I'd like to apologize to our "faithful" CVBC readers. It's been a while, but we're back! Over Thanksgiving we made our annual trek over to the eastside and hit up the magical boulders of Bishop. Fortunately, the weather was kind to us and we were able to travel over Tioga pass, which definitely makes the drive significantly shorter. So...needless to say everything started off well, and that seemed to be the trend for the entire weekend. When we arrived, we mobbed down Chalk Bluff road to the Happy's to check out some problems none of us had ever looked at before. After finding parking among the 52 cars there (yes, I said 52 cars!) and making the arduous hike up the hill, we first stopped at The Clapper V6. Beta wise, this problem is pretty straight-forward. It involves a series of easy moves to a big left-hand pinch, followed by the crux move, a big right hand deadpoint to a very small edge on a slopey ledge, and finishing out left. The Clapper proved to be a great problem to start our trip off and Daniel, Brodie, and myself all sent. From there we moved up in the canyon to an amazing overhanging prow called High Brow V8. Daniel was immediately psyched. He made quick work and got to the last move on one of his early attempts, but missed the top and took a big fall onto Brodie into a bush. Of course the fall didn't stop him and he sent a few goes later. A bit later, Brodie found a small pocket out left that allowed him to bump to another hold out at the top, thus allowing a left exit. He sent this way in a few goes. There's no description of this variation in the new Bishop Bouldering guide (which is aweseome by the way), so who knows if this variation has been done before. Brodie felt this way was definitely easier and probably checks in around V6. I also tried this variation and stuck the last hold on the top, but wussed out on the finish and stepped off on an adjacent boulder. Following that, we continued up the canyon to a crimpy face problem called Rene V5. The crimpy mono crux proved to be too hard and no one sent. The sun quickly started to descend after that, but Brodie wanted a shot at his his arch nemesis, Morning Dove White V7. He gave it a few goes, but unfortunately...still no send. So we ended our first day around the campfire with some awesome beef stew and peppermint schapps. We awoke the next morning to find the same amazing weather we had the previous day, so we headed up to the Buttermilks. After warming up and doing some boulder hopping, we placed our pads under the overhanging face of Fly Boy V6. Last March, Brodie and I both attempted this problem with no success and ended with Brodie "flying" off the last move onto my head. So...of course we wanted redemption. Brodie quickly sent, latching onto the last hold that spit him off last time. Upon downclimbing the problem, he decided to a victory lap and sent again! After a good handful of attempts, I surprised myself and sent as well. Meanwhile, Daniel had begun working Fly Boy SDS V8. Brodie then stepped up to the plate and tried this SDS and sent second go! I think it's safe to say that Brodie owned these two problems. After those two awesome problems, we went over to Saigon V6, one of the classics. I had gotten agonizingly close to sticking the crux move last March and this problem was definitely high up on my must-send list. After having some trouble sticking the move before the crux, I finally got set up and threw and stuck the crux move, but unfortunately screwed up the top sequence. My skin was wearing thin and I new I didn't have to many goes left. On my next attempt I stuck the crux move and as soon as I did, the tip on my middle finger blew open. Knowing this was my last shot, I carefully worked up the finish and topped out (and then proceeded to Katie who applied some liquid stitches on my finger). Since we were in the area, Brodie and Daniel checked out Smooth Shrimp V6, and both of them flashed it. After that, we were pretty spent and jammed over to Whiskey Creek for an awesome dinner. On our last day, we hit up the Sad's. Problem #1 of the day: Molly V5. This problem is quite deceptive and definitely looks easier than it climbs. We all struggled quite a bit, but Brodie nabbed the first send, and Daniel followed up with the second. From there, we went over to Pow Pow V8. Unfortunately we were all feeling the effects of being three days on, and no one sent. All in all, it was another awesome, unforgettable Bishop trip, hopefully we'll be back there soon! As far as other news goes, the CVBC has been dormant for the holiday season, but as soon as the rain stops and the snow melts we'll be back in full force. Stay tuned....there might be a Hueco trip in the works!


The Clapper



"Party in Oakland!"

High Brow




Rene




Fly Boy




Saigon







Smooth Shrimp




Molly







Pow Pow


"Ehhh!"

Yesterday Daniel and I hit up the valley mainly to check out Candyland. It wasn't too bad temp wise until about noon, so we made the best of what little time we had. We started on the 4 star classic, "Once Upon a Time." Although not a physically demanding problem, its off the deck a bit, the feet are smears for the most part, and the crux comes at the top...all ingredients that make a heart-pounding scary classic. We both sent it, and then moved on to "Jitterbug," a link up problem that definately requires some cooler weather to be able to hold on to the slopey little rails. After realizing this, we moved on to "The Diamond," a problem with awesome, but spaced apart holds. Daniel was successful on the left exit of the problem, but I had trouble holding the big throw move out left. Quickly, the sun started to bake that problem and the valley in general, so our day was short lived. Hopefully the weather will start to cool off soon, and the fall season will be in full effect.
"Once Upon a Time"

"Jitterbug"

"The Diamond"

This last weekend's Bear Valley Boulder Bash was crazy. The plan was that I was going to leave early to peep out some new boulders near Hell's Kitchen and Thomas and Brett Ashton and crew were to meet me up there for the comp. This was the plan at least. The only object not in the plan was the four fires along Hwy4 that pushed my just under 2 hour trip into 5 hours or so. Thomas got mis informed and decided to head home just before the traffic started moving so he really missed out.
So Brett and I got there about an hour and a half late. With only an hour and a half left we turned on the boosters and kicked into gear. Brett smashed out about 35 problems while I ran around and managed 43. In the end, I took first, and $200, Hans Florine second and Brett third, $50. I do want to give props to Danny for his second in the amateur division. With the time issues i didnt have any pics form the comp, didnt even unfold the pad either, but after the awards Brett, Matt Keebler, Scott Chandler, and I went back to work the "Proj". Here are some night bouldering shots I took. Enjoy. Daniel.

The second annual Bear Valley Bouldering Comp in Hell's Kitchen is taking place this coming saturday the 25th from 4pm-7pm. This year there will be open and beginner categories for both the men and women's divisions. For both open categories there will also be a cash prize of $200 for first, $100 for second, and $50 for third. At the end of the comp last year there was a raffle with loads of sick prizes, so I'm assuming they will be doing the same this year and let me say that I will definately be buying many tickets because the prizes last year ranged from probably 10 ropes, tons of jackets, sleeping bags, climbing gear, and the list goes on. MAS does a wonderful job of getting high quality sponsors for the event. Some of the CVBC is going, so feel free to meet us out there and have a great day of bouldering.

Here's a video of Daniel doing an FA at the Hell's Kitchen area. He named the problem G-Ma, in dedication to his Grandmother, who we later found out had passed away the day of the send. Also, if you pay close attention to the beginning of the video, you can see that G-Ma is next to the sick long-standing project at Hell's Kitchen. At possibly the V10 range or higher this problem is still waiting a send...maybe it will go down saturday...

Last weekend the crew hit up Tuolumne Meadows...as well as...Rock Creek (another 65 miles away) for some bouldering. Tuolumne Meadows definately hosts some quality stuff, but having not bouldered there before we didn't know exactly what we were looking for. Rock Creek is an interesting place on the east side of the sierras. The boulders themselves are situated in an aspen grove next to the creek, which creates an awesome aesthetic atmosphere.


Rock Creek - Groove and Arete

A Boy Named Sue