As temperatures cool and the days grow shorter, I've taken my annual trip out of Arizona into Utah, albeit unintentionally. We were supposed to go to Hueco but due to rain, we had to make a detour to Moe's Valley with Kevin Fahey, Sav, and Jon. We went for a short 3 day trip, and we spent most of it getting smacked around by the powerful sandstone movement. Our group came in with a variety of goals and agendas. Kevin's goal was to finish off Israil, and then make some progress or finish Kung Pao and Pink Lady. It was Jon's first time at Moe's, so he was looking to sample in and try everything in the sandbox. Sav and I had similar goals of trying some of the other classic lines that we haven't done in the valley, though we didn't get very far. I was mainly focused on trying Israil Direct but I was getting shutdown by the big move. I was able to flail my way into sticking the dyno once, but didn't have much success after that. A fair amount of time was spent on this line so there wasn't much left over to try the other goals of the trip, Indolence, and Gription.
During the first day, we went and explored around the area after getting in to St. George quite late at night. We tried Israil, which Kevin and Jon both got, and then we headed over to Underwhelmed where we were overwhelmed from the fatigue by the compression and physical nature of Israil and Israil Direct. The second day, we went back to Israil Direct, where I exhibited a decent amount of failure to do the dyno, but the rest went quickly. We then went over to Pink Lady, where we all put in some effort to do (or repeat) the line. I was able to dispatch a repeat of the line with a nifty right toehook to achieve the crux pocket, and then sampled the extension, Orange Guy, which traverses further right another 5 or so feet through a two finger pocket. We then headed over to Kung Pao, which is the sit-start (or right entrance?) into Sichuan Peppercorn, a sweet compression and pinch line on tufa-like sandstone features. We were able to dispatch Sichuan Peppercorn with a sweet kneebar sequence, but I took a break to have some extra energy for the remaining lines. With fading light, we decided to skip Indolence, a gently overhanging line with a crux on slopey crimps, and proceed upwards in the valley to sample Gription, said to be one of the best boulders in the Southwest. I may have some disagreements with that assertion, but I cannot deny that there is a reason for that statement. The line climbs on gently beautiful sandstone slopers and crimps to a topout looking over the entire valley. I was able to climb on it as day turned into light, and it is now something I look forward to returning to as long as access to the valley is allowed.
Gription
The third and final day, we went to the Habitat Roof at Mario Land, as neither Kevin or Jon had been there, and Sav was looking to finish off Hobo Habitat from his last trip. Jon was able to finish off Hobo Habitat and Sav got very close but dropped the top after spending a decent amount of time working the beta. Kevin unfortunately suffered an injury on the approach, but was psyched to return. Having done both Hobo Habitat and Habitat against Humanity, and psyched to not be punting for once,I went to work on two other exits that I didn't do the last time I was at the roof. I was able to flash the left exit, New Millennium Homes, and did a right exit to Hobo Habitat, the Juice Thief Extension, first go from the bottom after having pulled on to examine a sequence. They both feel about the same difficulty level as Hobo Habitat.
Cold temps have arrived and with it, snow. It looks like there's only a few more weeks of the forest season before the roads close, so there is a rush to try and get things done.
The third week of August marked the start of the semester again and with that marks the sad combination of cooling temperatures and reduced time to get to the projects. Although it is still quite hot, there was a brief period of cooler weather earlier in September that allowed all of us to get our projects done.
A while back, I ended up going back out to the Terrarium and ended up getting the first ascent of Nagini, the direct line starting on Bobby's Devil Snare. It's a unique sequence that features a foot-first walkout from basically the start-to-finish so although it wasn't as interesting as I hoped it to be, it worked out ok. This line has been on my mind throughout the whole summer alongside a few others. For a while, I had a lot of decision fatigue regarding what exactly to try amid fighting conditions and doubts, so it was nice to finally get something done.
Cashing out on the new found gains from climbing at blue ridge, I was able to make it back to the draw for some fun sessions with friends and I also completed the full line of The Girl on Mars Roof, The Girl from Ipanema, in two sessions after a very sad punt at the end of the first session back after a whole day at Puzzlebox Roof. I'm not the only one who have finished their projects on Mars, Josh was able to wrap up both Suplexing Navajo and Lolita, and Skyler was able to wrap up The Receptionist.
Continuing onwards, I ended up also completing Harpoon Hands, a great line at the reservoir roof. It has some very memorable sequences for me, one of which being a hand foot match bicycle to a gnarly unwind, and the other being a fun headwall guarding the topout. Meanwhile, Bobby has been quite busy in this area, adding 3 great additions to the area with Changing of the Guard, Ballista, and Shipwrecked, all of them looking great. It feels good to climb on rock with magical friction after suffering through much of the grease during the summer. Recently, I finally was able to make it back to the Burrow and dig out the holds on the bottom right side after a few days of effort. I've been putting in some sequences and it climbs interestingly, and would complete the roof panel.
Nagini
Bobby topping out his newest addition, Shipwrecked
Been spending the summer climbing a lot at blue ridge while waiting for weather to get better. It's been a pretty unproductive summer in terms of sending, but I feel like I've improved a decent amount in terms of style due to sampling a bunch of different roofs around the area. The style of climbing varies from lowballs to highablls; long, endurance jug hauls to short and punchy dynamic sequences; and fun, comfortable holds to some of the most abrasive and sharp, tweaky two-finger pockets I've ever had the (mis)fortune to touch and try. All of these push my skin tolerance, finger and core power, which is noticeable. On a visit back to the draw, I felt that I had improved by repeating boulders that would've taken me a bit more physical preparation. The sequences at blue ridge are also quite interesting, forcing unique beta and movement that I would not have thought to try had I just kept climbing at the draw, so I've been forced to adapt. Here's some pictures and flailure.
Roof with no name
Anthony sending before monsoons came. Picture by Bobby
Bobby traversing into the lip.
Anorexic Sacrifice 2.0 Project
Balancer's Eye FA Matt G.
Bobby trying Driving Hammered, Getting Nailed FA Ryan R.
Went back to Boston to spend some time with the family and took a trip to Portugal. Before heading across the pond, I went out to check the climbing at Farley Ledges with my college friend, Will. Although he does not climb, we found out it also hosts some enjoyable hiking and trail-running for the non-climbing folk. While there, I laid hands on Speed of Life. It's an iconic NE boulder, and I can't wait to session it with some psyched folks when I make it back to the east coast during better conditions. Here are some pictures:
Mid-sized/Full-sized man V11/V13
Portugal was very fun. It had been a while since I actively tried to conversate in a language besides English (they definitely could speak it, in case things got difficult) Besides the awesome people, enjoyable seafood, and scenery, it wouldn't be a complete trip without taking some time to explore some European climbing. I took a day to check out the bouldering at Sintra. It is, by far, one of Portugal's better known bouldering destinations with over 1000 boulder problems. The rock type is granite, though some areas have a trace of Syenite, which makes those feel reminiscent of Hueco Tanks. I ended up doing a tour of some classics there with the Sintra Boulder Shop, the Incha La boulder, a compressiony, overhanging arete, and a very enjoyable moderate, Ninho de Cucos. I really enjoyed how days went by out there. It is not as rushed as it feels in the states. Climbing wise, the locals are awesome and very stoked to get after it. I only wish I had some time to go back, but there's so much more climbing to see in Europe.
Street Art in Lisbon
Incha La
Once I was state-side, I took some time to climb a bit more at Lincoln Woods with my friend Nick in Rhode Island. Despite the muggy conditions, I was able to find a bit of reprieve at the Pond Cave, where I did the classic Who Needs Hueco and Quiet Buddhist. The line climbs like an easier version of Carnivore Direct. I also started working the left entrance, Hueco Dreams, but two days of rain had rendered the climbing quite miserable, although I was able to do some other nice moderates.
Back in Arizona, I took no time to visit stuff in the woods again with Hoch, Bobby, and Anthony. I ended up visiting a roof that may host Arizona's hardest project, and made a return back to Revenant and Rolling Roof. I was able to quickly put down Matt Gentile's Revenant Roof, which shut me down last year. There are a few more lines left to do there, so I'm very psyched to get back to work- as long as we can find a way to get to the roof more easily. Here are some videos and photos from there.
Went and took a look for some good rock in the Sitgreaves last weekend. Didn't find much in terms of good stone for roofs, but it's nice going hiking. There are lots of small, vertical features but many of the roofs are blank, which makes priest draw more amazing from a climbing and geological sense. It was a bit eerie wandering around, but at least that area was examined.
I started working The Girl from Ipanema, which is the full line that completes The Girl out the double decker roof crack, shortly after doing Garden Heist. It's refreshing to work on something that's logistically easy to get to. Although it adds a different exit to the start, the climb is still quite nice as a general fitness builder, and if I get bored, I can easily shift over to work on Lolita or Suplexing.
On my first session, I ended up repeating The Girl first try from the start. On the most recent session, I was able to do the crack boulder problem and the whole climb in two overlapping links, which is nice progress. I don't have much in terms of expectations, as the heat is here, but I'll continue chipping away at it and utilizing the fitness I get and transferring it to the longer climbs in the woods. I was also able to figure out my method for Lolita. It turns out that in order to get the toehook to stick, a pretty strong left arm lock is needed. Unfortunately, I don't have that ability at the moment, so I will need to resort to setting the toehook off of the two-finger pocket, bummer.
I've also made a return to the Underhill. It's just fun to be there. I've given some effort in on Clampdown. The climbing on it is powerful, and I got an unfortunate flapper from tossing to the pocket at the start. On some reflection, I must not be doing the move right so I'm on the search for a new start sequence.In order to maintain some fitness, I'm toying with the idea of also working on End to End.
Here are some photos from Joe Durling from a session with me and Anthony. It's nice getting away from the crowds and climbing with friends.
Some more stills from a return to Choss Roof trying Choss Origins and Choss Roof after a two year hiatus and a nice picture from Laura Schmidt from a trip to sample some bouldering in the California alpine via the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway (PSAT-tttt).
Xander on Spider Pocket
Matt on Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. PC: Laura Schmidt
Due to a lack of solid plans, I spent this weekend sessioning at different roofs with different people at the draw, Choss Roof, and Underhill, repeating old projects and opening new ones. It is likely I will be sore for the next few days. The last two days have given me some insight that I'm starting to prefer longer power-endurance based boulders.
Looks like I will have the following goals: Clampdown, Flesh Eater, The Girl from Ipanema, Deluminator. I'll probably put Lolita on hold until I sort out that toehook for the lip encounter. There is a little canyon I would like to explore in the next week or two too.
Went out to the Terrarium yesterday with Anthony and got the third, and fourth ascent of Bobby's Devil Snare, the obvious line of holds out massive huecos on the down-sloping roof. We took a look and scrubbed out the right side of the roof in order to add a different exit, but to our disappointment after some work, found that the crux can be bypassed by a toe-hook off of a jug on Devil's Snare, which makes the problem contrived as an independent line. Unfortunately, contrivances are good only if the sequence is amazing, and this one did not make the cut.
I spent my first overnight trip up north in a long time. The first day, I revisited Cherry Canyon for the first time this year and put in some effort to optimize my sequence on Truffle Shuffle as a solo-session. The climb is very tiring, though it does require a different style since it is very powerful and finger heavy, which is unlike the climbing at the draw. I then made the short trip over to the draw to climb with my friend Ben, who was on a trip from Minnesota, and his friends, Hannah and Lorenzo, both originally from Chicago. We ended up climbing a bit on the Bat Roof and he worked on Anorexic Sacrifice, while I did a few laps and attempted to repeat Carnivore Direct. Although they share the same rock type, the skin requirements and style of the climbing at Cherry Canyon is so different from that of the draw, it impresses me that people can go from one sector to another and still be able to adapt quickly to the differences.
The next day, I met up with Bobby and Trevor near Blue Ridge to climb at the Burrow and to clean away the remaining dirt and rock on the right side of the roof. I spent most of the time finishing up the initial digging and cleaning effort by Matt Gentile and Nick Quayle by digging away and cleaning out the right side of the roof, while Bobby got his first lap on Sectumsempra, and Trevor did both Seeker & Sectumsempra on his first visit to the roof. I was able to repeat Sectumsempra, and Bobby got his FA of Devil's Snare, the center line at Terrarium Roof. This roof is trippy, with huge huecos, which can be a bit fragile. The roof was named after the large amount of dirt and organic matter we had cleaned across several sessions.
Anthony and Bobby examining what would be the Terrarium Roof
