Last Friday Daniel and I went and checked out a new development of problems near the LeConte Memorial. Daniel tried The Shield, a problem that looks totally blank after the first few moves. We didn't have a whole lot of time to try the other amazing looking problems, but we will hopefully be back this Saturday. Props to the Betabase guys for putting up these sick lines!
The Shield

Last weekend, the crew headed out to Bishop for a weekend of pebble crushing and some cold weather. With the turkey still settling from Thanksgiving the day before, Thomas, Brodie, Erik Calef, Katie, and I rolled up to the Happys for some volcanic fun. Some of the problems that went down were the Hulk and Rio's Arete. It was good intro day to Bishop bouldering. The temps dropped into the teens at night and we slept nicely in our not so dirtbag heated hotel. Day two came with a trip to the Buttermilks. We warmed up on the King Tut boulder and saw Brodie flash a V6. I also slapped my way up a V6 as well on the boulder. From there we headed to Pain Grain which I ticked with some burly beta. The session in the Milks expanded when Adam F and Kyle the J joined us for some fun times. The highlight came towards the end of the day up across the way on Checkerboard V8. Brodie and I worked it until we were thrashed and i finally sent with the last push of energy i had. Scarry shit when you get to the last move. Try it some time. Day 3 we were back to the Happys. We startes out with a nice V3 warmup and then moved on to Gleaner V6 which saw ascents by Brodie and me. We played on the Rave, the sit is super hard, and did Mr. Happy. Others that went down were Serengetti V5 and THe Big Chicken V4. With blood on our tips and warried muscles we bade Bishop a farewell and headed out for our nice 8 hour drive home.

Before the rain rolled in yesterday, Daniel and I went up to Hell's Kitchen in Bear Valley. I had been telling him about this project right off the highway. Brodie and I went back a few weeks after the MAS comp to work it. Basically the only beta we got from that trip is that it is much harder than it looks. We couldn't get past the second move. So, Daniel hopped on the proj. He was able to establish on this awkward sidepull, but didn't get any farther than that. He suspects its in the V10 or above range and says that its an awesome line and worth investing some more time in. After some work on the project, Daniel put up a FA on an arete directly to the left of it. The start involves a burly SDS on a bad pinch and a decent sidepull. First, make a big move out left to the slopey arete, work the feet, slap up the arete, get a good toe hook, match, and throw to the finishing edge. We got video footage of it, so maybe we'll get it up on here soon. Daniel dedicated the problem to his Grandma, who we later found out passed away that morning.
The Project



Daniel's FA

The Reel Rock Tour stopped in the Valley yesterday. My Dad, Daniel, and I decided to hit that up as well as have a little session before. We went to the Crossroads boulders again, and Daniel made quick work on Crossroads Moe, sending in a few goes. Myself, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. The left exit of the problem (right exit described in previous post) involves a wicked small left hand crimp right before the last tricky momentum move to the top. Anyways, I finally figured out how to get my momentum moving in the right direction to move off the crimp, but as I was hucking for the top, my left hand popped off. This resulted in the deepest flapper I've ever had. After that we made it over to the auditorium where the show was. Klem Loskot opened by showing three short videos he made of skiing, traveling, and one climbing one that was down entirely with thousands of photos. Next Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden introduced the night main features Dosage 4 and First Ascent. Dosage 4 was first highlighting Sharma's route Dreamcatcher in Squamish, Lisa Rands send of the sketchy gritstone route Gaia, Shama and Graham in Hueco crushing problems, and Tommy Caldwell free climbing two El Cap routes, The Nose and Freerider, in a day. I have to point out that one of the opening clips showing Sharma on Dreamcatcher is awesome and I can't even describe it, so go check it out! The one big disappointment was the fact that the dose on Graham's Coup de Grace and boudering in Switzerland was ommitted, which was a total bummer. I have to say that the second film, First Ascent, was much better than I thought it would be. The film's main focus was following a Swiss climber, Dedier, as he worked and insane trad route in Squamish called Kobra Crack. In the end, he blows out his knee and the Canadian, Sonnie Trotter nabs the FA. All in all, both films are definately worth checking out.

The 06 bouldering season in the Valley is on! Cool temps + Great weather = Sent problems. Today Cole and I hit up Yosemite. I've wanted to check out the Crossroads boulder for some time now and today finally decided to. For those who have not been to the Crossroads boulder, drop everything and check it out. It's awesome. All the problems on it are quality stuff. We did the zeros on it and worked The Naked and Hairy Traverse V4 and Crossroads Moe V6. The traverse is quite technical and balancy and we couldn't put the together the middle sequence. Crossroads Moe proved to be one of the coolest problems I've seen. It starts on a big right slanting rail and a right hand jug. From there, get a high heel hook and paste the right foot and make a huge right hand move to a decent sloper. I was able to match the sloper and make a move out right to a really bad sloper, but couldn't do the last big bump move to the top. From there we headed to the Curry Village boulders. The first problem we did was one Cole and I had tried last year. We did the V2 stand start that is basically just a dyno, last year, but the V4 SDS was way above our ability. So naturally we wanted to redeem ourselves. I did the SDS in a couple of tries and Cole got super close a bunch of times, but just couldn't put it all together. He'll definately finish it next trip. After that I did a problem nearby called New Dehli Freight Train V4. It's basically involves a slightly overhanging lieback start to a sloper, then moves out to a right facing side-pull to a tricky mantle. For the send, I busted out a Shamu move and beached whaled that shiz. Definately an awesome day with awesome weather. Can't wait for the rest of the season.
Crossroads Moe




Cole busting to the sloper on Crossroads Moe


The Naked and Hairy Traverse



The Steep Face Dyno




New Dehli Freight Train

Today, Cole, Daniel, and I set out with hopes of catching a load of crawfish. We set a few traps and then mobbed it up to Columbia. I repeated Triple Cracks and Daniel put up a awesome new FA. It's located to the left of Triple Cracks on the pathway between two rocks. It starts on the problem to the right of the arete, but instead of going directly up, make a big move out right and finish up the crack. He hasn't named it yet and thinks its somewhere in the V8/9 range. After we were done bouldering, we went back to the traps, only to find them totally empty. Stupid crawdads.
UPDATE: Daniel named his new problem CRAWFISH AVENGER
Here's the sequence to Daniel's new FA Crawfish Avenger










Cole on an unknown problem.

Yesterday, Brodie hosted the 1st MotoWn ShoWdowN to kick off the completion of his new bouldering wall. A good showing of people came, which made for an awesome session. There was plenty of problems for everyone to try. The difficulties varied anywhere from wicked hard to simple jug pulling. Out of all the problems set only one didn't get sent. After everybody's fingers were tired, many games of a variation on ping pong were played. All in all, the event was awesome and will definately have to be an annual thing. Many thanks to Brodie for putting on the event and those who showed up.

A couple of days ago, the crew headed to Castle Rock, confident that it wouldn't rain like the previous 3 trips to the area. It was a good session and nice to get to actually boulder there. The problems we worked included Yabo's Roof, The Swim, Kauk Roof, and Hueco Wall. Anyway, the moTown shoWdowN is less than a week away. Everyone is invited, so feel free to stop on by for an awesome session!
Brodie sending Yabo's Roof

Me using the wrong beta on The Swim

Cole working Kauk Roof

The wall is done! Brodie has completed the awesome bouldering wall pictured in one of the posts below. To celebrate this momentous event, Brodie will be hosting a party to "break in" the finished project. This will take place on September 3 at about noon. Brodie just placed a huge order of holds with So ill and plans on secretly setting as many problems as possible, so there will be plently of new problems for everyone. There is some talk of possibly having a small competition, but if not, an awesome session is for sure to take place. For more details, contact Brodie, Daniel, or myself.

Yesterday, Brodie and I checked the 1st annual Bear Valley Bouldering Competition held at Hell's Kitchen. Hell's Kitchen is located just off the side of highway 4 right before entering Bear Valley. The area was somewhat developed, but also had many projects. The comp was fun, laid back, and set up well. By the end of the day 11 new FA's had been put up, two of them by Brodie. I took 3rd place and Brodie threw down and grabbed the top spot. All in all it was a good comp and I would definately have to say that those who didn't come missed out and should consider checking it out next year.
Brodie on a FA


Brodie on The Worm

The other day I was chillin' and thinkin about some of my old projects. One that kept coming up was the Triple Cracks problem in Columbia. It's definately a five star problem with awesome moves. The last time I tried it had been almost a year ago, so I decided to head out solo and send it. My plan was successful and after a handful of tries, I finally stuck the last big move out left and sent it.
Here's a picture of me on Triple Cracks from last year.

Well, It's been a while since I've posted which has been mainly to my recent injury plague. A couple of weeks ago, I tried going to Castle Rock again only to be shot down by a horrible forearm cramp while warming up. Then later that week I set a bunch of new problems at our local gym, Stonehenge, and 15 minutes before closing time, I was trying one of them, fell, and sprained my ankle pretty bad. So the last week has been miserable. But things are looking better. Next week I'm visiting my friend, Mike, who just moved to Oregon at the beginning of this summer. Hopefully, we'll be able to rope up and check out Smith Rock. Then on August 18-20, a bunch of sponsors are hosting th e first annual Bear Valley Boulder Bash. This 3 day event will include a outdoor bouldering competition at an area in Bear Valley called Hell's Kitchen. I was planning on going and here's the flyer if anyone is interested.