Bishop

So we bailed on Yosemite a couple of days ago in favor a finding less humid conditions in Bishop. We arrived here two days ago and have found mostly heat during the day, but phenomenal conditions when the sun goes down. This gives a small window of climbing, but allows us to rest and save skin for most the time. However when the sun goes down, it means business. Yesterday, we messed around on the Buttermilker for a bit to warm up. I got really close, but couldn't quite pull it off. As the sun went down we rounded up some pads and headed down to the Grandpa Peabody. I climbed Evilution to the lip two years ago and felt very unaccomplished just letting go of the jug at the lip. I've been trying to get back to Bishop these last few years to polish some things off and it seems as though this trip is going to be a success. After only a few goes on the full Evilution I was falling rounding the lip. After figuring out some new foot beta, I pulled onto the slab (then almost fell when my feet picked going for the jug) and diced my way to the top. I then spent 20 minutes figuring out the 50 foot slab downclimb. Scary! I was psyched to up the ante on this testpiece with the 1st(?) groundup ascent although I must say it wouldn't have been possible without a full beta rundown from friend Charlie Barrett. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the send cause everybody was spotting and it was damn near dark outside. Maybe someday...

Here's some photos of The Buttermilker:

Garrett Gregor

Today was also a great day. We woke up late and at around 1 o'clock made our way up to the Bardini Boulders to climb on A Maze of Death V12. This is an amazing boulder problem first put up Dave Graham. It climbs from a perfect jug sit start through some of the best rock in Bishop and finishes on another jug. A great LINE to say the least. I almost finished this problem a few years ago, but was thwarted by a lack of strength. Today, it went down pretty fast, but not without a fair bit of screaming. My brother Giovanni and Garrett Gregor also polished off the line shortly after. I think it's also safe to guarantee a First Female Ascent of this boulder by the end of this week.

Here are some photos:

"G"

Garrett

Alex

5 days of climbing left before we head to Tennessee. Lots of problems to climb and more updates to come.

Yosemite Day 2 and 3

Day 2 was cold, humid and quite uneventful for me. Kyle Owen managed to send 6 Degrees V10 and flash Midnight Lightning V8. Garrett Gregor also managed sends of 6 Degrees and Midnight Lightning. Proud!

Today was Day 3 and turned out quite good. We warmed up in Camp 4 after a slow morning, then waltzed on over to Thriller V10 for a session. I managed to dig deep on my third effort of the day and latch the finish jug. Unfortunately I suffered a minor battle wound in the form of a split tip. Kyle managed to send a few tries later. Thriller is most definitely SOLID for the grade in my opinion and it is a must do for anyone visiting the valley.

We rested for a bit and then headed on over to Dogwood which I hadn't tried yet. I was super psyched on this boulder after watching the footage in Dosage 5. I have also heard that it could be one of the best climbs in the valley. Dogwood consists of a few moves of amazing moderate climbing followed by a long move off a left hand sidepull to a "dog bone" that you grab with your right hand. The "dog bone" is not much of a hold, but rather a sidepull sloper with a good thumbcatch. So you grab it, then grab a sloper sidepull directly across from it, get your feet up, and dyno to a "V" slot at the lip. In 3 tries I was falling at the dyno and shortly following Kyle's send, I managed to stick the lip. And the rumors are true, Dogwood just might be the best boulder problem I've ever climbed. In comment to the grade, it felt easier for me than Thriller. However it is my style and it is definitely more committing. Kyle and I settled on 8A rather than the 8A+ grade proposed by the first few ascentionists. After some more ascents hopefully we can reach a good consensus.

Here are some photos from the last few days:

Thrilla'

Thrilla'

6 Degrees

Dogwood

Garrett crushing the Bone.

Kyle sticking the dyno on Dogwood

And... the Project...

Yosemite Day 1

Alex and I arrived in Yosemite today for an extended stay. We arrived a bit later than anticipated, but I still managed to finish off an ultra-classic V9 called Heart Of Darkness. We also met up with good friends Garrett Gregor and Kyle Owen. They both dispatched as well.

Here are some pics:

It's About Time For A Road Trip...

I've basically spent the last 5 or 6 days setting boulder problems at The Spot. Psychedelia was off the hook and now we're focused on getting up as many boulder problems as possible to keep the members psyched. Needless to say, LOTS of setting. So, I've been climbing very little and have fallen into a bit of a slump. I figured some outdoor time was needed so we headed up to Boulder Canyon today to get on Hard Boiled V11. It's kind of a pissed off little boulder problem consisting of a small roof and a slightly technical slab. I've tried it a few times over the last few years to no avail (possibly due to lack of motivation) and I was happy to finish it off quickly today.

On Thursday, Alex and I will leave Boulder and we won't be returning until December. We will also be taking along my little brother Giovanni for the ride. First up on our list of areas is Horse Pens 40 for the second leg of the Triple Crown. I'm extremely excited to visit this amazing area again. Unfortunately we will only be able to climb there on the day of the comp as we will be heading to YOSEMITE for the rest of November.

I grew up in Northern California and have made many trips to Yosemite both before I was a climber and after. Due to my High School schedule I was only really able to make it to the Valley during the summer and this severely limited the difficulty of the problems I was able to accomplish. Last summer I showed up in the Valley to scope out all of the new hard classics and was turned away by 105 degree heat and an army of mosquitos. I've been meaning to climb in this amazing area during the winter for quite some time now, and this November is our big chance to lay seige. I have a very large list of problems that I want to do and I have a good-sized list of extremely inspiring projects that I have my eye on.

More updates and some photos to come.

Alex Climbs Trice V12

Alex seems to be on a bit of a mission these days. We went up to Flagstaff tonight and she dispensed with Trice V12 in the dark. Conditions were certainly not optimal as I couldn't even manage a repeat. Very impressive to watch. She absolutely walked the thing. She is very psyched and is now putting together a list of hard Front Range boulders that she wants to take down. I have complete confidence in her ability to send anything she puts her mind too.

As for me, I made considerable progress on Midnight Express V14 in Boulder Canyon yesterday and once my arm heals from that heinous undercling I'll be ready to take it down. More updates and hopefully some media to come.

Alex Puccio Climbs Clear Blue Skies V12

A couple of days ago we returned to Boulder after a 12-day trip out east to Boone, NC and the Red River Gorge. I should have a posting up about our trip soon, but in the meantime here is another little bit of news.

Yesterday, we made a trip out to Mt. Evans so Alex could finish up one of her projects. The parking lot was basically covered in snow, but we decided to trudge in anyways to check on the status of the Dali wall. The hike ended up being not so bad. The snow was well packed and despite some small patches of mud it was quite uneventful. Everything at Area A was dry. Some of the topouts had snow on them. Silverback and All Dogs Go To Evans are most definitely OUT THE GAME. The Dali wall was very dry. Topouts as well. The temps were unbelievably good. Extremely dry and pretty damn cold. Clear Blue Skies took Alex about 4 tries to complete and she absolutely hiked it. One of those sends where every move is executed perfectly. She definitely took it down in style. I will say that this is definitely not the hardest she can climb at this point, and I look forward to watching her progress on the real rocks in Horse Pens 40, Yosemite, Bishop, Little Rock City, and Horseshoe Canyon Ranch.

I'll post some pics of the day, but first here is a little something from Alex in regards to the send:

"The day started off with Carlo saying " we can turn back and go to Clear Creek and I won't be mad" as we started hiking in. It was very cold and windy, and as most of you know I am from Texas, where we Texans like it to be about 80 degrees when we are climbing. =)

But despite the REALLY cold, windy weather, I decided I wanted to go finish Clear Blue Skies. Since I hiked in with the given conditions I made sure I was going to do the problem. So we warmed up on the Ladder a few times and then decided to head right to the Dali boulder and just get it over with so we could leave sooner. As we walked to the Dali I noticed that most of the boulders were iced and snowed over on the tops, I started to get nervous that the Dali boulder was going to be the same. But as we approuched it I was so releaved to see that it was clear!! So we got right on it, and my first two tries I dry fired of the second hold, I got nervous for a minute that it might not go. I went to a rock and sat for a few minutes calmed myself down. Then a huge gust of wind came and I decided to get back on it and just climb the damb thing, and two goes later it just flowed.... I was DONE!!!

The boulder problem took me two days of work. The first day I worked it for about thirty min. and I felt like it was for sure going to go down, but what I thought was my send go I tore my whole pad off of my index finger.

Over all I thought it was soft, and can't believe it used to be v13. And all I have to compair the grade too is the Marble Sit and I definitely thought that Clear Blue Skies was eaiser for me. Which I thought was weird cause I don't ever really climb on crimpy problems, I have never been that great on crimps, but I guess things can change. But I really enjoyed the short victory of Clear Blue Skies......great fun!!! =)

Mt. Evans

I camped out at Mt. Evans this weekend and had the opportunity to climb some new things and explore a LOT. Yesterday I climbed this problem Peasants Into Leaders V7/8 that I've had my eye on for a while. Committing and fun, and not nearly as scary as it looks. I also finished Silverback Stand V8 in a few goes and I'm psyched to try the Sit.

Today I woke up early and rolled on up to Area C, an area that I've been meaning to check out for quite some time now. All I can say is...Lots of Projects. There is a scary highball that looks unclimbed that follows a 20 foot right-facing mini-dihedral to a spectacular dyno to a jug. Amazing.

UPDATE: Apparently this crimp line I climbed today was put up by Harry Robertson a few years ago and called Broken Wing at the grade of V11/12. So I guess I have the second ascent? Nevertheless, It is a very cool line that should be climbed more often.

Here are the pics (Photos Courtesy of Connor Griffith):

Rifle

Alex, G, and I spent the last few days in Rifle Mountain Park climbing sport routes. It was the first time I've seriously attempted climbing on a rope in about 3 years. None the less, I had a amazing time and got seriously re-psyched on routes. It was also a great time climbing with Daniel Woods, Dave Graham, Joe Kinder, Emily Harrington, and Colette McInerney. Awesome crew to be climbing with, psych level to the max. Alex ended up climbing her first 12d, in two tries. Super proud. G got really close on a few 13's, and finished off 5 times as many spliffs as the whole crew combined. I fell off the last move of Simply Read 5.13d (hard as all hell 13d), which is probably the coolest thing I tried on the trip. Bummed I got so close and fell, but amped that I've actually got some endurance now. Anyways, I'm psyched to return in the next few weeks to finish off some things as the temps get better. Very psyched on Dave's new climb Girl Talk 5.14c at the Bauhaus. I got the opportunity to try it a bit when it was still a project and it holds some amazing climbing. I also suprised myself by linking the whole bottom half on my second attempt. Someone mentioned that this half could be a 5.14- route on its own. Psyched!

So here's some not-so-quality images from the trip:

Dave taking down The Gayness 5.13d

Daniel in the A.M.

G on the P.M. Wakeup Schedule

And without a days rest, Alex and I headed to Mt. Evans today for some Alpine Bouldering. Alex had her eyes on a few problems and as the day progressed she narrowed her sights on Clear Blue Skies V12. A couple goes in the heat were not looking good, then the cool breeze came by for a visit. In short order, she was falling off the last move from the start on every go until she ripped a nice flapper in her finger. We'll probably end up returning this weekend so she can finish her second V12. Updates will be coming along more regularly.

Peace.

Oh, and stop by The Spot this Friday for the Grand Opening of the New Wall built by Vertical Solutions. We will be setting all this week, so come by and climb on some fresh problems on a fresh new piece of terrain.

Alex Puccio and The Last Month

Today, Alex Puccio finished off the First Female Ascent of The Marble Sit V12 in RMNP. It was her third day climbing on the problem and she most definitely hiked it. Instead of me rambling on about the send, I'll let her describe the day in her own words:

" I worked on the marble for 2 days, the first days I got it in 2 parts and the second day I fell off matching the lip 5 times in a row...... so frustrating! And then finally on the third day, today, I sent the Marble Sit. Soooooo EXCITED!!! The day I sent the Marble Sit it was about 75 degrees out, and I climbed the day before in the gym so I didn't think it was going to go. After giving it a warm up burn I tried it once more and it felt greasy, I actually just popped off the wall from my hands greasing a few times, but then all the sudden a cool breeze came through and it cooled down for a few minutes. I put on my shoes, chalked my hands and sent the problem!

This is by far the hardest boulder problem I have done yet, and I hope that girls pushing the standards in climbing will motivate and show other girls that it can be done! We are creeping up on the boys and V13 isn't far out of sight!!! =)"

So there you have it. Now we have another girl to add to the Women of V12 club. Not entirely sure how many girls are on the list, but I'm assuming it's under 10. Hopefully we'll see Angie on the list soon with another FFA in the park.

On a side note, I've kinda been taking it easy recently trying to find new psych and a new direction. This time has allowed me to realize the rapid progression in climbing recently. Now we have two V12's by girls completed in the same week, in the same state. We also have V13's being sent weekly by multiple people. I can't even keep up with the number of retardly strong climbers I meet out here in Colorado on a daily basis. I see the bar slowly rising and the only way not to fall off, is to hold on a bit harder.

That being said, the new wall being built at The Spot is absolutely AMAZING. Quite possibly the most well built, well designed cave in the country. I look forward to setting and training on it starting next week.

Also, Alex and I will be heading to Rifle tomorrow to climb some routes with DW and DG through the weekend. I have never climbed a 5.14 and I'd be psyched to add one to my tick list. I know Alex feels the same way. More updates to come...

Now here's some photos from the last month:

Alex Puccio

Alex Eyeing the Holds

Alex and The Marble Sit

Alex sending Public Execution V10 at Mt. Evans

Psyched On The Send

Andre climbing Freaks Of The Industry V13

Umm...

Mayhem at the Centaur Boulder

G with Straight Hair...HAHAHA!!!

I Think I Might Shit Myself

Just found this photo on Facebook courtesy of Pete Ward and thought I'd share it with anyone who hasn't seen it.

The Tradeshow wall... or at least 1/3 of it.

Mt. Evans

Alex on Gorillas In The Mist V10

The Sickest Boulders In The World

In the past 24 hours I have managed to do more hiking for climbing with no climbing than ever before. It pretty much rained all day. But I'll start from the beginning. Since I moved to Colorado and was guided around the the Park and Evans, I've always wondered about the potential for bouldering in Colorado. After two years out here I've managed to climb most of the established problems that I am psyched on and recently I've been leaning more towards the entirely separate realm of opening some of my own. Based on experience and knowledge of the areas I immediately set my sights on exploring Mt. Evans and the surrounding canyons/valleys. Before today I had explored both Area A and Area B but nothing more. So I set my sights on a place called Aerials, which I heard hosts the most amount boulders at Mt. Evans and the most unexplored bouldering terrain. A quick look on Google Earth confirmed these rumours. So today I set out on an adventure with friends Connor Griffith and Greg Mionske.

On the drive up to the summit we passed by another potential area. The talus field on the west end of Lincoln Lake. From afar the talus looks very small, but I wasn't convinced so I decided to investigate. According to Google Earth, the hike descends almost 1000 ft. of terrain in about a quarter of a mile. This wasn't enough to deter me and the downhill approach only took us 15-20 minutes if that. What we found at the bottom of the hill was simply stunning. At least 50 boulders the size of a house and many more smaller walls. It is twice as much rock as Lower and Upper Chaos combined. It is easiest to describe it as a maze of walls and roofs everywhere you turn. We hiked around for about and hour admiring the size and and amount of boulders, then headed back up the 1000 ft. hill. Exhausted at the topped we were still more than ready to see what lay ahead at the Aerials.

The parking for Aerials is just before the first switchback towards the summit of Mt. Evans. The hike down follows a moderately declining ridgeline and then descends abruptly through a notch at the end of the ridge into a long steep talus field. It is a descent of almost 2000 ft. into the boulders. When we first spotted the massive amount of boulders from the edge of the ridgeline it was difficult to contain my excitement. Massive looking blocks both in talus fields and in meadows filled pretty much our entire line of sight. When we finally reached the boulders I was even more amazed. Their are more boulders in this particular area than I have ever seen in my entire life. House-sized boulders, normal sized boulders, roofs, slabs, everything you could ever imagine in a bouldering area. Sounds pretty perfect, right? Well here's the catch...

80% of the boulders are completely devoid of holds, features, or anything, both at the Lincoln Lake boulders and at Aerials. I can honestly say that I've never seen more blank rock in my entire life. It was absolutely heart-breaking. Every turn yielded the most beautiful walls I've ever laid eyes on. However, upon closer inspection there was absolutely nothing available to get any form of purchase. I checked everything. We searched Aerials for about 2-3 hours and didn't find anything inspiring to come back for. Sure I could have missed some things, but for the most part, it just wasn't worth the hike, the time, or the effort. And here's the worst part. By the time we were done searching we realized that we were in a 2,000 ft. deep hole. Literally. The hike out was one of the most exhausting hiking experiences of my life (I'm a terrible hiker). We basically spent 2 hours crawling out of hole filled with gorgeous feature-less boulders.

And so for the time being I have lost hope in the future of Colorado bouldering. I will continue to train in the gym and climb on established lines. And I hear the South has got some projects.

But here are some pics from the day if you're interested. I'll have some more detailed ones up in the next day or so...

Lincoln Lake on the left and the boulders (taken from the road)

A Close-Up of the Boulders at Lincoln Lake (The bigger blocks are around 40 ft. tall)

Lincoln Lake from a different angle

Looking out from the pullout for Aerials. The trail follows the ridgeline left of center.

Mt. Evans With The Crew

Today I headed out to Mt. Evans with my girlfriend Alex, my brother Giovanni, and Jena Lupia, a friend from New Mexico. The temps turned out to be perfect. Cool with a slight breeze all day. Unfortunately I didn't really get to climb on anything new, but I did get to guide people around, spot, and take some alright photos. G ended the day with sends of Bierstadt V10, The Dali Sit V9, and Seurat V8. Alex also managed to climb Seurat V8, even though it was "not at all her style", and in about three tries was consistently falling off the last move of Clear Blue Skies V12 from the start. An impressive day for all to say the least. Also, Jena almost finished off her fifth V8 with two close last move misses on Seurat. One fall off the last move had her bouncing off the pads and into a small cave beneath the boulder. Crazy business! Overall it was a wonderful day at the boulders and we'll probably be returning on Monday with the same crew and maybe I'll actually climb something new. Tomorrow, however, I might be hiking in to Area D and heading all the way down the canyon searching for new boulder problems. We will see...

And here are some photos from the day:

G on Bierstadt V10

G on Timeline V1

Alex on Seurat V8

Mt. Evans

Yesterday I made a solo trip to Mt. Evans to do some rock climbing. It was a bit warm for any good burns on Ode, but I did manage to link The Mirrormask SDS Project into the stand. Not sure when I'll be able to send because I fall mainly due to complete fatigue. Could be because of lack of breathing when compressing so hard and lack of oxygen in the air at 12,000 ft. However, I'm very psyched on this boulder and will continue to give it my utmost attention until I send.

Here is a photo of me climbing on it 2 years ago (Courtesy of Steve Woods):

I also got the opportunity to hike around a bit on the cliffs above the boulders and take some nice photos.

Looking Up Canyon Past Area B

Looking Down Canyon

Tomorrow I will head out again to Mt. Evans this time with Alex, Giovanni, and Jena Lupia, a friend of ours from New Mexico. I should have a nice post up in the next day or two complete with media from the day.

Peace.

The Past Month And Everything To Come

It's been almost a month since I have written a blog entry, almost purely because the past month has been quite hectic for me. So, I'll start where I left off in the last entry. I ended up placing 16th in the World Cup in Vail. I bit dissapointing for me after qualifying 13th, but oh well. My goal was just to make it to Semi-finals with such a stacked field. I think it's safe to say that I'm starting to figure out this whole comp thing and it definitely doesn't help to be 5' 6''.

Shortly after Vail, I made my first treks of the season to Chaos Canyon and managed to climb The Automator V13 and Wildcat V11 with suprising ease. I don't have too many more boulders I'm psyched to climb on in the park anymore now that I've finished off those two. However, I am psyched to finish up Jade if I can get some good temps and I'm psyched on re-climbing Nothin' But Sunshine V13 just because I had a lot of fun climbing it the first time around.

The Lake

The Rock

The Hork on Freshly Squeezed V12

By the time mid-June rolled around it was time for a two week trip to Dallas, Texas to visit Alex's family. I must say I really wasn't too psyched to be in Texas for so long (it's hard enough to get me to Hueco, purely because it's in Texas), but I made the trip worthwhile by doing a lot of setting work at various gyms. I also did a lot of "active resting". However, it was nice to visit with Alex's family for an extended period of time.

The Drive Back to Boulder...

But now I'm back in Boulder. And I forgot to mention that my brother Giovanni moved in with us and is now residing on the couch. He is very psyched to begin climbing "full-time" and I'm sure we'll see some impressive sends from him this summer.

I shot some photos of G and Chris Meacham out in Boulder Canyon a few days ago and in a few days I will be headed to Mt. Evans to hop on one of my three summer projects and to look for new boulders. My summer projects are Ode To The Modern Man, The Mirrormask SDS Project, and the City Walls Of Dying Dreams SDS. I am very, very close to the first two and have yet to try City Walls. Needless to say I am very excited and the blog entries will be much more frequent now that I am participating in interesting activities. And also thanks to my new digital SLR, I will be posting some really cool pictures. Peace.

Chris Meacham and G-Money

Chris on Cage Free V10