Recent Exploits

Well I got super busy again and have been horrible about updating this site with any form of content. I get done observing next week and that should free up a lot of my time for climbing.

A couple of weekends ago, I managed to get outside and check out an area of Three Sisters I have never been to before. First we headed up to the Wisdom Wall, where for some reason I could not figure out the top moves of Wisdom and jumped down. I also started to work Undercover Brother, but am completely baffled on how to do the opening moves. After the Wisdom Wall we hiked up a little further and got on this cool highball right off the trail. I managed to send after a few goes and Matt followed suit shortly after. I also got footage of Matt soloing this route, but the color is way off. I am in the process of trying to see if I can salvage it.

It also seems the new trend in Colorado is to downrate everything. One of these problems getting a suggested downrating is Clear Blue Skies. I have been working this problem for to long and should have sent it by now. Especially considering it is my style with being hard moves on small crimps with good feet on an overhanging wall. Originally given a rating of V13 it is now being called V11. Having not climbed it yet, I can not really comment on the grade. All I can say is it feels harder. With this climb is it that is easier than first perceived are do other factors come into play. If you Google search Clear Blue Skies climbing, you get tons of hits. You can see countless video footage and read about all kinds of beta. Also the question comes into play if more people do something then is it easier. Instead of looking at it in the opposite direction and saying people are getting stronger and standards of what were are being redefined.

Finally an Update so Matt will Stop Harassing me About it

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog. The past three weeks have been a whirlwind. I finished my capstone for my masters. I wrote it on websites and how they can help a classroom. Between finishing that up, I have been climbing here and there. Lots of time setting and training in the gym to get strong and finally put away some of those pesky summer projects that seem to never go away. Clear Blue Skies I am looking at you, you are going down this summer. I also managed to check out Matt's new little place he has been bolting. Which was quite an experience. Matt never mentioned until we go there that it was a multi-pitch. Multi-pitch I am a boulderer. I could not bail at this point so I went for it and actually dare it say it had some fun in the process. The first pitch is a 100 foot plus 5.10 route. Once you get to the top you get to the good stuff. There is an amazing short twelve that follows an overhang on perfect crimp moves. I also started working a 13 that also sits up there. It also follows an overhang with hard gaston and big moves between good holds.

Evans and Park season are fast approaching and I hope to get some videos and pictures, stay tuned. Updates are going to come and for real this time.

Battle in the Bubble Day 1

I went to the spot tonight to compete in the qualifier for the Battle in the Bubble. The comp tonight was pretty low key. I was expecting the place to be jam packed with people like every Spot comp seems to be. It was still a good turnout and the problems were great. I took it a little easy tonight and still ended up in 9th place. So tomorrow I will be heading back up to compete in the semis. I hope to get some pictures and video of the event.

DBC Comp Write Up

Last weekend I competed in the first summer comp at the DBC. First things first, quite a few people showed up for the comp, which created a good atmosphere of wanting to pull down. The setting on the first two open problems was great. I only climbed on a few of the other category problems but the ones I got on were fun and were spaced well across the gym. I also heard finals was awesome and had a great vibe to go with it.

I had some major problems with the comp though. All the open problems except one open were on the back wall with a couple venturing onto the arete on the far side of the steep wall. The problems should have been put up all over the gym. Why waste tons of valuable and great sections of the gym. For me the majority of the Open problems represented a very elitist style of setting that was poorly set. Lets make problems hard by having no feet and making giant moves on a steep wall. Any lazy setter can do this, and it is wrong to do for a comp. Just because you are good at this type of climbing, does not mean you need to set it for the majority of the climbs. Problems had one or no feet to do moves. The moves off these feet were giant jumps to open hand holds. Multiple problems had the same types of moves;right hand on an undercling and cross to the headwall, right heel hook cross to a sloper, giant move out left off no feet. Comps need variety on the climbs. It is one thing to set this type of problem outside of a comp. When you are charging people to climb these types of problems it is a whole other story. This type of setting shows why people get paid to set. It takes a true professional to step outside of his or her comfort zone and create multiple problems that are different, unique and encompass all abilities.

If I was to rate this comp on a scale of 1-10. I would give it a 3.

Maybe I am just getting really bad at climbing and need to realize that this will not change and I need to adapt to it or move on.

If you feel I am wrong or have overlooked something let me know, I would be happy to discuss it and see different view points on the matter.

This weekend is the Battle in the Bubble at the Spot. I have ben training really hard for this comp and hope to get to at least semi-finals. I hope to get some pictures and have a short write up about it to post on here.

Deer Creek Canyon

Today I headed out to Deer Creek Canyon with Matt and Danny. Matt the other day found a new project he wanted to free solo. He described it as a highball boulder problem, but it actually could be bolted and is taller than some of the routes there. We loaded up the car with 8 crash pads and were off. Matt threw a top rope down on the route. We quickly realized this line was harder than it looks. After some cleaning and figuring out beta, Matt sent on TR. I cam close but the top moves spit me off. Matt decided to throw a few free solo burns on it to the lip. Watching him jump off from there was like waiting for a train wreck to happen. If he decides to go through with the free solo, a lot more pads will be needed. I will post some pictures from the day soon.

Update

Sorry for the lack of updates as of late. I have been super busy with school and getting everything set up for student teaching in the Fall. I have been climbing here and there when I have some down time. I will be competing in two upcoming comps here in the next month, then the Teva games in June. Look for a real update with photos and video soon.

Deer Creek Canyon

Matt and I headed out to Deer Creek Canyon today. Matt wanted to check out a new project and start working the Westside Connection. I came along just to get outside and maybe pull on some real rocks if I got motivated. I ended up spending the day, just messing around on some good boulder problems. Nothing super classic, but they did have good moves and some great rock. I am working on a mini guide for some of these boulder problems, that are definitely worth a go if you are in the canyon. Matt made some great links on his project and a send should be coming soon. Below are some random photos from the day.

Gearing up

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Free Solo

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Free Solo

Project