% cat /dev/random

2012-02-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

i managed some tough sends last night despite the morning wearing me out.

- pink / green v6, sg ballard, cave - this one had a little bit of everything - pinches, jugs, underclings, slopers.

it was long and i did it a little sloppy, but i'm pretty convinced i can encore send it on healthy arms.

2012-02-15T09:40:00.001-08:00

not sandbagging was fun this morning.

- orange v4, sg ballard, back wall / arete - the crux was tough since a piece from a vb blocked my view to the deadpoint crimp so i kept missing it.

other than that, fun, get the feet high and straddle the wall.

- blue v4, sg ballard, old 45 - big pinches and hooks with a huge undercling pinch start.

- pink/orange v4, sg ballard, 30' - unexpected, but lots of foot cutting across the wall and getting the body compressed.

- white v4, sg ballard, 30' - also very unexpected. this one gives a lot of people trouble because there's a gaston on a railing halfway through but very little for foot. you need to use a crappy undercling for the foot and then deadpoint to a cross pinch off a layback.

2012-02-14T10:11:00.001-08:00

i think i'm pre-new years mode again. throwing myself at v6's and no more sand bagging.

yellow v6, sg bellevue, cave - a little campusing, a little bicycling. big moves all around.

yellow v5, sg bellevue, fang - technical and pinchy. the start is a stem + mantle, which is always weird.

2012-02-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

i went roped climbing yesterday with a friend at stone gardens in bellevue for the very first time. the walls are higher. i decided to not sand bag and did mostly 5.10's and threw in a few 5.11s for godo measure. 5.12, here i come.

- yellow 5.11+, sg bellevue - like bouldering up a 40 foot wall

- red 5.11, sg bellevue - crimps and death holds up a 40 foot wall

2012-02-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

i'm getting my roof ability back.

- white v4, sg ballard, rolo-dex - this one is a circle along the bottom part of the rolo-dex. it is fun and pumpy.

- black / orange v4, sg ballard, rolo-dex - this one is like a figure 8 on the bottom of the rolo-dex. it is fun and pumpy.

i also did some roped climbing.

- yellow 5.11, short ropes - crimps. ew on behalf of my fingertips.

- purple 5.11, short ropes - this one was smeary and had very little feet.

2012-02-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

- black v4/5, sg bellevue, helix - v4 or v5?! tricky, either way. involved stretching and balancing and crappy hands and a volume in the way.

2012-02-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

- purple v5, sg bellevue, helix - slopers and pawing around on a volume

- blue v4, sg bellevue, zenith - dyno to decent sloper

- pink v4, sg bellevue, zenith - heel hooks, big fat cross pinch

- green v4, sg bellevue, zenith - crimps and underclings

there's a long v5 i can do once i get my power / endurance back.

2012-02-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

- green v6, sbp, highball wall - this one had a suggestive piece - my buddy greg called it a dutch rudder.

anyways, sloper / pinch starts to the suggestive wank piece, then a fat pinch, big undercling, crimp, end. feet follow.

2012-02-02T10:29:00.001-08:00

- stone gardens ballard, pink v5, new 45' - fun with big moves up the 30' part, foot beta from greg.

- stone gardens ballard, orange v5, roof / traverse - slopers, move fast.

- stone gardens ballard, blue v4, vantage - trickier than the v5, balance and tricky footwork. end is a long smear.

- stone gardens ballard, purple v4, 70 - big moves, classy and technical.

2012-01-31T12:00:00.001-08:00

- pink v5, stone gardens bellevue, east helix - tricky with a big step up

- blue v4, stone gardens bellevue, helix - tiny pinches and crimps, plus good footwork is crucial. gross.

- purple v4/5, stone gardens bellevue, peaks - pinch on the pool

2012-01-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

i went to tacoma yesterday and hit up vertical world.

- blue v4/v5, slab - up the corner of the slab, some tricky holds and the last reach was far.

- orange v4/v5, slab - i don't actually remember this one very well ... i just remember it being some long reaches.

- green v4/v5, slab - this one was fun and had some heel hooking and jumping. i had some swamp-palm going on with a pinch, so it took a few tries.

- yellow v4/v5, slab - the start was tough and i had to do some fancy flagging, but once the side jugs were caught, it was just balancing up.

- purple v4/v5, corner wave - lots of gastons and side pulls.

- black v4/v5, big wave - project from last time, but i think i just pulled harder yesterday. i got pumped towards the end of the route, so it took a few tries.

- blue v4/v5, steep wave - crimps and heel hooks and gaston pinches.

- green v4/v5, steep wave - contest problem and a project from last time i went to tacoma. i spotted a foot hold today that i didn't seen last time and was able to send.

- purple v4/v5, helix - balance and stemming.

i also did an hour of weighted bouldering on the vb/v0/v1 routes and i am super sore now.

2012-01-27T11:39:00.001-08:00

toproped today. it's a different type of beast than bouldering since the focus is more on actual movement than raw strength, but it's still fun.

- green 5.11-, short wall - this one was fun - the most interesting parts were towards the top on some meat hooks.

- blue 5.11-, short wall - flashed this one too, sort of - the hard part was at the beginning, just tricky moves to get started.

- yellow 5.11, big wall - lots of interesting holds and foot work. i blazed up this because i had some doubts on my ability to send it, but ended up getting a flash.

2012-01-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

back with a vengeance.

- orange v5, stone gardens ballard, vantage wall - balance and some tricky moves on tricky holds

- dark blue v5, stone gardens bellevue, cave - big move jug fest, right up my alley.

- blue v5, stone gardens bellevue, cave - another big move jug fest, also up my alley.

- orange v4, stone gardens bellevue, cave - sloper fest. not horrible, but the moves are tricky and footing is required.

- pink v4, stone gardens bellevue, cave - some big moves up the cave side, a little campusing.

- pink v4, stone gardens bellevue, fang - start on the fang edge and do big moves up the side.

some notes:

- on a lot of routes, i rely on better footwork since my arms are weaker. i can still rely on brute strength once footwork craps out, but for less time.

- my fear of dynamic moves has gone away.

- i take longer to recover right now.

2012-01-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

i had a send drought and then went on a 1 week vacation. i think i'm back on the wagon and working back strong.

- green v4, stone gardens ballard, back wall - crimps and stuff, balance.

- green v4 [?] stone gardens ballard, new 45' - up the arete on some stretchy stuff. not bad, but balancy.

- blue v4, stone gardens ballard, cave - the type of climb i love - big strong moves.

2012-01-12T10:24:00.001-08:00

there's been something off with my climbing lately. i've been sending harder slab problems and flailing at roofs.

- blue v5, peaks, stone gardens bellevue - starts with a crimpy and reachy mess and gets to a layback on a sloped edge. after this, it involves mantling up on the sloped edge to - you guessed it - a giant slopy thing. then, mantle to the end.

i didn't want to try it too many times as the crimps were painful so i spent a lot of time on a break on the giant slopy thing, chalking both my hands and the hold.

2012-01-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

stone gardens, ballard.

- blue v5, old 30' - sit start with left hand in a reverse side pull and the right hand in a side pull, left leg flagged back. cross over towards the left with the right hand to a nasty crimp, then shuffle the feet and reach for a side crimp / pinch. with the left hand. switch feet, switch the right hand to a side pull [make sure to get the index finger good], get the right foot on the start reverse side pull hold and deadpoint for a straight up crimp. then, get the feet around and reach right for an undercling / side pocket / jug. bump the feet up and reach for a good sloper, get the feet high onto the deadpoint target crimp, and then hit the end.

kind of a fun problem but it destroyed my finger tips.

2012-01-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

i went to sbp with my climbing buddy greg. it was crowded, but i'm breaking out of my rut. i sent a bunch of v6's. i almost got a 4th one but we were both pretty tired at that point.

- black v6, prow - this one was right up my alley. a hooking pump fest up the steepest part of the prow that ended with some pinches. it was perfect for me.

- blue v6, slab - not bad, just a hard deadpoint. the lower pieces are bubble wrap edges that are slightly negative.

- orange v6, free standing 1 - this one was fun and was up the steepest part of the boulder. it had tons of heel hooking and the crux was a cross to a jug off a sloper.

2012-01-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

ok, i think i know what's off on my climbing - acute elbow pain. i think i over-climbed last week. the easier climbs are helping me recover a bit. probably pinched too hard.

anyways, got a 1 v4 send today. it was balancy.

- green v4, cardiac / prow - up the prow, this one wasn't hard but just tricky and had some slopers.

2012-01-05T10:35:00.001-08:00

i climbed kind of crappily last night too.

- blue v5, peeks - worked around a gross volume. ok problem, just took some interesting beta. my shoes fell apart on this problem as well, so i ended up needing to get some rental kicks.

- yellow v4, peeks - very technical and crimpy. i liked it.

- brown v4, peeks - some big moves but involved basically humping the slab. i didn't like it.

2012-01-04T10:44:00.001-08:00

i had a short morning and got a lesson in climbing etiquite, so it wasn't a particularly productive morning. there were a lot of new problems on the overhanging crack wall but i had trouble finding a groove. maybe some other time.

- blue v4, overhanging crack - 2 moves, compression. not a bad problem, but it probably caters too much to my strengths.

2012-01-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

started the year strong at stone gardens in bellevue with 2 v6 sends to double my v6 count.

- orange v6, helix - a pinch on a horrible sloper and a little dyno to a hook. then a big move to a sloper, compress feet, match on the sloper, and then hit the end.

- black v6, helix - flashed this technical gem - crimp sit start and a few crimps / slopers on the way up. i did this right after the orange v6 and was pleasantly shocked.

- blue v5, quarry - a super technical problem. here's a video of one of the route setters doing it - http://youtu.be/1Ayq5vUzmLs

- orange v4, quarry - ugh shells and stuff. this one wasn't too bad, the pieces and moves were just gross.

- green v3+, orb - this one had a weird sloper / heel hook position that took me 4 tries to come off of. i stayed on the wall all 4 tries, i just didn't commit until #4.

2011-12-31T19:00:00.000-08:00

1 last session for the year.

- green v5, roof / vert wall - under the roof and up the side. very technical.

- green v4, back wall / arete - slopers and pinches, requires being gentle and having balance.

- pink v4, old 45' - just some big moves up the 45'.

2011-12-30T10:54:00.000-08:00

i had one last gasp of strength to end the year strong.

- green v5, old 45' - meathooks and slopers all the way up to an undercling on the roof part. it's fun. the start is especially fun - crimps and a toehook to prevent spinning out.

- yellow / green v4, new 45' - this one is unmarked, but it'd call it a v4. it's crimpy and follows a lot of the pieces on the green v6, but has more feet.

2011-12-29T09:31:00.000-08:00

i'm finally pumped out.

stone gardens bellevue

- red v4, orb - pockets and pinches all the way up. it requires careful footwork, which is no fun with sweaty feet.

- purple v4, quarry - the beginning has some tricky foot moves to get onto a big honking jug, but other than that it's not too difficult.

- pink v4, quarry - campusing! and the snowman!

- tan v4, quarry - pinches and underclings up the arete.

there are some epic v5's too that i plan to send when fresher.

i also did some top roping this morning. notable:

- 5.11-, west wall - slopers and pinches. lots of hand work.

a bunch of new stuff on the old 45' that i will be sending shortly too.

2011-12-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

stone gardens ballard:

- pink v4, cardiac / prow - women's sbc final's problem! edges. lots of them. suck.

2011-12-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

taking advantage of the quiet work week and climbing a little more.

- blue v4/v5, rolo-dex - this one sucked. goes along the back of the rolo-dex from south to north and up the side from west to east.

start with a big pocket, reach down / right for a pocket undercling and cross left to a big 2 finger pocket. move feet across the bottom and hit another 2 finger pocket with the right, cross left into a shallow pocket. then, hit another shallow pocket. this is the first crux - get close to the wall and then reach the right foot back, balance, and hit a big pocket.

rest a little, move along the piller connecting the rolo-dex and the 70', then *dyno* to a rounded pinch / edge ... use momentum to match on it, hit a negative edge, then grab the features. move up the features to the end.

in general, dynos at the end of routes *suck*.

- black v4, wave / bulge - mantle on a sloper up to a small jug, then big moves to the end. i did this towards the end, when i was mostly pumped out.

2011-12-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

threw down in tacoma. a year ago, i was struggling with the green problems [v2, v3]. now, i can send a lot of the v4 / v5s without too much effort.

i almost sent to red [v6/v7] problems today too!

- green v4/v5, front wall - crappy slopers, high feet, etc. took a few tries cause i had bad footing.

- brown v4/v5, mini wave - just 2 big dyno-ish moves, not bad.

- yellow v4/v5, mini slab - slopers and heel hooks up the arete

- red v4/v5, slab - HIGH BALL. this one was gross and had disgusting slopers and pinches, and a really bad inverted pocket.

- blue v4/v5, bulge - not bad, just crimps and slopers all the way up.

- green v4/v5, tsunami - a few big moves and pinches, but not bad.

- yellow v4/v5, grey wall - this one was very technical. the beginning was fun - a sit start on a heel hook, bump to a jug and then cross into a layback. then, move up and hit a few pinches and hooks. towards the high part, it gets interesting - there's a nasty gaston at the end and you match on an edge, then get the feet up and hit the final piece.

2011-12-23T09:21:00.000-08:00

slower climbing the past few days due to overworking my body.

- purple v5, rolo-dex - new one, a lot of big moves [aka, crappy dynos and foot cuts] to smaller jugs.

i realized that i don't think i'm pushing myself hard enough to try harder grades due to fear of failure. so, i'll probably have fewer, but bigger sends in the new year. it's a long way to the top, eh?

[edit]

so apparently, i got more high grade sends than i thought.

- orange v4, rolo-dex - long pump fest across the rolodex, big moves at the end.

- pink v5, rolo-dex - didn't feel too difficult, just tricky with lots of foot cutting and heel hooking.

- green v5, mini 30' - goofy moves around the piller.

- blue / red v4 [?], cardiac / prow - unlabeled, a few big moves on interesting pieces.

2011-12-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

v6!

- red v6, rolo-dex - this goes along the concave curved face of the rolodex. starts on the roof curve with 2 pinches. hit a left side pull crimp, then big cross to a hook jug. then, move the feet around, hit a left crimp, and then bump to the end. yay!

- red v4, new 45' - underclings and crimps on the 45' with some fun slopers and stuff. crux is a barndoor sidepull.

2011-12-18T17:16:00.000-08:00

i got 2 v4's on the big 30' at stone gardens in ballard. i kind of cheated though - dyno to finished on both and skipped some of the end holds.

- brown v4 - weird start with a high left foot and a jug. side pull, hit a small sloped edge, then layback to a jug. then, work up to a pinch and bump to finish.

- orange v4 - hit an edge on a volume, get feet up, pinch / hook a side hold, hit the left, then you're supposed to match on a sloper. i skip the sloper and dyno to finish.

2011-12-16T19:47:00.000-08:00

- green v4, mini 30 ' - match undercling => right pinch => left hook => cut feet => undercling on hook right pinch => hit end

got my shoes back from cascade cobbler too, as stinky as when i mailed them in. send time!

2011-12-15T12:18:00.001-08:00

had a frustrating night but still pulled off 1 good send.

- black / yellow v5, helix wall - crimps and pinches and crummy pieces. the hole in my shoes didn't help the foot switches.

2011-12-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

felt strong but tired this morning. got an a-pod v4. a-pod's route grades are horribly sandbagged, which means a v4 should be either a v4+, v5-, or proper v5.

- grey v4 [5?!], 70' - i had to take some time to figure out how to read this one. it's got 1 big move to a decent pinch / edge and then a gross undercling.

2011-12-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

there were a bunch of updates to the helix wall at stone gardens in bellevue.

lots of balance, crimps, and pinches. not really my style of climbing.

- green v5, fang - layback on a sloped edge [pinch if you have big hands] to a weird push back on the roof. then hit an big edge that is slightly downward sloped. match on it.

this is where my beta differs - most people go for a heel hook on the sloped edge, but i can't get my heel in, so i do a little campusing. get onto the volume, hit the crimp, jump to end.

i sessioned this once but i was using the heel hook beta, which tired me out too fast.

- green v4, helix - ew mantles and crimps. and balancing.

- white v4, helix - ew slopes and pinches. and balancing.

2011-12-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

i went to sbp this evening and sent a whoppin' number of v5's. took a hard fall on a highball with a dyno though.

- yellow v5, north free standing - started the day with this one. sit start, undercling under volume, paw up volume, and the crux is a a small dyno to a pinch. work way up the face.

- pink v5, north free standing - a very technical problem with a tricky layback. the crux is probably moving from the layback up to the edge.

- salmon v5, slab - crappy crimps with lots of fancy twists. this one was short

- pink v5, slab - more crappy crimps with lots of fancy twists. this one was also short.

- tan v5, south wall - highballing. crux is a mean cross to a pinch.

- red v5, south top out - long moves, end is a crappy stem. 2 cruxes, one is moving off the slopers to the edge and then the 2nd one is topping out.

- blue v5, south top out - hit the sloper, then cross to a pinch. situate the feet, and dyno to a sloper! top out.

- purple v5, south top out - this one just just reachy to crappy pinches.

2011-12-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

i climbed tonight instead of in the morning and got a good send.

- orange v5, new 45' - dyno start, cross to pinch, then an edge / crimp to end. almost hurt myself the first time!

2011-12-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

last night, i was feeling grumpy because my dinner was not very inspiring. but, i still climbed well and got 2 v5s at stone gardens in bellevue.

- green v5, quarry - this one has a move that you need to commit to off a sloper - it's a lock off / dyno to a jug. after that, it's basically campus style moves across the top of the quary to the end.

- yellow v5, quarry - this one has a lot of far moves off some smaller style jugs and edges. there's a rough pinch / bump at the end.

both were surprising as i didn't think i'd have the strength to commit to difficult moves.

2011-12-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

monday at stone gardens in bellevue

- purple v4, zenith - a pumpy route with a sloper at the top. gross.

- black / yellow v4, zenith - this one just goes up the side on horribly small holds.

this morning at stone gardens in ballard

- red v4, wave / bulge - a reachy, balancing problem

even though i don't officially project v3's anymore, i had to put in project-like effort for a v3 on the cardiac / prow. it's brown and just ... gross. more like a v3+.

2011-12-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

i had a quick session last night.

- blue v4, overhanging crack wall - this is a leftover from SBC. sit start with a layback pinch, then do big static moves up the wall. there's a goofy layback / side pull at the end.

the hardest part was figuring out the move sequence, which involves fancy foot work.

2011-12-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

i felt kind of turd-ish today but sent some good v4's.

- salmon v4, back corner - a big dyno at the end.

- green v4, back arete - stemming and mantling on disgusting slopers. ew.

- blue v4, diamond wall - doesn't touch the diamond as just has big, fun reachy moves.

on wed, i had a few sends at stone gardens in bellevue -

- blue v5, fang - starts under the fang and goes up it on some slopers and giant pinches.

- black / yellow v4, fang - this is my cool down route. it's a 20+ move jug pull.

2011-11-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

i struggled more with v3s today than i would normally expect. my finger tips and arms could probably use a break.

- blue v5, new 45' - this one was put up after the comp. big moves around the giant slab sticking out and then crimps up it.

2011-11-29T08:24:00.000-08:00

i didn't feel strong yesterday but late in the night i got a nice v5 send at stone gardens in bellevue.

- red / black v5, fang wall - this one had all the moves i like on pieces i hate. small crimpy things all the way up the 45' part of the wall.

2011-11-28T09:31:00.000-08:00

i still climbed a little yesterday despite being sore and a little sick. got a v4 after dreaming beta.

- yellow v4, roof / vert wall - starts in the nook, stemming with hands against the wall. the hard part is transitioning off the stem onto 1 side - you get 2 slopers to compress with. the end is tricky too, moving around the corner, into a crimp, smack corner, then hit the juggy roof crack.

then just move to the end.

once i got it, it felt pretty straightforward. it was just tricky getting the moves linked.

2011-11-27T00:37:00.000-08:00

still recovering from a cold. i got a few more v4's today though.

- purple v4, 30' - crimp moves up the arete.

- yellow v4, old 45' - dynos, yay

- salmon v4, new 45' - big moves, crossing, up the protrusion

- pink v4, roof / vert - i got to do a double toe hook and use only my feet for this one, hanging on like a bat. and then a campus to the end.

i've got some projects to handle once i'm more recovered.

2011-11-24T13:57:00.001-08:00

sickness :(

stone gardens, bellevue:

purple v4, fang - starts with a dyno undercling and works the corner

2011-11-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

sbc was this weekend! that means fresh routes. i'm still battling a cold but still pulled some good sends. lots of new projects too!

- white v5, wave / bulge - hang start, hand hook side of bulge, match heel hook, get the undercling cross, hit another undercling, then do a deadpoint to a sloper. then, hit an edge, jug, end.

- brown v4, overhanging crack - low start, lots of pinching.

- black / orange v4, roof / vert wall - long moves with jugs.

- white v4, roof / vert wall - start was fun - heel hook and a sloper, match on the sloper and then traverse across the roof to the end.

- green v4, vantage wall - balancy stuff to the end.

- pink v4, lead cave - more balancy stuff.

wit this, my score would have been roughly 2250 - maybe next year i'll enter?!

2011-11-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

stone gardens is gated off most of the bouldering area to set for their annual contest, so i just chose my own adventure a lot yesterday. i was a little sick too, which didn't help my case :)

i went to sbp for a light day today, though, and got some good sends:

- blue v5, north top-out boulder - dynamic campusing across the wall then up a sloper to the end. fun stuff.

- orange v5, south top-out boulder - slopers all the way up on a volume. and a pinch.

- teal v5, north wall - crimps, oh my poor hands. some pinching too

2011-11-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

at stone gardens in bellevue :

- red v5, helix - dyno start, heel hook, crimp, pinch, hit end.

- blue v5, helix - compression start, just pinching and shifting weight to the end.

this one was particularly satisfying because it didn't take too many tries. an annoying guy was sessioning it a few nights ago and couldn't get the end.

- green v4, zenith - weird sideways start with bumping and crimping. the send didn't look very elegant.

2011-11-15T11:38:00.001-08:00

stone gardens belluvue

- black v4, front wall - hooking on slopers. lots of them.

2011-11-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

i went to stone gardens in ballard last night. i have been climbing like a weak wet turd the past few days. i think i need to poop more.

- purple v5, cave - this problem is just crazy stupid. just 4 pieces, starts on the piller, dyno back to a sloper / hook, and then hit the end, which is a sloper.

- brown v4, cave - up the cave wall and a small dyno bump at the end. i thought this problem was more technical and fun.

2011-11-08T00:09:00.000-08:00

i got 2 fun v5's today at stone gardens bellevue.

- blue v5, fang - this one starts on the face of the fang, horizontal. very juggy, just some dyno's and big reaches. there is a decent sloper near the top.

- white v5, cave - very technical, required tricky footwork, and a highball on a roofy wall. there's a half-dome volume on the cave and this problem requires working around it.

2011-11-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

i worked a fun, but frustrating project this morning. i'd been eyeing for a while, but never really made a commitment to it until i thought of some beta for it.

- brown v5, new 45' - start under the bulge with a heel hook off to the side. reach up with the left to a edge / jug on the side of the bulge. then, reach right onto the face of the bulge for a small slopy edge.

now, toe hook the edge / jug side of the bulge [this is tricky because a piece from another route gets in the way]. then, bring the left hand off and into a long pinch.

bump the right to a jug under the bulge and move the left hand up the pinch. swing the right arm around to the other side of the bulge for a round pinch.

cut the feet to the other side of the bulge, bring the left hand down from the long pinch and onto a crimp on the face of the bulge. now, cross through with the left hand and find a small jug. start moving the feet across the face of the 45' wall, bring the right into a small jug, and bump it right to a nice jug. situate the arms and feet where comfortable and hit a long 1-arm dyno with the left arm.

at this point, you can try to work with the pieces given to reach the end or do what i did - dyno to end.

it took me a while to work out the moves right up to the dyno. the secret beta that i thought up was the toe hook.

2011-11-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

last night, i tore my hands up at stone gardens, bellevue. figuratively.

i did a lot of adventure choosing though - their zenith wall is awesome for that. overhang with big holds. i've also got a v5 project in the cave. more on that, if i get the send.

purple v4, back wall - this one is goofy - there's a big step up to 2 slopers, the easiest way to hit it? pinch a foot hold and then slowly inch up.

then, just sort of traverse the wall on crappy holds and hit the end.

2011-11-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

having a crummy climbing morning, but got 1 good send.

- red v4, rolo-dex - starts at 1 corner, goes diagnolly under the roof, and ends up at the other side.

lots of foot beta [toe hooking and foot picks] and 1 big pinch transfer. one of the funner and more fulfilling v4's i've done.

2011-11-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

out of town this past weekend so no climbing until last night. i've been doing less intense climbs and more balancy climbs as i recover strength.

stone gardens, bellueve:

- orange v5 [1], peaks- low start to a pinch and barndoor around the pinch. reach up for a sloper, right foot on start hold, match on the sloper, then reach up with the left for a pinch. foot on barndoor pinch, left up to another pinch, foot up on sloper. reach right for another pinch, bump to end.

pretty text book, twisty moves.

- orange v5 [2], peaks - this one was trickier and involved a giant volume. dyno the start to an edge hanging off the volume [or, pinch a foot hold and slowly move up]. then, reach up for some small crimps [both hands], switch feet and get the left foot on the volume.

now, twist around the volume and get the right foot on, reach back for a sloper. step back onto a volume foot hold, and cross to the end.

- green v4, peaks - harder than both the v5s - sloper start, reach left for a pinch / hook. then, get the right foot up and step into a pinch / undercling. switch feet and get the right foot on the start hold, reach up for a massive sloper. now, pinch / layback towards the top, reach another sloper, and bump to end.

- yellow v4, peaks - crimps all the way up.

stone gardens ballard, this morning:

- salmon v5, rolodex - short but sweet. jug start under the roof, undercling a small jug with the left, edge with the right. now, reach for a big jug / pinch piece, get your feet resituated, reach right for a jug, cross to end.

- orange v4, rolodex - 2 moves - start pinch to sloper, foot on start pinch, reach the top. it's very leggy.

- [edit] black v5, rolodex - crimps and side compression on a sloper, use the arete to hit the end.

2011-10-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

i pulled a double and went to stone gardens in bellevue last night.

- salmon v5, zenith - lots of huge pinches on a traverse through the 45' wall. starts low, reach high for a left pinch. right next to it is a small jug - put your right hand on it. get the feet up and cross over with the right for another pinch. get the right foot on the jug, reach left over for another pinch. cross the right unto an undercling jug. then, hit a big plate, 2 smaller crimps, and then reach over the zenith for an edge. get the feet up and top out.

PINCHES!

- red v4, zenith - starts low in the zenith. v3 moves through to a v4 dyno, then a crimp and bump at the face of the zenith.

- hot pink v4, cave - lots of pinching, jugs, and big moves up to the face of the cave.

the cave goes high, so falling is a big risk

2011-10-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

stone gardens, ballard

- blue v4, cardiac / prow - this one is a lot harder than it looks but was pretty fun.

side start on a pinch / sloper thing. lay back onto a nice edge on the ledge and work the feet onto a heel hook. hit some smaller slopy edges and a crimp, with the heel hook still on the nice edge.

now, reach up for a big fat sloper / meat hook. paw around on it, find a small crimpy edge on the face of the ledge, and then do a small dyno into a sloper. match on the sloper and pull up to the end.

2011-10-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

i spent a lot of time climbing the past few days.

in summary - stone gardens bellevue, sunday : a bunch of v4's. i like this gym a lot - it's bright and has lots of fun routes and walls

the notable fun ones:

- yellow v4, cave - super pumpy route on the cave. this one was a roofy highball with 20+ moves.

- black v4, overhang - 2 dynos, 1 at the start and 1 further in.

- green v4, overhang - 1 dyno at the start, but some fun crossing action

- pink v4, intro roof - 1 big dyno at the start and a few pinches.

- yellow v4, helix wall - this one had a crimp start to cross to side dyno. the rest is up and pinches.

- blue v4, helix wall - crimp starts to big undercling first step into a small wedge. then, deal with small sandpaper things on a volume and crimpy edges up.

- tan v4, zenith wall - dyno start. the fun move was a hand reach to a hand foot match and a 1 arm lock off.

- white v4, cave - this is really just pockets up the arete. fun stuff.

stone gardens ballard, yesterday :

- green v4, mini 30' - big cross at the beginning with a very small side dyno. there's a hold to the side that feels like it could be used for hands, but it's really a foot hold. once the beta got figured out, it wasn't a hard route.

today, i am giving myself a hard earned break.

2011-10-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

more sbp today.

- teal v5, east wall - this is a leftover project from tuesday. low start, reach up for a left crimp / pinch, get feet up, then reach up for a right pinch. now, step up to an undercling, match on it, then shift the hips over and hit a small jug. layback into a pinch, reach for a sloper / pinch blob, match on it, get the legs up, and hit the end.

i had a lot of trouble with the stepping up, but figured out the right place to pinch at the start. the end was tough too, but getting my feet high worked well.

- purple v5, cardiac - pockets. and crossing. and a dyno [sort of]. that's all.

- purple v5, slab - i projected this one for a long time. it took me a while to figure out beta

hook start, reach left for a sloper / pinch. switch feet and get the right foot on a high nub and then stem up on the start hook. reach for a sloper. match on sloper. reach for a pinch / flat sloper. get feet up on the slab, hit a crimp at the end, then reach for the lip.

2011-10-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

tuesday, sbp

- green v5, north wall - PINCHES all the way up, fun.

- purple v5, north freestanding - slabby stemming on the top part of the free standing boulder

wednesday, sg

nothing new, just fun.

friday, sg

my very first v6!

- olive v6, mini 45 - this epic traverses across the mini 45' wall.

sit start on an undercling. hit a sideways sloper, match on it, and side pull on a small jug. now comes the fun part - reach back with the left arm into a 2 finger pocket. get the left foot on the undercling, get the right hand into a jug on the same hold of the 2 finger pocket.

now, cut the feet across onto holds, get the left hand into a jug, then cross back with the right into a jug / pinch.

hit a big undercling with the left, reach up with the right for a pinch, and DYNO TO END!

it's a v6 - the whole thing is a crux.

2011-10-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

i climbed a little on saturday but just 'chose my own adventure' - meaning i just grabbed whatever holds fit my liking. lots of pinch working.

yesterday, at stone gardens -

green / white v5, new 45' - this one i struggled with when it first came up. stand start hanging on some shallow jugs, reach up for 2 shallow underclings. then, hook a sloper with the left arm. get the feet onto the start hold, layback into an edge pinch. shift left onto 2 underclings, get the feet high, do a huge reach for a tiny jug, and hit the end.

2011-10-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

another project day.

- v5 white / black, overhanging crack wall - this one was tough, but fun.

start on the 45' part with the left hand on a side crimp, the right along the arete on a very shallow flat edge, and the feet on some small holds. bump the right hand up along the crimpy arete, move the left to a small edge / pocket. here comes the first fun part - heel hook the shallow flat edge and bring the foot up, near the first start hand hold for the left. bring the right hand over to the face of the edge, then bump the left hand up to a meathook hold.

the feet are dangling or loose at this point - cut over to a bigger foot hold, match hands on the meathook hold, then lean over to a slick flat edge on the face of the wall. get the right foot on the bigger foot hold and then match hands on the slick flat edge, and reach for a medium edge. then, heel hook the slick flat edge with the right heel. cross the right hand over the left to a horn sticking out.

awesome stuff - you're on the face of the wall now. reach up to a small finger pocket, cross over to a shallow jug, hit a shallow edge, and you're at the end.

this one was definitely harder than the v4 on the wall. i'm not totally sure it's in v5 territory, but it wouldn't be a far assumption. fun skills used - heel hooks and lots of crossing.

2011-10-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

i got a flu shot yesterday and it caused my left shoulder to be super tense. i was having a mediocre day until i started working on new stuff on the overhanging crack wall.

- purple v4, overhanging crack wall - this one had most of the elements i like in a problem. sit start along the low 45' part of the arete, meathook a flat sloper, match on it, hit an edge on the face of the crack wall, heel hook, then reach for crappy jug.

then comes the fun part - i'm almost certain i did this part of the problem wrong, but it worked for me. i reached for the hold facing right with my left arm, then crossed my right hand over for the hold facing the left direction - i'm almost certain i'm supposed to cross into the hold facing right with my right arm.

nonetheless, got that part, then the crux - a pinch with the left arm, cut the feet over, match on the pinch. the pinch is rough. then, reach around a blob for a decent ... thing. match on the decent ... thing, pinch a thin rectangle piece, and hit the end.

i notice that i have more vivid details on the routes that i have to work a little harder on.

2011-10-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

i had some good v5 sends yesterday at sg.

- black v5, traverse wall - i tried this one on labor day weekend and couldn't get the pinch and footing.

it's a low undercling start. first move is a left cross into an ok pocket. 2nd move is a reach with the right to a pocket pointing down. move the feet across the wall, then layback with the left hand into the suggestive piece. pinch the suggestive piece, get the right hand on a palm over it, now get the right foot up and reach for an overhead. then undercling an adjacent overhead and reach for the end. yay.

- orange v5, mini 45' - this one is fun and challenging.

sit start, left pinch, heel hook the start, layback into a jug. then, meathook a baby's head. this is the part where i have to diverge from the actual route - i match on the baby's head and transfer to have my left hand on it, then reach right up for the pinch and dyno to end.

2011-10-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

lots of climbing!

friday, stone gardens:

- white v4, back wall / arete - undercling start, to another undercling crimp with the right, cross left arm over the arete to a decent crimp, then pull up to a small jug. then hit the end.

then, today - i got a ridiculous number of v4's at SBP [13?] and 6 v5s.

- tan v5, roof - leftover from my last trip. i remembered that corners and aretes are 'in' and used that. it's a start under the roof, hit the corner with the left, squeeze tight to switch feet, then hug the corner and get the right cross over. then, a big fat pinch behind you, cut feet around to get them positioned better, crimp right up, left pinch, the cross to reach the end.

- blue v5, north boulder - this problem was really fun and helped me get the day started. low start, right crimpy jug, then heel hook start hold, left to pinch. then, work across the pinch and reach high for an edge on the tip of the volume. get the feet around, hit a meathook, and you're home free.

- yellow v5, east wall - leftover from my last trip. pinch start, 2 jug cross, pinch match, get close to the wall, hit a real pinch, flip the left arm still on the pinch, reach high for yet another pinch, then hit a pocket. pockets all the way up.

- green v5, slab - this is a short wonder. stand start and a long reach to the top hold. smear, pinch, smear, pinch, end.

- tan v5, south wall - had to work a little for this one and got some beta. round the corner, left crimp, work around the corner more, right crimp up, then hit an undercling, then a meathook. after, it's a big reach to a jug, then 2 more jugs to the end.

i saw a 50+ asian guy get this first try without the crimp beta. it was rather inspirational.

- purple v5, south wall - this one just had 1 risky move. undercling start, reach up to a shallow jug under the roof, then, hit an edge. you can either try matching the edge or bump the right arm over - i tried matching the first time and failed, then ended up bumping the second. after wards it's just a long reach to a jug and then home free.

2011-10-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

- purple v5, vantage wall - this one eluded me for a long time because of the strange movement and crimps. i hate crimps.

starts against the wall, reach with the left for a pinch, then cross right for a tiny crimp. bring the feet up, match fingers on the tiny crimp, move to another tiny crimp, match on that, bring feet up, and then stem to a sloper. match on the sloper and monkey bar / shimmy / heel hook across to the end.

2011-10-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

a weird night of climbing - didn't feel particularly strong but got some good sends.

- white v5, cave - weird balancy movement to get to the face of a piller, then jump/dyno to the end. to get balanced, you have 1 arm reaching back. i needed to swap that arm to be my right arm, face away from the piller, switch feet, and jump to the end.

it was ... weird.

- white v4, new 45' - i tried this a few weeks back when it first came up, but the normal route that used stemming didn't work for me. i worked around this by doing a toe hook on a hold.

so, starts against an edge. climb up on some slopers. here comes the tricky part - transferring from the edge / slopers to a 30 face. you have some pinches to work with. so, i toe hooked one of the top slopers, laid back to pinch, then cut my feet across.

there are toe holds for stemming, but those are way too uncomfortable for me.

- yellow v3, 30' - up the edge of the 30', there's a magic jug in a hold and pinching a crimp worked for me. it took a few tries because i couldn't find the magic jug.

- white v3, 30' - goes across the 30' and up on the 45'. this one was fun and had some dynamic movement and shifting.

- blue v3, 30' - looong with crimps and jugs. the hard part about this route was the length.

2011-10-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

- yellow v4, cardiac / prow - project send! this is a long v4 that starts under the prow, goes up the face, around it, and up the cardiac.

overhang start, reach around the corner for a decent edge. bicycle the start hold, then reach to the face for a big meathook. get on that, cut feet over to a tiny jib, get the hands in the higher jugs.

this is the crux for me and it took me forever to figure out the secret, but once i did, it was a clinch. you can either do a big bump of the left to a small finger jug, *or* you can get your right foot on the meathook hold to get yourself some height and do a small bump to the finger jug.

after this, it's going along the side of the prow then up and to the end.

2011-09-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

took a slack day this morning and just top roped and traversed around.

nothing fancy!

2011-09-29T01:13:00.000-07:00

not content with climbing just once in a day, i went again to SG in the evening.

- green v3/v4, new 45' - the grading was a little vague on this route, but it was still interesting. i hadn't attempted it before and it looked a little on the tougher side, which steered me away.

the start is a big ring donut - that's all. hands and feet go in it. you work your way up the ring doing crossing in and out of jugs and through pinches/negatively angled edges. the first thing you hit outside of the ring is a pinch, bump to an undercling. then, the rest is v2-ish - pinching and small jugs/edges.

i've been doing a lot of harder routes lately, just focusing on moves that i suck at. it's a little disappointing at times, but overall fun.

2011-09-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

the diamond wall was updated. either the lower grade problems felt harder than usual or i was just being too static with my movements.

- yellow/pink v4, diamond wall - this one was pretty fun - slopers and pinches. starts under the diamond, then a layback compression on an upside-down sloper. match on the sloper and hit a big edge at the lip of the middle-left part of the diamond. from there, hit a huge sideways pinch. here comes the crux - moving up the diamond, get the left heel on the big edge and the right foot on a jib on the other side of the diamond. match the big side-ways pinch, then hit a good edge near the top. move the feet around and you're done.

- black v4, diamond wall - this one wasn't as fun, but still doable. starts with a gas mask piece pinch. hit the head of the piece for a sloper, then reach back for 2 more slopers/pinches. the crux is moving off the slopers to an big edge. from the edge, cut the feet over, hit 2 crimps, and then reach for the end.

- black v3, diamond wall - lots of sideways crescents. the crux i think is near the end of the route, moving off the tiny edges to the end V.

- white v3, diamond wall - this one as pretty fun - layback start, hit the disgusting pool piece, move to a block of blocks, then a sideways edge, to the end.

- purple v3, diamond wall - this one took a few tries because i kept barndooring the wrong way. reach up for a sloper volume with a small edge on it. match, hit a big 2-hand jug, then move to a small jug and small edge. this is the crux - get the right foot over to a small jib, then with the left foot, brace the edge of the wall to control the barndoor. reach for a sideways jug. match on it and reach the end.

- green v2/v3 [?], diamond wall - i have to mention this because it was graded as a v2, but i think the crux is v3-ish [at least, for me] and it took me a ton of tries to figure out. straddling the diamond, the left hand is on a pinch and the right hand is on an edge. the 'right' move looks like a layback with the left hand to a crimp, but i had to reverse the right to hit the crimp - either i'm too tall or too short to make the move work.

2011-09-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

i wasn't feeling particularly strong but still pulled off 2 pretty good v4 sends and linked a v4 project

for whatever reason, the cave was updated again after only being up for a week. i like the newer problems more though.

- green v4, cave - going across the cave, start on edges, pull on a tiny jug with the left and do a barndoor into a cross with the right. then, grab a sloped edge.

now, going up the cave, pull from the sloped edge to a crappy jug on the roof, get the feet up, pull onto another crappy roof jug, then move to a - wait for it - 3rd crappy roof jug. do a small roof dyno to the end

- orange v4, old 45' - start low with a decent pinch rock, layback reach into a left edge, grab a right edge, cut feet onto the start pinch rock, hit a nice undercling, then survey options. you can hit a shallow overhead jug with the right and do a cross under with your left arm to a decent side jug, then hit a side jug of teeth.

or, do what i did - head straight for the side jug of teeth, which were pretty nice, then lay back into the decent side jug. then, sort of campus up to the end.

- purple v3, cave - start in the corner of the cave laying back. hit the roof, then traverse across the side compressing between the roof and the side of the cave. not too shabby.

2011-09-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

went to tacoma on saturday. had a few decent v4/v5 sends:

- v4/v5 red, wave wall - i had a few attempts on this the last time i came down to tacoma. it's a traverse start on a sloper, with a mean cross to a finger sideways crimp. work the feet up and pinch some decent holds. the crux is a reach to a 2-finger pocket near the end.

the trick is footing - if you can get your legs spread between the walls, you're golden.

- v4/v5 black, short slab wall - start with some underclings on small jugs. right meathook, left crimp, and work the way up to the top of the slab wall. then traverse across to the end using foot holds as hand holds.

- v4/v5 blue, slab wall -this wasn't graded, but i would call it a v4. 2 hand foot matches, 1 at the lower part [heel hook to step] and 1 towards the top.

2011-09-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

the past few sessions have made me come to the conclusion that i need to work the 45' walls a lot more. and do more routes out of my comfort zone.

- red v3, old 45' - i had a lot more trouble with this route than i should have. it's a short traverse at the bottom to a big donut jug/pinch + crimp. the crux is moving off the crimp and big donut jug to a shallow sideways jug. the donut jug turns into a pinch as the legs move up the wall.

- black v3, old 45' - a classic scooby route. scooby is a route setter with a long ape index. it's reflected in the routes he sets.

big and reachy, with a big pinch at the top.

- blue v3, roof - they say v2+, but i think it's a v3. it's harder than the actual v3 on the wall.

beta i got was to cross start and toe hook the edge and skip the crimps. just hit the meathook, move the legs up to a sideways pinch, and then do some fancy footwork to the end.

lots of balancing.

2011-09-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

- blue v4, mini 45' - this one was a short, hard route that i really had to work for. it's a sit start with the left hand in a 3 finger pocket, the right hand in a slight undercling, and the right foot on a hold, left foot smeared. hit a small right pinch, switch feet, then hit a small left pinch. at this point, your left foot is on the start hold. cross the right foot through for a foot hold, then hit a right meathook / pinch. get your foot in the start pocket and prepare yourself for the crux - a small layback bump to a small left jug. situate your feet on the start pinches, then hit a small right jug, hit a left pinch edge, then bump the left to the end.

i remember all the details because i worked the route pretty hard.

2011-09-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

stone gardens fun. i should spend more time on the 45' walls to build strong bones.

- orange v4, cave - short route. sit start, onto a wide edge, then up to a sloper. crux is move from sloper to another sloper near the top.

- black v3, new 45' - jump start, basically just moving up the 30' part of the new 45' wall

- green v3, new 45' - a long route. starts under the prow, goes up to a volume, and then a traverse across the higher part of the 45' wall. there isn't much for feet and i think the whole traverse is a crux in itself. this could easily be graded as a v4, if not for how long it is, the level of movement required.

2011-09-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

i hit up sbp today and ticked 7 v4's:

- green v4, roof - fun roofy problem. pretty standard roof moves out to the face, which happens to be the crux. there's a compression with the left foot and a crossover with the right hand, then up the face.

- purple v4, south free standing - low start and just moving feet around. to be honest, this problem wasn't very memorable.

- white v4, south free standing - undercling start to slopers! up the slopers and a small finger jug, then hit the lip of the boulder to top out.

- black v4, east wall - pinches. the crux for me was near the end, which involved a pinch on an edge.

- white v4, east wall - some crimpy moves and crossover transitions. crux is onto the volume piece.

- purple v4 [1], slab wall - ugh slopers. the trick is to *not* use the crappy pinch on the start and to just hang on the sloper.

- purple v4 [2], slab wall - ugh slab. hug the wall, pinch some crappy holds, and reach the top.

2011-09-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

mixed day, but i think overall good.

- blue v4, 30' - crimp fest! starts with an undercling/layback. the next 4 moves are crimps that require fancy footwork. the crux is an undercling with the right hand and to a left cross on a slippery pinch/edge. i had to practice that move a few times.

after, it's crappy crimps and pinches all the way up with a little dyno at the end because i'm not tall enough to reach the lip.

- salmon v3, cave - a grab bag of moves that i don't quite remember - it's mostly stemming and fancy footwork and balancing to the lip of the cave.

not quite my type of problem, but i could see myself doing it again.

2011-09-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

i had a bizarro climbing morning. had a lot of trouble with balancing problems.

- green v5, wave/bulge - this one was up the side of the bulge. sit start with a heel hook on, reach through with the right to a crimp, hit a good edge/pinch with the right, statically bring self up to bad edge/pinch with left, then hit another side pull edge with the right. flip the left hand on the bad edge around to be an under pinch, then get the feet situated, and hit a left crimp. reach the end.

very balancy and static.

- green v3, cardiac/prow - starts low, reach under for an undercling, then around a corner for a flat edge. move body around corner, match on the flat edge, then hit a higher edge. bring the body up and reach for a overhead positive campusing edge. match on that, move the feet around, and manuever the body towards the wall on some crimps. the rest is just crimps and edges to the end.

also very balancy and static.

- white v3, roof/vert wall - start on the vertical part of the roof and move around the corner and up to some crimpy edges. hit the jugs 45' portion and it's just high flying moves to the end.

strangely enough, i couldn't get a v2+ on the same wall - too crimpy for my comfort. and i think it's really a v3.

2011-09-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

there were some tough v3s on the wave/bulge wall today. send list:

- salmon v4 - across the bulge and up the side. start vertical, lay back and reach some flat edge pinches. work your way across the bulge. crux is a deadpoint to undercling on a sideways jug. match on the sideways jug and get the feet up. reach around the bulge for an egg piece, match on it, get the feet moving across, hit the sloper in the crack, and then reach the end.

this is a route that is typically up my alley, but took a little more out of me today than usual.

- green v4 - up the wave wall. pinch on decent slopers for a start, then crimp up the round part of the wave. the crux is a meathook around a big block of goofy golf balls.

- blue v3 [1] - this one went up the wave wall and was really tricky and required really static movement. starts with an undercling, then meathook to some rounded slopers. the left meathooks needs to point out. then, a slow, static move up to a pinch. after wards, it's jugs and roof all the way home.

- blue v3 [2] - this one went up between the round side of the wave wall and the flat side of the wave wall. not too bad, just more static movement. have the feet push into the wall and the arms pull away to generate opposing forces.

- white v3 - up the bulge. start with a ring jug, crawl up to a small edge, undercling a slightly sharp jug, then deadpoint into a slightly sharp jug for the crux.

- orange v3 - this one was probably the trickiest. up the round side of the wave. if you start using all the foot holds, it will be an uncomfortable deadpoint to a shallow jug. if you start with the right foot off-hold and flagged out, you can pinch a foot square and slowly inch up. so, left arm undercling and right arm on grip tape with the left foot on a square. grab a foot square with the left hand, get the right foot on a volume, and then hit the shallow jug. the rest is juggy roof stuff. it took me lots of tries to figure out the trick.

i also traverse'd through the entire top rope room for the first time ever.

2011-09-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

stone gardens this morning:

- orange v4, roof/traverse wall - this one is right up my alley - big dyno start, horizontal pinch, and campusing. nice big holds for me.

- white v3, cardiac/prow - just a bunch of weird positioning on smaller holds.

2011-09-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

i made a trip to sbp today. sent some v4s:

- orange v4, south wall - high ball with crappy edges

- black v4, south wall - high ball with pockets and crossing

- salmon v4, middle free standing - i'm not totally sure i did this one legitimately. i used the side wall as part of the start - it looks like it'd be done before though.

anyways, laybacks and pinching.

2011-09-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

climbed yesterday. send log:

- green/yellow v4, rolo-dex - roof traverse. needed some goofy toe hook beta and a little campusing, but other than that, fun stuff.

- brown v4, roof / traverse - cross to a crimp. not a difficult route, just weird moves

- green / blue v4, roof / traverse - a huge cross to a pinch. not difficult either, just weird moves to link together

- green v3, roof / traverse - strangely, this was harder than both v4's. the holds were just small.

2011-09-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

whoa! more climbing! rad!

i did a bunch of lead climbing today, but squeezed in some bouldering.

- blue v5, 70' - roof campusing fun, there's a nose that you can put your hand in too.

- black v4, mini 30' - this one has a meat-hook on a really slippery hold.

2011-09-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

day of sending!

- white v5, back wall/arete - completed the sweep of the wall! this one goes up the arete, move around awkwardly on a dome sloper, and then hit the end.

- white v4, roof/traverse - traverse across the wall with very little feet. some small edges for hands, but i think my campusing is ok. it's got some awkward foot movement.

- green v4, back wall with plates - start with a pinch, undercling, match on undercling, and hit the end. swept this wall!

- red/yellow v3 - a little harder than most v3s because of the awkward movement. sit start to an edge, side pull to layback, then match on an undercling [ish], deadpoint a small jug, pinch left, and hit the end.

- green v3, roof/traverse - traverse across the roof with some nice big holds but big moves.

- blue v3, roof/traverse - traverse across the 30' wall with a crappy volume cross and some tight pinches

- pink v3, roof/traverse - goes up the 45' section with some *big* moves and a finger slot. blocks too!

2011-09-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

- green v4, vintage - crimps and weird crosses, not much feet

- pink v3, vintage - awkward stemming

- olive v3, vintage - awkward stemming

- red v3, vintage - awkward stemming. wtf?

- purple v3, mini 45' - needed to spend some time to decipher the moves on this, but got the footing swapped correctly

- green v3, mini 45' - honestly, the only move that makes this a v3 is the last one, which isn't hard for me because it caters to my strengths - a big reach.

2011-08-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

i'm swapping my schedule to be t/w/f for various reasons and am getting used to the toll it takes on my arms. today was a productive day, but short.

- blue v3, mini 30' - this one has a weird flag and meathook at the beginning. i can't quite tell what the crux really is - either the very beginning or the very end.

- light blue v3, mini 30' - small crappy hand holds with a big cross at the end. trick is in the feet!

- yellow/brown v3, 70' - goes across the bottom part of the 70' like a traverse. the trick is in the feet and flagging lots.

2011-08-30T09:32:00.001-07:00

stone gardens sends for the day:

- white v4, 70' - the crux is a strange drop knee at the start. other than that, not too shabby.

- green v3, 70' - small holds and lots of foot cutting

2011-08-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

sent 2 v5's and 8 v4's at sbp!

purple v5, east wall - undercling to lift up to some pockets and jugs, sloper at the top. i had the wrong sequence on a double fingered pocket and had to use 1 finger on each hand to get myself out of the tight hole.

blue v5, north free standing - this one had some big moves on crimps, with an undercling and sloper. it was more footing trickery.

green v4, south free standing - reach and pinches, crimp at the tip to lip of the boulder.

tan v4, north wall - this one was *fun* but had a tricky start sequence - lift up to the volume and match on the top edge. after, it's a nice pinch with the right hand to a lay back on the with foot on the volume. then, lift off and catch a jug with the left hand and very quickly move to the big flat edge. absolutely no room for hesitation.

black v4, north wall - pinches and pockets, right up my alley.

tan v4, north free standing - this one had some goofy moves on a volume and a round sloper at the top, but that's about it. nothing too notable.

white v4, north free standing - this one had a horrible compression match, where the right foot pushes against a foot and the hands pull the opposite direction. it's just the wrong combination of moves to be comfortable in.

blue v4, prow - i started this last time i was at sbp but got stuck. last time, i was too weak to hit the big sloper. today, i spent a few times trying to match the pinches at the top when i realized that i could just hit the left pinch and pull up to the lip.

orange v4, prow - a big starting meat hook and some pinching + edging + heel hooks up to the top. fun problem.

green v4, east wall - big cross at the start to a small pinch with the left hand, then hit a right crimper. afterwards it's just moving up the wall.

2011-08-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

- white v4, overhanging crack - being sidewise, finger strength

- orange v4, overhanging crack - mad slopers, a few jugs, and a little pinching

- black v4, roof/vert wall - sloped edge at end. pinching right before and being static helped.

- green v3, overhanging crack - 2 moves with the arms. pawing around on a weird piece.

- yellow v3, overhanging crack - pinches and dynamic moves.

- orange v3, old 30' - match on a sloper, lots of weird bumping. move sequencing really mattered here.

2011-08-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

2 new sends:

blue v3, rolo-dex - balance across the side

pink v3, rolo-dex - across roof

have 2 goals : white v4, 30', and orange v3, 30'.

i worked the moves on the orange v3/30'. i think i can get the white v4/30', just not at the end of the session.

2011-08-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

toned down the climbing the past few sessions to focus on specifically on endurance. no new sends.

getting back into post-vacation gear. i need to be patient.

2011-08-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

trying a new pair of climbing shoes. they're 1/2 a size smaller because towards the end of my last set, the heel was falling out of the cup on heel hooks :(

anyways, in the break-in period. we'll see how these go. i'm also feeling pretty sore from coming back a little aggressive.

monday, stone gardens:

- salmon v3, backwall/arete - laybacks up the arete. a pocket was removed so it's a lot harder now, possibly a v4 or v3+.

- blue v3 [?], backwall/arete - this might actually be a v2, but the rating isn't there. it's a few big moves up the arete and across the wall. they're harder with stiff shoes.

- pink v4 [?], backwall/arete - pinches and slopers up the wall.

wednesday, stone gardens:

- olive v3, 30' - a few traverse bumps and up. lots of pinching.

- purple v3, 30' - slopers! pinches!

2011-08-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

hit up sbp this morning. learning names of the walls/boulders

tan v4, prow boulder - lots of crossing

tan v4, east wall - sit start with lots of meathooking and pinching.

2011-08-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

trip report for my august 2011 backpacking trip to the front range:

the first leg of backpacking was in the grand tetons in wyoming.

2011/08/06 - woke up at 6:30 am and started at jenny lake in the lower area of the grand tetons at approximately 6800ft in elevation. we saw 1 black bear with a cub climbing a tree early in the morning. ended near the paintbrush divide on paintbrush canyon at approximately 10000ft. there were small glaciers at the top of paintbrush canyon and we ended up crossing 4 ice patches. the overall ascent was near 10 miles, with 3 to 4 miles flat around jenny lake and 6 miles up paintbrush canyon. reached upper paintbrush canyon at 2:00pm and setup overnight camp. backpacking weather was moderate, with temperatures ranging from 60-70' F.

2011/08/07 - camped overnight at paintbrush divide near holly lake overnight with temperatures reaching a low of 40' F. we started our descent at 7:00am and arrived at the jenny lake trail head at 12:00 pm. straightforward and easier than day 1.

the second leg of our trip was in yellowstone national part and through heart lake trail, crossing with the snake river. the entire trip was 3 nights with about 28 miles traveled.

2011/08/08 - our first day of this leg started at 6:30am with a 10 mile trek to the heart lake campsite [8N3?]. the temperatures were hotter than the tetons hike, ranging from 65' to 75' F with less wind. the hike started at 6500ft and ended at 7000ft, so it was mostly flat and moderate. we arrived at our destination camp at 11:30am. adults took baths in the lake while i got attacked by leaches. slept overnight near heart lake with temperatures dipping into the high 30' F.

2011/08/09 - the next day was a hike up mount sheridan. started at 7000ft and reached the summit at 10200'ft. begain the ascent at 7am and returned to base camp 1pm. hiked with reduced gear consisting of food, water, and rain gear. temperatures were in the 60' - 75', with cooler air towards the top of sheriden. crossed a few ice patches near summit of sheridan, which were significantly easier than the teton ice patches due to reduced gear. overnight temperature was in the high 30' F.

2011/08/10 - our final day was a grueling 18 mile trek from the heart lake trail head to the yellowstone south entrance. started at 6:30am and ended at 3:30pm. the trail took us through the end of the heart lake trail where we met the snake river and followed it to the south entrance. the overall hike was flat, with temperatures in the 65' to 75' range. saw 1 grizzly bear. forded 2 rivers.

overall trip notes:

- the tetons ascent was much more fulfilling than the yellowstone trail, but yellowstone had the bigger highlights - fording rivers.

- yellowstone uses bear poles to guard food while the tetons uses bear canisters and vaults.

- there is a fire tower at the top of mount sheridan.

- diet consisted of granola bars, packets of oatmeal, ramen noodles mixed with oatmeal, beef jerky, trail mix, and small candy bars.

- water must be pumped from natural bodies such as streams, lakes, or rivers, and then treated with iodine.

- hiking poles are a *must*, especially for fording rivers.

- pack lightly - no need for too much clothes, and get lightweight clothes. i ended up wearing the same clothes for both backpacking journeys and only changed socks on the last day.

- bring some entertainment - probably a book. once camp is settled, nature only provides so much entertainment.

- get proper footwear. i wore a pair of old trail running/lightweight hiking shoes which were destroyed by the end of the trip.

- tons of mosquitos in yellowstone.

- do not feed the bears.

2011-08-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

new sends tonight at stone gardens:

- black/pink v3, old 45' - weirdo running dyno/jump start and some ballsy moves.

- purple v3 1, diamond wall - some stretchy moves and a baby dyno at the end

- purple v3 2, diamond wall - mantling on small edges

- orange v3, 101 wall - throw your body from a layback

with a week in the frontrange backpacking behind me, i thought my body would rust a little more. i think the big difference between this trip and my ireland trip is that i was active every day and had a very controlled diet, so while some of my arm strength waned, my overall fitness level remainded approximately the same.

in other words, it's good to be back and i don't think i will have to put in as much effort to recovery.

2011-08-03T09:05:00.001-07:00

monday - no new sends

wednesday, stone gardens [morning] :

salmon v3, new 45' - jumpy and pinchy.

wednesday, sbp [night] :

going out of town tomorrow until august 13th. slipped in a night session.

salmon v4, northwest corner - PIIIINCH. worked this a little on sunday but didn't send. sent today.

green v4, tall free-standing boulder - this one is nasty and crimpy. 'nuff said.

teal v4, tall free-standing boulder - lots of side pulling on edges and a big meathook for the crux. if you pinch the meathook hold in the bottom corner, you will get great traction. worked this on sunday too, sent today.

red v4, divider wall - NEW! - some pinches, some edges, some high-balling.

green v4, entrance top-out boulder - CRIIIIIMPS. i hate this problem but had to send it because it was making fun of my momma.

light green v4, entrance top-out boulder - only 2-3 moves, but tricky and big moves. involves a handfoot match and a nasty crimp.

blue v4, entrance top-out boulder - this was one of my projects. sit start, pinch on edge, foot switch, toe the edge, then bit reach for the sloper. awkward shuffle for the feet, dyno / huge reach at end. send.

since i'm going out of town, i figured now is a good time for some observations and reflection:

- despite my bitter hatred for crimps, i am usually pleasantly surprised at my crimp ability.

- i made one of these recently - http://www.incredibody.com/images/107wr.jpg . 1 pvc pipe, a long rope, and some old college text books. it has been a god-send for my sloper ability.

- a good way to work out a pinch is to take some heavy books pinch them together, and let gravity work out your arms. god-send for my pinch ability.

- almost any move can be turned into a pinch.

- i think my overall on-site level is somewhere between a v3 and v4. closer to a v4 these days. we'll see after vacation how that holds up. v5's are small projects, but i feel significantly more confident in my send ability these days.

- shoes do matter. i recently tore a huge hole in the toe section of my evolv defy's and had to retire them [unless i want huck-finn feet].

anyways, i reverted back to my mad rock phoenixes. they get super sweaty, have some holes, suck for edging, and when i heel hook, the heel pops out of the shoe. this morning, when repeating a v4, i stepped on a stray piece of rubber dangling off my shoe while switching feet and almost ate dirt. it *sucked*.

i got another pair of evolv defy's, but i might return them and try out the evolv pontas. it's a 30$ difference, so i will contemplate.

- the overall grades at sbp are more consistent than the grades at stone gardens. there are even inconsistencies between routes set by an individual setter at stone gardens.

that said, i still have a soft spot for stone gardens. giles puts up some great routes.

- roofs are, and will always be, the bomb.

2011-07-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

forgot friday's stuff:

light green v4 cardiac / prow - hang start, lots of dynamic grabs and moves. very fun.

yellow v4 roof / vert wall - crimps and body shifting. not so fun.

orange v4, new 45' - traverse around the 30' protrusion and up the side. interestingly enough, a very similar route was recently up and rated v3 by the same setter. what gives?

purple v4, new 45' - dyno start and crimp/pinches up the 30' protrusion

white v3, new 45' - dyno halfway through. several big moves.

went to sbp today. i can onsight most of the v3's there, so just going to throw out the >= v4 sends that i can remember.

orange v5, 70' wall - dyno start and up the side of the 70' wall.

hot pink v4, 70' wall - start under the 70' and big moves up.

salmon v4, short topout boulder - pinches!

light blue v4, short topout boulder - laybacks and pinchy stuff

light blue v4, flat wall - weird slopers and crimps

2011-07-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

new cave setup. cleaned it up with a send-fest.

- green v3 - cave - traverse around the low part of the cave

- neon green v4 - cave - traverse around the top part of the cave

- salmon v5 - cave - pockets + undercling, dyno end

- white/blue v3/v4 - roof project - not sure what the grade is. long, pumpy roof route ftw.

2011-07-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

i've been doing a bunch of lead climbing lately. it's a totally different mentality than both top rope and bouldering. there's more emphasis on being careful and climbing within my ability than pushing the limits.

- white v4, overhanging crack wall - tricky feet on this one and a mad pinch.