Jailhouse

I climbed routes yesterday, yes, i climbed routes and it was heinous. So not only did i have to wake up at 6:30 in the morning and drive 2 1/2 hours but i did it to go climb routes. It feels like a dream. In all seriousness it wasn't that bad. I went with my friends Natasha and Dan and we met up with Natasha's friend Ross who have all spent a lot of time up there so i at least had people that could show me what was what. When we arrived at the crag at about 11 it looked dismal, everything looked wet, there was a waterfall cascading from the top of the crag and the approach was fucking puddles. But, to our surprise it was climbable (well, at least some of it was), after a bit of a soggy "warm up" on Soap on a Rope 5.12d Natasha and Ross moved on to some harder shit. Then it was Dano and my turn to attack the dripping Soap which turned out to be really dry after the first 2 bolts. On my first go i made it a little over half way up the route which was extremely hard for me considering i boulder and i was looking for the top out option after the 3rd bolt, somehow i managed to push on another 30ish feet before my arms were flash pumped and i was ready to rest and eat lunch. Dano on the other hand was ready to go almost as soon as i was on the ground (he climbs routes WAY more than i do) but i was to worked to belay and made him wait a few minutes. After Dan climbed and i ate lunch and way to many cliff bars i gave Soap on a Rope another go, i managed to make it ALL the way to the chains and even clip them with only 2 falls. We left at sunset and walked back in almost darkness (Dan and Ross had headlamps, Natasha and i did not) stopped at Chipotle in Manteca (which i guess is a regular thing for Natasha and Ross), ate way to much food, piled back in the car and i passed out till we arrived back in Oakland where i stumbled into my house tired as fuck and went right back to sleep. Basically the day at the crag taught me 1 thing...my level of cardio fitness SUCKS!

Dungeon Session

Went to the Dungeon with Jeffery, Will, Alex and Kalin yesterday and had a fucking rad session. I felt super strong on that steep ass wall, finished a couple of the problems and tried some of the hard ones (which are hard as fucking nails). Over all a productive session and I'm definitely feeling it today.

Rolled Ankle

I rolled my ankle yesterday climbing at the gym. It's not that bad i don't think, a little stiff this morning but i can walk on it just fine. This afternoon it's off to the dungeon to train with Will and Jeffery, we'll see how the ankle holds up.

Failed Mortar Session

Went up to Mortar yesterday, ended up at Indian rock. Basically i got my ass HANDED to me. I couldn't make the first move on Impossible Wall so i moved on to Jungle Fever where i made slightly more progress, at least the first 2 moves. After about an hour of sucking super hard we moved down to Indian rock so my co-worker Lauryn could get on some problems. She did well for her first outdoor climbing experience. I fucked around a little then watched 2 guys set up the sketchiest top rope system i have ever seen. It was amazing, they were tied into their belay loops via a locking carabiner , their rope was dragging over an extremely sharp edge and they just had no idea what they were doing. I called it a day at that and got the fuck outta there before these 2 idiots killed themselves.

TRAINING IN 2010

So far 2010 is off to a good start. I've been climbing strong in the gym, feel strong despite a nagging shoulder tweak and i even did some core workouts (which i hate with a passion). Tomorrow it's up to Mortar rock with Jeffery to get a little skin torture and to hopefully send impossible wall and work on jungle fever. All in preparation for going back to Bishop at the end of the month to fire off The Checkerboard V8, Acid Wash V10, make an attempt at Xavier's Roof V10 and make more progress on Haroun and the Sea of Stories V12. Getting psyched!

TOUCHSTONE BLOG

Hey!
So this is pretty exciting... Team Lagmore made the Touchstone blog!
We all got shoutouts and photos!
Go Check it out: http://touchstoneclimbing.com/news.html

Moving to Bishop!

Dex and i have decided to save up money and move to Bishop for a couple months next winter. We're figuring we can live like kings with a grand a month each and no jobs while down there. I'm super psyched to get in shape, loose a couple lbs., and hopefully be able to fire off some good problems this time next year. 2010 is gonna be the year of training.

Bishop for new years

on dec 27th 6 people, 8 crash pads and all our gear crammed into a ford f250 to head down to bishop for a week of post holiday fun. the crew included myself, kim, my good friends santiago, ben, caydie and alex.

the trip was amazing, 1 of the best i've ever been on with some of the best people. i sent soul slinger finally, ticked a handful of really cool and fun problems, and started to project some shit that's a little outta my league.



it was santi, ben and alex's first time to the east side and i think it's safe to say they are all in love. santi fucking killed it with quick work of the classic Hulk V6 (3rd go), the cave problem V4, monkey hang V3 and a flash of the ultra classic Solarium V3.

Kim, despite getting food poisoning the friday before departing, also had a pretty awesome trip. she sent 3 long time projects: seregeti V5, mothership connect V4 and solarium V3.

Ben drank a bottle of whiskey B9 (B=booze scale).

new years eve was super fun. the girls meet some dude working at jack's and got themselves invited to a party in town. little did the dude know they were gonna show up with about 12 dudes. the party was short lived and we moved on the McMurry's where they wouldn't let all 16 of us in so we ended up back at our hotel drinking champagne and whiskey and playing stupid games till the desk called and told us to shut up.

Over all a fucking Amazing trip!

back to the gym to train for the next trip at the end of the month.