Chain so big, can't pop my collar

We went down to the Linville Gorge the other day and did a fair bit of climbing with Mike Stam.  This was one of my first times really getting to climb with him.  It's pretty amazing to see all of the work that he puts into developing new boulders down there.  He spent like 4 hours building a landing and cleaning holds for one problem, and then he flashed it.  It's crazy to think of putting that much effort into something that lasts for only a moment.  He called it Naive Melody (V4), but it was pretty hard.

Me on Naive Melody- Rachel Scheffe pic

He got video of the climb, so i'll link it in when/if he posts it.  I did a handful of climbs while i was down there, including Glassy Heel Hook (V4), Stranger Than Friction (V7), The Devil (V6), and a couple more that I don't know the name of.  There is a stupid amount of climbing that I want to do in the Gorge and i'm psyched to get back!! 

Also, i just got a new lens.  The Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8.  I took a few test shots recently and so far i really like it.  There is definitely distortion at 11mm, but the image is still mostly sharp.  Here's a few snapshots that i've taken so far:

Under the twilights, we livin the miller high life

A lot has gone down recently.  To start, it's Triple Crown season and my psych level is super high.  I've been doing the Star Chasers category and it has worked out quite nicely so far.
Hound Ears:
With bad weather in the weeks before the comp, i didn't get to do as much training as i would have liked.  My skin was soft and the only circuit training i had done was in the gym.  Even so, i was looking forward to the challenge of taking on both Tilley and Purp.  Comp day rolled around and it was super cold.  It was also snowy/raining.  As much as i didn't want them to postpone the event, it turned out for the best (mostly).  The only downside was that there was an 'afterparty' that didn't get postponed.  I may have had a bit too much fun, dropped my beer for no apparent reason (beer in a cup, so it really went everywhere (including all over my shirt/pants)), decided Cookout would be an excellent idea, and decided sleeping in my car would be an even better idea.  The upside to sleeping in my car was that I was already at the meeting spot for carpooling.  The downside was that i didn't actually sleep that much due to the frostbite that was surely setting in on my legs and feet.  So, feeling a little sick and quite tired (don't worry, i fixed the 'tired' problem with a couple Monsters (but that only added to the 'sick' problem)), we were off to the comp.  It turned out to be the best conditions Hound Ears has ever seen.  My goal for the day was to win and to do the three four-star problems in the field.  This includes The Crusher (V10), which I have been itching to do for years.  Oh, and also to have a killer good time and climb loads of boulders that i had never done before.  I started off by racking up a decent amount of stars, then went to try The Crusher.  I almost did it first go (closer than i'd ever been before) but it just got worse after that.  I blanked out on all my beta, wasted way too much energy/time, and didn't send.  It was a struggle to finish the day after that (pumping out on v4), but i managed to do a lot of good climbs before time was up.

Final Stars:
Me: 107
Tilley: 104 (how crazy close was that!!)
Purp: 83

Also, shout out to some other peeps who killed it that day:
Men Open:
1. Brad Weaver: 13,128
2. Nate Draughn: 12,508

Women Open:
1. Kasia Pietras: 7609
2. Isabelle Faus: 7183
3. Leanna Lockhart: 3539

Advanced Men:
3. Ben Newton: 6999

Intermediate Women:
1. Kat Marek: 3041

Big thanks to Jim Horton and Chad Wykle for doing another amazing job putting together Hound Ears and seriously hooking it up with the prize packages!



And.... On to the Stone Fort.  This year the comp fell on the weekend after Hound Ears.  Fortunately, it was just enough time for most people to recover (not Doug, his hands were... ). 

I drove out to Chatt with Chris Collins and Michael Harrington. Good ol Andrew Miller was nice enough to let us crash at his place.  We arrived a little late for pre-reg, but we chilled for a while and drank some free beer, watching some serious climbsters in action (tanktops, speed climbing and everything) at the Urban Rocks Gym.  Someone stole my Stone Fort shirt and koozie.  What really killed me was listening to everyone talk about the "Hound's Ear comp."  Next day, we got to Montlake way too early, hung out for a while, and eagerly awaited the 80 degree day to come.  Long story short:  The 'easy' climbs that get stars are all slabby and slopey (aka hard as shit), and all i had was a pair of blown solutions and no slab skills to speak of.  At Hound Ears, I fell a handfull of times all day.  At Stone Fort, V2 slabs were kicking me off left and right.  My feet were bleeding by the end of the day (they actually weren't, but they might as well have been).  I got dehydrated on 3 separate occasions and nearly decided to quit each time.  But, I did learn a lot about how to climb and i won some cool stuff anyway.  Some rando beat me at Star Chasing by 8 stars, but i still got second with 121, and i also did the Premium Blend Light Roast the fastest (nobody else did it, but i was still really fast dammit).  Shout out to all the people that killed it again (i'm too tired to list everyone tho).  They also premiered A Fine Line by Andrew Kornylak.  I thought it was badass.  Off to the afterparty (which i though meant free beer and fun).  I had spent all of my cash on water that day, so when i saw that they were charging 3 bucks per beer, i was a bit sad.  Fear not, we'll just hit up a gas station to buy more beer for cheap and have our own party, right?  And we'll just walk to the nearest one, right?  An hour and a half later we made it back with our beer.  And we didn't get stabbed or shot.  Things were really going our way now.  Did you know they have 32oz Miller High Life cans in Chattanooga? 

Yeah, i may move back there this season after all.  When the night was done, I was a little disappointed that I didn't get that ride to Atlanta that I was looking for, but I guess that's ok.  Waffle House for breakfast (awesome) and back to Boone (by way of Asheville....).  Good shit.

Drinkin every night because we drink to my accomplishments

Yeh, joking, of course.  Just a heads up, no pics in this post, so all you people who spend 20-30 seconds on this page for the 'eye candy', go ahead and bail.  The focus of this post is to observe [one of the] personal motivations for climbing.  While there are many reasons to devote our lives to the seemingly insignificant and largely misunderstood action of climbing a rock, some are far more inspiring and less selfish than others.  Those are the ones that tend to get more coverage (like Sharma stuff (being one with 'the nature')), as they portray the sport in a positive light, and provide a positive influence on new climbers.  While i respect all of that to the fullest (and try to live by a personal moral/ethical code that adheres to the highest of standards), let's be honest with ourselves for a minute or two.  People are selfish and have motives that we don't like to share with others (and not just in climbing).  Personally, one (among many (don't judge me)) of the reasons that i became very involved with climbing was to gain the approval of others.  i met a lot of people that i respected and admired and envied, and i decided that these were the people that i would like to be friends with.  i thought that being a good climber would translate to being able to gain the respect of those people.  While i did improve quickly for a while, it was ultimately an effort in futility.  i find that most of the people that i had aspired to be like (the people that i thought that i had formed solid friendships with), have disparate viewpoints.  i feel pretty disappointed when i don't recieve a call from a friend who is visiting town (or whatever; i guess i'd rather not provide copius examples from my personal life).  Anyways, i guess my point is that pushing yourself to gain the approval of others (sponsors, strong peeps, ladies, etc) may lead to rather evanescent and ultimately disappointing results.  Climbing can be the most therapeutic form of recreation, and the most torturous.  Find what works for you, and stick with it!!  Forreal.
*Also, to any gumby out there who may think that climbing is perceived as desireable by an attractive female (or any female, for that matter), just do yourself a solid and quit.  Devote yourself to something like basketball, baseball, football, weight lifting, fraternities, tanning, lots of money, puppies, tanktops, drinking way too much, and being a bit of a douche.  That seems to work wonders.  Cheers

Gold Diggin

So, the weather is finally beginning to cooperate and the temps are becoming more pleasant.  A step in the right direction anyway.  I've finally started climbing outside again and so far this seems like it will be a pretty killer season.  I've been out to Grandmother a couple times with Zack "Slow Motion" Silberman and Leanna Lockhart to get on Sunday Service.  I have tried this problem in years past with very little success.  I was pretty stoked to find that the moves no longer feel like such a struggle.  And I can finally crimp with my left hand again!!  Either way, I've gone out there 3 or 4 times now with no success.  Zack was able to put it together pretty quickly and did it without sticking the dyno in isolation!  Pretty sick.  We were filming, but Zack's camera loves to run out of memory right before the send.  So, he did the problem second go next time we were out there for the vid.  That kid is sick strong and always fun to climb with.  Leanna and I also seem to be very close to doing this climb, and I'm syked to get back out there soon!!

Zack on The Dyno of Sunday Service (V11)

As much as I want to do Sunday, I think it's good to give it a break for a bit.  Today, I went out into the Backyard with Josh Shepherd and got on some sick climbs!  It has been a while since I've been back there, but I'm officially hooked again.  There is a killer project dubbed the Massive, and it is quite large.  The finish looks like it will be absolutely terrifying, as it is really high, and the landing drops off another 8 feet.  Either way, Josh and I worked this thing for a while and found some sick beta (2 different methods) and we made good progress for the day.  Some of the holds still have some flaking to do before they can be deemed solid, but that just adds to the experience.  Here is a pic of one of Josh's early attempts:

The pic doesn't do it justice.  It's pretty tall.

The feature is reminiscent of Roof of Death, but this is much bigger and more difficult.  It is tough to say at this point, but it could run at about V8/9.  Can't wait to get back out there and give it some more work!!

Early Retirement

I love my free time!  Yesterday I did some tubing down the river for my bro's birthday, and today we went mountain biking at the somewhat new Rocky Knob.  It was killer fun.  This was my first mountain biking experience, and I had a really good time.  The beginner loop is the only one open right now, but it is super fun, and I'm not in any shape to be doing anything more advanced.  Even though it's a pretty short loop, it has some pretty techy spots and a super fun downhill at the end!  I definitely recommend it to anyone who has any interest in biking.  My bro got a GoPro Hero for his bday, so we took some vids and it looks pretty sick!  I'll post it up as soon as he gets it online.  Until then, here is a video of Perspective, as promised.   Thanks to Zack for putting this together so quickly.   And Josh's name is spelled Shepherd.



A New Problem in Boone from Zack Silberman on Vimeo.

Re-updatin

So, I know I said that I would take the send of the Power of Silence proj despite the dab, but I couldn't.  It bothered me.  A lot.  So, we headed out there again today with the slate wiped clean.  Still a project, still no name, etc.  Zack and Josh were nice enough to let me have first go, and I was able to put it together clean this time!  It helped to take a couple rest days.  This time, we got footage (even though it's pretty ghetto), so that should be up soon.  Anyways, Zack took next go and also fired it!  Then Josh was up and he cruised all of the opening moves and almost fired it first go.  Pretty sick improvement over last time.  He'll def get it soon!  Josh suggested the name Perspective, and I really like it.  Simple and appropriate, so it's finally over.  Perspective (v9) is born.  Get out and try this thing, lemme know what you think!

Then we hiked around and looked at / climbed some of the classics.  Our goal was to make it down to the Concave Proj, but of course we got too wrecked.  David put up a right exit to P0wned and I went over to try this little steep project that usually seems to be wet.  It looked soaked, but was quite dry.  We messed with some holds, found a good way to start the problem and after some efforts and very little remaining skin, I sent the rig.  David came in and did it a couple goes later after punting off the topout.  This thing will eat your skin if you aren't careful (or maybe even if you are) but it is still super fun movement, and pretty tough.  I figured it to be a hard 7, but seems harder if yer short.  As 3 new lines went up today, and I'm not one of the young guns any more, I called it Geriatric Hat Trick (7b (to compromise)).  I'm psyched to let my skin heal and get out there again soon.  There really is a lot of fun to be had in the neighborhood!

Sorry no photos, vid will come soon maybe.

Updatin (much needed)

With the recent heat and rainfall, I haven't really been able to commit a lot of time to climbing.  Golf Season!  love it.  Too bad golf is way too expensive.  I went out to Mountain Aire Golf Club to play a round with my dad the other day.  We haven't played there in years, even though it is beautiful and really well-maintained.   The price is just a bit out of my range.  Peak season rates just kicked in and it was $37 on a weekday.  I know it could be worse, but that doesn't change the fact that I can't afford it.  I played really well considering I only get out 2-3 times per year.  83 on a par 72 course.  Gotta work on my putting game! 

And since the only people that read this are climbers, I guess I'll throw in a bit about my recent climbing exploits.  First, I went down into Linville Gorge with Leif, Josh, and Bill a few weeks back.  I had been down there a couple times before, but never did much climbing.  I'm not gonna lie, I never cared for the slick nature of the rock, not knowing names or grades, and climbing in 90 degree heat.  Even so, this latest adventure was different.  It was a fun crew, and I was able adapt to the rock pretty quickly.  With a little change in mindset, I was able to have a hella good time.  I got on some really great lines that I don't know the name of.  I did a fair amount of climbs, but the only one I know the name of was Helter Skelter (full marks for fun and aesthetics).  I even got on some highball that may be a project.  It didn't seem like it could be harder than v4, but it is very committing at the top (so I bailed (multiple times)).  Apparently Joey Henson and Mike Stam have been spending a fair bit of time recently searching and developing new boulders, so I can't wait to get back down there and see what they've found!

Matt Pomfrey Photo

Matt Pomfrey Photo

Matt Pomfrey Photo

Then I trained in the gym for a while.  Went route climbing once (i suck).  Played another round of golf (80 (thank you putter)).  Played at Willow Valley and sucked (but made a hole in one).  Bit of tennis.



Dalen Gray Photo



Dalen Gray Photo

Boom!  Now we're up to date.  While I'm not too interested in going out and doing repeats in 85+ degree weather, I can get psyched on new stuff.  Josh Sheperd and I went out a few days ago and showed the Power of Silence project to Zack Silberman.  We were both pretty worried that he would just walk it, but it turned out that the foot-cut crux was just as challenging for him.  We all got shut down on that move and called it a day.  Yesterday, I was going to the Dump to boulder with my buddy Dylan, but we got rained out and went to the gym to do routes instead.  We met Zack there and learned that he got super stoked and went out that morning for a pre-rain session to try the proj some more.  And he found the beta to get through the crux.  After seeing a video of this, I started to freak a bit and toyed with the idea of an afternoon session.  After a fair amount of consideration, we decided to give it a go.  The new beta is sick!  We were both able to put in some really good efforts, falling just short of the final move.  My skin was getting torn up and my elbow was about to explode, so we called it a day with the knowledge that either one of us may do it first go next session.  After talking to Josh, we all decided to try again the next morning around 8am.  I loaded up on ibuprofen, threw some chapstick on my tips, iced the elbow, and finally managed to fall asleep after visions of sending danced through my mind.  This morning seemed to come too soon, but fotunately it hadn't rained through the night.  I was feeling quite stiff and sluggish at first, and I had a hard time warming up.  We all stopped at Katilfafish for a while and Drexel, David, Zack and Josh all got on it.  It looked awesome, but I knew it would kill my elbow so I resisted.  One more quick warmup and we went over and sprayed Josh down with the beta.  His feet were giving him problems, so after some effort, he told me and Zack to go ahead and have a go.  Zack and I decided to do a coin toss to decide who would climb first, just in case one of us sent first go.  I won the toss and ended up flailing around, desperately trying to get my feet on.  Fail.  Zack's go was better, but still no send.  My next go, I made sure to get every hold as perfect as possible and made it through the crux, made the final move, and barely snagged the jug out of sheer desperation.  After a little hesitation on the topout, it was done.  (note:  there was a spotter wristwatch dab.  it didn't affect the send, so after a group consensus, im allowing it.)  I don't really have a lot to compare this problem to in terms of difficulty.  It has been a while since I've climbed anything at that level outdoors.  I'm tentatively saying V9, and after toying with a handful of names, I think that Delirium's Edge is appropriate.  Oh, and I didn't really bother getting pictures because there was a video camera running.  Until the send when it ran out of memory and wasn't running any more.  So, maybe we'll get some footage when Zack and Josh do this thing.  It's a killer line, very desperate to the very end, loved it!  

Kora doin her thang

The Power of Silence Project aka Delirium's Edge

The first crux

Classic Evil Monkey

More Evil Monkey

Josh's mangled foot