Bishop Ca.
93514
Yes, it appears to be somewhat official. My new address in (for the sake of brevity, or, er, well um, due respect, Bishop will now be referred to as ‘the motherland’) The Motherland! Steph and I are gearing up for our next move. We’ve secured a place to live, are currently in the thick of a job hunt, and are climbing are brains out. I’ve been climbing as much as this shitty weather has allowed me to, which lately has been around four days a week. I’ve also been getting my ass in gear and utilizing the fingerboard as much as possible. While I hate training I recognize its place in the table setting of my ambitions. I’ve basically been doing a shit ton of pull-ups and have been putting a lot of emphasis on ‘repeaters’ and weighted ‘repeaters’ (repeaters=dead hang with arms slightly bent for 7secs rest for 3secs repeat until a minute has come to pass). They seem to be all the rage in grip strength and endurance training and they are slightly enjoyable so I continue on with them.
I’ve put up a very hard and very overhung new sport route here which has really consumed a lot of my free time. After I finally finished bolting the beast I had a couple of work sessions on it and I’m very impressed with how quality it is, not to mention how hard it’s going to turn out to be. I’ve managed the first boulder but am still working the link between the first and second boulder. The definitive crux revolves around a heinous shoulder move out left to a slanted gaston crimp rail. The top overhang is all about keeping it together and executing, translation: big moves to good holds peppered with a couple of technical sequences. I’m psyched! To say the least. I’ve also started working on a line I bolted a while ago but have chosen to neglect until now. And I can’t believe I haven’t tried this gem before. Its literally one of the best routes I’ll probably ever bolt; even though I keep saying that about every route I bolt out here. It might actually be true in this case. The bottom crux alone is four star quality movement coupled with technical problem solving on completely bomber rock and very interesting holds. The top is an overhung power fest. The first couple of bolts are .11a, and then there is a stopper crux section that involves four very powerful and crimpy moves. I’m so impressed by both of these lines and I’m very nervous that I won’t get a good window to put some real effort into a redpoint push, but we will see. I still have about four weeks before we get on the ferry to Bellingham.
Speaking of finally getting back to the lower 48, which I couldn’t be more psyched for, I just want to put the word out here on my blog (and not Facebook) that I am planning on a Leavenworth trip and a Smith trip when I get back and before we head down to The Motherland. Please let me know if you are interested in one or both trips! Leavenworth (dependent on weather) will be between November 5th and 6th, and then Smith will be the following weekend.
Testing the gravity of a batch of IPA. 
My friend Jed cruising Little Byrd (5.10b). A cool overhung boulder problem leads to a stellar 5.9 slab.
The Rope Swing! One of our favorite hangs on a 'hot' (about 65 degrees) day.
Beers In Heaven (5.??), fingers crossed for an FA.
Oh Yeah, a couple of weeks ago I had a birthday! I'm 31 now. Kind of an ambiguous age, like turning 20, or 17 I guess. But, it seems as though, according to a boulderer in Squamish I met a year ago, that your thirties are the best span of time in your life. Not to mention the constant news feeds on 8a.nu about people in their forties and fifties sending 5.14b and 5.14c. I have a lot to look forward to.
For my birthday a big group of friends made the journey to a secluded spot on the shores of a glacier fed lake that eventually feeds into the ocean named Redoubt lake. It was a muddy six mile trek in Xtra-tuffs with a 45lb pack, but the camp fire and fishing made the hike seem trivial.
It's okay Buddy, the humpy died of natural causes.
Redoubt lake.
Shenannigans by the fire.
Yes, it was a good birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment