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The Pogo - Chapter 3

Here's the last installment:


The Pogo • Chapter 3 from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.

The Pogo - Chapter 2

The suspense is building...

The Pogo • Chapter 2 from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.

The Pogo - Chapter 1

"The Pogo" is by far the most essential move in my climbing.  Some would say that it defines my style.  Being a shorter climber means that I am constantly in search of ways to make bigger reaches and moves despite having very low feet.  The Pogo Video has been an idea of mine for quite some time, but it only took shape when I decided to bounce the idea off of my good friend Jon Glassberg at Louder Than 11.  With his help and creative knowledge we pieced together what I feel like is one of the most innovative climbing videos to hit the industry.  It will be released in 3 chapters over the next 3 days.  Here is the 1st Installment.  Enjoy:


The Pogo • Chapter 1 from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.

Aslan

Another solo day in RMNP.  Seems to be the way to go for me these days.  My two hardest climbs, I've been by myself.  Today it was Aslan (V14).  I left Boulder a little after 2pm.  Drove behind a heard of tourists for two hours until I reached the Bear Lake parking lot.  I packed up my crashpad and stomped up the trail bumpin' some Birdman.  I listen to the same album every time now, and make it a priority to arrive in Lower Chaos a song earlier every time.  I think I've reached my limit.  25 minutes or so.  Right in the middle of "Nightclub".  Now my legs hurt.  I expected there to be some people at the Centaur boulder when I arrived.  One pad is hardly enough for the boulder.  Sure enough a crew was there, but then they immediately left.  Alone again...  One pad...  No spotters...  Fuck it.  I used to be somebody that had a difficult time getting motivated when I climbed by myself.  Lately, it's been a much different experience.  When alone, the pressure is higher to create motivation and psych.  It seems I've been rising to the challenge.  I have a lot of energy these days, and I'm slowly learning how to harness it.  Learning how to execute!  Anyways.  Enough rambling.  Here's the send clip.  Super rough.  No edit.  No Bullshit.  Enjoy:

Aslan V14 - Carlo Traversi from Carlo Traversi on Vimeo.

Vail World Cup Final Videos

Jon Glassberg and I shot video of the World Cup Finals.  Nothing crazy but I think we put together some nice highlight reels:


Bouldering World Cup 2010 • Vail, Colorado • Mens Finals from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.


Bouldering World Cup 2010 • Vail, Colorado • Womens Finals from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.

Vail World Cup Qualifiers

So qualifiers are over and despite feeling stronger than ever, I barely made it to the Semifinal round.  18th Place!  A bit disappointed, but tomorrow is a new day.  My step-dad Joe took a bunch of photos of me throughout the round and I thought I would share some of them:

Waiting behind the wall...

Problem 1

Grabbing the finish jug of Problem 1

Campusing around on the perfectly my style Problem 2

Biggest punt of the day for me...not sticking the finish jug on Problem 2

Feeling very pumped after falling off the last move of Problem 2 many, many times

Getting crazy on Problem 3

Pogo (Moon kick) on Problem 4...very nice.

And we won't talk about Problem 5...

Tomorrow should be a GREAT time.  Semifinals.  Maybe a shot at Finals?  Plus it's my birthday and all the friends are in town...Let's get crunk!

Jade Video

I finished off the Jade video last night, in quicker than usual form.  Glassberg and I filmed some exit interview stuff in the morning and I think it turned out quite good.  Actually it turned into sort of a rant, but regardless, I think that with so much talk about grades lately, people will be psyched to hear a somewhat new perspective.  The actual climbing footage turned out better than I had hoped.  Going into the whole thing I had some angles that I was psyched on capturing, but it turns out that they required a helping hand to achieve.  Such hand was non-existent on my solo adventure.  My favorite angle is the one from the screen shot floating around:

This shot required me to extend my tripod to the fullest and prop it on top of my climbing bag while leaning it against the wall.  Not the most stable setup!  Luckily I was able to stick the crux move again to make the setup worthwhile.  I think the shot does a decent job of showing the actual size of the holds, which I feel has been missing from prior Jade videos.  Let me know what you think!  Should be on Deadpointmag.com very soon!

RMNP Update

Motivation has been very, very high for me lately.  And it shows no signs of backing down.  Even the 90 hours of route setting in the past two weeks hasn't been able to bring me down.  So this past Saturday, following roughly 4 hours of sleep (due to some serious partying in downtown Boulder), I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and made my second attempt (for the year) at climbing in RMNP.  Sticcs and I left Boulder a little late, 2 o'clock to be exact, with plans to climb at Emerald Lake with some friends.  I think we both had no real intentions to accomplish anything considering the previous nights adventures, and the serious lack of sleep.  But a day outside in the sunshine is too hard to pass up.  After I nearly fell asleep at the wheel on numerous occasions, we managed to make it to the Bear Lake parking lot and thus began the hike.  It was rough.  I am out of hiking shape.  At the Dream Lake fork, I was faced with a tough decision.  Head up the hill to Lower Chaos to check the snow levels, or continue on to the Emerald Lake boulders for a mellow session with some friends.  After little debate, I said fuck it, and strapped on the snow shoes.  Lower Chaos here I come.  Sticcs was without snow shoes and felt like doing some climbing, so we parted ways.  I was unfortunate enough not to find the trail between Dream and Lower, and instead headed straight up the very steep hill.  Midway up I encountered some very steep terrain with some dead trees and lots of ice:

Very fun maneuvering that steep slope.  3 steps up.  Slide 10 feet back down.  10 steps up.  Slide 3 feet back down.  Climb over rotten trees with snow shoes on.  Get a foot trapped in some branches and eat shit on your face.  Exciting stuff!  Finally, the actual trail came into view (really not sure how I missed it from the start).  However, as I attempted to pull myself onto the trail (kinda like manteling choss), two barren hands grasping some poor souls previous boot tracks, I happen to tip over backwards and tumble about 20 feet back down.  Awesome...  The 2nd attempt up the last slope proved successful and I continued along the sketchy trail:

 The rest of the hike to Lower Chaos proved fairly casual and soon I was staring into Chaos Canyon where the boulders should have been.  They weren't really there: 

Curiosity took hold and I ventured across the snow in search of the boulders.  Along the way I nearly tripped over the Warm-Up boulder that holds such classics as Potato Chip V7 and proceeded to stumble upon a 6-foot Centaur boulder: 

And just around the back, a short wheel-chair ramp that is the top-out to Nuthin' But Sunshine V13:

Unimpressed by the current conditions of Lower, curiosity once again got the best of me and I found myself hopping over the Gobot V11 and continuing, like some kind of Jesus, directly across Lake Haiyaha and up the hill to the Green 45.  What would normally be a maze of talus, was replaced by a thick layer of snow forming a giant sledding hill, formidable enough to make any 5 year old wet himself.  Without walking on a single piece of rock, I found myself beneath the great Green Giant:

Dry and perfect.  The whole boulder.  Very excited at this point, I immediately jumped on the stand start.  Climbed that 3 times all the way to the top of the wall.  The conditions were surprisingly warm and it would have been smart to wait awhile before attempting Jade from the start.  But hey, you can't stop psych!  I spent awhile brushing some chalk into the odd conglomeration of texture that forms the crux crimp: 

On my first attempt from the start I nearly did the crux move static before my foot picked.  9 more tries from the start, each try getting desperately close, and my ring and pinkie finally split:

It's frustrating considering that each attempt that I give could be the one that leads me to the top of the boulder.  But with every mistake (foot cut, fumbling the left hand, not grabbing the crimp right, etc.) you can literally watch your skin disappear.  It's such a finicky boulder problem.  It is certainly powerful and the holds are small, but the real crux of Jade relies upon executing everything perfectly at the right time.  You can't do the move completely static, but you have to be very controlled.  The perfect amount of push.  You can't fumble the left hand.  It's a good hold but you have to stick it perfectly right.  I've stuck the crux from the bottom a few times now with only two fingers, but the re-adjust to four continues to leave me on the ground.  Is this really what V15 comes down too?  This isn't crimp strength.  I know that, cause I have very little compared to my abilities on pinches and slopes.  Should things be graded harder because they are more condition dependent and harder to execute?  All I know is that for me, 4 hours of hiking for 10 tries (essentially 20 total movements on rock), is worth it to find out.  What are you willing to do to change your perspective?     

The Battle In The Bubble Highlight Video

Though not the official video, this highlight reel best demonstrates what happened the night of the comp.  Proud effort Zack!  One man with one camera:

The Battle in the Bubble - Boulder, CO from Zack Sticcs on Vimeo.

Burnout Video

A few weeks ago I pulled off a quick ascent of a local Ro Ro classic called Burnout V12.  It could definitely be one of the best boulders of the grade in CO.  Here's the video courtesy of Zack "Sticcs" Smith:


Carlo Traversi on Burnout V12 from Zack Sticcs on Vimeo.

Harder, stonger, longer, and more entertaining posts on the way...

This Could Get Interesting.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Upper Chaos in RMNP to try and finish off Jade.  I'm not sure anyone has ventured that far up the canyon this year, so we'll see how it goes.  It could be perfect up there, and it could be completely miserable.  Trust me, the whole experience will be well documented.  Here's a video I posted to Vimeo a few weeks ago of some attempts I had on the boulder in the fall.  It felt surprisingly easy and I thought it was in the bag until...well, just watch the video.  Following that particular outing, the season abruptly ended.  Considering how I've been feeling on real rock recently, and if conditions and skin hold up, I feel confident that it could go down very quickly.  Or it could take all summer.  Who really knows?  The important thing is that, I AM FUCKING PSYCHED!   


Attempts On Jade from Carlo Traversi on Vimeo.

Getting Very Psyched!!!

"Big changes" is the name of the game right now.  At least in my life.  Looking forward to some of the best months of the year out here in Colorado, and what could prove to be some of the best, and most productive, of my life.  I look forward to sharing it all...

Next up...The Battle In The Bubble:


BATTLE IN THE BUBBLE Part Three from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

With the new 35,000 lb. wall from Walltopia that we unloaded just a few days ago.   Looks sick!

New River Gorge Video from Louder Than 11

And they have done it again!  My good friends Jon Glassberg and Jordan Shipman of Louder Than 11 Productions have released New River Gorge Curse to the world!  I'm very excited to have played a role in the film and I look forward to all future endeavors with these guys.  The trip to the New in December was full of highs and lows, but overall it was a great time and I only have good things to say about the people, quality rock, scenery, potential and overall experience that the New River Gorge provided me with.  Can't wait to make a return....

Hope you enjoy the video:


New River Gorge Curse from Louder Than 11 - Jordan Shipman on Vimeo.

Always The Fingers!

In the midst of probably one of the biggest breakthroughs in my personal climbing ability, tragedy struck:

Well... Maybe not a complete tragedy, but certainly a setback.  I have been training A LOT recently.  Sometimes climbing nearly 40 problems V7-V11 in less than 2 hours.  Let's just say I haven't been this psyched in YEARS!  I have also been coupling my climbing training with weight training and calisthenics.  While adjusting a piece of the weight equipment a couple days ago at The Spot, my hand lost its grip and when the two pieces of heavy metal collided, my index finger was there to absorb all the force.  After two days it's feeling much better.  Hopefully it will be healed in time for the Earth Treks competition at the end of the month.  And then Jade... 

Poudre Canyon

Yesterday I made my once a year visit to the Poudre Canyon to try and clean up some old projects.  It was snowing sideways when Jon, Herm, Ben and I got to the boulders, but we decided to make an attempt at climbing anyways.  After a bit of cleaning snow off topouts and such, the weather started to clear up.  First up: An attempt at the recently broken Canopener V11/12.  After a few warm-up burns, I topped it out with the right exit.  Felt really good.  For the last two weeks or so, I've been feeling VERY light.  I assumed that the feeling would die away after a bit, but fortunately for me, it seems to be sticking around.  If I manage to scratch a few more things off my list, I might have to dub this the Breakthrough of 2010!

After Canopener, I rested for a bit while watching Jon finish off the problem, and Ben getting as close as humanly possible to a send without actually sending.  Devastating to say the least.  But the kid is real strong and he'll finish it off on his next trip.

Finally I managed to snag a few pads and head around the boulder to Circadian Rhythm V13.  I've tried this boulder a few times in the past, but I've never really been able to "project" it.  I basically get to try it for about an hour or two every year.  However, this schedule was been great for showing my steady progression.  I re-warmed up by doing the last big move a couple of times.  3rd try from the start and it was in the bag.  Wow!  It's nice to feel strong again.  Here's a screen shot:

So, What's Next?

New Videos On Deadpoint

I've got two new videos that I'm psyched on at Deadpoint.

Kyle Owen showing off his crazy campus dyno skills:

http://www.deadpointmag.com/videos/watch/world-record-campus-dyno

and myself climbing Black Lung V13 in Joe's Valley, Utah:

http://www.deadpointmag.com/videos/watch/black-lung-joes-valley

Hope you like them!

Battle In The Bubble Videos Part 2

BATTLE IN THE BUBBLE Part Two with Daniel Woods from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

Black Lung

Finished up Black Lung yesterday.  My anti-style and a real mark of progression in my personal climbing.  I designated 3 weeks this year to work on it, but to my surprise I only needed about 4 tries.  However, I've been working on this particular boulder for years.  It's been a long time coming.  And the video looks AMAZING!  Out soon at Deadpoint.

Check the stills:

The Battle In The Bubble

"Battle in the Bubble" Pro Invitational from Cedar Wright on Vimeo.

Northern California

I've been living in Boulder, CO for about 3 and a half years now.  As much as I love being out here, I can't help but have a soft spot for the place I grew up.  These days it seems like I barely get to go home more than once or twice a year.  But I guess that's what makes those visits all the more special.  Most of my time at home is spent with my family, but on occasion, when time permits, I get to make it out to some of the rocks that I've left behind.  This past weekend I was able to do just that.

On Sunday, I managed to go out climbing with my brother Giovanni and my good friend Matt Lewis at some of Sonoma County's coastal areas.  I must say, every year I come back, I am more and more impressed by the quality of some of the rock we have in the area.  Granted, we're not talking Bishop or Hueco here, but there is some really good stuff.

We started off at some secret areas tucked back in the woods.  The boulders are pure blue schist and in my honest opinion it's probably some of the best rock in the world:

"G" got close to finishing up Charlie Barrett's "The Low End Theory" V10, before we bounced to another area:

The next area that we went to is called "Fort Ross".  It's actually not much of an "area", it's more like one GIANT boulder stacked with classics.  V1-V10.  The best part is that it sits right on the beach.  However, this poses some problems, due to the changes in tides and sand levels.  I've seen the boulder sitting at 15 feet tall half buried by sand.  I've also seen it at 25 feet tall with no sand under it, just talus!  You never know what it's going to be like out there.  Luckily on Sunday, it was pretty much perfect.  Start holds at head height yielding a beautiful 20 foot boulder.  I managed to get some video of "G" running some laps on the ultra-classic Fort Rosstafarian V6.  Here's a screen shot of the video to be released on Deadpoint:  

This boulder was my first V6.  I climbed it when I was 14 years old after only a few months in the sport.  I ran a couple laps up the climb as well, and upon further thought, decided that it is BY FAR the best V6 that I have ever climbed.  And I've climbed a lot of V6's in a lot of different areas.  So if you get the chance, travel on up the Northern California coast and sample some of the best.

Filming...

After a slight finger wrecking experience at the Hueco Rock Rodeo, a day which will be detailed in a soon to be released Deadpoint Blog, this photo perfectly captures what I've been doing lately.  Playing with toys!  Get ready for a media extravaganza...60gb of it to be exact.  Thanks for the photo Merrick!

ABS Nationals 2010

I've been a complete failure on the blogging front the past few months.  Very, very busy is my only excuse.  I should have a full nationals report either on Deadpoint or on here in the next few days.  Until then, I managed to snap a nice photo of Michael Bautista in the Qualifying round and thought I would share it: