Thursday, March 26, 2009

It's Been A Whirlwind...

I don't quite know where to start.  A LOT has happened since my last blog.  I will start blogging more.  I swear.  I haven't been back to Kryptonite.  No time.  Very busy.  Always on my mind though.  Right now I'm sitting in a hotel room in St. George, Utah with Alex, P-Rob, and his dad Chip.  I'm treading the fine line between mental breakthrough and mental breakdown.  My body is very worn out.  I'm still pushing though.  Let me bring you up to date as fast as possible.

After Kryptonite-->Hueco Tanks for 10 days.  Very hot.  Brutally hot at times.  I fell off the last move on my flash attempt on Slashface V13.  Ironically, Dave was spotting on that attempt.  The only one who knows how it feels.  That was the last time I remember trying hard and really caring about the outcome.  Anyways, by the end of the trip I started to feel really good.  Snapped out of the 3 month plastic coma.  The rock started to bite back.  Grippin' the hands so that I had to do less grippin.  Then we left.  Back 2 Boulder.  I set the final SBS comp for the season.  Had some big guns at the show, which made it fun to set for.  Then last week we rolled on down to Vegas with DW to chill with my Dad and family and climb on some rock.  Wet Dream V12 is a phenomenal boulder problem located out in Black Velvet Canyon.  Lots of potential in the Red Rocks region.  Check it out.  Some very nice rock.  After spending a few too many days in the Urban Chaos we rolled back up to St. George to meet up with P-Rob as he attempted Psychedelic 5.14d.  I ended up belaying him on his send go where he pretty much destroyed the crux.  Then managed to almost fall a few times on the significantly easier outro with frozen hands and a slight pump.  Welcome to the route world Paul!  Not sure that he'll be in it for long.  I tried the route once.  Full extension moves, crimps, and vertical terrain are most certainly not my forte.  Maybe someday though.  Then the motivational sinkhole arrived.  Complete shutdown.  We went to Moe's Valley for 2 successive days.  Amazing rock and amazing climbs.  I was surprised that I hadn't heard about this place more.  Lots of potential on Grit-like sandstone boulders.  Alex is close on Cloverland V12, or whatever name you prefer.  I have been filming A LOT.  Two hours of quality footage off the camera so far.  Dealing with some technical difficulties with my computer though.  Hope to have them solved soon.  Then quality footage for all at DeadPointMag.  I went to the Cathedral today.  Re-psyched.  Route called Golden.  Very close already.  Then Golden Direct.  Then I'll be in shape for Kryptonite.  The ultimate goal.  Then new routes.  Wherever I find space.  Gotta leave your mark while you're in your prime.


Jon Cardwell and Wet Dream, both in their prime.


Paul and Kool-Aid, both in their prime.

5 comments:

sock hands said...

woah, that k-lad/nelson shot of paul is oh so totally dangerous for intardweb hacking and cut-paste treachery. smurf piss!

Chloe said...

Carlo, hope you're feeling better after Joe's. Dude, feel free to stay at our place in Glenwood if you're going to try Kryptonite again, the Target parking lot sucks. We'll be in Glenwood until May
Cheers,
Brendan
hikeon@hotmail.com

sock hands said...

heard you recently bagged a quick ascent of "midnight frightening" in eldo... would you be able to spray me down with your beta for the crux? i.e. how you got the upper most heinous think crimp gaston then moved to the good holds above.

Carlo Traversi said...

no problem sock hands. in the sidepull jug mid-way up the wall you need the right hand in the upper-most part of the hold with your left hand immediately under it. your right foot should be awkwardly high on a small footchip that forms sort of an "x" just under the jugs. the left foot is smeared under that. make a move to a decent left hand gaston about a foot and a half (approx.) in the seam above the jug. Then put your left foot out on the large feature/incut vertical rail that faces you and drop your left knee as far as it can possibly go. Straighten your right arm and stand tall. The little incut gaston should be almost in front of your face. At this point you just have to grab it. I started out as being barely able to stick it, but after a few tries, learning the dropknee better, I was able to static it. Bring the dropknee out and bare down on the crimp. Keep your right foot on the "x". Then just stab the right hand pocket/jug which will be near full extension. It takes a bit to find the pocket and it's a bit hard to grab, bu once you get it, it's pretty much a jug. The topout is fairly easy. Just make sure to go up and chalk the holds.

Good Luck. Hope this helps.

sock hands said...

word. perfect descriptions! this confirms the beta we were trying, but with the addition of that drop-knee. if the temps permit, i'll be psyched to give this some hell again soon. i appreciatef it, mang