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:

Ohhhhhh...yes!!!!

Finally out of the GYM!  YES!!!  Don't get me wrong.  I like Boulder, and I love The Spot.  But damn, I am psyched to be out for a bit.  ON THE ROAD.  It started a few weekends ago.  We rolled out with a huge crew to Joe's Valley when the Boulder weather went shit and just killed the place.  People sending right and left...forks.  Great climbing with great people.  Then Alex and I took off to Horse Pens 40 for the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown.  We stopped in Dallas and drove the rest of the way with Old Man Dave and the palace on wheels.  Camping at it's finest.

Horse Pens 40 is one of my favorite places to climb.  Period.  I love slopers and Horse Pens has many.  My day started off strong with quick sends of No Tranquility V9, God Module V11, and Super Slider V10.  I got really, really close to flashing God Module two years ago and haven't managed to finish it up since.  This year it felt very easy and even without crimping for the last 6-9 months and still having a fucked up finger, it's nice to know I'm still making gains.  The rest of the day included sends of Skywalker V9, Pegmado V9, Cadillac Thrills, V9, Hot n' Tot V10, Ghetto Superstar V9, Suspicion V8, and Megatron V8 to round out my top ten.  Very psyched on the day and I managed to place 3rd which was super exciting for me.  I also managed to up my score from last year by over 1500 points which is great considering I only get to climb at the area once a year.  Congrats to the winners and I can't wait till next year.

From Alabama, we headed back to Texas to pick up my car.  It is officially free of "tree damage".  Check out the Deadpoint Video on the topic.  So psyched.  Upon receiving the car, we headed straight to Arkansas.  Two days of sandstone bouldering was the plan.  I managed to climb Chunk Up The Deuce V12 in fairly quick time.  Preceded by Fred's Cave V10, and followed by Glass Bowl V10, Tang V10, and a flash of the very cool Flash Gorden V10 after ripping the left hand start hold off the wall cause it would fallen off anyway.  The new hold doesn't change Flash Gorden at all, but Anti-Hero is a bit different.  Arkansas has an INSANE amount of potential and everything that I climbed was phenomenal in both quality and movement.  Except Tang, that one wasn't really that cool.  I am psyched to return soon when the temps are a bit cooler.

 Chunk Up The Deuce V12 (Screenshot from Footage to be released on Deadpoint)

Glass Bowl V10

After torrential downpours at HCR to round out Day 2, locking my keys in my car, getting a flat tire, driving 6 hours in the rain to St. Louis, crashing at our friend Doug's house (Thanks Doug!), and another 6 hour drive, we made it to the Red River Gorge.  And that's where we now reside.  Life is good.  Today was our first climbing day and we hit up the Motherload and Bob Marley.  I planned on being in shape by the time I got here, but my hectic schedule the past month or two has allowed little climbing of the endurance type.  Today was my "test' day.  See where I'm at.  See how weak I am.  I started off the day with a run up Ale-8-1 (5.12b) on the Undertow Wall and felt like shit.  No flow.  Mild pump.  Not good.  I sat around for a bit and realized that the only way that I was going to learn my weaknesses was to really push my limits.  I walked down into the Madness Cave and looked up at the only route that I hadn't tried.  The Madness (5.13c).  After falling off post-crux at the last bolt on my On-sight attempts of both Transworld Depravity 5.14a and Omaha Beach 5.14a, I decided that it might be time to settle the score.  I tied in and set off.  Soon enough I was at the anchors for my hardest On-sight to date.  Perfect flow, almost no pump, and a shit-ton of psych.  A great way to start the two-week trip.  I followed with an On-sight of Snooker 5.13a and a flash of 8-Ball 5.12d.  Nice first day.  We ventured over to Bob Marley later in the day and I also managed to climb the crux of 50 Words For Pump 5.14c first try.  I little more endurance and I should be able to finish it off.  Hopefully with the quickness.  That's the name of the game out here.  Word.

Also, Check out Two Kings, a video that I just released on Deadpoint with some nice Joe's Valley footage.  More to come from that trip with some sends from Alex Puccio and the Crew.

RMNP

Jade...

This Weekend

I must say after almost 6 straight days of being inside setting up plastic boulder problems, I am very psyched to be heading outside this weekend.  Tomorrow we're heading up to RMNP.  I don't really have any projects right now, but there are a few things that I'm psyched to mess around on.  Alex put in some good effort on Nuthin' But Sunshine a few weekends ago and managed to complete all the moves.  The season is closing in fast and it's hard to tell at this point if an ascent will be made.  Regardless, Alex is psyched to try it this weekend no matter the outcome.  As always, I'll be there with the HD.

On Saturday, Alex and I will be attending the Horsetooth Hang at the Horsetooth Reservoir outside of Fort Collins, CO.  This is a classic old area that I've never been to and I'm psyched to check it out.  Especially to try Meathook.  Maybe I'll have some luck on another Holloway problem.  Who knows?  There are a few other classics that I'm psyched on and I'll be reporting back here with a full update after the event.

Colorado Glow

Louder Than 11 presents a Colorado bouldering epic with help from Dead Point Magazine, Friksn Clothing, Project Holds, and Revolution Climbing.  Jon Glassberg and Nate Draughn are climbing in the high country when they stumble upon a mysterious meteorite crash site.  They approach the impact zone to collect the debris and discover that the alien meteorite has unique powers.  The residue on their hands glows and tracks their movements through space and time. Quickly Jon and Nate grab as much as they can and stuff it into their chalk bags and head to the boulders with the alien substance.
They decide to share the glowing chalk with friends, Carlo Traversi and Ryan Olson. The climbers then proceed to have otherworldly climbing experiences followed up with some scary consequences.  With every blessing there is a curse…

Colorado Glow features Nate Draughn on Eternia (V11), Dead Raccoon (V11) and Bierstadt (V10). Jon Glassberg on Blood Money (V12), Last Dance (V8) and Gorillas in the Mist (V10). Ryan Olson on Burnout (V12) and Carlo Traversi on Cage Free (V11), Riddles in the Park (V12) and the 3rd ascent of Ty Landman’s Top Notch (V13).
Premiering October 15th on louderthan11.com
It will melt your face off!

Coming Soon...

Along with a concise report on what the fuck I've been up to for the last two months.

Dolphin Tour 2008

In the fall of 2008, Alex and I traveled to California to climb in Yosemite and Bishop. We met up with friends Garrett Gregor and Kyle Owen on our first day in Yosemite. They were driving around in a 1988 Toyota Dolphin (peep the picture below), and offered to let us crash in it for the extent of our trip. Everything was in place for the perfect road trip, and the resulting experience proved to be one of the best of my life. Garrett recently finished off the video from the trip. Check it out.

The Dolphin from Garrett Gregor on Vimeo.

Ummm...

I will have a larger post going up soon, but this needs to be posted immediately.

Men of Route Setting 2010 (Official Teaser) from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.

Courtesy of Jon Glassberg.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Update

A lot has happened in the last few days and I hardly know where to start. I have been obsessed with the rail project and I was finally able to succeed on it this past Sunday. Very psyched. Sunseeker 8B. Props to Nalle. It is hands down the best boulder that I have ever climbed. It starts on a perfect obvious jug and climbs 21 moves straight to the top of a large boulder along a perfect and pure line. This is the first piece of rock that I've put any sort of long term work into this year, and my success once again confirms that significant accomplishments are the product of passion and motivation. The trick is constantly finding things that you are passionate and motivated about. So what's next?

I've also been working hard trying to get the Sunseeker video produced. I spent almost 3 post-send hours reclimbing portions of the climb to get the shots that I wanted. I even managed to climb the stand start 6 times in a row, including a few tries sans spotter. Scary! Should hit the DeadPoint site very soon. Check it out and tell me what you think.

In other news, I was hired yesterday as the new Head Routesetter for the The Spot Bouldering Gym. Very excited. I will be giving up a significant portion of my fall climbing season due to this promotion which was a hard thing to give up, but it should also allow me the ability to potentially travel overseas in 2010 which I have yet to do. World Cups, Switzerland, Mallorca, Ceuse, Realization? As for the routesetting, I'm psyched to hear any feedback, good or bad. We have a great routesetting crew right now that I'm always psyched to work with and hopefully we can find ways to make The Spot even better than it already is.

I won't be climbing much over the next two weeks or so as I try to heal this pulley strain that has been plaguing me for well over a month. Then it will be back to the plastic till the tradeshow where I will be competing in the Mammut Bouldering Championships yet again. The schedule is a bit wierd this year (competition is on Monday and Tuesday), none the less I encourage anyone who can make it to come on out and enjoy the most exciting climbing competition of the year.

More Projects...

The weather in Colorado has been quite strange recently. April snowstorms and now lots of rain and flurries in the Alpine during a normally drier/warmer time. Today it was Mt. Evans for me. Since I can't crimp, the park is out. And so I've been searching. In between 3 separate "snow storms" that left the crew burrowing under boulders, I spent quite a bit of time running around in the talus. I found this boulder without much effort:

I'm fairly sure it hasn't been climbed before, especially from the sit which could certainly be a very high quality 8B or harder. I was left trying the stand start today in my broken condition from an obvious good hold just within arms reach. The stand proved to be more than worthy as I was unable to get my ass up the thing after countless effort. One move, oddly difficult, and a bit scary. None-the-less, the climbing was phenomenal and left all of us scratching our heads as to why no one had either climbed or mentioned this boulder before. The rock is unlike most of the climbs at Mt. Evans as it features almost no crimps. Yes! And lots of cool pinches:

I ended the day with a quick send of the Hume Problem V9, which is a very nice climb at the far side of Area B that saw a nice send train today. Props to Hayden and Connor. I also had the pleasure of trying the Rail Project for the first time. We gave it a nice little session with the fading light and managed to scare the shit out of ourselves a bit. That boulder is BIG. Two more moves and I'll be ready to start giving legit efforts from the start after some heavy duty pad haulage. Psyched!

Projects...

Big Changes

My first blog post is up on Deadpointmag and I encourage everyone to check it out. It includes a write-up of the World Cup from a competitor's point of view, some photos from the event, and a nicely put together Women's Qualifier video that was filmed and edited by Garrett Gregor with some help from me. I will continue to randomly post on this blog, but the majority of my content will be posted on the Deadpoint site for hopefully a larger audience. In time I will be getting rid of climbingbum in favor of carlotraversi.com which is currently in the works. My goal is to create a site that allows people to get to know me better, communicate with me easier, and hopefully be inspired to pursue the things they are truly passionate about. This game is my life, and I'm in this game for life.

On another note, I'll be in Colorado for the summer and the fall is up in the air. Dolphin Tour 2009/2010 is looking promising, I'll keep you updated.

Videos

I'm excited to say that I've humbly entered the world of climbing video production.  Big learning process for me.  So far I have two videos up on Deadpointmag.com, one of Paul Robinson on Psychedelic down in the St. George area.  The other is Daniel Woods on two mega-classics in Red Rocks, NV.  More psyched on the Psychedelic footage.  Great problems in Red Rocks though.  Let me know what you think.

Speaking of videos, check out this piece a friend showed me today:

Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.

Incredible. One shot.

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.

Kryptonite

This past Friday I had the pleasure of viewing the world premiere of Chuck Fryberger's new film Pure.  I must say I was very impressed with the film as a whole.  Very pretty looking.  I was especially psyched to see some of my home (Sonoma County) rocks in the film looking particularly brilliant.  

Following the film I was faced with the predicament of leaving that night for the Fortress or the next morning.  At one point I was considering bailing entirely.  But something was pulling me to that place beyond normal rationale.  Seems to always be the case these days.  So here's how my weekend played out.

Saturday morning, 1 am, I finally get my ass out of Boulder and on my way to the Western Slope.  I had my good friend, and photographer, Greg Mionske in tow and he claimed he was psyched as ever.  Hard to believe after it took 4 calls to wake him up for our ridiculous "alpine" departure time.  Our plan was to at least make it past Vail so we could miss all the morning ski traffic.  After a 30 minute detour through Denver due to an accident on 93 and another 3 hours of driving we arrived in the Walmart parking lot in Eagle with Dr. Dre bumping from my sub-par sound system.  That shit is pretty much the only music that can keep me awake on late-night drives.  We found a dark corner of the lot and prepared our beds.  I can just manage to sleep in my car, but Greg, at 6' 5'' brought along a tent that he pitched next to the car.  Urban camping at it's finest.

After a decent night of sleep we awoke at 9:30 am and hopped back on I-70.  Following a bit of breakfast and some more driving we found ourselves in the muddy parking lot below the cliff.  The hike definitely has a reputation and I was interested to see how I would fare after a winter of barely any physical activity outside the climbing gym.  It ended up taking us about an hour to get to the cliff.  We got a bit lost near the end and I ate shit in the talus/shale that covers the hillside below the cliff quite a few times.  However, psych was high.  The Fortress is gorgeous.  Blue and white streaked walls for days.  Intimidating to say the least.  At the cliff, we met up with some folks from Rifle, Andy and Mark, who were kind enough to show us around and tell us where to warm up.  I ended up hopping on The Daily Planet 5.13d right off the bat and dispatched it on my second burn.  Busted out the "rose" move and a mono for the send.  I've never really been forced to do any of those moves on outdoor rock.  After I belayed Greg on the 5.12 opening section of the climb, I decided to hop right on Kyptonite 5.14d.  Climbing a route such as this is on my lifetime goals list.  140 feet long, overhung, proud, with a complex and amazing crux.  Definitely something that will challenge me properly.  I went bolt to bolt through the first 40 feet of choss, and continued through the next 5.13 section dispaching most of the moves on my first attempt.  I'm thankful that I'm not any shorter because some of the lower moves would be downright impossible.  Simply amazing moves none-the-less.  After a stout left hand drive-by to a tufa pinch and a few pocket jugs I found myself at the base of the crux.  It was easy to distinguish this section because I couldn't see any holds ahead that would be good enough to clip from for as far as I could see.  But it looked perfectly my style.  Compression on slopers and pinches.  After pondering the sequence or a bit I decided to just gun for it, hoping to reach some sort of decent hold relatively quickly.  About 10 significantly difficult moves later, after skipping two draw-less bolts, I pitched off for a nice 40 foot ride.  Not really pumped, just not really sure where to go.  I did the same thing about 2-3 more times not quite able to find where the end of the crux was.  I lowered off and we hiked back down the trail, tired and hungry.  I was psyched on the route, but perturbed that I didn't take it to the top.  I would need to figure out the upper section better before proper redpoint burns could commence.

Probably can't see me.  I'm  a small red dot a bit higher than dead center.  You can see Greg belaying just above the tree in the foreground.  The route ends near the top of the frame.  I'm on one of the first moves of the crux.

Day 2.  Slept poorly in the Target parking lot in Glenwood Springs.  We must have looked like bums when we stumbled in the coffee shop nearby.  We arrived at the cliff earlier than the day before.  Nobody else in sight.  Truly in Solitude.  I warmed up on Kryptonite.  Mid-crux I was somehow able to basically dyno a draw into the bolt and clip it up so I could work out the easiest sequence.  I accomplished every move of the 15-move resistance crux with ease (thanks to the now clipped bolts) and made it to the resting jug and then through the last few bolts of 5.13 to the anchors.  I figured out that if I could get to the crux without being pumped in the slightest, I could definitely finish the route.  I lowered off and chilled for a few hours (it was quite warm mid-day).  In the late afternoon the sun tucked itself behind some clouds and it cooled down significantly.  I was ready to give it a burn.  Four bolts in and my hands were numb.  Not warmed up anymore.  I managed to climb into the crux from the bottom without being pumped, but I dry fired due to lack of feeling in the skin.  As the temps continued to get colder, I belayed Greg a few times on Phonebooth 5.13a, and then we headed back to the car.

3 realizations:

1. The route will go.

2. I should get in better shape.

3. Damn, The Fortress is amazing and I'm psyched to spend more time up there and Kryptonite is by far the BEST route climb I've ever tried regardless of grade.  Superb quality stone, amazing moves.

In regards to the pictures.  They were taken by Greg.  He set up the camera on a tripod and had it automatically take a photo every few seconds the whole time I was on the wall.  These are the low-res versions.  I've decided to blow up a high res. version and put it on my wall for motivation.  You gotta do whatever you can to make sure that you get shit done.  Word.

On Thursday this week I leave for Hueco with a motley crew to do some tanning in the Texas sun.  And this amazing event:

So get down to Hueco for some climbing in the sun!

The Fortress Of Solitude

I am excited to say that after an intense search for an equally psyched individual (Greg Mionske) I have succeeded in planning my first "adventure" up to The Fortress of Solitude this weekend.  My main goal is Kryptonite, but I would also like to check out Flex Luthor and scope the potential for some new lines.  I cannot express how motivated I am to find and bolt new lines.  And the Fortress seems like a perfect place to start.  200+ feet of overhanging limestone.  Now I just need a drill...

Also, If anybody has any info on the place and is psyched to share, please do.  Beta on where to warm-up and any other helpful info is much appreciated.  I will be taking lots of photos and there will definitely be updates to come.     

ABS Nationals 2009

Qualifiers went better than expected for me and I'm tied for 5th Place going into finals tonight.  I felt like the problems were significantly easier this year than any other comp I've competed in, hopefully finals will step it up a notch.  If you are in Boulder right now, I urge everyone to come watch the show tonight.  Even if you can't find a ticket, find a way in!!!  It's going to be off the hook! 

The Future...Revisited

I have gotten A LOT more responses to my previous blog entry than I expected.  Mostly good responses though.  One thing that I wanted to formally revisit was Point #6.  I feel like I was a bit harsh with this point and it definitely generated a response that I wasn't too psyched on.  So i will clarify.  Climbing companies make very good products and manage to stay afloat purely because they make very good products.  With the little money that comes into the industry, this only makes sense.  Very little room for bad products.  So I feel I was wrong in this regard.  Also, I wanted to make it known that I know very little about marketing.  I hope to learn more in the future.  I do know that in a lot of ways that the a lot of the marketing currently being done by climbing companies hasn't yet lived up to its potential.  If it had we would all be doing better financially.  I know that I have a lot of ideas that I think could really work in the way of marketing climbing, but I haven't had the time recently to sit down and put them into a structured concept.  All I can say is that they would be much different than what we are seeing now.  Maybe they would work, maybe they wouldn't.  Such is the game.

I would also like to thank my current sponsors Five Ten and Verve.  They have been amazing to me and my posts are not meant to reflect badly on them in any way.  I represent them because we have similar goals and I feel that they both make excellent products.

The Future

It has been quite a while since I have updated with significant information about what's been going on in my life.  It is safe to say that I have reached some what of a turning point.  Upon returning from a successful extended U.S. roadtrip this past fall, I have been forced to start looking at things in some what of a new light.  Following a successful, yet disappointing, winter tradeshow I have managed to put together a rough list of some of my recent "realizations".

1.  I am not a professional climber.  Meaning that currently I am nowhere near being able to support myself by just rock climbing.

2.  I want to be a professional rock climber.  And with that I need to find out how to properly become one and also what kind of "pro" climber I want to be.

3.  Being a professional rock climber currently has very little to do with how hard you rock climb.

4.  In fact, most pro climbers don't climb as hard as you might think.

5.  Some of the strongest climbers in the world are complete unknowns.  No 8a, no press, no nothing.  Completely unknown.

6.  At this point in time, VERY few climbing companies have any clue what they are doing beyond making a decent product that sells enough to keep them afloat.  I believe that much of this is due to BAD marketing techniques and BLATANT misuse of key athletes on their climbing teams.  Hint to climbing companies-stop doing the marketing by yourself and hire someone that knows whats up.

7.  The growth of climbing is vital for progression.

8.  More climbers=more people buying climbing shit=climbing companies making more $$$=more climbers climbing full time=progression.

9.  Their are 3 types of professional climbers.

I. Bad Climbers-Great Representatives

II.  Great Climbers-Bad Representatives

III. Great Climbers-Great Representatives

10.  Climber I typically misrepresents their abilities, but generally makes up for it by working hard for their sponsors. 

11.  Climber II typically thinks he's just too damn good to work hard for their sponsors.  "I get money and free shit because I climb harder than you".

12.  Climber III is a rare breed these days.  Climbs hard (Not just grades, but standard setting accomplishments) and works hard.  These type of people need to be rewarded more in the industry.  Many are not.  These people also need to be better utilized by their sponsors.

13.  I aspire to be Climber III and will not settle for being either Climber I or II because these people devalue what it means to be Climber III.

14.  Hopefully, in the future, ALL sponsored climbers will fall into category III because that is the best for the future of the industry.  

15.  Climbing competitions in the US are poorly executed and poorly advertised.

16.  Climbing is a selfish pursuit.

17.  Their are ways to make it less selfish by giving back to the community.

18.  I need to find more ways to give back.

19.  Most people do nothing to give back and it only hurts progression.

20.  We need to start working together better, as members of the WORLDWIDE climbing community, to progress the sport.  This means better recongnition as a sport by the general public.  Climbing in the Olympics.  We need athletes that are recognized by the general non-climbing public.

I know that a lot of these points isolate the things that are wrong with the climbing industry and I have stated very few ways to fix the problems.  Personally, I don't know how to fix a lot of them.  Maybe some of them aren't even problems.  But hopefully by pointing some of these things out more people will start to think.  If you have anything to add to the topic please comment.  I am not professing these beliefs as absolute truth.  All I know is that things aren't great for pro climbers these days and I would like to improve that.  And maybe you just don't give a shit about any of this and so be it.  But climbing is currently my life and I will do whatever I can to improve it.

Aside from that stuff here's what I've been up too.  In January I competed in the SCS Nationals in SLC during the tradeshow and managed to take 1st Place!  I trained a bit for the comp, but not nearly as hard as I could have trained.  I was very suprised that I basically made it through the comp without getting pumped.  Rope climbing is beginning to look like a facet of climbing that I could get very good at, and I am excited to pursue this side of the sport for the remainder of 2009.  My personal goal is to establish myself as a solid 9a climber and then start searching out new lines.  Following ABS Nationals and a possible short trip to Hueco, I will be spending a lot of time at The Fortress of Solitude (for Kryptonite), and the Southern Utah crags.  As well as Rifle in the spring and maybe the RRG.  Petzl has been so kind to hook me up with some great gear for my endeavors and I look forward to representing them PROPERLY in the coming months.

SCS Nationals

ABS Nationals is this weekend.  I have been training boulders in the gym.  Almost feeling strong. Almost.  We'll see how it goes.  Routes to boulders.  Hard to transition.  I've been climbing with P-Rob a lot and I must say I'm extremely impressed with how hard he is climbing following his ankle break in the fall.  He is definitely one of the top contenders for the title this year.  I guess more of us need to lock ourselves in the garage with a campus "bored" for a few months.

I have been entertaining the purchase of an HD video camera for the past few weeks.  MomentumVM has been for the most part a complete let-down lately and it would be nice to see more large format, HD quality, high-production value climbing shorts on the web these days.  It looks like I might get the opportunity to try my hand at it pretty soon.

Also,  BIG props to my little brother Giovanni or "G" for his somewhat recent ascents of Haroun and the Sea of Stories V12 and the 2nd Ground-Up Ascent of Evilution V12.  The latter achievement is very inspiring considering G used to be afraid to climb a 25 foot slab on a top rope.  You can view his ascent of Haroun here.