Upper West to 6/24

I've been remiss in keeping up with my writing once again. Time can really get away from you and the last two months have evaporated.

I've been doing some great climbing this spring. I found a new boulder near the Boulder of Love that we called Crackalickin'. Actually, Flynn found it, so it's not fair to claim that I had anything to do with it. It's a cool problem. I invited Kiel out to check out some of the boulders near my place. He crushed Mad, Mad Love on his second try by jumping through the crux. It was awesome! It's amazing how people's styles are so different. I have a substantial reach advantage over Kiel and yet he eliminates like three moves I need to do to hit the same hold. It's eye-opening. Kiel then onsighted Crackalickin'.

Kiel flashing Crackalickin'

Since then I've been teaming up with Seth to do new routes at Upper West. So far this spring I've done six new routes at Upper West- many of them are excellent. Sadly, I have no pictures yet; I'll need to get up there early on a clear morning to get some good shots.

The first route I called Full Circle. It's about 5.11a with a very cool bouldery start on a series of funky side-pulls. Terrific rock that looks more like limestone than schist in a few places. Paul discovered this mini-cliff in the woods about 10 years ago and it wasn't until CRAG-VT bought the cliff that I went back to see if it really was interesting. The name was inspired by the fact that we've come from a time when we were naming routes Private Property and Trespassing to a time when climbers own the cliff.

The next route I did I called Paradox. It follows the left side of the Against the Grain arete. Steep!

Seth spotted a possible line peeking out through the trees near the Rose crack and, after rapping in to check it out, I found three more fantastic climbs: Donkey Index, Once-ler and Why You Fail. The latter two routes are at least half trad gear (Oncel-ler having only 1 bolt) and they've quickly become some of my favorite routes on the cliff.

I've been climbing remarkably well this spring. All of my new routes I either flashed or got on my second try. I've been looking for something slightly harder to work on, but I've come up empty so far. I started trying Steppin' Razor again, but it's too painful and climbing it feels too much like work.

Looking for inspiration. Let's see what's next...

East Side 4/11 and 4/15

The East Side was a relative mob scene on Saturday with Chris Duca, John and Courtney, me, Kel and Dexter enjoying perfect weather. Kel, Dex and I pounced on Blunt Force and Screaming Pigeon while the rest of the crew headed over to the Diplomat wall to see if they could sort out something dryish. Turns out Gordita was in pretty good shape for them. Dexter, a young guy from UVM, made a nice showing on Blunt Force, linking large sections of the route and doing the low crux nicely. Kel was a little spent from the previous day's session on the Cat's Ass and botched his redpoint attempt.

Dexter puffin' on the Blunt

I hung the draws on Blunt. At this point I've done the route so many times now it's almost effortless. It's interesting how that can happen. I think the combination of knowing every move and being totally confident and relaxed is the key. To apply this level of composure on a much harder route is clearly the next step. Mastery, confidence, and poise.

Kel snaking the crux side-pull on Blunt

Courtney and John came over and I hosed them down with a healthy spray shower for a while. Courtney jumped on Blunt and crushed it. I talked them into trying Scavenger next. Those people are freaky-strong. While I was up on the cliff taking pictures I saw one hell of a big porcupine up in a nearby tree.

5.13d Porcupine

After the Blunt warm-ups, I got very close on Screaming Pigeon. Next time remember: Feet pretty high, move right up to quartz blob. Good quartz edges near and under the draw. Jack up the feet (pretty small and hard to find). Bowling ball right- then big move to bomber slot.

On the arete.

Onto Pastry Rage! I was feeling quite good. The rotation of three, with a pretty good warm up on the previous two routes had me breathing fire. I cruised the crux and got my hands on the filthy "shelf". I had a lot of trouble clipping the bolt above the shelf- I climbed too far to the left and had to resort to a horror-show left-hand mantle while clipping with my right. Not recommended unless you're constipated and need something to help you evacuate your nether regions.

Stuck the crux!

There's a pretty good no-hands rest that can be finagled once you get your feet on the ledge, but it was quite dirty with little crunchy lichens and I kept thinking my feet were going to skate off. I'd brought my brush so I cleaned off a few key footholds. I was really thinking I was going to send, but after a few more feet of climbing, I dead-ended into munge. The climbing was tricky and sufficiently dirty as to shut me down. I whipped. I cleaned a bunch of holds off and managed to get level with the anchor before whipping again- this time taking a long one and banging my ass into the cliff. Once again, a fall with good feet and bad hands = ass over tea kettle. I got over my jitters and manged to top out by grabbing the 9-year-old cord on the anchor.

Shutdown by dirty 5.11 climbing. Damn!

I had to head out to make it back somewhat on-time. I was feeling pretty confident about my next attempt. The low crux was wired and the upper section was now clean(ish).

Fighting off a flu bug that struck my family, I came back on Wednesday with Dr. Katzman. By the time we made it to the base of the route, I felt like I was going to barf. I was feeling quite off balance and really questioning whether I should even attempt the route- especially since I banged up my ass pretty badly on the previous attempt. I figured I'd go up and at least get more familiar with the moves.

I moved pretty well up into the crux, but I was feeling pretty ill. I manged to fight through the little dead-point and nail the shelf. I hung out there for a while trying to get my heart rate down to a reasonable level; I was working my ass off- not because I was climbing badly, but because I felt like I had a bag of cement in my stomach. I found a really nice way to clip the bolt above the ledge (which had freaked me out so badly on the last attempt). It was mellow- I'm not sure why I botched it before; over-eager, I expect. I rested for an epoc at the no-hands.

The top went pretty well. I continued to feel crappy, but I really kept my head and focused more on making smart moves than strong moves. I felt very weak, but my form was making up for it. At one point I made a small mistake and felt myself melting off. But instead of pulling harder, I backed off a bit and fixed the mistake. At the anchor I futzed around trying to find something I felt I could hold onto well enough to clip off. I found a small crimp and trusted it. Done! A terrific route people will surely love. I clipped in and rested for a while before chopping Derek's old spectra cord and lowering off. If I can climb this well feeling terrible, I need to step-up. It's going to be a great season- I can feel it! What's next?

Pastry Rage (5.12a)

East Side 3/31

Totally hosed. The weatherman was saying Tuesday would be the warm sunny day for the week. Nope. Rained all night and 40 degrees and cloudy all day. Not even much of a breeze to dry things off. Derrek, Kel and I went out anyway. They'd not been up to the East Side so we went up hoping Blunt Force would be dry. It was dry enough, but the temps were miserable. I did Blunt and then jumped on Screaming Pigeon Bitch but my hands got so cold they swelled up and wouldn't close properly. Some of the lower section was wet too and I couldn't feel my fingers at all.

Kel came inches from on-sighting Blunt Force- a proud, proud effort. He totally crushed the low side-pull cruxy bit. I think if it wasn't cold and wet, he would have sent. Kel then had a good solid go at Screaming Pigeon too. I hope we get him out a bunch this summer; he's totally qualified to climb some of our best routes and I'm sure he'll dig them.

Kel wokring Screaming Pigeon Bitch

Derrek's ring finger seems to be healing (from having stuck a half-inch drill bit through the pad). He made great progress on Blunt Force and he went on to send a few days later...

Derrek on the start of Blunt Force

I'm starting to get really amped to get back up on a nice day and work on Pastry Rage. I think it'll go down quickly. Unfortunately, there is a TON of terrible weather coming... looks like no climbing this weekend.

Derrek on the start of Blunt Force

East Side 3/28

Hit the East Side on Saturday with Seth. Man, we're getting lucky with this early spring weather. The cliff is in great shape- even the Diplomat wall is dry at this point. Let's hope the weather continues to hold. Last summer's July/August washout was the worst in years.

Can't wait to get out and climb on a sunny day!

Seth and I headed up to the Blunt Force area to warm up. I decided to hop right on Scavenger and hang the draws to see if I'd be able to redpoint it. The rock was actually a bit warm (amazing for March) and the holds we're not as crisp as they'd been. I think I've gotten used to climbing in 30-degree weather; it's actually pretty nice when you get used to it.

I linked up to the last clip hanging the draws, but I was feeling a little tentative. I'm not sure why- I guess it's kind of a hard warm-up and I still haven't logged enough falls this season to have them out of my head. Seth decided to give it a top-rope run after I topped out. It was Seth's first-day out on rock for the season (other than his Black Dike / Whitney-Gillman link-up with Alden the previous weekend). Seth decided to work the early-season kinks out on solid 5.12. Good man!

On my second go, I fell on the last holds. I didn't have enough in the tank to jack up my feet for the final toss to the top. I pushed pretty hard on that attempt and was planning to move on to another route (figured it could wait for another day) but Seth suggested I rest a bit and give it another go. "Dude- you were at the last move!"

About this time, Jeremy Dowdy and his girlfriend(?) showed up with Tyler Sandberg in tow. Tyler had seen my red shirt from Duxbury and decided to come over to see what we were up to. Tyler ran off with his pads to find some boulders and Jeremy took his girlfriend up to Bubbles. Having had a decent 20 min rest, I saddled up and sent Scavenger. It felt very good. I used a new cross-under hand sequence on the crux and found myself on the final holds before I even realized I was there. It was funny to be on the last holds, trying to adjust my right-hand so that it was perfect, not even realizing that I was only one big move from the top. It was great, I'd totally let go of my attachment to sending the route. I was one move away, calmly fiddling with my grip, trying to see how to best get my fingers on it when suddenly a thought came rushing into my head, "SEND IT YOU FOOL! YOU'RE THREE FEET FROM THE TOP!" I hiked up my feet and made the big dead point to the jug at the lip. I think the route's probably about 5.12b. I asked Dave Vuono, who sent it last fall, and he suggested 5.12b as well. Looks like we're on our way to a consensus.

Seth Maciejowski- my "lucky belayer".

After Scavenger, Seth and I headed over to the Pastry Rage project. Getting to the first bolt is a little scary. Not sure if a stick-clip, a cam, or just getting used to it is the best approach. It's just a little too loose and a little too 5.7ish to feel totally secure when looking at a 15' backwards fall onto the slab below. I dogged my way up, stick clipped the crux bolt and trolleyed up to brush off the holds a bit. I found a few interesting crimps (a neat left hand quartz edge and a right hand square-cut which looks a little "impermanent". With these holds, the move isn't too bad. Though it might be a little exciting to do pumped. The bolt is a little high. I think I should be able to link a lot of the bottom and put the rope on top of the cliff next time I make it up there. I don't think this route will take too long to put together.

After Seth's go on TR, we went down and looked at the problem Tyler was working on. Looks tough. He said, "It might be double-digits". So, V10, or something. it's a super-powerful 2-move chuck. Out of my league for sure.

Tyler Sandberg working on a hard new problem...

Carcass 3/26

I made it out to the Carcass Crag last night with Chris Duca. The cliff was pretty dry, though some of the routes had a few wet spots. After warming up on lower Appalling Travesty and Two-pitch Route, Chris and I worked on the proper finish to Appalling Travesty. It was great to get on the route again- super fun and a total sleeper. The business section of the route is pretty short, but it's a really cool series of bumps and deadpoints.

Parker showed up to do some rope soloing shortly after we started and we invited him to join us. He was pretty stoked. I guess he's headed out of town with Vuono for a few months to go climb in the desert and Yosemite. Must be nice...

On my last go, I manged to link all the way to the last hard move. One-hung it. The tricks I learned in the gym this winter, coupled with all of the yoga are really paying off. My contact strength, dead-pointing accuracy and high stepping are feeling really good. Now if I can only do something about my terrible endurance. It's been a long winter...

It's good to be roped up again. The first real burn on the route I was feeling a little bit shakey. The Carcass can get in your head a little more than some of our other crags. It was good to keep trying, by the end of it I definitely felt like I was trusting the rope again.

The anchor on the top of the route is toast! It was a piece of 10mm rope, but now it's totally rotten and green with mold. It even has a huge core shot (not sure how that happened). We backed it up with a piece of cord, but it needs to be replaced with some quicklinks very badly.

On a side note, I bumped into Derek who'd been up at the East Side. He's been bitten by the bug and it looks like we'll see some action out of him this summer. I'm psyched- let's hope our schedules line up for once.

Gotta get back to the Carcass again soon!

Welcome Spring!

I can't tell you how nice it is to have an early spring this year. I crushed my ankle in December and the lack of physical activity has made this winter a long one. I was hiking down from the East Side with Kevin after putting the last bolts on Pastry Rage (a resumed Derek Doucet joint) and I slipped on some mud covered ice. Could there be anything more slippery than mud covered ice? Probably not.

As of this writing many of the local cliffs are uncommonly dry for this time of year. The Cat's Ass is totally dry, most of the Carcass is doable, The East Side is almost entirely in and, though I've not been up there yet, I've heard the 82 is also "in".

I've had a few good days out this spring already and I've been hitting the Cat's Ass a bit. Despite my recent inactivity, the yoga and bouldering I've been doing have done a lot to keep me in reasonable shape. I've been amazed at the control I have high stepping now that I'm not super-inflexible.

On Saturday, Dereck, Derek, Dennis, and Ross Chongo (new guy) met up at the Cat's Ass. Perfect temps and good cheer for sure. I was feeling pretty plucky and managed to redpoint the Cat's Ass routes except for the crack, It's Only Interment. Man- that's a sandbag, even with the new bolt. Here's the gear for future reference (in order of placements)

1. .5 Camalot
2. Yellow Alien
3. Green Alien
4. .5 Camalot
5. Bolt

The trick for me on the crux was two things. I'm going to write 'em down here so I'll remember (well, I'm sure I'll forget, but at least I'll be able to kick myself if I read this after falling on it again).

Hit the thin fingers where the aliens are placed. Use the better of the two jams (left hand) as a sort of gaston (pushing left) and skip or bump past the beak to a palm-up two finger (pinky and ring) lock. Use this to sidepull-jam-layback up onto a good high right foot. Reach over into the good lock where the .5 goes. Step low and right and move to the jug.

This is a great route- it really deserves more traffic. I'll need to get on it again soon.

All my blokes have been climbing well. Here are a few pictures:

Derek in hot pursuit of Cat's Ass.

Derek mid-crux.

Blunt Force

Derek onBlunt Force

Dereck on Pussy Galore

Dereck demonstrates his signature move