Paths Of Glory Photos

I went out and got some photos taken on the new roof problem in Clear Creek Canyon called Paths Of Glory V12. Again I want to emphasize the quality of the climbing and I would be psyched to see more people getting on it.

Photos Courtesy of Greg Mionske:

Clear Creek Canyon

I awoke yesterday with plans to head back up to Mt. Evans, but quickly realized it just wasn't in the cards for me. I was still recovering from a serious campus session at The Spot the previous afternoon. However, at around 4:00 p.m. my good friend Chris Meacham arrived in Boulder and convinced me to head out to Clear Creek to check out this roof project next to Stanley Kubrick. I remember looking at the problem last year, but for some reason it looked completely impossible. Not so this year. I even discovered a direct (straight out) finish to it so that you can remain completely in the roof for almost the complete extent of the problem. Lots of quality roof climbing. Something you generally don't see out here in Colorado. I put together the end of the problem pretty quickly. I consists of some pretty amazing moves to quality edges. However, the beginning of the problem was alluding us due to the very warm temps and lack of wind. So we decided to sit around and wait. Wade David showed up as the sun was starting to set with a crane and HD quality video. Inspired by the amazing footage we were able to put together, I managed to link the full roof and topout the boulder. Best roof climbing I've done in Colorado. I've decided to call it Paths Of Glory after Stanley Kubricks classic anti-war film. I posted the grade of V12 because I thought it was quite hard. Similar to Dark Waters for me. Maybe a bit easier. However, it was very hot and greasy out and I look forward to hearing more opinions.

I would post photos but my camera fell out of the back of the car on the drive out and it got run over. Shitty! Wade will be posting the footage somewhere soon. More updates on that.

Peace.

New Video In The MomentumVM Premium Section

Wade has put together a nice video of our Spring Break trip to Joe's Valley featuring Alex on Smokin' Joe V9, and my brother Giovanni Traversi on the first ascent of Weed, Whiskey, and Women With Wieners V12. It is available in the Premium section of Momentum Video Magazine. It also features G's own musical creation to back the climbing footage. Quality!

Mt. Evans

I decided to open up (for myself) the alpine bouldering season by heading up to Mt. Evans today. I have heard that the snow levels in the mountains were high this year and I was a bit concerned about whether or not I would get to climb on anything. But I headed out anyways this morning with die-hards Greg Mionske and Connor Griffith. We got a hold of some snow shoes and made the drive into the mountains. Due to the gate being permanently shut, we were forced to hike in from Echo Lake. Surprisingly the upper part of the switchbacks are almost completely free of snow and the rest of the hike to Area A is on hard-packed ice and snow. We finally put our snow shoes on just as we entered the trees just short of the Bierstadt boulder. We made it to the Dali boulder a few minutes later to find it completely free of snow both on the ground and on the boulder. Perfectly dry.

I intended to try No More Greener Grasses V12 and Super Gui V11. I have tried both on previous occasions with no success despite getting extremely close. Especially Super Gui. I have fallen on the last hard move at least 30 times. I began the day by nabbing a 3rd try ascent of No More Greener Grasses V12. It is definitely one of the most inspiring and pure boulder problems I have ever seen and I was very psyched to complete it without epic. It felt extremely easy for me today, but after factoring in my previous experiences on it, I have decided that it is probably the hardest V12 I have ever done. With my skin still fresh I decided to give some attempts on Super Gui V11. It is basically a linkup of The Dali Sit V9 and the top section of Ode To The Modern Man V14 via an amazing slopey rail. It consists of a very hard-for-me crux move that relies on a right-foot heel hook and a left hand stab to an incut crimp. I managed to finish the problem on my 3rd effort from the bottom. Definitely a quality boulder problem.

The hike out was epic due to lack of prior conditioning. Altitude 1, Boulderers O. Now I will sleep for the next 2 days just trying to recover.

Here are some pics from the day courtesy of Greg Mionske:

Peace.

Hollow's Way

I spent about 15 minutes in the BRC tonight before I decided that I am completely over gym climbing. I'm going to try and spend as much time as I can outside starting now, even if that means climbing on Flagstaff because it's late and the weather is shit. So that is where I went today. I brought along my friend Greg so he could nab some photos of me on Hollow's Way V8. I tried this problem for about 20 minutes last year around this time, but got rained off before I could complete it. I believe it might be the best boulder problem within a 5 minute radius of town (which pretty much only includes Flagstaff, but whatever). Anyways, I was anxious to finish it off. When we arrived, I was surprised to find the boulder completely dry (the weather has been shit lately in Boulder). I got to the last move on my first attempt, but took about 15 more to finish it up. The last hold is not very good. However, once you accept this and decide to stop fighting that small fact, moving off of it to the "finish jug" is not too bad. I also got the chance to try out Five Ten's newest take on the Anasazi Lace-Up and I must say they performed impeccably well on the slightly overhung terrain. They will be my new trustworthy friends on any vert highballs I might attempt over the summer. As well as on the Diamond.

So...We escaped Flagstaff without epic and now I sit at home dreaming about my weekend plans to snowshoe into Mt. Evans. Psyched!

Here are a few pics from the day courtesy of Greg Mionske:


Peace.

Cage Free

Photos Courtesy of Greg Mionske

The Last Few Days...

Saturday, I headed up to the Poudre Canyon with a carload of friends and the intention of climbing on lots of amazing granite boulders. I managed to send Against Humanity V7 in soaking wet conditions. It was fun nonetheless. Very quality rock climbing. We then headed over to check out this new roof boulder caled Critical Mass V?. I'm not sure what the grade is, but it felt to be around the V10 or V11 mark. I came close to flashing, falling off on the last hard move as usual, until the sweat fairy decided to make a visit to my fingertips and all hell broke loose. Very cool boulder problem though, definitely worth checking out. Props to Andre on the FA. Our last stop was the 420 boulders where I was interested in climbing on Circadian Rhythm V13. To keep the epic in more simple terms, I didn't manage to climb the boulder. Last move-itis. I hope it clears up before summer.

So...

Today, I climbed out in Boulder Canyon with my good friend Greg Mionske, so that he could shoot some photos of me on Free Range V13, or I guess Cage Free since I didn't really climb on any of the sit moves. I managed to climb Cage Free V11 at least 15 times in less than 1 hour. I think it might be a personal record.

However, the real news of today is that I managed to pull off Cage Free V11 in my new pair of Five Ten Daescents. The new Mystique rubber held on to the small feet extremely well. I am very impressed with the quality of these shoes. They are extremely comfortable, lightweight, and not to mention good-looking (for now, I haven't had the chance to completely beat the shit out of them).

Here is a photo:

After shooting some photos, we headed up to the boulder that holds Midnight Express v14 and Trainspotting v12. I claimed the second ascent of the latter about a month or so ago, but learned that I had not started with the appropriate left hand start hold. To clear things up, Trainspotting starts awfully low with a right hand on the Midnight Express left hand start hold and your left hand starting on some textured crystals about a foot below a perfectly good edge. I completed the "move" into the left hand that I started with and determined that it is no harder than starting on the perfectly good holds that I originally completed the boulder with. It is also a move that I am completely unmotivated on accomplishing again. And so is the story of how I will never climb Trainspotting from the "real" start.

Photos from the day to come sooner rather than later.

Peace.

Boulder Canyon

Today I woke up with a nice cup of coffee and the need for a rest day. My back and arms have been very sore and I haven't rested in a couple of weeks. However, the temps were wonderful in Boulder and I was extremely psyched to climb on real rock. So around 5 o'clock I headed to The Spot to meet up with some friends for a nice session out in Boulder Canyon. I arrived at the Cage Free Boulder a bit later with Chris Meacham and Ander Rockstad who is visiting from Colorado Springs. I completed the dyno move with a suprising amount of ease due to my realization that remaining square to the wall allows for an easier deadpoint to the lip. And then with an even more suprising amount of ease I managed to finish Free Range V13 (AKA Cage Free SDS) 1st try of the day. It was an experience that will change how I climb forever. It was robotic climbing. Thoughtless. My future goals now reside in reliving that same experience over and over. It is now the best way I know how to climb. I feel like if I could reach that same mental state when onsighting or climbing difficult highballs, there would be no limits.

And so today I was a successful rock climber and person. Not because I completed a series of moves up a small granite wall that so happens to be named, and so happens to have only been completed by 5 other people. I was successful because I gained a new realization in my life. That the ability to climb rocks is inate in all people, and the difficult part lies in clearing away all the distractions in the mind so that the body can move effortlessly. Climbing Free Range today felt easier than some V0's that I've climbed when I am completely distracted. There's no reason why Free Range shouldn't feel as easy on my first attempt as on my last. All I've learned in between is how to let my body climb instead of my mind.

You may think that I'm thinking to deeply about this, and criticize me for it. But one day you'll share the same experience, and if you don't, I feel sorry for you.

So without further ado, here is the send video:

The Blue And Yellow Boulder

I promised myself that I would never blog about an indoor boulder problem, especially one that I set, but I decided that I had to blog about this one. We just set the Right Side of the Hueco Boulder today at The Spot and I must say that I have fashioned a masterpiece. At least in my mind. Come to the gym and see if you agree. Anyways, I was tired of setting problems that I thought were hard, only to have them trounced upon by half the population of Boulder. So today, I set something that I truly believe will get thoroughly worked on, but will remain unfinished for a while. I would be very impressed if someone managed to climb it within the next week. It consists of 14 moves of intricate sequencing, amazing(ly bad) holds, and ultra-classic moves. Including what is now my favorite indoor move EVER! A dyno to the famous Pusher Boss hold. Classic!

Enough about indoor climbing. Due to the warm temps in Boulder, my motivation for the high country bouldering season is overwhelming, while my motivation for the boulders around Boulder is at an all time low. Hopefully I get enough cold days this season to make an attempt at bouldering Iron Monkey. (I'm only half serious, but I have definitely been entertaining the idea.)
And hopefully someday I will have something interesting to blog about. Instead of just ideas, random ponderings, and indoor boulder problems.

An Epic

Yesterday I fell off sticking the lip on Free Range V13, no less than 7 times in a row. Sad. By the time I left the problem, I had two new holes in my hand that wouldn't stop squirting blood all over my fingers. Sad. The day before, while Alex was working on Trice, I fell off the last move of Epoch-alipse V13 at least 3 times. Sad. Sad that I was even working on the problem and sad that I can't complete anything these days. Speaking of Alex on Trice, she fell off post-crux and ripped open her flapper again. We might both be dealing with the same mental blocks. As far as I know, the only way to get through them is to push forward. Good news better come soon.

K-Jorg is on a Rampage!

While perusing the mass amount of climbing blogs yesterday I saw the news that Kevin Jorgeson managed the 2nd ropeless and 6th ascent of The Fly (5.14d) in Rumney, NH. Word Up! I've known Kevin since I started climbing almost 6 years ago. He was and still is one of the core members of the very small, tight-knit climbing community in Santa Rosa, CA. Watching Kevin's progression over the years has been amazing to watch. While we all were slaves to the plastic for 7 days a week, Kevin seemed to never climb and always seemed stronger whenever he joined a session. Anyways, props to him for balancing a heavy school schedule, assistant managing the local gym, and hard climbing.

Today Alex and I head up to Flagstaff so that she can finish Trice V12. I'll probably mess around on the wall as well. Updates to come.

13...

So, two days ago, out of nowhere, Alex decides that she is psyched to work on Trice V12 up on Flagstaff Mtn. I had no idea what to say to this because her outdoor psych recently has been significantly lagging. However, within the hour we found ourselves at the Cloudshadow Wall. The first thing that came out of her mouth when we got there (because she'd never seen the problem before) was "I can't climb this, those holds suck." 20 minutes later it was a whole different story. She had almost made the crux move static until the right hand pocket fashioned her a nice flapper on her middle finger.

Check it:

Alex plans on finishing up the climb this week. In my opinion this climb could solidify her as one of the strongest boulderers in the world, male or female. I think all it takes is for her to get a little bit psyched and we'll see the first female ascent of a solid V13 boulder.

Now to address my last post and the title of this blog entry. Yesterday Justen Sjong and I headed out to Eldo for our big day. The final number of pitches after about 7 hours of climbing was 13! Let's just say I got my ass handed to me. Sure, the majority of the pitches were in the 5.11 and 5.12 range. But, damn. I don't have that kind of endurance. Overall, it was a great training day for me. I'm sure Justen could have climbed for much longer and I only hope that he got at least a little bit of training out of it, before I fell apart. However, in my favor, the wind and end of the day sleet took a bit out of me.

This week's focus:

Tues./Wed. - Set some ultra-classics at The Spot.

Thurs./Fri. - Back to Eldo to work on Iron Monkey and Back to Flagstaff to get Alex on Trice.

Should be an interesting week.

Peace.

Eldorado Canyon

I spent the day out in Eldorado Canyon yesterday putting some work into Iron Monkey 5.14?. It is basically a boulder problem on a rope and it suits my style perfectly. The crux is a large left hand huck off a very good pinch. I spent the day figuring out the gear (thanks to Matt Wilder) and sussing the beta as well as working on the stopper crux move. I got very close to sticking it in just a couple goes as I was latching the edge but ripping off it when my feet came off the wall. If I was only an inch taller I could almost keep both feet on for the move. My guess is that it is about a V10 move. The rest of the route is fairly easy. The only thing that I'm concerned about at this point is my ability to set the nut that protects the crux move while I'm on lead. Due to my small stature it is quite difficult for me to reach the pod where the nut sits, so I'm developing a way to extend my reach with a coat-hanger or something of the sort. We'll see. I'll be out in Eldo again tomorrow with Justen Sjong as we try to finish off 100 pitches of climbing in a day. At least that's the goal. I have no idea how it's going to work out. It'll be good training no matter what, but I've never attempted something so grand in nature. Should be a good time. More to come.

For the meantime, here is a poorly edited video I put together of my little brother Giovanni or "G" demolishing some Joe's Valley classics. Enjoy!



Peace.

New Projects And A New Direction

With the exception of possibly finishing off Free Range V13 in Boulder Canyon, I have changed my current focus within climbing. Rope. Specifically rope climbs in Eldorado Canyon. It only took one trip out there a couple of days ago to discover two things that I am excited to work on. Any guesses? I went to the BRC tonight and trained a bit. Brought back some old memories of training for Youth World Championships in my days as a USAC participant.

Got back from Joe's Valley and the Red Rock Rendezvous a couple days ago. Following at least 8 hours of heavy blizzard throughout Utah and Colorado. Red Rocks is surprisingly better than I expected in all aspects. I taught some clinics for Five Ten and had a good time hanging out with friends. It's nice to be back in Boulder though. I was hoping to update with lots of photos and videos of my trip, but I'm having trouble connecting my computer (with all the media) to the Internet (I'm using Alex's computer). Hopefully I'll get them on here soon as well as some news of some sends.

In other news, congratulations to Alex Honnold for his free-solo of Moonlight Buttress in Zion yesterday. I'm sure well hear more about this incredible climbing feat later.

Peace.

Joe's Valley - Part 1

Sitting here at the Food Ranch just outside of Joe's Valley, Utah, I decided to give a little update of our current roadtrip. The biggest news so far has been the spree of sends from my little brother Giovanni. Here's the current tally before today:

-Weed, Whiskey, And Women With Wieners - V12 FA (Smokin Joe then hard right into a 30 foot traverse through a cave and with a final V9 sloperfest topout to a 20 foot slab)
-Freak - V10 Flash
-Resident Evil - V10 Second Go
-Fingerhut - V10 Flash
-Nerve Extension - V10
-Smokin Joe - V9
-Two-Finger Variation - V9
-The Wind Below - V8
-Big Boy - V7 Flash

And today he nutted up and in about an hour finished off:

-They Call Him Jordan - V8
-We Call Him Michael - V10
-Beyond Life - V11

Tomorrow we head to Las Vegas for the Red Rock Rendevous and their will be many more videos, pictures and updates to come very soon.

Failure

Nonperformance of something due, required, or expected. My life has been full of this as of late. I guess it's just the cycle of things. About a week or so before Nationals I felt a serious lack of motivation and desire towards climbing. It certainly showed when I fell seriously short of my expectations in a comp that I was definitely ready for. Gravity won. I lost. This theme has continued for the last 3 weeks. Throughout an entire roadtrip to Southern California, including a day of bouldering in Joshua Tree and countless energetic gym sessions, I have felt as though their were a lead weight attached to every part of my body. I couldn't shake them.

I am finally inspired to write a blog today because a few days ago I broke through to the other side. I traveled out to Boulder Canyon with my good friend Chris and managed to fall off sticking the lip of Free Range V13. This is big news for me because I have been extremely close to finishing this boulder for quite some time. However, it always manages to allude me in the most devilish of ways. If I get the first half of the boulder on lock down, the second half will feel impossible. Once I figure out the second half, the first half turns into an epic slip-fest. No joke, this has been going on through 4 months of continuous effort. Suprising since I did all the moves in 30 minutes my first time trying the problem. So this is it. I think this problem might be my escape from the vast hole I've been living in the last month. I just need to stick that lip and mantle out.

In other news. I'm leaving for Joe's Valley in a week and a half or so with the intention of finishing up some long-term projects and establishing some stuff of my own. Connor we're crossing the river this year! Maybe I'll find something tall and proud. Updates on that to come.

In the meantime, here's some eye candy from the last month:

Iron Resolution - Photo Courtesy of Susanica Tam

So, finally today, or I guess yesterday since it's past midnight now, I traveled back up to Boulder Canyon with P-Rob and polished off the second ascent (?) of Ty Landman's Trainspotting V12. It's a crack problem just to the left of Midnight Express V14. It consists of a couple setup moves off the start and then a hard stab into a flared opening in the crack. A couple of balancy footholdless moves later and you're standing on top of the boulder. Paul got extremely close to finishing Midnight Express and I'm sure you'll hear about his ascent of the boulder within the next week or so.

Just before leaving the area at the end of the day I decided to give an attempt on Free Range V13. First try I slipped off on the last move dyno. Third try I did the same and ripped a nice flapper on my right hand. As if this boulder hasn't taken enough blood. I think it's safe to say that I have this boulder on complete LOCKDOWN. Today it felt like V0, that is except for the last move which only feels V0 as an individual move. I hope to finish off this boulder by the end of next week. I need a clean slate for Joe's.

An Attempt On Free Range V13

Otherwise my next week will be filled with lots of routesetting as I will be setting for the SBS Finals this weekend. Come on down to The Spot and climb on some amazing plastic boulders.

ABS Nationals 2008 - Qualifiers

The results are in for the Qualifying round of the Open category of the ABS Nationals Championships. The Spot was fairly packed for the first round of the comp. With 78 men and 59 women competing and at least a couple hundred spectators, it looks like finals is going to be a packed house. Lots of strong climbers showed up this year, including some international folk that are definitely at the top of their game. As a first time competitor at the Nationals, I was interested to see how things would play out. When I finished climbing on the four qualifiers, I only had two thoughts in my head. Damn those problems were hard. And fuck, I definitely didn't make finals. However, I was pleasantly suprised to find my initial standing in 4th Place. I knew that this would be short lived because there were lots of very strong climbers to go. At the end of the day, I sit in a very suprising 7th Place with possibly the worst day of competition climbing (for me) under my belt. I can only promise that I will be much stronger for Finals. I have a lot left to leave on those fake boulders littered with plastic holds.

Alex climbed extremely well despite feeling dizzy, ill, and weak. She certainly didn't show it as she was the only climber to finish the 3rd and 4th women's qualifiers and flash every boulder problem. She is extremely psyched and can't wait to climb on some more challenging boulder problems in finals.

You can find the full qualifying results here.

Enjoy.

And definitely drop by the Spot gym for finals which start at 7 o'clock on Sat. night. Their should be lots of amazing climbing going down. Shit's gonna hit the fan!

Breaking News

Connor Griffith has apparently scored a 110 second Expert minesweeper win blowing Alex Puccio's 115 second victory straight out of the water. It seems the showdown has begun for these two youngsters with no lives to speak of. I mean seriously, get a life you two. Hopefully this will be the last time I post about this ridiculous topic.

The Next Generation

The qualifying round for the 2008 ABS National Championships commences this Friday with an extremely strong field. Lisa Rands and Chris Sharma will be competing and it will be interesting to see if the next generation of climbers can steal the top spot from the seasoned veterans that know it so well. Not to say that Alex Puccio and Paul Robinson (the top young climbers in the recent Mammut/EMS Series) are not accostomed to winning, but this year we'll get to see the ultimate showdown between young and not-so-old. I'm psyched. And hopefully I'll make finals and get to take part in the youth takeover.

Random Musings And A Serious Lack Of Psych

Today was the first day in a long time that I really feel like I accomplished something. Unfortunately that accomplishment was four hours of moving snow off the top of Suspension Of Disbelief in Eldorado Canyon. When Paul and I arrived at the boulder in unusually warm temps, I knew we were in for an epic. The climb was dry, but the top of the boulder had about a foot of snow hiding another inch of ice. So we went to work. Brushing snow, chipping ice, and expediting the slow melting process provided by the cold Colorado winter. When we hiked out a couple hours later I was suprised at how psyched I was to return and try to climb on a boulder that I've now put so much work into. Especially considering the overwhelming lack of psych I have been feeling lately.

For example, I can remember and count on one hand the days that I have been psyched in the last 2 months.

Here was one of the days:



Same day, New Psych:



Am I the only one that finds it funny that I have a highlight video on youtube.

Another day of psych was the last time I was bouldering in Eldo:




And then I did this four times and considering the fifty other times I have messed up this problem on previous days, the psych was lost again. Back to its Winter Hibernation I guess.


Switching to another subject (yes, they will continue to change sporadically), I talked to my little brother Giovanni the other day and he told me about his current exploits in NorCal. We discovered an area a few minutes from our house over the summer and it holds a suprising amount of potential.

Here are some pics:

Apparently G just found a 25' highball in the area and it could be pretty hard. More on that to come.

Another random bit. Alex just finished off her longtime project of beating Connor's (120 seconds on Expert) minesweeper score (somebody needs to convince her to get a job). 115 seconds on Expert is her new record. The world record is 37 seconds by some Australian dude. Crazy youtube video that one.

So the last month has been crazy. At the end of December I was fired from my job at the Italian Restaurant because I got sick and I guess they couldn't handle that. So for Christmas we drove to California to visit my family. We ended up staying for a month. It was a nice visit and it was fun to experience the local sandbagging that occurs at my home gym, Vertex Climbing Center. The head routesetter, Kevin Jorgeson, still manages to set V7's that take me three full days to complete. Nonetheless, it was a good time to train for the upcoming Rope and Bouldering National Championships.

We left California in mid-January and drove back to Boulder then back to Salt Lake City four days later. I hate Wyoming in the winter. We were scheduled to attend both the Outdoor Retailer Show and the SCS Adult National Championships. The Show provided a remarkable amount of drama and its fair share of suprising outcomes. After talking about the business aspects of the climbing industry for days on end I came to a startling number of realizations: 1. The athletes are getting screwed. 2. Companies need to improve their marketing strategies in order to better utilize the athletes within the sport. 3. The industry makes me sick to my stomach. The rope Nationals didn't go any better for me either. After tying for first in the Qualifiers, I completely screwed up the sequence on the finals route to land myself in a dissapointing 9th Place. Oh well, I'm not a rope climber at this point in my life. Despite the negative vibes I was getting in SLC, I had a great time staying at home of the very hospitable Steven Jeffery. I was also very impressed with the quality of the new Momentum Climbing Gym. Especially the boulder problems. They were definitely some of the best indoor problems I've climbed on in quite a while.

I guess this brings me up to date. ABS Nationals is in a couple of days. My brother and my mom are flying out for the comp. I can only hope for the psych to return for the comp. But if it doesn't, I still have a Sunday session on a dry Suspension to look forward to.

Updates to come. Soon. Not next month. I swear.

Winter Psych

Haven't updated in almost a month. Mainly because their hasn't been many updates in my climbing life. Spent the day out bouldering in Eldo with some friends a few weeks ago and renewed my psych for Suspension Of Disbelief. Also finished up Lost V11, which if you saw my attempts on it last year, you'd think I would never send it. Always nice when that happens. I definitely feel like I am getting stronger. I went back up to Flagstaff recently to show some friends around and managed Undercling Traverse into Trice. Just needed to get linked I guess. I am getting a bit tired of returning to Cloudshadow. I promised myself that for the rest of the winter I would focus on other parts of Flag. Hollow's Way looks amazing.

Changing focus towards future goals. I am very psyched on Ty's new boulder, Midnight Express V14, in Boulder Canyon. I was lucky enough to witness his flawless ascent of the beautiful line and I am ready to get to work on adding my name to the ascents list. Suspension of Disbelief V14 has been on my mind since I first tried it last spring. I could definitely see myself climbing the boulder and hopefully it happens sooner rather than later. Also, I have an unfortunate amount of psych in the direction of Echale V14 after falling on the last move about a year ago. I'll probably be heading down to CCC in the next few days. I could always use a Dark Waters training session.

Updates soon, Hopefully!

Thanksgiving In Joe's Valley

Last Sunday, I took off in the later morning for a Thanksgiving trip to Joe's Valley. I was traveling with my girlfriend Alex and my good friend Connor Griffith. Joe's Valley ranks as one of my favorite places to climb that I've been to so far. Needless to say, I was psyched to return again to polish off some old projects and hop on some new lines. My goal for the trip was make progress on Black Lung V13 and to climb the amazing Wind Below V8 which I checked out on a previous trip. Here is a rundown of the trip and some videos of a couple sends:

Sunday Night:

We arrived just after sundown to our camping area in the Right Fork. We met up with friends Andre Di Felice, Cameron Maier, Dallas, and their friends Mark, and Beau, whom I hadn't met before. The Fort Collins crew is extremely fun to climb and hang with. Their particularly advanced form of humor is not to be missed and it certainly added to my overall enjoyment of the trip. We hung around the campfire talking for awhile until our psych got the best of us and we found ourselves chalking up at the Man Size Area in the middle of the night. I repeated Fingerhut V10 once and decided to call it a night to save my skin for the following day. Alex got close, but after watching Andre epic through an inebriated ascent, she decided to wait for the daylight hours.

Day 1 - Monday:

We headed up Right Fork after a quick breakfast of eggs and bread (Yeah! Breakfast Of Champions.) We stopped at Maxipad for a quick repeat for me, and a new send for Connor.



After some warming up we walked across the street to the No Substance Area. I threw myself at No Additives V11 for awhile before I deemed it impossible. No, not really. I got close to the move, and it will probably be possible for me in the near future, but it is definitely one of the hardest V11's I've ever tried. Joe's Valley V12? After flailing for what seemed like forever, we decided to head to New Joe's for some Area 51 action. I continued with my daylong warm-up by repeating Big Boy v7, Two- Finger Variation V9, Freak V10, and Stand Up V8. Not that they were really warm-ups, more like it was cold and I was bored. I tried Black Lung V13 twice, but it felt like shit and I gave up real fast. Alex finished off Resident Evil V10 in quick fashion and Connor ripped his fingers apart on it in one of the most impressive displays of determination I've seen in awhile. It was nice to return to the beautiful sandstone of the high Utah desert and I was psyched for what the rest of the week held in store.

Day 2 - Tuesday:

Alex, Andre, and pretty much everyone else convinced me that a rest day was in order. I agreed for a bit, then realized my stupidity and found myself shortly after at the base of Prince Of Thieves V12(?) with Connor and a few pads. At about 20 feet tall, with a 30 foot top out slab, the line was impressive to say the least. On about the second burn I found myself attempting to pull the lip onto the slab, but the problem wasn't about to go that easy. I dropped off and proceeded to do the same for three or four goes. Unfortunately, I had to rappel in to the lip to figure out the moves. It went down smoothly on the next go from the ground. I encourage everybody to try this boulder problem as it is one of the best in Joe's Valley. However, it certainly isn't V12 (as earlier proposed) in difficulty in my opinion and it is definitely on the soft end of V11. It surprises me that with the caliber of climbers that have topped out this boulder, the grade would be confirmed at v12.

Here's a quick video of the send:

Later on that day, I managed to gather the whole crew together for a session on the Wind Below V8. When we got to the boulder with all four of my pads it became apparent that I was to be the only one climbing on it. For anyone who hasn't seen the problem, it's about 25 feet of gently overhung perfection. And for anyone strong enough to climb it, it's a must do boulder problem in the United States if not the World. I polished it off in around 3 goes, after deciphering the slightly odd stab to a pinch at the top. It now sits in my top 5 best boulder problems I have ever climbed.

I climbed it a second time for the camera:

Day 3 - Wednesday:

We woke up semi early at around 10 a.m. We headed immediately to Area 51 so Alex could finish up Freak V10. I was also psyched to give a last ditch effort on Black Lung V13. It was a very cold day which was great for friction, but we were all pretty tired after dealing with an intense snow/dust storm in the middle of the night. Alex fussed around on Freak for awhile dealing with some slickness of feet issues, then turned on the power for an impressive send burn. I walked around the boulder to Black Lung, not knowing what to expect. Despite flailing miserably on this boulder for the last couple of trips, as I pulled into the start holds today, something felt different. I snagged the first hold unexpectedly and quickly realized that I had no idea what to do. I backstepped my right foot below my left and easily fell into the pinch. Then, I campused my feet up and jumped for the last hold. I snagged it and then quickly ripped out of it as my greasy fingers couldn't take any more. Shit! I fell off the last move from the ground about 5 or 6 times over the course of the afternoon and finally called it a day. I had other problems to try and Black Lung would have to wait for another trip. Andre also got super close to finishing the boulder, but succumbed to the warm afternoon temps as well. Andre and I had both expressed interest in attempting Gentleman Jack and Blackout in the Left Fork. Some folks had said the Left Fork was extremely cold and probably in the teens, so we decided to leave Area 51 and head there. Andre and I gave Blackout a few goes, until we both deemed it the hardest v12 ever. Props to P-Rob for the FA on that beast. How could Blackout and Prince Of Thieves both receive the same grade? Grades amaze me sometimes. Gentleman Jack fell in a few goes after I figured out how to properly torque on my heel. Andre got extremely close. His best go was a fall after the crux. I'm sure he'll finish it up in due time.

Day 4 - Turkeyday:

Alex finished off Fingerhut V10 on her first try in the morning. An impressive effort considering the Screaming Barfees that ensued at the top of the boulder. Good thing there was no barfing though, only crying. I ended up flashing Kinda Brawny V8 and an unknown V9 to the right of it in my tennis shoes. We then headed to left fork where I grabbed another V9 flash with an ascent of the high quality Worst-Case Scenario. That was pretty much it for my day. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at a BJ's in Price and called it a night after a particularly heated game of Hearts.

Day 5 - Friday (the drive home):

Don't ever get pulled over in a state that you don't live in. I learned this the hard way by getting a speeding ticket almost 2 hours from Joe's Valley and at the request of the cop having to drive all the way back to Orangeville (the town right outside Joe's) to pay the fine. Other than that the trip went great and I look forward to returning at some point in the upcoming weeks.

Finally...

Finally...the long awaited send of Jim Holloway's problem Trice on Flagstaff is complete. However, I will still be spending some time up there throughout the winter testing my core strength on the move that still hasn't been repeated in the way Holloway did it. I gave it the grade of V12. On the send go, it felt in the v10 range. This of course was following 7 days of work and familiarization with the problem.

In regards to the starting holds. Here's my take: (1) The different holds that can be used for the start do not add or subtract difficulty from the problem in any way. (2) Sure, due to the contrivance of Trice, the goal was to climb it in a historically accurate manner. However, the use of the high left foot already seems to take away from the purity of that goal. (3) I've seen many start holds of classic problems change over the years due to the fact that the differences between the starts don't affect or detract from the difficulty and nature of the problem. (4) Whether my ascent of Trice was a 2nd Ascent, a First Ascent, or not an ascent at all, I achieved my goal of climbing that buldge from the ground up using the holds that Holloway used.

Back In Boulder

I arrived in Boulder a couple of days ago after my trip to the Northeast. The finals of the Mammut/EMS Bouldering Championships was very exciting. The problems were extremely well set and the competition ran very smoothly. Congratulations to Alex Puccio and Paul Robinson for finishing at the top of their fields once again. Despite my flailing in the qualifiers, I stepped it up a bit in finals to finish in 4th Place. Suprising since I still feel like my abilities on plastic are lacking. I look forward to competing in this series if it returns again next year. Speaking of competitions, I learned a few days ago that a bouldering World Cup will be held on US soil in 2008 at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, CO. I was very psyched to hear this news and I am definitely interested in possibly competing. Maybe it's time to start training for ABS Nationals?

This Saturday I leave for a quick trip to Joe's Valley. I have a lot of problems that I'm interested in working on: Black Lung, Mask Of God, The Wind Below, Gentleman Jack, and possibly A Wrinkle In Time if I can find a wet suit.

There's also a project to the left of Wrinkle that peaks my interest. It culminates with a massive dyno to a sloping rail just below the lip of the boulder over at least ten feet of water.

Check it (Photos Courtesy of Greg Mionske):

I'm also excited to introduce Alex to a new area as she has never been to Joe's Valley before. Maybe we'll get to see some new female firsts.

In the meantime, I'll either be working, chillin', climbing on Trice, or training in the gym. Peace!

Bouldering Championships - Qualifiers

Just finished off the first day of competition for the Mammut/EMS Bouldering Championships. Paul Robinson and Alex Puccio are both in the lead after qualifiers. I climbed fairly well. I'm currently sitting in a three-way tie for seventh. The top ten in the men's category are suprisingly close. Lack of difficulty in the problems? Who Knows.

Here are some photos from the day courtesy of Tim Kemple(?):

Alex on Qualifier #3

Me sucking it up on Qualifier #5

Psyched To Compete

Not sure how things are going to play out, but tonight is the qualifiers of the Mammut/EMS Bouldering Championships. Hopefully I'll make it to finals since I flew all the way to Boston for this. Updates to come.

Texas And The South

Last Tuesday my girlfriend Alex and I headed down to Texas to visit her family. We left Boulder after I got off of work at 3 p.m. and arrived in McKinney, Texas just before the sun rose on Wednesday. The drive was chill except for our accidental detour into Oklahoma.

We stayed in Texas for a few days and climbed at Alex's home climbing gym of Exposure. I always find it interesting to experience new gyms around the country. They each have their own style of routes and each possess different qualities that make them special. This gym was no different.

After a few days of plastic I started itching for some real rock again. All in good timing, we were set to leave for Horse Pens 40 early on Friday morning for the second leg of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series. I was psyched for the drive, because we would be crossing into three states I had never experienced before. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The latter of which was to be our destination. The crew leaving Texas comprised of Alex, her sister Casey, Dave Flores, and me. I was ready for some famous southern sandstone.

After a 12-hour drive, we arrived at Horse Pens 40 just before the sun set. It was a bit warm out for my tastes and I was definitely worried about the conditions for the comp. Nonetheless, I was just psyched to climb on some amazing problems. Alex and I took a walk around the boulder field to scope out the problems for a while, and watched some people night sessioning. We couldn't contain ourselves and had to join in on at least one problem before checking in for the night.

Alex enjoying Hammerhead in Uggs at night.

We awoke at 7 a.m. to crisp conditions and the rustling of people outside our tent. We grabbed some breakfast burritos at the food cart on our way to the pavilion and gathered our things for an exciting day of bouldering. They let us loose into the boulders at 9 a.m. and I quickly found myself at the bottom of the wall hosting some famous climbs such a Ghetto Superstar V9 and The Thief V7/8. Alex and I quickly flashed The Thief and set our sights on Ghetto. I was an idiot and fell on the last move of my flash attempt, but quickly settled the score on my second burn. Alex fessed for a while, but soon found her way to the top. It was a great start to the day. I quickly flashed two excellent climbs to the left of Ghetto and made my way over to God Module V11 at the other end of the field of boulders. The day was warming up fast and I was hoping that I would get a proper flash attempt. I put my shoes on, chalked up, and nestled my fingers into the odd rounded crimpers that comprise the start hold. I was told that if you could stick the start move properly, you were over half way towards a successful burn. I pulled on and stuck the first move nearly static. I pasted my right foot in the crack and gunned for the gaston. I stuck it as my feet cut from the wall. I whipped them back in and prepared myself for the next move. I reached for the crimp/pinch and just as I stuck it my hands blasted off the wall and I landed in an angry heap on the ground. Bummer. Soo Close! I came within a move of finishing the problem on almost every go for about 10 tries, but the rising temps were making my fingertips very greasy and I came to the realization that it just wasn't in the cards for me that day. I walked around the corner and flashed Slider v9 and did the left exit Beta Boy also first try. My day culminated with a fairly good list of two V9's, a bunch of V8's, and a couple V7's to round out the ten problems needed to fill my scorecard. I climbed most of the day with Ryan Sewell who proved to be a strong and motivating climber partner. I definitely look forward to climbing with him more in the future. Alex also finished out the day strong with a V9, three V8's, and numerous V6's. She took home a second place finish, while I disappointingly didn't end up in the top five after getting owned by some locals.

Overall, the day was amazing. I climbed lots of quality rock with lots of amazing people. The problems were fun, and the competition was very well run.

So here's my review of Horse Pens 40:

Pros:

-Best rock I have ever climbed on.

-Best problems I have ever climbed on.

-Best setting for a climbing area (in the trees at the top of a hill).

-Nice people/locals.

-Extremely concentrated.

Cons:

-Lacking in variety and number of double-digit boulder problems.

-Grades are soft in my opinion (could be a pro or con depending on who you ask).

-Probably enough problems to keep me busy for only a couple of weeks.

I look forward to heading back next year to settle my score with God Module and climb some more amazing southern sandstone. This weekend Alex and I head to Boston for the final leg of the Mammut/EMS Bouldering Championships. Psyched!

Trice...

So, I started a climbing blog. Not to start controversies. Not to talk shit. I started a blog so that I could share pictures, videos, or ideas with anyone that is interested. I'm not really sure how these things work or whether anybody will read my shit, but whatever. Why not, right?

I recently procured a bussing job at an Italian restaurant in Boulder. This hasn't allowed me much time to get out on real rock. Tired of the gym, I've spent quite a bit of time up at Flagstaff. Why not get in touch with the old school? Lately I've been working on this problem called Trice. It is also known as Another Holloway Route. Named after it's first ascentionist Jim Holloway. It is currently unrepeated in the manner that Holloway supposedly repeated it. I say this because many people doubt that he actually completed the line. After spending at least six days on the problem, I've decided that it is definitely very possible that he climbed the exact line of Trice. I have almost completed the crux second move static, unfortunately it seems that my core strength is definitely lacking. And I don't have the height to allow myself any leeway as my body sags out from the wall when I attempt the move. From what I've heard, Holloway is fairly tall and had exceptionally strong core muscles. This move fit him perfectly.


To be completely honest, it is my intention to not only complete the line of Trice, but to complete it in the exact manner that I believe Holloway did it. No trick toe hooks. No swing. Jim was on a different level in climbing than most people during his generation and ours. He might not have completed the difficulty of problems that people are accomplishing today, but some of his specialized strengths are very rare in today's climbing world.

Here are some pics of my last session on Trice (courtesy of Nick Weinstock):







The temps have been a bit hot lately for proper attempts on Trice. I'll Be in HP40 this weekend for the Triple Crown, hopefully the temps will be better when I get back. In the meantime, I'm psyched for some of the southern sandstone that I've heard so much about. It should be a good time.