My Vertical World

Rocktown

2011-03-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

For spring break, I went on a climbing trip to the bouldering paradise of Rocktown, Georgia. It had been a couple years since I'd been there, and I was very excited to get back. I had been doing a little training, but not much, so I wasn't sure where my fitness level was.

We jumped on a massive amount of problems, and even put up a couple new ones. Props to Graham for bringing a brush kit, there is still a massive amount of potential on the mountain.

Here are some amazing problems I did this trip.

Spice-V5, felt pretty hard, super techy
Pythagorean Theorem-V5, cool pinch move, frustrating at the top
Grape Ape- V5, Awesome problem, big move to a sloper at the lip
Franklin's Tower-V2, First Ascent, Heady move to a dish, big move out right, hold the swing and top it out
Theme From The Bottom-V4, Second Ascent, Climb out of the earth. Lowball, but super cool
Standard's Variation-V5
Standard's Traverse-V5, Flash

I came super close to doing Big Bad Right, V7/8, but alas, it was not to be. I'll be back for it.

Grape Ape

Graham taking a turn brushing Franklin's Tower

Massive St. Patty's Day Bonefire

New Beginnings (again)

2011-02-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

Summer climbing didn't turn out too well. I ended up having to work in Indianapolis, and couldn't really make time for climbing, and then physics class that fall took up most of my free time. It's been tough, but I've been putting my priorities in order. However, with a new semester comes more opportunities.

The first goal: Get back into respectable climbing shape. In about a week, we are going to put up a woody in our apartment. It'll be small, but a valuable training tool indeed. The goal is to be back where I was by the time spring break rolls around, with a trip to the south east for some bouldering such as Rocktown, LRC, and HP40. If the weather says nay, then the Red River Gorge it is. Either way, there's going to be some rock bluff scrambling these coming months, and a lot more of it.

The Secondary Goal: Put effort into developing a small cliffband I found in Indiana. Access is somewhat dubious, so I can't go around spouting off directions and stuff just yet, but I will post some pictures I obtained when scouting the area this fall. The rock quality isn't world class, but it'll suffice and get me a fix of some nearby outdoor scramblin'.

Here are some pics.

The most promising section, with solid rock and slopey pockets and crimps. Potential for about 10 problems. Probably V3-Vhard.

Cliffband goes on like this for a few miles. Rock quality varies.

Aesthetic arete. Tall though, wish I knew how to throw in bolts. There may be a trad line there, however. We shall see...

Well, that's what's been going on for me, let the scramblin commence....

Here comes summer...

2010-05-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

Seeing how I have back to back finals in a couple hours, the most responsible thing to do would be to write a blog post. I haven't really been updating this too frequently, but I am going to try to start improving. Well, come saturday, school's over and it's summertime. For me, that means it's rock bluff scramblin' season. Granted, the prime seasons are fall and spring, but going to school in West Lafayette means that good climbing is about 5 hours away, so I don't get out too much.

Summertime gives me three months to get back into climbing shape as quickly as I can, usually ending with me trying to finish up one or two routes that I have set my sights on in late July or August. Then, I go back to school and my climbing fitness disappears. Not the most ideal system, but every summer I've managed to improve beyond the previous summer's results, so I can deal with that.

This summer should prove interesting. Last summer, I lived in the Red River Gorge and did nothing but make food and rock climb. This summer, I'll be living in Indianapolis, training at the gym during the week, and heading down to the Red on weekends. I'll be in Italy for half of June, and I'm gonna look around and try to check out some of the climbing while I'm there. If anyone's got beta, feel free to share. Anyways, I'm planning on absolutely wrecking myself in the gym the first couple weeks to try and whip myself into shape as quick as possible, and getting my ass outside to climb.

Of course, the main draw of climbing for me is the opportunity to hang out with my friends, spend my days playing in and appreciating the outdoors, live simply, and push myself. Climbing truly has connected me with some of the most unique, caring, and flat out awesome people I would have never met otherwise, and has provided me with a multitude of amazing experiences. That being said, it's always good to have goals, and here they are:

Unfinished Business:
Convicted, 5.13a, The Motherlode- I worked the hell out of this route for a good deal of the summer and have repeatedly fallen at the stopper crux 6 moves from the end. Hopefully this won't be the case this summer.

Paradise Lost, 5.13b, Purgatory- One of the most badass routes in the Red. Bouldery, powerful, and aesthetic. Put some time into it last year, and I'll be heading to Purgatory to try and finish it off.

Newcomers:
The Dinosaur, 5.12d, Left Flank- Heard mixed reviews on it, looks cool, and the crimps in the crux look tiiny. I would be psyched to knock it down, because that would make Left Flank the first crag I've completely ticked off.

Taste the Rainbow, 5.13a, Shady Grove- Long, Steep, Endurancy. Endurance climbing is definitely my weakness, so it would be nice to add a hard enduro-route to my list.

Bohica, 5.13b, The Motherlode- Oh, the madness cave. I remember when I first bought the guide to the Red River Gorge and saw the picture of a climber on Bohica. I was blown away and wondered whether I'd ever be able to climb something that steep. Well, I guess I'll find out this summer. Definitely would be one of my personal highlights of my vertical life.

Pipe Dreams:
Black Gold, 5.13c, The Gold Coast- I probably won't be able to get the fitness required for success on this route in the short amount of time I have, nor will it be the right season for a wall that literally bakes in the sun. However, this route has been on my mind for quite some time now, and I've gotta jump on it at some point, right?

Well, those are the goals, motivation is high, and the end of finals week can't come soon enough. To the homies down south, I'll see yall real soon.

Stay Tuned.

I miss it..

2009-10-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, my summer ended and I moved back on up to Purdue for the fall semester. It's been really busy and my climbing has basically ground to a halt. The only time i've climbed this semester is at my buddy's small woody in his apartment. Its been alright, but after living at the Red River Gorge all summer, I feel as if i've been a little spoiled. I was able to make it down to last weekend to the Red for my fall break. Coincidentally, It was also rocktoberfest weekend. It was awesome to see all of my friends who I hadnt seen since the end of the summer, and also to throw down good ole kentucky style saturday night at the rocktoberfest party. Climbing wise, it was really fun to get out and get outside, but I was nowhere near the fitness level I was at after three months of regular climbing. A shout out to homies down at the Red and anyone else climbing somewhere. Hope the fall season finishes out well with all y'all and I wish I could be out there. Well, back to schoolwork. Psyched!..kind of.

Pictures from Table Direct

2009-07-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

After finally sending today, I want to throw up some pictures of the route that were taken by my buddy Shadow. here goes...
Resting up before the first cux... my favorite picture of em all...

Pulling off the first crimp in the low crux sequence, as you can see, it's not too large.

Hitting the second crimp, which is just as bad.

Getting the foot up and going left hand to the deep pocket, lower crux finished.

Victory!

2009-07-22T18:54:00.001-07:00

Finally, after almost a whole summer of climbing, training, and most of all failing haha, I accomplished one of the goals I set for the summer. I sent one of my projects, the direct start to Table of Colors today. The route goes at 13b and in my opinion is a must do route of the grade at the Red River Gorge. There really isn't a route that climbs like it or has the aesthetics that that route possesses. i had come extremely close to sending earlier in the week and finally took a rest day yesterday and took care of business today. The first go, I pulled past both cruxes and forgot how to rock climb and fell of an easy move above the business, about par for the course as my summer goes. I was lacking motivation and wasn't too psyched to get back on it. I threw my headphones on about an hour later and started rock climbing. I had tried climbing with music the other day and loved it. I felt that for me it took my mind off distractions and I was able to really relax and focus on climbing. I set my ipod to a stellar version of "Split Open and Melt" by phish and started climbing. I didn't feel super solid the whole way through, especially the two crux sequences, but held on. I had an epic moment near the top when I was resting and it started to rain on the route, forcing me to stop resting and punch it. Funnily enough, this exact same thing happened when I sent the original start last fall. But all in all, super psyched to have taken care of a goal, and hopefully cleaning up the rest of this week. Goals are Convicted 13a at the Motherlode and Paradise Lost 13b at purgatory. We'll see how it goes.

summer

2009-06-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since my last post, but I've moved down to the Red River Gorge for the summer. Its been a good time so far, greasy and rainy but still a blast. After about a month, i can definitely tell the fitness is starting to come and I'm psyched! Probably the coolest route I have ever been on is called Paradise Lost. It's at Purgatory and is a stunning overhanging arete
with bouldery moves. My buddy Miguel took some pictures on it and here they are..

Getting some try hard on during the redpoint crux, a deadpoint to a decent edge..

Scary cross through to a crimp before unrolling to the clipping jug....

There are a couple other ones, but those are my favorites...so psyched..and the send is coming soon!

Last Weekend

2009-04-06T13:10:00.001-07:00

Well, another trip down to the red last weekend, and a good one. We headed out to Bob Marley on saturday and tried No Redemption, a stellar 13b face climb. That thing is hard! So much fun. Next day, I headed out to Left Flank to put some more work into my project, Table of Colors Direct. I made some progress, but still working on gettin some fitness back. On the other hand, my buddy Francois Lebeau finished up the edit on some picture he took of me on Table Direct a couple weeks ago and they are sick!
That's the lower crux of the route, those two holds are some pretty small crimps, then a high left foot and a controlled stab to a good pocket.

Pushin' hard on the final crux.

A big thanks to Francois for snapping these pics...you can check out his website at www.francoislebeau.com

Good weekend trip, I'll be back down next weekend.

Spring Break 09

2009-03-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

So I headed down to the red for my spring break, and it was sweet to spend more than a weekend there. Trying to get back and shape and it sure is surprising how quickly endurance goes! It was an awesome week though and I had a blast. I did bunch of pitches and started to gain some fitness near the end of my trip. I got on the direct start to Table of Colors and surprised myself on it. I had worked and finally the sent the orginial start last fall, which goes at 13a. the direct start adds some powerful pocket pulling and crimping and sure makes the upper crux a hell of a lot harder! It was nice to gain some fitness on something I was pretty familiar at and I am a huge fan of left flank, there's something about that place that always boosts my psyche for climbing. I got pretty close to the direct start, which goes at 13b and is sooo fun. I met an awesome dude named Francois Lebleau who took some pictures of me on it, which ill throw up here pretty soon. All in all, it was a very motivating and fun trip, every time i head down there i like the red more and more. Props to my buddy Oz who finally sent his project Wild, Yet Tasty on his third trip outside ever! Sooo psyched for the rest of the spring, its gonna be a good one!

First Post, First Trip of '09

2009-02-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

So I was checking the weather forecast last friday and saw that the climbing temps couldn't be better. On a last minute notice i decided to head down to the Red River Gorge, KY for a weekend of climbing. I haven't climbed in about a month, and hadn't done any endurance work since early november, so I wasn't in the best shape for the endurancy nature of the red, but I just wanted to enjoy being outside climbing on real rock and hanging out with friends I hadn't seen in a while. I ruckused out the 5.5 hour drive from purdue and got down to Miguel's late friday night. It was the first time I had been at Miguel's when it was closed, so it was strange, but I was happy to be in the red. The next morning my buddy Dave Petrow and I headed out to the Gallery, in the PMRP. We later met up with two of my good buddies, Ana Hayes and Ryan Roy, both from cinci. Wow, what an amazing looking wall. We jumped on a route called 27 Years of Climbing which is by far the best 5.8 I have ever been on. We then headed to the far left side of the wall and jumped on an 11c called Different Strokes, a very enjoyable climb with very few down-pulling holds and cool moves on pinches, sidepulls and underclings. I then got on a route called Zen and the Art of Masturbation, which goes at 12d. I really enjoyed that route, definitely one of my goals for the Spring. Technical, yet powerful crimping to big power moves at the top on a gorgeous golden wall. I abused myself on the route but enjoyed every minute of it. We headed to roadside for a quick pitch on Pulling Pockets, one of my favorite climbs at the red. We hung out round the fire with some cool people that night and i enjoyed being back at the red. The next day we headed out to the Playground, also in the PMRP. The goal was to climb mad pitches of moderates and just enjoy the day. I climbed a bunch of cool routes there and surprised myself with an onsight of Crack the Whip, a soft but fun 12a. Finally, we headed to Emerald City, both to climb and visit the memorial of two very good friends of mine who passed away last year, Ben Strohmeier and Laura Fletcher. It was good to reflect at the site, because i hadn't been able to make it out there yet. We also jumped on a route called Diamond in the Rough, a absolutely stellar 10c. Its hard to find the words to describe this climb, but was the most amazing climb I have ever touched. Technical, exposed climbing, and run out and extremely heady. I have never enjoyed a climb more. A must do.

All in all, I had a blast being back at the Red and being outside again. It was good to see friends I hadn't seen in a while and i was so happy to be outside doing what I loved. Time to start training again!