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.