder problem when you can write down your method and visualize it when doing so? It's sometimes a pain in the butt, but I haven't been let down by it yet, and so that's my modus operandi. That being said, writing down beta is not the end game for me, as it can also be mental. Most of my most memorable sends come from when I failed at the crux move multiple times such that I thought it must be impossible, until one day, it wasn't. From what I've observed, the day the moves went was the day I stopped caring enough about the outcome of the move, and to just do it. That's probably what it means to climb hard- to make what seems impossible for you real. Either that, or coffee is a helluva drug. 

My process came out of a need to escape being in the shadow of someone else, which seemed like an insurmountable task. Looking back on it, that thought is funny and a bit sad. It's not worth trying to run through test pieces just to prove that you are capable in an arbitrary judgment contest. Go do it, just to do it- and not because you need to prove yourself. Climbing is too arbitrary and probabilistic for that. That being said, it wasn't a total net negative. Forcing myself out of my comfort zone into trying things hard for me, and succeeding, did up my confidence in my capabilities. It's funny how it all started with trying to do Moonstone. I'm still a middling boulderer at best, but it seems a bit crazy to me how much further I've come since then with the help of other climbers. 

I've learned a few key lessons since them, and I hope to apply them to my future goals. Projects are getting harder and harder, so I've realized it's important to just enjoy the ride and the little things that occur. Here's a few moments of victory captured of me on the process. 

Sticking the throw to the first sloper on Receptionist

PC: Joe Durling. 

Going for the next grip on Public Enemy

PC: Joe Durling

Just gotta remember to do it just to do it. 

Struggle Bus 2022- Sunday

I ended up spending the Sunday (4/24) on the same weekend of the Struggle Bus competition to try Evolution. Evolution, for the unaware, is a classic "V6" located in the Atlantis #2 sector of Oak Flat. Funnily enough, Oak Flat used to host the outdoor Phoenix Bouldering Competition (PBC) series in the late 90s, so I ended up hopping from one Struggle Bus to another. 

To summarize Evolution, it has the reputation for being sandbagged, and being harder than other consensus V7s in Hueco Tanks such as New Religion, Daily Dick Dose, Roughage, etc... I haven't been to Hueco Tanks, so I can't confirm, but I can definitely say that Evolution kicked my ass. Unlike most of the climbing I'm used to, Evolution is a gently overhanging, 15 feet climb up a bulge that starts off with a big deadpoint to decently good and big holds, and progresses from then on to smaller and tinier crimps until the top out. Bulge climbing isn't exactly my forte, so it was definitely a change of pace from dangling underneath a 10 feet tall roof on pockets. I'll need to update my game on vertical terrain. That being said, Oak Flat season is coming to an end near the end of April as it is getting quite hot, so it is possible that with better conditions, Evolution will end up feeling easier in that I won't be greasing off of the crimps near the topout. 

Here's footage of me greasing off Evolution:

Definitely pressed "B" when evolving

Most of the day was spent on the Struggle Bus with Cas and Stephen, and we also ended up meeting Brett, Jack, Joel, and his kids out there. Warm-ups were a bit paltry, I half heartedly did some laps on DJ's Traverse, one of my favorite boulder problems out there, and ended up with a flash on DJ's crimps (V3), and a quick send of RJG #194 (V3) with the classic nature top-out as some consolation prizes. Not too bad for someone who hasn't touched crimps in about a year. 

RJG #194 Consolation Prize

 

Although my climbing wasn't the best that day, Cas and Stephen had a pretty good run of it. Cas ended up getting Baby Coffin at the Draw the day before, and ended up making quick work on RJG #194 and DJ's Crimps. Stephen made quick work of DJ's warmup as well, showing that he has become much more comfortable with bouldering.

Additionally, I learned from Joel that I may have done a potential FA with Brett Roach on a low-start of Alien Autopsy. It's not particularly difficult, and I think it clocks in at a V4, but I hope to go back and get some footage of it anyways. I don't exactly have a name for it, either, but keeping in theme with the boulder I think Alien Burial could be a viable one. There's an even lower start that has a throw to a mono, which I would also like to put some time in when it finally gets cooler in Superior. I think I'll call it the Alien Exhumation Project. 

And that's how my first season of Oak Flat ended- a struggle bus both inside and out. It's a bit sad that it ended the way it did, but at least I have another reason to come back here and try again next winter. Until then, back to dangling.  

Struggle Bus 2022 - Saturday

Struggle bus: slang; (1) a situation, task that seems difficult or frustrating. (2) The name of a climbing competition series. 

Although it wasn't my thing, I decided to participate in my local gym's annual bouldering competition series, the Struggle Bus, just to broaden my experience. To my great surprise, I participated in enough comps to find myself spending last Saturday evening participating in the Struggle Bus finals at the Phoenix Rock Gym. 

The usual climbing experience

It turns out that you just needed to participate in 3 out of the 6 comps to 1) be automatically entered in the finals, and 2) get a free T-shirt - so if you're a climber in the valley looking for a free, well-designed shirt (and honestly, who isn't?)… you now know how to get one. Here's a picture of the shirt:

"Welcome to the Struggle"

   Backside

Even if the images don't do it justice, but the shirt is a good reason to participate. Thank you, Cat, for designing the shirt! 

The competition format was a redpoint format, which meant that all the competitors had 2 hours to complete the hardest 5 climbs they could, with bonus points awarded for it being done on the first go, and proof that they did it had to be signed off by 2 witnesses, or a single judge. Competitors were separated by brackets, and sandbaggers (another topic on itself) who were too strong for their format would be bumped up to the next category. 

The name of the game during this competition was to not get hurt. I was planning on heading out to Oak Flat to try Evolution the next day, so I was just hoping to make it through without getting hurt. I spent the majority of the time climbing easier stuff with Halo, who, like Ashwin, also played a formative role in my climbing. Halo unfortunately popped a pulley about a month ago, so he too was down for taking it easy. 

We first started climbing in the lead cave, which had traverse boulders. The lead cave is probably my favorite area in this gym, as traversing is one of my favorite movements in climbing, second to dangling on roofs. The running joke that I like to say about my climbing is that I probably have more mileage going horizontally, and upside-down than I do going up, which is probably why I suck at sport climbing. Going up is overrated, anyways. Hanging around and dancing through the holds are where it's at! Here are some photos Naoko shot of me during the comp on a V6 traverse, probably one of my favorite climbs in the whole comp.   

Karate Kick Incoming

Photo credits: Naoko

The karate kick finish

Photo credits: Naoko

Halo and I spent about an hour in the lead cave, and then we headed to the upstairs overhung bouldering area. We ended up meeting with Machanzy and Brandon up there, and we sent a few more moderate bouldering problems until the time went up, and we had to submit our scoresheets, and then wait for the podium placements and raffle. 

The interesting thing about this competition is that there are multiple raffles for a bunch of prizes. All the competitors get one as their name is drawn out of a hat- so that particular one isn't very interesting. The interesting thing here is the raffle for a crashpad. The way this works, is that each participant pays a dollar for a ticket, and they can buy as many tickets as they want. The money goes into a prize pot. Whoever has the first ticket drawn out of the pot gets the crashpad, but whoever has the second ticket drawn out of the pot gets all the money that's in the prize pot, which is probably worth a lot more than the crashpad itself. I personally did not enter, but just wanted to give a shoutout to Halo for winning the cash prize.

Podium placements were divided into difficulty categories and gender. The categories were separated in recreational, novice, intermediate, advanced, and open. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I placed 3rd in Advanced. The prize ribbon is pretty dope, also designed by Cat:

A great design

Overall, the competition is a good way to experience what makes climbing unique is that people of differing ability levels all competing at the same time. It wasn't an uncommon sight to work a boulder problem, brush holds for, or encourage someone twice, or half your age. It's also a good way to catch up with members of the community that you haven't seen in a while. I'm glad to have done it. It was a good break from the projecting process, but I think it's time to go back to it. 

Draw Chronicles: Dangling at Puzzle Box and Bad Ass Roof

It was Easter last Sunday, and even though I'm not religious, I still try to go to the (Priest) Draw on Sundays. See what I did there? Roofs are my sanctuary. They provide physical shelter, and a mental spot to recharge.  

Phoenix is heating up quick, so that means it's time to make the journey north. I'm excited to start climbing back at the draw (and the satellite roofs)  to work on the new projects. The list seems pretty hard this year, so I'm thinking of having three/four main roofs in order to keep the variety and moral up- Anorexic, Puzzlebox, Drop Zone, and Mars roof. That being said, I still have a few other things I would like to work on, so I'll also place them in the list below. 

Anorexic Roof Projects:

• Carnivore
• Eatmeater
• Meateater (already sent, but would like footage of alternative foot-first beta)

Puzzlebox Roof Projects:

• R God is Neither
• Cosmic Tricycle
• Sufferfish

Bad Ass Roof Projects:

• Big Block (starts on Bad Ass, traverses into Stinky Ass, finishes with a massive huck to a block)
• 7-5 = 2 (or whatever it's called)

Drop Zone Roof Projects:

• Drop Zone Left
• Unnamed Climb (Easier?)

Mars Roof Projects:

• Receptionist
• The Girl

Roof climbing is unique in that being strong can only take you so far, as there are a few other nuances to consider. That being said, you can still brute force it, but you will need to put up a bit of a fight. One example I have is from last year when a strong Texas climber thought that the Bat Cave felt about as hard as Free Willy in Hueco Tanks. It's just a whole different world dangling upside down, and the roofs here are very good at reminding you of that. Roof climbing is hard, and has its own tricks of the trade*. I'm still learning, but maybe I could share a few things I've learned. That being said, once you figure stuff out at the draw, you start wondering why you even had trouble in the first place. It's not often that you send a climb here, but when you do, it feels really nice since it means you truly understand how the roof works.     

Sunday was a good reminder of that. I came up from Phoenix for a day trip with Joe and his dog, Glitch. It was an amazing day, there was a light breeze blowing through the air, and time seemed to fall away. 

Timeless 

Glitch enjoying the shade

Glitch on the move

We met up with a transplant to Flagstaff from California, Will, who was looking to gain some more experience with the roofs. It was an interesting experience, as while we initially came up to work on the projects, we ended up showing (and climbing) our projects from last year with Will. We started the day off at Baby Coffin, and then proceeded over to Puzzle Box roof (PBR), where I managed to repeat (and capture footage of) Cosmic Bicycle after taking a nap for 10 minutes, and Joe and I half-heartedly put in some burns on RGod. We then ended the day at Bad Ass Roof, where I managed to cruise my last season projects in a single go, Badass, Stinky Ass, Badass-Stinky Linkup - and Joe started working on Stinky Ass, and Will got super close to finishing Bad Ass. 

Cosmic Bicycle @ Puzzlebox Roof

"Not even close" on RGod @ Puzzlebox Roof

Badass @ Badass Roof

Badass-Stinky Linkup @ Badass Roof

Although it looks like a pretty standard day of climbing (and falling), I think there were a few, good highlights. Over the past winter, I sprained my right knee doing a drop-knee at an indoors bouldering comp at PRG, so for a while, even attempting to twist my knee into anything remotely like a drop knee would not be an option. Nowadays, it feels like my right knee has returned to form. All the climbs done on Sunday required heavy use of the right knee. Secondly, I'm surprised by how much easier my old projects feel. I think I really learned them well, and I have some of the locals here to thank. Shoutouts to Tim for showing me the basic and more nuanced dark arts of roof climbing. His style is something that inspired me to improve my own, and I would similarly hope that my style will inspire future roof danglers. Anyways, roof season has begun. It's time to throw down. 

Appendix:
*arts of roof climbing: toe-ing down, toe-cams, bicycles, etc... 

Mission to the Superstitions: Pad Retrieval

Due to company policy, I had today off. I decided to be productive today and went on a mission with Ashwin to the Fortress to retrieve a stashed crashpad. 

9:30AM on the trail to the Fortress, past the "death" slab 

As mentioned in my previous posts about the climbing in the Fortress, the climbs are a bit tall, and require a few pads to cover the fall zones. The fortress, along with other areas in the Supes, have crashpad stashes that the community can use when they get to the boulder field. That being said, the majority of the stashed pads are old, and while I'm sure they were useful about 5-10 years ago, they are about as effective as paper is at stopping a bullet when it comes to protecting falls. They now serve their purpose by covering up rocks and for low falls. For the big falls, we needed more resilient pads, so we the Sunday crew (and some other individual crushers) hiked up some newer pads and stashed them there with the old ones for the season. Now that the season is over, it was time to grab our stashed pads and bring them back home for use at the other crags, or at least so they won't get chewed up by the critters up there. 

To deviate into a bit of history, Ashwin is one of the first people I met climbing in Phoenix. We met at a grungy, 90's themed rock climbing establishment named the Phoenix Rock Gym (PRG), when I was a bumbling neophyte (still am), and Ashwin was, in my eyes, an experienced climber well-versed in the dark arts of quiet feet, finger strength, and all things crusher. As he was the more experienced of the two of us, I observed a lot of his climbing and tried to implement it into my own style. Eventually, after I returned from Dallas from a rotation program at work, I would begin to start bouldering outdoors in Arizona. Initially starting alone, I would eventually work up the courage to ask others to join me on my trips, and Ashwin was no exception. One of the last places that we would often frequent was Groom Creek, in Prescott AZ. 

As a side note, it might not mean too much to more seasoned climbers, but Arizona has a smattering of classic moderate boulder problems in the V6 range. Here are 6 of them: 

1) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot @ Superstitions

2) Elephant Tree @ South Mountain

3) Moonstone @ Groom Creek

4) The Rail @ Oak Flat

5) Anorexic Sacrifice @ Priest Draw

6) Evolution @ Oak Flat 

In hindsight, having done all of the problems except Evolution, I have no idea if they fit the rating. Really, it's all about the line anyways. Nevertheless, I've heard that doing all 6 of these problems indicated some sort of proficiency, and so I decided that before I ever stopped climbing, I would make sure to finish all of these. 

Anyways, Moonstone was the first one that I would attempt, and I would go to Groom Creek with Ashwin for the purpose of trying to finish off Moonstone. The initial neophyte-expert gap became a bit smaller as we were both working the problem. 

Look Ma, no pads! 

Look Ma, we got the pads! 

Ashwin wondering whether he will finish his PhD or whether his PhD will finish him, while my Dragos are on what would be the stashed pad. 

By the time I finished Moonstone, Ashwin was pretty much moving out of climbing as interests move on and began focusing on other endeavors such as physical conditioning and his PhD in cybersecurity, while I began focusing on climbing at the draw. Afterwards, we would still meet up every so often and catch up, but our trips to Groom would be pretty much the last time we would climb together.   

It's no good dwelling on the past while the feet are in the present, so let's get back to the real topic at hand, the pad rescue mission. Since it had been been a while, a good hike is a nice way to catch up while not climbing. Although it is the middle of April, the Supes get hot, and even though we weren't carrying any crashpads or gear on the way up, the hike took a lot out of us due to sun exposure, not taking into account the snake that we saw burrowing into a rock, which definitely raised temperatures a fair bit. On the upside, flowers are beginning to bloom in the desert, and although desert flora can be some heinous motherf><^&($, at least they look nice. 

Flowers blooming

Strangely well-crafted hiking stick

 Some 45 minutes later, we were at the Fortress. The mountain project page for this area is a bit sparse, so I hope to update the page at some point in the future by providing more documentation and photos. Here are the boulders I took pictures of:

Mother of Invention Boulder

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Boulder

Double Down (Shark Sandwich) Boulder

Public Enemy Boulder

On the way back, we didn't run into the snake again, so it was a pretty uneventful trip on the way back. With all three members of the party accounted for: Pad, Ashwin, and me, in that order, we had made it in and out in under two hours. Overall, a very successful and good rest day!  

Appendix:
Notable lines on each boulder (to my knowledge):

Mother of Invention Boulder: 

- Mother of Invention  

- Game Changer 

- Mike's Arete  

- Collective Consciousness 

- Mother of Extension 

- Flying Dutchman 

- Misadventure of Captain Stabbums 

- General Disarray 

- Father of Destruction 

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Boulder: 

- Whiskey Tango Foxtrot 

- I am Superman 

- Man of Steel 

Double Down (Shark Sandwich (?)) Boulder: 

- Double Down 

Public Enemy Boulder: 

- Wonderboy 

- Underboy 

- Public Enemy 

Draw Chronicles: A Cosmic (Karmic) Lesson

A karmic cycle can be defined as a repetitious pattern of events that occur in your life, and that it may appear in your life as an opportunity to break the negative cycle and reap great wisdom. Bouldering has a very apparent karmic cycle. We look at a boulder, try, fall, and then repeat- until we smarten up and learn the lesson. It can also be very literal.   

The day before I went to Oak Flat with Bobby and Nadia, I was up at Priest Draw with Brett trying to get back into roof climbing shape. Brett was nursing a hand injury, and I wasn't in the mood to really do any harder pocket pulling. We did some warm ups at the Bat Roof, with us doing some quick sends on the Fin and Bat Cave. I decided to go for the whole enchilada and did the traverse of the Bat Roof as my fitness test. I was pleasantly surprised that I could still finish a lap of it, which meant that I didn't lose too much over the winter. We then went over to the Flying Saucer Problem and knocked out some foot first finishes to end the warmups.

Since we weren't planning on stressing Brett's finger, we decided to make a go over to the Puzzle Box roof. Puzzle Box feels like an anomaly to the usual draw style. It's similar to Monster Roof, where the holds are sloperish, with few tweaky holds as characterized by the Anorexic, Mars, or Bad Ass roof, and the individual problems are in the same difficulty range. One of the main differences between Puzzle Box and Monster Roof is that Puzzle Box has a plethora of linkups between the individual problems that drastically increase the difficulty. Personally, I think the climbs on this roof are far more enjoyable and flowy than those on the Monster Roof. One climb in particular that had both mine and Brett's attention was the Cosmic Bicycle, which is the stand start of the Cosmic Tricycle line. 

The Cosmic Bicycle is a perfect example of a figurative and literal karmic cycle as you start in a circular body position and are trying to get out of it. It's a finicky climb that requires a well placed heel-toe cam on a hard-to-see spike after an initial kneebar. I tried this climb last season, and didn't manage to get much progress. I was able to contort my body to hit the right hand pocket, but afterwards, I was halted by gravity trying to move out of the position, and trying to find the spike near the top of the roof. It's a maddening feeling trying to repeat my sequence in hope that it would just work. 

Stuck in a figurative, and literal, Karmic Cycle on the first two moves of Cosmic Bicycle last season

This season, I came back to Puzzle Box with Brett a bit wiser. I was able to figure out where the spike was, and surprise surprise, it wasn't on the top of the ceiling, but on the undercling that you start on. That finding, combined with a small change in start position by standing on a worse foot, broke my cycle and I was able to finish off the problem. What a relief. It's not every day that you would expect enlightenment from rocks. Brett came close to this one, and I'm sure he will get it when his hand heals. Unfortunately, I never got footage of it, so that'll be something I hope to fix in the future.  

After I sent Cosmic Bicycle, and Brett demolished Swordfish in a beautiful manner, we ended the day by hiking out to Super Roof, where I did some laps, and where Brett made quick work doing his first ascent of this amazing line. 

Brett doing some finger rehabilitation on Super Roof

We also intended to check out Drop Zone, but there wasn't as much time as the sun was setting. That's ok, it means an adventure for another time. Roof season is just starting, and it's going on a good note. 

Archive: Clashes at the Fortress

My previous post mentioned that I spent most of my free time this winter bouldering in the Superstitions Mountains and Oak Flat. This post will be dedicated to the former. Although it was my first season spending so much time up there, it wasn't my first time climbing in the Supes. That honor belongs to the winter of 2020, about a year since I've arrived in Phoenix. Like most first-time experiences, I don't remember too much about it, besides meeting with another climber named Kevin on Facebook and finally arriving at our destination after what seemed like endless bushwhacking. Bushwhacking while carrying heavy crashpads and water didn't make the experience too fun at the time, but even a bad day of exploration beats a good day at work. Looking back upon it, I now think that experience was very nice since there were no expectations, and we were just adventuring from rock to rock in the search of chalk. It was only a year later during this winter that I finally discovered that there is an actual trail to the crags.   

The approach starts at the Peralta Trailhead. From Phoenix, it's about an hour drive, where the first half of the commute is on paved roads of US-60 East, and the last half is on the winding dirt roads to the trailhead. According to the previous generation, the road has gotten much better, and I don't mind it so much. On the drive in on the dirt road, you can see a pretty nice contrast to the hustle and bustle on the freeway. There is a general feeling that life slows down a bit out here.

Unfortunately, slowing life down doesn't mean that the approach is easy. This hike in gets you fit, especially if you are carrying crashpads! From a direction standpoint, you mostly follow the bluff springs trail up to a plateau, at which point you take a left turn on a climber's trail to the crags. The approach is mostly uphill, with two sections of steep hiking, separated by a flat section, and ending with tired legs and a thought of why you keep doing this week after week. Ah, the things we do for the boulders. 

From what I've been aware of, there are a lot of sectors in the Supes. The three main ones that I'm aware of are The Fortress, The Cemetery, and Valhalla. The one that I frequented the most during this winter was the Fortress sector (and the closest one!). If I had to characterize it, the bouldering at the Fortress is as opposite to Oak Flat as you can get-if Oak Flat favored a cool, calm, and collected style, than the Fortress favored an aggressive and athletic temperament. Vertical routes here are few and far between, with most of the boulders in this sector showcasing overhung and burly movement. Now this is the dangling that we're looking for!

I came out here most consistently with Joe, and a few others so often that we got dubbed the "Sunday crew" by the ranger at the base of the approach. It's good to get out here with a group, as the climbs can require a large landing. There were stashed pads, but they were about as effective as paper is at stopping a bullet. Good to maybe cover the rocks, but not something you would really want to fall on. It is interesting seeing the artifacts from the previous generation of boulderers that frequented this a decade ago. You feel a bit of history, where you are reading a message to those who came before you, and providing a message for those who will come after.

There are a few noticeable climbs I was hoping to do this season, and I managed to do ascents on all of them. If inspiration strikes again, I'll come back and offer my thoughts on each of the climbs. 

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Mother of Invention

Game Changer 

The end of a good day at the Fortress

For a first season, the Supes were great to climb at! I've recently been made aware of some of the harder linkups in this sector, so I can't wait to go back to session on them- but for now- it's getting a bit hot, so it's time to head back up north. 

Ticklist:

Keyhole

Keymaster

Wonder Boy

Double Down

Mike's Arete

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Mother of Invention

Game Changer

Projects:

Mother of Extension

I Am Superman

Public Enemy

Collective Consciousness 

Tide Turner 

Archive: An Oak Flat State of Mind

So this will be my third winter in Phoenix, and I think I've acclimatized well, coming from the direct opposite of the desert. For one thing, Phoenix winter isn't really like Bostonian winters. Boston winters actually mean getting cold temperatures, wearing large jackets, and spending inordinate amount of time dealing with the snow. For Phoenix, it means time to get outside. This past winter, I decided to spend more time bouldering around the better crags near Phoenix. Beardsley feels like a choss pile, and at South Mountain, the Equestrian sector at South Mountain seems to be currently under closure since January. The Pima Canyon sector is still open, but I'm not in the mood to experience scary topouts when there are better problems in areas within a reasonable driving distance, which is a whole other can of worms. 

Instead, I've dedicated most of my time climbing at the Superstitions and Oak Flat, which are located near Superior AZ, a hour east of Phoenix. The Supes deserve its own post, so for today it's all about Oak Flat. Oak Flat is a sacred land to the Apache and other Arizona tribes. It's also currently the battleground of a mining conflict between the tribes and Resolution Copper. It has historically also been a very famous bouldering area in the southwest with the Phoenix Bouldering Comp (PBC) being held here in the past, and where strong climbers used to come by to test their mettle. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of knowledge has been scattered- as those who knew the area well moved away, and the area seems to be a shell of its former self. Hopefully one day, the knowledge will be regained and maintained, if not in this generation, hopefully by the later ones. 

Contrary to the name of the blog, the climbing style has a lack of dangling. It's very different from the areas up north, especially at Priest Draw, where the climbing style there inspired the name of this blog. This area is more vertical/gently overhanging, so while volcanic rock makes for grippy and sharpish holds, the movement here is delicate, and the holds aren't as obvious or large, which means the beta is more subtle and less athletic. It's a nice change of pace, though it takes time to get used to.  

Anyways, I spent last Sunday out at Oak Flat with Bobby and Nadia, two local Phoenix climbers. The video below is of me running a quick lap on the rail. The rail is a perfect example of the climbing style in the area- a really classy line, but for sure requires precision, tension, and endurance to move through- and a good understanding of the whole boulder problem so that you don't blow the top out, where the holds are basically blind throws from the climbers POV.  Bobby got really close on this one, and I hope he gets it done soon. 

We also did a few endurance laps on the Davey Jones Traverse to end the day, which is probably my favorite style of boulder problem besides roof climbing. 

I'll need to get back out here to try Evolution- we managed to take a look at it, but the snow in Flagstaff caused it to rain in Superior, so the approach in is a bit wet. I think it will snow again this week up north, so it looks like this will need to wait till next season.