Went to Red Rock with Halo, Noah, Chris, and Kyle the weekend of the 22nd. We primarily spent most of our time hanging around Kraft Boulders and Gateway Canyon, since I have never been there, and everyone else hasn't tried most of the lines.
First of all let's get the important business out the way with the photos!
Potato Chip
Noah crimping down
Halo showing us how it's done on Pork Chop
Not a roof, but somehow I haven't fallen off this go...
Chris simultaneously resting, asking for chalk, and getting a photo out of it. A true multi-tasker
Getting started on Monkey Bar Traverse
Moving through the holds
Rad corner bicycle
And now, for the write-up.
So it's been two weeks since the trip, and so I now have some time to think and reflect upon the experience.
First of all, driving from Phoenix to Vegas is about a solid 5 hour one-way trip. It's not too bad, but when you arrive in Vegas, it feels like you're still in the East valley, and that if you drove 30 minutes east, you would be home already. Unlike Phoenix, Vegas did feel a bit cooler. We drove past Lake Mead and we could see how much more shallow the lake was in comparison to what it used to be, so that was a very sobering realization on the state of the planet. Anyways.. on to the climbing. As mentioned above, we spent most of our time at Kraft boulders. It is the direct opposite of climbing at Priest Draw and the Hinterlands. There are three primary differences. The first is the environment. There is not a lot of grass at Kraft, and as such the primary surface is loose soil. This can lead to nice flat landings, but this also means that with decent wind speeds, say 30mph or so, dirt, soil, (and pads!) can start flying around. Having pads fly up when climbing was not a rare occurrence. The second is the crowds. In Flagstaff, seeing 3-5 cars at the parking lot is usually a sign of a busy day, but at Kraft, 15 cars is a sign of a light day. There are pros and cons on each side, but more often than not, I found myself wanting to gravitate towards boulders less climbed on. But then again, we were there on a trip to try all the classics, so here we were. The final thing about Kraft that I noticed is the accessibility of the boulders. Kraft felt very much like a gym, with the crowds hanging out at the boulders as well as the smattering of pads. However, the thing that struck out to me the most was the sheer variety of styles, which ranged from warmup circuits to vertical crimp fests to sloper traverses and to overhangs, and heights, from lowballs to highballs. If there was an outdoor gym, Kraft would be it, and the climbs that I was able to send or project matched accordingly.
The group did quite well. Noah was able to take down the Hyperglide problem, Halo and I were able to come away with Pork Chop, I was able to finish off the Pearl, and Chris and I got mighty close to Monkey Bar Traverse. Kyle had an injured foot so he was able to get some circuiting done.
Overall, would I go back? Sure- but maybe at a time with less wind and fewer crowds. I found myself missing the roofs and quiet nature of the bouldering around Flagstaff after the weekend.
And now, the uncut video footage that most definitely HAS NOT been posted somewhere before:
I'm not sure why it took me so long to write about this one, but I figured there's no better time than 9:45 PM on a Monday night, when I have work and homework to actually do. No better time than the present.
So. I sent Receptionist on Friday the 14th, after what feels like a year, but was probably more like half a year's worth of work due to the weather. Anyways, this is well... unexpected, if I say so myself! From an outside point of view, the things I did during the week would have for sure resulted in a resounding opinion that I ruined my projecting session, but yet- here we are. The day before, I went bouldering at South Mountain with Bobby at the Public Enema Roof. We sessioned for a bit on Fuzzy Little Peach Man, a powerful V6-7 granite roof with crimps instead of pockets. I ended up sending, but at the cost of some torn skin, and a slightly tired body.
The next day, I went to Priest Draw with Noah. Due to the previous day's session, I woke up feeling quite sore and not entirely well rested. Nevertheless, I forced myself out of bed and drove to Noah's so we could journey up together. I didn't have too many expectations for this trip, since I knew I was slightly tired, so I planned on not climbing at all until we got to Mars Roof. On the way, we did the usual shenanigans- we stopped by a gas station to pick up some caffeine and provisions. Noah gave a few burns on his project, the Hermit, and I spotted him. Then we headed over to Mars Roof.
I warmed up quite slowly, taking sips of a caffeinated beverage in between moving my feet around the roof and feeling the body positions. Initially, I planned to just work the last few moves on Receptionist, which include a powerful move to the phone hold, a very slippery sloper, and then a crucial right toe cam to a not-so-good undercling, and then the jump move. In my previous sessions at Mars Roof, doing these 3 moves felt very low percentage, until that day. This is most likely due to the conditions. The conditions were quite good on this day. The humidity was at a whopping 18%, a far cry from the previous version of 40+% humidity, and the temperatures were finally dropping below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
After I finished warming up, I went to work on the last three moves. I could stick the throw to the final jug in isolation due to visualizing throwing my right arm parallel to the right-most dark streak on the rock, but the move to the undercling was still not correct. The right foot toe-cam was not sticking and the undercling still felt terrible. Through some video footage and general thought about the beta throughout the week while reviewing my notes, I decided to slightly alter my beta. For the right-foot toe cam, I decided instead of dropping my knee early, I would point the toe straight into the slot pocket. Secondly, for the right hand undercling, I would cup the hold with my entire hand instead of crimping the lip. This meant that while the undercling would feel terrible at first, as soon as I moved my feet into the necessary squared-off position, I would be able to leverage it in order to make the jump.
The results were instantaneous. Immediately, the toe-cam stuck, and the move to the right hand undercling felt much easier. When moving the feet over to set up for the jump, I had to actually press quite hard with my left foot in order to release the toe-cam, which was a drastic difference from my previous experiences. It's amazing how much change can happen by shifting your toe and hand by a couple degrees, but yet it's also not surprising. Microbeta is a thing, and Mars Roof has plenty of it.
I then went on repeating the last few moves in a row to test the validity of my newfound beta. It was very consistent, so I then went for the whole boulder problem. The first time, I had not yet practiced the moves from the beginning, so I was unable to stick the phone move due to some decision fatigue on how I should place my right foot in sequence so that I could readjust the grip on the teacup hold to setup for the phone move. Through some more analysis, I realized I could step on the pocket-pinch grip with my right foot in order to get my left foot into the honey-comb shaped foot. A benefit to this was that I could also minimize the time I would use for the readjustment, and conserve energy. With this newfound beta, I was ready.
The second go, I ended up readjusting on the phone hold in order to get a better grip, which ended up killing the burn. The phone hold, even though it was in good conditions, can still get quite greasy, so I resigned myself to realizing that readjusting is a quick one-way trip of ruining the go. Therefore, I told Noah that if I didn't readjust on the phone hold, then I would send.
And well...here you go:
The Receptionist
When I sent, I don't think I personally could have climbed it any better. I definitely don't think I am qualified enough to say if this is good for the grade, but this one required me to climb the best I ever had. From what it's worth, 99% of 8a.nu ascents on this one (at least 100+) say it's V10, so I guess that's what it is. Personally, I can't tell. The boulders here at the draw definitely require you to dial in the moves and by the time the moves are dialed, I think you lose the difficulty. Nevertheless, it's definitely a guiding light into what I'm capable of, and I hope to be able to climb many more boulders with the same confidence and feeling that I did on this one. If anything, I'm just glad to feel slightly qualified in working some of the other lines on this roof, and I hope to get the same feeling from the rest of the lines.
The process was wild from start to finish, as I've mentioned in my last post about Mars Roof. If you told me last year that I would do this line in a year, I would have called you insane. To reiterate, when I first came to this roof, the reputation of the line was already intimidating. I wanted to climb the line in the style that it was known for: resistive, flowy climbing that demanded dialed, well-rehearsed, and elegant movement. While the initial moves of each climb came relatively smoothly, hitting the phone move became a long-term goal. In spring, once I hit the phone once during a random session, the possibility of actually doing the line was enough to have my left hand go numb out of nerves once I started driving to the draw. And then suddenly, it just disappeared and Mars just became another roof. I'm not sure exactly what changed, but I think these were some of the reasons:
Taking some falls off the moves and missing pads. I was able to get up and feel ok.
Circuiting and repetition of my hardest projects thus far at the draw gave me the confidence and fitness I needed. For instance, after 2-3 sessions (once per week) at Mars Roof, I was able to climb Anorexic Sacrifice (V6), Meateater (V7), & Carnivore (V8) - all very power-endurance boulder problems- in a day with still energy to spare.
Falling off the Receptionist at the end in bad conditions. For a while, continuous repetition of my failures despite being so close removed the scary reputation it had in my head- but at the same time, it also got me feeling a bit more dejected that I would never do it. That being said, I didn't give up and decided to keep on working the tiny details, which really ended up being the key.
Some physical training. Because of my trouble with the phone hold, I was working on pinching a 20lb weight with a handmade wooden block (3-4 inches wide?) gifted from a friend for about two to three weeks. I also realized from my previous sessions that my biceps would cramp up a bit, so the week before, I did some inverted rows on rings with a bicep grip on my right hand and a pinch grip on my left hand in order to get my body to get used to the movement.
Caffeine. I usually don't drink it, but that just means the effects are stronger when I do.
Climbing at Mars Roof has taught me, among other things which I've listed in my previous post on Mars roof, the value of good beta and the art of really refining your sequences. It was funny thinking that on the Wednesday of that week, I was telling a friend that this would take me another year of work at least, and then two days later, I sent. The process isn't over though, there's always more refinement to be done.
So what's next? Over the last two weeks or so, I've decided on some new goals. For the last two years or so, I've spent almost every possible weekend I could (probably 20-30 weeks) at the draw learning the style, so I am quite aware of my deficiencies in other terrain. So I think I will spend some time on other terrain angles (overhanging, slightly overhanging, vertical, and slab) and different techniques (compression, crimping, etc...). That being said, I don't plan on abandoning the roofs entirely. At the draw, there's still the rest of Mars Roof to do, as well as some linkups on Bad Ass, and Puzzle Box. In all of Arizona, there's still many other lines I haven't visited again that I hope to get to this winter- so there's a lot. Finally, this doesn't even cover out-of-state stuff, so I have my hands full. There's a lot to learn out there!
I've already gotten started. I just got back from a first-time trip to Red Rock Canyon which I'll write about at some point. I tried all manners of different climbs so I think I'm making good progress on that.
I've been refraining from writing about Mars Roof for a while. But I finally feel comfortable writing about it.
I first came to Mars Roof last November. It was intimidating. The pockets were numerous, and it felt like I was stuck in a twister of holds. The reputation and difficulty of the lines were another thing entirely. I didn't know anyone working these lines, so even the climbers working and sending the lines seemed to be on another level beyond my conception. And so, for a long time, I don't think I ever treated Mars Roof as a place that I can seriously work the lines, but instead as a way for some limit bouldering to build power and strength, and nothing more.
First time on Mars
My view of Mars Roof had shifted slightly since then when I returned back to Mars in the spring. Instead of being completely inaccessible, Mars Roof slowly turned into a slightly more achievable goal. It became the test piece roof to demonstrate all the skills acquired from all the other ones around NAZ. Every other roof, up to it, each contains a little lesson that you should learn in order to send. And these lessons all stack upon each other to build you a skillset that lets you approach Mars. Over the sessions I've spent there, I've learned that is not the case. The phrase: "Some things can't really be taught, only learned" is very applicable here, and Mars is no exception.
Dry-firing off of Mars in the summer
This past weekend, I had a really good experience on Mars Roof with a sizeable group from Phoenix and Tucson, which included Andrew Westerhoff, Laura Schmidt, Laurel Falk and friends, and Sam and friends from Focus Climbing Center and PRG. Even though I haven't been on Mars in a while, it was one of the best sessions I had. Although I didn't send Receptionist, I learned a few good lessons:
Mars roof isn't that unapproachable. Most moves are very doable, there's just a lot of them, and you need to dial them in.
Name all the holds. It's easier to remember what to do if you give each hold a name.
It's better to not rapid-fire your burns. Mars roof can be very power-endurancey, so make sure to rest 10-20 minutes in between burns.
Focus on breathing. Focusing on your breath has by far been the best thing that has helped me on this roof. Oxygen keeps your body going.
It's ok if your breathing makes noise. It's hard, so you got to try.
Pay attention to how you're grabbing holds. Thumb combinatorics is a big part of the process.
Keep your arms as straight as you can to prevent energy usage. From what I understand, 10 move boulders are hitting the realm of power endurance, so you want to do all the moves with maximum efficiency.
Falling is part of the process. I remember discussing this with Brett a while ago. You can't focus on climbing if you're focused on falling, so if you're surprised that you fell, it's ok- it means you were dialed in.
Projecting is mentally tiring, so don't be afraid to step away once your mental energy is done for the day.
This one is more for me, but if you're trying (and doing!) the moves, you are capable of the line. You just need to try. Move and focus like you deserve to be there.
Recently, about two weekends ago, I was able to complete a long-term goal of mine at the draw, which is a circuit on the Anorexic Roof. It's no quad crown, which is doing all four V10 lines on Mars Roof (The Girl, Receptionist, Lolita, and Suplexing) in a day, first go, but I think it's still quite respectable for the average roof climber. The circuit in question, which I named the Triple Exit, consists of climbing Anorexic Sacrifice (V6), Meateater (V7), and Carnivore (V8) all in a day. I unfortunately did not do it in the best style, which is all first go in a day, since I fell off of Meateater on my first go, so this will remain an open project.
To any future readers of this blog, that will remain an open challenge.
Anyways, videos are below. Hope it gets you stoked for the roofs and to create your own circuits!
Carnivore (First go)
Meateater (2nd go)
Anorexic Sacrifice (First go)
The weather is finally good again so I can start going back to the projects. My progress has felt a bit stagnant but I hope to make some more progress. I'm not sure how much more time I want to give, but I don't want to throw in the towel yet.
Last week, I went for a go at Mars Roof at the end of last week's session, and ended up not sticking the dyno from the stand of Receptionist and instead landed on my side into one of the random boulders, so I have my work cut out for me on that one. Instead of doing the whole linkup, I think I should just work the stand of the Receptionist as a project. I also have a few more lines I would like to try like Streetfighter, R God, and the linkup of Stinky Ass and Bad Ass (One Stinky, Bad Ass Motherf*), which I also tried last week. Although it's apparently a one-star, the movement on it is quite good. The downclimb of Bad Ass is quite fun, though the transition from Stinky to Bad Ass is quite difficult. Progress on this line has worked a bit better, but I was not able to sap out a send when I tried it last week near the end of last week's session.
Photo from Annie of me warming up on Stinky Ass for the linkup
The weekend after Tainted Teen, I went to Super Roof and Puzzle Box with Noah, and met up with the usual crew. Super Roof is, in my opinion, the best V5 in AZ. The holds are timeless, it has fun moves and is quite safe with an ideal topout. It is also the perfect footwork trainer for the roofs, in that there will be a place for toe-downs, bicycles, toe-cams, heel-toe cams, toe and heel hooks. I was able to do a few laps, and managed to capture footage of the line going backwards and forwards as shown below. Noah was able to put some time in on the rig, and was able to quickly work out the moves, coming very close to a send.
Noah going for the rest jug
Noah about to do one of the crux moves on Super Roof
On the start of the Super Roof
Going backwards on the Super Roof
Super Roof Forwards
Super Roof Backwards
We then went to Puzzle Box, where I attempted to give R God some burns. R God is still hard, but I think I may have some new beta for the release of the right toe cam. It didn't go, but I managed quick repeats of the Hermit and Cosmic Bicycle. Because of how quickly I was able to repeat Cosmic Bicycle, I think it's time for me to give Cosmic Tricycle a few goes. The video of Cosmic Bicycle below shows a different angle of the holds. Shoutout to Bobby for the fisheye.
It's been a while since I've last posted. There has been a multitude of reasons, graduate school starting back up being one of them (Advanced Power Electronics is a bit of work!), but the main one is that I just haven't found the time or the words to describe what I've been up to in the last few weeks. But today, I have some time (I'm not climbing, working, or doing homework for once), so it would be good to provide a few updates.
In a way, things are the same, but different. Climbing is still a primary part of my life so it would do me some good to put some stuff into this again, so here we go. About 3 weeks ago, I went into James Canyon with Bobby and Dustin to Tainted Teen, the "Best V5 in Arizona". Here's a picture:
Tainted Teen in all its glory (not featured is a rope to the left for the downclimb)
Bobby had already done the quest of finding and sending Tainted Teen as his first Hinterlands boulder (just ask him! It's quite the tale), and Dustin had already been here once with Bobby and Kenzie, so this time, I was the newbie to this sector and its approach. James Canyon is located south of Flagstaff, and is neighbors with the more well-traveled and popular Kelly Canyon. Similar to Kelly Canyon, the rock here is Coconino sandstone, with well-featured canyon walls in all shapes and sizes. The approach, was however not as great, the trail is steep, not very well traveled, and there was a lot of bush-whacking and stumbling along the cobbles. The broom and number of pads we had to bring to protect the lines on this rig did not help improve the difficulty of the approach, but it definitely helped alleviate fears once you are off the ground and on the boulder.
Before I go any further, let me reiterate- Tainted Teen is TALL, so make sure you bring enough pads (and spotters). Neglecting the sloped landing that rises with the boulder, starting from the bottom of Tainted out to the slopey topout, there is probably a minimum distance of 30 feet. At all times, you are more than likely 10-15 feet above the ground so it definitely helps to be confident in the movement and exposure given how high it is. I've attached a picture of Dustin (5'10" or 177.8cm for the non Americans) standing next to Tainted to give it some scale.
This ain't your normal boulder off the side of the road
When I first saw it, my head immediately started pounding and all thoughts of how heinous the approach was instantly replaced with relief that we had brought at least 5-6 pads. Even with the pads, I was not exactly the most confident looking at this behemoth. That being said, I do have a relatively low fear tolerance, but I'm willing to bet that even the most height-tolerant will be a bit unnerved. We then went to work cleaning the boulder problem. Coconino sandstone is quite grippy, but requires a decent amount of cleaning to make sure all the dirt is gone so that we can access the sweet friction the stone is known for.
Bobby went to work on "Smells like Taint" which goes at hard V8, while Dustin and I were sieging Tainted Teen. The first few moves of Tainted Teen are quite tame which culminates in a gnarly throw that if you stick the move, leads to the rest of the problem, and if you don't- you get tossed into the cobbles. Commitment is a must here. Here's a picture of Bobby warming up his mental game by getting tossed.
Bobby falling into the depths, where my arms are waiting
The rest of the problem is quite chill as you are making your way up the arete until you get to the top, where the holds melt away. I was able to navigate the topout sequence by grabbing a dogbone hold and matching the corner, and then heel hooking over and grabbing the jug that's not really facing the right way on my third go. Shoutouts to Bobby and Dustin for moving the pads as I was moving along- bouldering is truly a team effort.
On my send go, while Bobby and Dustin are doing the necessary work of adjusting pads
Bobby was able to repeat this a few more times, and Dustin got close. We'll have to come back for sure! I'm not sure if I would be ok going for Smells like Taint, but I might as well now that I've done this one. The send video is attached.
