Project Updates: Carnivore Direct and Receptionist

 School has started again, so I haven't been able to update as much. That being said, I made pretty good on my promise to myself to try my projects. 

Two weeks ago, I made an early trip with Bobby back up to the draw. We initially went so that Bobby could try out his fisheye lens attachment with his phone, and so that he could give his project (which he sent as of this week), Eatmeater a few goes. I got on Carnivore Direct, and to my surprise, stuck the move to the sloper that I thought was impossible for me once I adjusted the foot positioning. I then continued on and made even more progress, eventually getting into the position for the rodeo jump move. I now have some motivation that this line can actually go. 

Improbable sloper move

Bobby sticking the sloper on the other side

Eyeing down the sloper

I also then did an ascent of the Eatmeater problem in the rain, which is quite epic, as the monsoons came in as I was climbing, and there were some moments where thunder synced up with the time that I grabbed the holds. I've attached the video here:

Thor approved of my beta on Eatmeater

The Saturday after that, I came back to Carnivore Direct after showing some Phoenix friends the draw with a resolve to go for the jump move. I got closer, and I found myself yelling in order to get me to try hard. 

Trying hard (and eating shit)

Carnivore Direct is a very interesting climb because of this. Usually, most of my climbing is quite tick-tacky, with minimal amounts of sound. However, with this line, the moves are much larger and powerful, so the usual approach doesn't work. Instead, a much more aggressive temperament is required, so a willingness to huck and pray is required. I thought that I wouldn't enjoy the line because of this aspect, but it turns out that I do enjoy the powerful movement and slightly gamble-ly nature of the line. The moves feel so improbable to me that every time you pull on, just linking the moves have a very addictive nature, and the dyno is the cherry on top. It's basically a cheap way to fly, and the freedom you feel from giving it all you have is intoxicatingly fun. I can't wait to get back on it, but for now the Receptionist has my attention.  

The Tuesday of this week, I went up north again with Noah, this time with a half day spent at the draw, and a half day spent belaying him on his project, God Walks Among Us. It's nice just going up with a small group, where each person supports the other on their project. On that day, I spent the morning working on Receptionist. I made much better links on this session than I had in the past few months, which is surprising considering how bad the conditions are in August. Receptionist is a power endurance 10-move roof that clocks in around 7C+/V10. None of the moves are particularly hard, but the business comes in linking up all of the moves. Personally, I have three cruxes. The first is move 4, which revolves around having a left hand driving up to the big pocket pinch. The second is move 7, which is a left hand toss to the "phone" sloper. The final crux is move 10, which is a mini-dyno to a right hand huck to a jug from the left hand on the "phone" sloper and a right hand on a three-quarter pad undercling standing on some marginal feet. I've attached the videos of the links below. 

Moving through moves 1-6

Moving through moves 3-7

Moving through moves 6-10

The weather looks like it's only going to get better from here on out, so I think I'll keep on trying to get these done before the winter. I've also been eyeing a few more lines I would like to take on this winter in the desert when the forest is snowed in, so it looks like life is about to get a bit more busy now.