Old and New

The spring semester has officially ended and classes are finished. While school is officially out, I'm still learning. Instead of transistor amplifier topologies, I've now shifted focus into roof climbing. The season is now in full swing! I've been a bit busy revisiting my old projects and revising the beta I had on them. The reason for this is that I recently started paying more attention to my morphology, and how I can take advantage of what my body can do, and how I can mitigate my weaknesses, which in the end will help me refine the beta I will use to approach my projects. In particular, I recently found out that I have longer legs than my arms (a positive sloth index). This, combined with a positive ape index, means that I would more than likely find high feet to be quite difficult in that it may push my hips out a bit further from the wall. That being said, it also means that I would be more prone to doing stretched out moves, and that I should work on getting better on compressing my lower limbs. Additionally, I found out that my wrist extensors and anterior core are weak. I started working on forearm conditioning by doing wrist flexor and wrist extensor exercises. I also started doing some static core-work. I don't really know if it'll help me that much, but it is better than doing nothing on the rest days. Now, back to the actual climbing. 

The Friday after working on Truffle Shuffle, I went to Super Roof. I managed to find a new way to start directly on the roof, without putting feet on the skirt. The new beta uses a few more stretched out moves where I start with my head facing the skirt and revolving around my limbs at the start of the climb, and a cheeky left toe-hook after the throw to the jug to allow for a tiny drop in to a small side-pull for the top-out. It feels much more consistent to me this way. 

Super Roof

The past Saturday, I went up to roofs again with Adam, and we met up with Josh and a Houston climber named Leo. In the morning, I caved and started working on walking my feet through on Ultramega instead of doing a double toe-hook swing through. This method does require me to use some scrunched-up leg positions, but it seems to waste the least amount of energy out of all the ways. I think it will also help develop foot tension. 

I've also been working on some new projects. Most recently, Adam, Josh, and I managed to finally finish off Twister. Adam did a gnarly campus bump to finish off this one, while I opted for a foot walk sequence. The footholds for the walkaround can be a bit marginal, but they are large enough. I may end up coming back to this one as part of a Floorpie roof circuit. 

Me on Twister

Additionally, I also managed to make a return session on Mars Roof. I finally did the first start-move, which actually isn't as hard as I've heard others make it out to be. I also learned about some new micro-beta from Chris and Henry on the Receptionist revolving around the teacup hold, which has a tiny groove for your right index finger. Thanks to the new beta, I finally made it past my personal crux on latching the second phone hold. So technically, as of yesterday, I've done all the moves on Receptionist, and so I'm excited to go back to that roof to see if I can start making links. The movement on it is very fun, it reminds me of a combination of Bad Ass Roof and Super Roof. 

As for new roof projects, I'm still working on trying to do Ultramega forwards and backwards. I might start breaking it down and start climbing from the start of Bat Cave and reverse the traverse back into the fin. That would make a new warm-up variation. I also tried Eatmeater, which reverses Meateater. It has a crux move where I do a toe-hook + shin cam on the banana hold as I go left-to-right, but I haven't hit it yet. Besides that, I've done the rest of the moves, so it also feels close. I'll see when I can get into it. There's plenty of stuff to do, old and new. 

Kelly Canyon and Cherry Canyon (aka Traverse Thursdays)

 Woof. Thursday was a lot of climbing and my body is beat. 

I started the day off climbing at Kelly Canyon with Matt, who I last climbed with at the draw at Puzzle Box, for an hour or two. Sandstone climbing is something else! The style is akin to wrestling, with a lot of slopers, full body movements, and complete body engagement. The holds are finger-friendly, which is the direct opposite of roof dangling. At the end of the session, my body was more tired than my fingers. Unfortunately I also reaggravated my right wrist's TFCC injury, so I need to take care of that. From what I've heard, it looks like I need to start adding in reverse wrist curls and some more forearm extension exercises. I should probably also improve my sloper form. 

Climbing wise, I've never fallen off of so many V0 warmups that Matt cruised. I guess his vertical game from California is coming into use! I have a new V0 project at the Warm-up Wall. We also spent some time at the trailer park sector, which has better V0s-V2s. Aloha Arete Right is very good. Funnily enough, I made quicker work on the harder lines at Kelly than the easier ones. I made some good progress on the Traverse, and managed to work out all the moves, as well as putting down the half-traverse line, which goes at V4 and is the last half of the traverse. Now the next thing to do is to go for the link. The first half of the traverse is burly with feet facing the wrong way, as well as a few campus moves. The interesting thing that I learned here is that climbing at Kelly requires a lot more hold cleaning than expected. The friction between brushed and un-brushed holds is dramatically different, so careful preparation is necessary. 

The starting half of the Traverse

The afternoon was spent at Cherry Canyon with Bobby, Kenzie, Dustin, and Whiskey (Bobby's dog). It was my first time there, and I was amazed to see that limestone could also have a reddish-hue. We were mostly working on Truffle Shuffle, which is another amazing Traverse. 

Unlike the traverse at Kelly Canyon, the holds are much better with cooler movement, but the crux has two parts: 1) a rose move unwind and 2) a heart-breaking throw at the end. Power-endurance is the name of the game here. Bobby and Kenzie have been working the line and have gotten very close, with multiple burns failing at the redpoint crux throw. Here is some footage of my attempts. 

Bobby and Kenzie are planning to go back on Monday, and I wish them the best of luck. I can't wait to come back to this one, the movements are so cool. 

Woodymaker and Kelly Canyon

Unlike my folks, who were up in Flagstaff for the week, I had to return back to Phoenix for work on Wednesday. Before leaving Flagstaff, I was able to scope out both the Woodymaker and the traverses in Kelly Canyon. 

Woodymaker is located in Fernow Draw, which is accessed by driving on Woody Mountain Road. I hadn't been out on Woody Mountain since last October, when I visited Choss Roof with Bobby. Unlike the Choss Roof, the Woodymaker is more of an ice-cream sandwich kind of feature, and the line is low to the ground. That's fine with me, the height of Choss Roof freaks me out a bit. 

The Woodymaker

Access-wise, while it is a long drive on Woody Mountain, by the time you turn onto Fernow Draw, you can see the roof, so you don't need to drive very far in. I can't wait to toss some pads underneath it. The Woodymaker is shaping up to look like a true roof power-endurance builder. 

Woodymaker on the left

Kelly Canyon is awesome. East Kelly Canyon is located off of Exit 331, and once you drive pass the shooting pit, you will end up at a parking lot that will lead you down to the boulders. The sandstone boulders here are amazing. It is completely different than the sandstone found at Antelope Canyon, or the Anvils in Sedona in that it feels much softer on the hand, but is still bulletproof. I found out from a local there that the season just begun, so the problems will be a bit sandy and will require some brushing (as well as potential Gri-Gri and rope for the top-outs). I was able to check out the following problems: 

The Traverse

The Traverse is a really classy traverse. You can start half-way through for the V4 grade, or you can start all the way from the left (shown in the image above) for the V7-V8. The crux of the problem looks to be in the middle traversing along the sandstone slopers to the V4 start. The holds are good, but the feet seem non-existent so some powerful pulls will be needed. Time to strengthen the wrist!.  

Last Light Traverse

The Last Light Traverse goes at V5, and you traverse all the way through the corridor. It's got a bunch of interesting holds, and I did some padless traversing when I got to this feature. Let's just say dangling upside-down doesn't do you too many favors when it comes to vertical traversing.  

Pressure Drop Roof

Now this one is just scary. One day I'll be brave enough to give this one a whirl. 

Mother's Day Week: Grand Canyon

On Monday, May 9th, we visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's huge, and much more developed than the last time we were there. Also, there was some bouldering here, but I didn't get a chance to scope it out. I did get some good pictures! 

Mother's Day Week: Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon (Pt. 2)

Antelope Canyon

Navajo Nation gave me mixed feelings. While the land is pretty, it also bears signs of the more loaded and uncomfortable history of the US and how American Indians were treated as they pushed westward. 

The folks and I ended up visiting both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon. We were on a tour, but it did not detract too much from the experience. 

Sand rising from the ground (Shoutouts to the guide!)

These are two of the various slot canyons on Navajo land. It was also very windy this day, so sand constantly blew in from the tops of the slots. The slot canyons are Navajo Sandstone formations, and true to my climbing nature, I was very interested to feel the rock surface. It is much softer than the limestone that I'm used to touching, and yet it is very solid. Honestly, it might be better than climbing gym holds. Additionally, I learned that the stone has different hues of orange and black. The black streaks contain iron oxide. 

Presence of Iron Oxide in Navajo Sandstone (among other minerals)

It's really fascinating traveling within these canyons, as they are shaped completely differently. Upper Antelope Canyon is wide on the ground floor and gets narrower as the canyon walls increase in height, so light bounces around and creates very interesting light bounces in photos, especially as the sand trickles in from above. Lower Antelope Canyon is shaped in an opposite direction, so you have to be a bit more creative to see certain shapes, but they still provide. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Sand Falling in Upper Antelope 

Tree Trunk brought in to the canyon via Monsoon in Upper Antelope

Upper Antelope

Lower Antelope Yin-Yang

The Dragon in Lower Antelope

The ghost of Lower Antelope

Seahorse in Lower Antelope

We also saw some of the plants and foliage. It was on this very trip that I learned that sage, the herb, has a characteristic blueish hue. 

Sage Plant on the left, Desert brush on the right

Mother's Day Week: Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon (Pt. 1)

The day after the draw, I went up with my folks to Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon. It was a long day. I think I'm going to split up the trip into two posts to make it more manageable. 

Horseshoe Bend

It was pretty packed! The last time I was in this area, I was actually on the Colorado River about 17 years ago. The one thing I noticed here was how much more water has receded from the shore, which set a foreboding tone as I took some of the photos. 

What am I looking at?

This thing

What am I shooting?

That thing (Horseshoe Bend)

Mother's Day Week 2022: The Usual Draw Circuit

Flagstaff is funny. It seems like every time I go up there, I end up doing something climbing-related. So naturally, on the first day of the week my folks decided to spend a week up in Flagstaff, I ended up spending a half day climbing at the Draw. 

I mainly went out there with the express purpose of supporting Josh on his ascent on Anorexic. Unfortunately, I was busy warming up and by the time I headed over to the roof, he had already sent it, so I didn't actually accomplish my mission. That being said, I did some climbing as well. It's nice not having to bring any pads, and just hopping on the roof with a pair of shoes. I did the usual circuit, but didn't end up filming anything. Instead, I'll make some notes about the climbs that I did on Saturday. 

3x The Fin 

1x The Fin Direct 

• Tried it with Cole on my way out. I flashed it, but this climb is a solid 0.5/5, not sure why roof-monos get him so torqued. 

3x Bat Cave 

• Ran into Cole on my way out, so I tried some foot-first beta with him, and it doesn't work for me. To my credit, I did give it an honest go, and got close, but no cigar. Somehow, it works for Cole, who can't do it my default way. Tim (who I credit all my roof-climbing knowledge to) and his girlfriend showed up while I was trying it and confirmed that yes, Bat Cave done foot-first is just all shades of f'd up, and we exchanged some cool beta on it, including a method that allows it to be climbed backwards. It turns out you can use a high right foot into the pocket that has a pocket in it as a toe-hook, which will let you cross your right hand into a pinch, and the left hand to the finish jug. It didn't exactly work with me on Saturday but it's always good to know a few tricks.  

1x Ultramega 

Tim and his girlfriend who were doing some fitness laps on this one. It turns out that while Ultramega is a totally legitimate line that links up the Fin to the Bat Cave, the "official" fitness check goes according to these rules

• Need to not rest more than 10 seconds at any spot (if you choose to) while doing so
• Chug a beer at the end
• Climb all the way back and finish at the top-out of the Fin

In my ascent of this one, I don't think I rested more than 10 seconds at any spot. I will also note that this was possibly the fastest lap I've possibly done. For notes, I ended up walking my feet through after the initial Fin section, and then I do a double toe-hook turn around to make walking the feet easier, and then walk the feet through to the calf-hook rest. It's all for fun, anyways, and it gives me some stuff to focus on whenever I warm up here. 

1x Anorexic Sacrifice 

• If I'm wearing teams, make sure to dig the heel-toe cam deep by pointing the pinky toe down into the rock.

1x Meateater (day-flash with the new foot-first beta)

• The new foot-first beta makes the climb move so well, it pretty much cements this line as my new favorite line on the Anorexic roof. 

I also did try the first few moves of Carnivore Direct after watching Jake Doring and his AZR crew session Anorexic and Carnivore. Those guys are strong! Got a bit psyched watching so I gave it the old college try. Honestly, it feels pretty doable, so I might give it a few more goes the next time I'm there. I wrote my beta down, so I think I'm ready to take this one a bit seriously.  

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to get in any more climbing before I leave for Phoenix on Tuesday. However, I might have an update on some potential projects. I recently found a video of a roof-traverse called the Woodymaker in Fernow Draw. The video is very well-made and the climbing looks amazing. I do hope that I can scope it out! Video is shown below:

The Woodymaker

I also might as well make it out to Kelly Canyon for some recon =]. I've been fiending to try to find the Traverse and Last Light. 

Draw Tales: Anorexic Roof

Back to the weekly trip reports!

As a treat to myself for finishing my Analog IC design class this past week, I decided to go take a day trip to the draw as a way to wind down with Adam and Kevin from Phoenix. Since Kevin hadn't been to the draw before, we decided to go with the grand tour of Priest Draw's bread'n'butter: Bat Roof, Baby Coffin, and the Anorexic Roof. 

It was a pretty standard day at the draw. Bat Roof was crowded as usual, but that's not surprising since it is one of the most popular zones due to its decent landing, and a smattering of climbs in the lower range for those newer to the dangling arts. Bat Cave is a must-do V3, and so is the Fin which goes at V1/2. For those that are bored, you can do the local fitness check, Ultramega, a link up of the Fin to the Bat Cave, which ends up being a 50-foot roof climb that goes at around 5.11d, or V5/V6, which makes the Bat Roof a good place for warm ups. Kevin managed to get his first sends of the Fin, and Fin Direct, and Adam cruised them afterwards as well. I did the usual warmup of Fin, Bat Cave, and Ultramega, and then we hopped over to Anorexic. 

Kevin on the Fin

Adam on the Fin

Anorexic Roof is also a pretty popular roof, and was featured in Chris Sharma's Rampage. It hosts a smattering of good climbs in the V6 (Anorexic Sacrifice) to V11 (Carnibroiler) range. Adam was hoping to try Meateater (V7), and I was hoping to do the big move on Carnivore (V8). Adam made some good links on Meateater, and I ended up surprising myself by taking down Carnivore, which was surprising considering how power-endurance it is. I climbed it 4 total times this session. I credit the send to the cold brew coffee I got from Kevin, as well as the sandwich from Sprouts. Jokes aside, it was a bit unexpected, since I've been in a weird funk lately with my climbing. Short-term projects have been going down relatively quickly, but the long-term ones have eluded me so far, until this one. I've been moonboarding, but stopped for a week since my fingers have been feeling oddly stiff. My projecting process has also been quite a mess. I haven't written down or visualized detailed beta in the last few months, and if I did at all, it was very vague. It was only the previous week that I decided to dive back into my old ways, and I guess that I just needed to sack it up and get it done. 

After doing Carnivore, I tried to go for the triple exit (Carnivore, Anorexic, Meateater), but I fell off of Meateater after finishing off Anorexic. I was able to try some new foot-first beta for Meateater which makes the ending a bit higher percentage, so that was fun. I hope to get the triple exit done one day, it would make for a nice little training circuit. Videos are below:

 

Carnivore- it ain't pretty, but it'll do.

Working on the new end sequence of Meateater

We then ended the day at Baby Coffin, and here's some shenanigans that we caught. 

Adam doing the butt-start on Baby Coffin

PC: Kevin

Kevin doing the unthinkable - toe hooking in Miuras

PC: Adam

So now the question is what's next?

I'm definitely having some project shopping issues. There's plenty of viable options, all of them probably as hard, if not harder than Carnivore. I know I have plenty of stuff at the Draw. I'm thinking of spending more time on Mars Roof, Flying Saucer, and Puzzle Box. I could also work on some of the linkups at Bad Ass, so that's another. Weather is looking better, so it might be time to delve into some of the more remote roof sectors along the forest roads, not to mention some trips just to go find new stuff. And then, there's the non-roof stuff. Here's a list:

Possible Roof projects at the draw:

Mars Roof (The Girl, Receptionist, Lolita, Suplexing)

Anorexic Roof (Eatmeater, Anorexic Direct)

Puzzle Box (RGod, Cosmic Tricycle, numerous linkups)

Flying Saucer (Saltine Crackw****, Patsy Gangsta)

Roof Projects not at the draw:

Drop Zone Left

Puma Prey

Underhill (Clampdown/Hockety Pockety)

Choss Roof (Choss Origins, Hydra Beta)

Non Roof Projects:

Streetfighter 

Truffle Shuffle

The Traverse

Last Light

Tainted Teen