back at it!

well, it's been a little over a month since the last post and 6 weeks since surgery, and i must say i'm extremely happy with the outcome of going under the knife. I started climbing again about 2 weeks ago which was a week earlier than my surgeon had recommended but i was feeling really good and i couldn't control the urge to be active any longer. i was a little worried i may have been jumping the gun but i was loosing my mind so i decided to go for it(taking things EXTREMELY slow at first). my first session back i was lucky enough to have my friend lauryn reel me in a bit, she wouldn't belay me on anything over 5.10a. (side note: i don't have the mechanism that says "stop, too much, too much!") needless to say those 6 routes 5.10a and under KICKED my ass, i was pumped out of my mind at the end of the night and needed 2 days to recover. for the first week back i took it slow, i think i climbed 3 days outta 8, all on ropes and all casual sessions. by the end of the first week i felt i could boulder a bit and decided to give it a go at work, i was super hesitant, but to my surprise it felt really good and i was able to climb much harder than i had expected. for the rest of last week i pushed myself a half notch harder each session (which have been fairly short ones) followed by ice and lots of stretching and i feel like this shit is close to being in the past! now, time to keep on the recovery game , get strong again and send some shit in the fall! SO FUCKING PSYCHED!

the road to recovery...or some bullshit like that

well... another 3 months have gone by since the last post and nothing significant has really happened outside of day to day life, which i don't feel compelled to share because, well, it's boring. but! something big happened recently. i had surgery on my elbow last tuesday! yay! ok, not really, but at least it's getting fixed. so, since my last post i had been getting in great shape, climbing stronger than i ever have before, climbing outside of work and seeing my year goals/projects come SO close to being completed, then...POP! my fucking elbow exploded the day after christmas! now, there are a number of cool things i can think of that i could have been doing when this incredibly painful and shocking pop happened, but, the truth is, i was parallel parking my god damn car. how fucking lame is that! i knew driving could be dangerous but, FUCK, c'mon! now, i know this was just a case of the 'straw that broke the camels back' since i had FOOLISHLY climbed 16 days on prior to this devastating day, that coupled with excessive holiday partying and lack of water intake lead to a dry, brittle, highly injury prone me. fast-forward 5 weeks and i haven't climbed at all and i'm waiting for insurance bullshit to get cleared up so i can have an MRI done and determine if i need surgery, 5 weeks! fast-forward another 3 weeks and here i am typing with one hand on my couch where i have spent a majority of the last 7 days bored outta my mind. initially my surgeon told me i'll be back "climbing" (5.4's) in 6 weeks, tomorrow i have my post-op follow up with my surgeon which will give me a better idea of what my recovery and rehab will be like, fingers crossed it's 6 weeks! oh, and a HUGE thank you to my good friend julia who came down from Humbolt to take care of me and keep me company.

Fall is FINALLY here!

After a seemingly endless summer it feels as though fall is finally upon us (thank god). I feel like i was so lazy this summer in regards to training for the changing of the seasons, but on a recent trip to Bishop i was proven wrong. Apparently i have gotten a bit stronger since the last time i was on the eastside (Maybe this is a result of setting), although i didn't send very many new problems, i did manage to make repeat sends (1st go) of some classics like Seven Spanish Angels and High Plains Drifter (both AMAZING). As far as new problems and projects go, i was able to do all the moves (including the massive span) on Acid Wash with some revised beta and Beef Cake in 2 parts. Both problems should go pretty fast this coming weekend when i head back down thanksgiving evening with Dex. I didn't even touch Haroun and the Sea of Stories due to conditions (or maybe that's just an excuse).


The always beautiful Buttermilks





What was just another trip to Bishop for most of the crew (Dexter, Mike, Andrew and Myself), this trip was extra special for Lauryn, it was her first time! Needless to say she loved it. Mike had a stellar trip sending a handful of V5's and his first V6 despite a pulled upper butt.



Our usual spot.

Hello again

Well, it's been a little over 2 months since I've posted anything so here's an update.

I started route setting for Touchstone in early August and it's been awesome. A lot of hard work and massive amounts of manual labor are involved in the job, which i really enjoy. I've been extremely exhausted pretty regularly since starting but it's starting to get a lot better. The first couple weeks were BRUTAL, i was falling asleep on the couch at 730 or 8 every night, one night i even fell asleep with a slice of pizza in my lap! On a positive note, i feel as tho all the hard labor and extra climbing is getting me a lot stronger, hopefully that will help this fall season!

Speaking of the fall season, the Vallley season followed by the Bishop season are just around the corner and i couldn't be more excited! Keep your fingers crossed for a cold dry fall! Lately it's been all about Tahoe, Dexter, Lauryn, Andrew, Mike, Daniel, John and i headed up there this past weekend and a few of us the couple weekends before. The conditions have been much less then ideal with temps falling between 74 and 85 degrees but the good times have been up there with the best. There's something about going away to climb for the weekend with absolutely no expectations, it kinda frees you from feeling the need to wake up at 7 to get to the blocks early, or waiting till the end of the day to have a beer, or giving a shit when you don't stick that super reachy dead point move over and over and over. When the weather is warm, the setting is beautiful and you're surrounded by good friends all that stress just disappears and you're left enjoying yourself.

the crew getting ready to get tradical (dex, andrew and i free soloed)




Mike's first Trad experience.

Route setting

It's official, I will be joining the touchstone route setting crew as early as the end of august. No more front desk for me. Psyched!

Failing

In the past month i haven't gone running once, i only climbed routes once, but i have lost a few lbs i managed to gain this spring. Basically i've been failing at the sumer of fitness program but i am feeling a bit stronger so i guess it's ok. i think it's time to try to get back on the program, lose a few more lbs, get some endurance back and be a little more structured about training. On a positive note Trinity Aretes was freaking rad! Although our trip was cut a day short Natasha and i had a good time figuring out some routes and coming close to finishing up some hard lines. Natasha worked all the moves of Spliff 13c and i did all the moves on Smoke Signals also 13c but very different. Spliff is a 80 foot endurance test where Smoke Signals is a 40 foot boulder problem. both very cool routes that fit our very different styles of climbing, Tash can hold on for the long haul and i do much better on short bouldery routes. i was very surprised i enjoyed Smoke Signals so much since it's pretty much solid 12c/d for the first 3 clips then it turns on at a VERY crimpy v8ish crux. Overall this is an amazing crag and i'm psyched to go back there and finish that route.

Summer Time

Summer is here and it's pretty much to hot to climb outside for me, so that leaves me with training in the gym and my new found hobby of trail running. I started out the summer drinking a shit ton of beer and eating a a shit ton of BBQ, that has all changed now, it's time to get fit. in the next 8 weeks i need to shed the 8 pounds of body fat i gained drinking all that beer and eating all that food. my plan; run a bunch, climb a ton of routes and watch my diet very closely (all of this applies to monday - saturday, sunday is the "eat anything you want day") i'm cutting out nearly all beer, dairy and processed foods. 3 by 4's here i come, gotta get that endurance back. Regular 7 to 10 mile trail runs are also in the line up. Summer of Fitness 2010 has begun. On another note i'm going up to Trinity Aretes soon for some fun sport climbing, really psyched on that.

Found the Psych!

After a pretty discouraging spring session in The Valley and the distraction of sport climbing to heal a nearly busted shoulder i've found the psych again. In the past 10 days i've bouldered on plastic 4 times which just about doubles the total number of boulder sessions since my shoulder started feeling fucked 4 months ago and i have to say i'm pretty surprised at how quickly it's coming back. As long as my shoulder doesn't explode i'm ready to get back at it and train fucking hard this summer. It's gonna take A LOT of hard work and dedication to obtain my goal of climbing V10 by the fall but i'm down to make the effort. PSYCHED!

Surf Safari

Dan and i decided to head out to Surf Safari 5.13d/14a this morning thinking that it would be perfect since the weather is so good but we were wrong. The holds were all wet which made clipping a bit nerve wrecking especially in the first couple bolts. We basically ended up doing a couple aid pitches instead of actually sport climbing. Being that it was my first time out there i didn't care that it was wet all that much, i really just wanted to figure out beta and make a few moves which i did so i don't feel like it was a total waste. I'm psyched to get back out there and try it again with drier conditions.

routes vs bouldering

apparently i've become a route climber and my bouldering has gone to complete shit. 6 months ago i could not have imagined myself climbing pretty well on routes but for some strange reason i'm fucking psyched on climbing the longer ones right now. i really wish i could get back into bouldering shape but being that the spring season is looking to be a bit of a wash i might just keep roping up and see if i can attain my goal of climbing 5.14 by the fall. who knows, i'm hella indecisive about shit right now. either way i need to start training hard and STOP eating candy.

Yosemite Round 2

Once again i spent the last weekend in Yosemite Valley and with far more success on the blocks. After a quick session late Saturday morning to work out some of the moves, watch Dan send and fall off the infamous mantle, i went back that evening for better temps and sent Midnight Lightning first go. SO FUCKING PSYCHED! I think i'm kinda starting to get the hang of climbing in the Valley, and can't wait to get back out there and try some harder shit.

Yosemite

Dex and i went to the valley this last weekend for some bouldering with little expectations and it reminded me that i am NOT a good rock climber. I got shut the fuck down by every problem i tried including things i flashed in the fall. Basically i spent the weekend blowing off rocks and bleeding all over the place. It appears to be time to train really hard,try to learn some technique and try to find some psyche being that i for some reason have none at the moment.

First 5.13!

I spent at least 4 weekends working on this route and kinda beat it down till it felt easy. On saturday i came about as close as possible to sending it until i missed clipping the chains and took the BIGGEST whipper i've ever taken, i fell a good 50 feet before Natasha was slammed into the first draw de-camming the grigri, thank god she's an experienced climber and knew to hold the break end of the rope. After a good nights sleep we went back to the crag on sunday and after 2 warm-up burns i got back on Cell Block and sent it. So psyched! Natasha killed it out there as usual sending the 13a Toe to Toe and the 12d misdemeanor both 2nd go. Over all a super fun and exciting weekend.

It looks like the valley is gonna be dry here real fast and i can't wait to get back to bouldering on that bomber granite.

For now it's a rest "week", my shoulder has been really bothering me and i believe it's time to rest it up and get it back to 100% before the valley season comes and goes.

The definition of punting

Wednesday Natasha, Ethan, Ben and i headed up to the house for a little rock climbing. We woke up early, got an early start, and somehow still managed to be hours behind our friends Dan and Vian. Weather wise we couldn't have asked for a much better day, it was cool and cloudy with the sun poking out from time to time. after "warming up" on the usual 11d Natasha and I headed over to a 12b called Whipping Boy (named for the 20 foot run out from the last bolt to the chains), Natasha hiked it as expected and with her complete spray down i managed to flash the route. After a few more routes and getting just the right amount of pump it was time for Natasha to get on her project Assassin 13d which she fucking crushed just after Ethan did. Then it was my turn. I've been working on Cell Block for the past few weekends and have the thing pretty damn wired. I basically walked up the route with no problems, then, with 2 moves to go, i fucking PUNTED, the last 3 moves are fucking easy if you do the sequence in order. But I decided i was gonna forget how it went, move up right hand instead of left and blow off. I PUNTED! Ethan on the other hand put down 8 pitches that day with ease and Ben and Natasha were killing it.

The House

Spent the weekend climbing up at JH (against my chiropractors recommendation... stupid, i know) once again and my shoulder felt surprisingly great, no pain, little sore but over all not bad. I didn't climb at 100% effort, closer to 75%, and still managed to 1 hang my current project Cell Block 13a. The next 2 days will involve resting, core training and shoulder stuff then it's back to JH on Wednesday to hopefully send.

Saturday night a bunch of us stayed with James at his friends house in Chinese Camp, and let's just say things got a little outta control in the best way possible. There was beer, wine, good food, good people AND....a stripper pole! the girls were by far the best at it, James came in a very close second to Natasha and Kim only due to the lack of hair and breast (he's spent a lot of time alone in the shop practicing). The girls impressed us but i must say the guys getting on the pole was far more entertaining.

Fucked shoulder

Today i'm finally going to get my shoulder looked at after 2 months of not being able to dead hang from my left arm. Hopefully this will help end the constant concern of dislocating my shoulder and allow me to get back to training hard for the Valley season. Saturday will be the test run up at jailhouse to see how the spring season will go for me.

back to jailhouse

Due to the shitty weather it looks like i'll be heading back up to Jailhouse this weekend for more sport climbing. At this point i feel like i have to finish Fugitive 13a, Natasha sent last weekend and now i have to catch up with her. At least it's real rock and it should be mostly dry.

Tonight i'm heading to the city for a bouldering session at PG, tomorrow i rest, Saturday i send! Next week starts more serious regimented training, lots of dungeon sessions, hang board workouts, campus board workouts and a fuck ton of core workouts. Hopefully the valley will dry up in the next week or so and stay that way for march. SO fucking psyched to boulder in Yosemite this spring, i really want to do some trad climbing too.

Training sessions

Tuesday was a good training day. Climbed a little and did a bunch of campus board shit, 1-5-8 is starting to feel pretty easy on both sides which is a big improvement since 2 weeks ago i was struggling pretty hard to get it on only 1 side and couldn't even do it on the other.

Wednesday was also a super good training day. I warmed up at ironworks with santi, met Natasha there and we went to the dungeon for an awesome session. Santi finished the problem he was working on last time, Natasha did super well finding the hard to find foot holds and looked strong, and i made some pretty good progress on some new problems i haven't tried before and hiked the problems that were giving me some trouble at the last session.

Despite my left shoulder feeling FUCKED (can't dead hang from it), i'm feeling really good about this week and can't wait to train more next week before heading out to the Valley to see if any of this shit is worth it.

Jailhouse this weekend, the Valley the next! SO psyched!

Bishop Valentines Day Weekend

Well I can't speak for Jeremy but I'm still pretty stoked on Bishop.
My Valentines Day weekend was spent trying new, harder climbs where I wasn't really focused so much on sending, but more on just figuring out how the climbs worked. I tried High Plains Drifter, Saigon and Yayoi Right in the Buttermilks - I tried Every Color You Are, Action Figure and Cholos in the Happys and got completely shut down by Erotic Terrorist and Kung Fu Grip in the Sads (That shit is hard). But regardless, they were all good experiences. I'm delighted to say that I made it farther on these climbs than expected and can't wait for the colder temperatures again next fall to start seriously working on them. I will for sure be making another trip out there though this spring.
I also sent my first V6! Mr. Witty in the Happys. What an awesome feeling. Last trip I did V3: Solarium, V4: Mothership Connect, V5: Serengeti, and now this trip sending V6, respectively. It's always good to make progress!!
I did hurt my shoulder and will be taking a week or two off, but am definitely looking forward to start working on routes for the spring and can't wait to see Yosemite again: it's been entirely too long since I've set foot in the Valley! I've always gotten shut down on boulder problems there, but am really excited to see what I can do now! Maybe I'll even follow someone up some trad routes!

Bishop

Bishop was warm and SUPER FUCKING crowded this weekend (i expected the crowds, not the heat). I didn't send anything, fell off a bunch of shit i tried to repeat, basically i had an "off" day all weekend. Not a total failure, it was super nice and sunny which were excellent conditions for relaxing, drinking beer and hanging out with friends. I think after this past weekend i'm over the east side for the rest of the year. Time to head to The Valley.