Team Evolv 2014

I am very excited to share with all of you that I have the privilege of representing Evolv in 2014 as a grassroots athlete.  They have always been my go-to shoe.  Evolv shoe rubber, quality, durability, and fit have always been excellent.  I also just started using their crash pads and love them.  If you need climbing shoes, approach shoes, bouldering gear, whatever, Evolv can fulfill all of your climbing needs.  Check them out.  You won't be disappointed.  I am definitely looking forward to some of the new products they are going to be offering this year and I hope you all are too.

I am excited to be a part of the family!

A Muerte! - Some Photos from Rodellar



A nice little view of Rodellar



The historical town of Alquezar

The road to Kalandraka




Nadya climbing Juan Y Fran Se Nos Van

 


The start of Juan Y Fran Se Nos Van. 




Brian on Mal De Amores



One of many goats at Las Ventanas.  There were so many!  Kind of scary to be so close.  I was afraid they were going to push me off the cliff.

Los pozones!

Pizza from Casa Jorge with honey.  Soooo goood!

A view from Las Ventanas

Overcoming Obstacles

After this most recent climbing adventure to Rodellar, Spain, I have fallen even more in love with climbing. I know everyone has different experiences, climbs at different levels, and has their own expectations. I know I do. My goal for the trip was to climb a 7c and although I did not accomplish that goal, I think I got something better. I learned that climbing is like being in a relationship; there are highs and lows but it’s worth fighting for. One climb in particular really tested me in my relationship with climbing. This climb is called Aquest Any Si. According to my friend Santi it was the first bolted climb in Rodellar. I had to do it and I fell in love once I tried it.

The route has tufas, underclings, sidepulls, and pinches. It is pretty much my anti-style, but the moves are amazing. I was so used to crimping and downpulling that this climb really tested my abilities. The first time I tried it I went bolt to bolt, but I could do every move without too much trouble. However, I knew the top was going to be the most challenging since there is no true rest on this climb and is very sustained.  

So my first few redpoint attempts were pretty brutal. I would get to the fifth draw and it would kick me off. That happened several times, but I was determined to get past that section. I got some better beta and figured out a better rest for me since I stink at kneebars and it was really difficult to rest at the huge undercling. So I found what would be my rest and I stuck with it. Then came the last two draws which I think were also the hardest moves of the climb. I was now getting to the second to last bolt with no problem but that last draw was pretty difficult to clip. It was close to the anchors and the fall was clean but I was still hesitant to skip it. After many more attempts I was now falling right at the last draw. On one of the tries I was feeling pretty solid and I went to clip that draw but fumbled it terribly. So, I decided that I was going to skip it. I have never skipped draws before but I saw someone else do it and it gave me a boost of confidence.  

By this point I had every move dialed on this climb. After changing beta many times at the top, I was confident in what I had to do. I kept telling myself I had to skip the last draw. And I did, and I took that whip many times. I was still getting shut down by this amazing climb. However, even though I was not sending it, my technique was improving. I was turning, using drop knees and holding things that I never thought I could before. I knew in my head that it was making me a better climber but I was getting a little frustrated by this point because I really wanted to send it. It was getting to crunch time with only four climbing days left. I knew I was running out of time and the temps were getting worse and worse. It was impossible to project in the middle of the day because the heat would just suck all the energy out of me. I was getting desperate. So I did what any other dedicated and determined climber would do. I got up at 4:30 in the morning so I could get to the climb before it got in the sun which was about 8am. This gave me enough time for the hike, to do my warm up, and to give it a few redpoint attempts before the sun came over the mountains.

On the first of these early mornings I felt great. I was coming off a rest day and I felt like I could it. I had gone over all the moves in my head, knew I was skipping that last draw and I knew I could do it. I felt great at the rest, hardly pumped. As my friend Carolina reminded me that sometimes you need the rest more for your head than your arms as it gives you a chance to slow your heart rate and tell yourself that you can do it. I believe my rest was one of those mental rests because my arms felt great. The funny part is that my legs would actually start to cramp up and that was when I knew I just had to go and try to finish it. As I started to flow through the last few moves, my mind was calm, I was breathing well and my arms felt pretty good. I moved past the last draw without clipping it and I felt like this was it. As I went to grab the last bad hold which was a small gaston with my left hand, I thought I had it. The next thing I know I am falling. As I am falling I can hear myself screaming but it was almost like I was not in my own body, but like I was watching somebody else fall. I suddenly slammed into the wall with my back and butt and I found myself hanging upside down. It was the first time I had ever fallen upside down and I hope it was the last. It almost felt like I was in a dream, I was in pure shock of what happened. As I flipped myself back the realization of what happened started to come over me. I think Brian was more terrified than I was. He was the one belaying me and I am sure it looked much worse that it actually felt. We tried to assess what happened and we concluded that I was probably kicking as I was falling and caught the rope with my foot which led to the incident. I did not let that deter me from getting back on the climb. Instead twenty minutes later I tried again, this time clipping the last draw.

I did not send that day. Instead I went back pretty disappointed.  I try not to let climbing determine my moods or control my life yet climbing is such an emotional investment that it is difficult to let it go. By this point I had spent probably 4 or more days trying to redpoint with three attempts per day. I told myself that I am going to give it one more day before I move on and try something new.

The 4:30 am wake up the next morning was brutal. My body was aching from the fall the previous day. I knew it was going to be a battle. I got pretty pumped on my warm ups even though I tried to not let it get to my head. I still had hope. While Brian put up the draws on the climb, two climbers walked up and I knew that they were going to get on it as well. My heart sank a little because I knew I would not have as much time that day. I was getting so desperate that on my first attempt I went back to my original beta of throwing for the last jug. I fell again. I knew I had to let another climber go ahead of me and I waited as the sun was making its way up the horizon. Of course the climber was taking his time, chatting, moving terribly slow and I was growing impatient. I told myself to let it go and relax so I cheered as the climber began his attempt. Unfortunately he did not send and it was my turn again. This was it. I was going to finish it. I felt more fatigued as I got on the climb but I knew I just had to relax. I felt calm and I let my body take over and all I had to do was keep my heart from racing. Next thing I know I hit that last jug and into the last undercling to clip the chain. It was the biggest weight off my shoulders. I have never been so happy to send. I was filled with relief and excitement at the same time. It was a crazy journey. As much as I wanted to curse that climb for making me suffer instead I thanked it for teaching me some valuable lessons.

I learned that nothing is impossible. With enough determination and confidence, anything is possible. This is not only true in climbing but in life as well. There were times when I wanted to walk away and give up but instead I kept trying harder. I learned that if you really want something you have to work at it. I think that climbing teaches us some valuable lessons. It teaches us to stay calm in a stressful situation. It teaches us to not give up even when things are tough. It also makes us appreciate life and the people close to us. I could not have accomplished my goal without Brian by my side. He gives me so much motivation and support and I could not ask for a better climbing partner. I also could not have done it without Carolina and all the other people who encouraged me to keep trying and to keep fighting. In the end its you and the climb but there are still people along the way who help you in accomplishing your goals. I could not be more thankful for all the people in my life. I think that climbing makes me appreciate life and to live everyday in the best way I can. Climbing is a way of life. I can’t wait to see what else it has in store for me. For now, it's time to train and dream about my next project.

Hueco Tanks, December 2012

Just a few photos from a trip this past December to our favorite bouldering destination, Hueco Tanks.  I'll spare you the detailed trip report, but we had an awesome time once again.  We got to hang out, crush, not crush, freeze to death, run into trouble with the law, and enjoy Christmas (in other words...had a good time)with some of our fellow Ohioans (Aaron, Max, and Dan), their giant friend (Ed), our favorite Canadians (Josh, Regan, Etienne, and the adorable Jade), and a really nice couple that we met from the Atlanta area (Haley and Andrew).  We both sent our projects from last year, and got super close to sending a couple more.  Will definitely try to head back next winter and hopefully make it an annual trip.  Also, I threw together a little video of some of our sends from the trip.  Enjoy!

First Impressions: Mad Rock Shark 2.0

 

Mad Rock Shark 2.0 right out of the box

Climbing shoes are absurdly expensive and it seems like their prices just keep going up.  I'm aware that I could just have my shoes resoled for much cheaper and I actually have had many pairs resoled in the past.  However, after a resole, the shoes just don't feel the same to me anymore.  Maybe I don't give them enough time to break in, maybe it's a mental thing, or maybe the shoes really are a little different?  Well, these days I'm usually too late to have them resoled since I always seem to bust through my shoes mid-season when I don't want to send them in.  Plus, resoling shoes doesn't remove the terrible stink.  So, when the time comes I usually just grab a new pair and give up $150.  Unfortunately, that time has come.  Or maybe it's fortunate since I can try something new?

My first pair of climbing shoes were from Evolv, which were a birthday gift from my cousin who pretty much got me hooked on climbing (thanks Nikko!).  Ever since then I have mainly stuck with Evolv since they seemed to fit my feet pretty well.   I tried a couple pairs of Five Ten's in the past (Anasazis and Dragons) and loved the sticky rubber.  However, the fit in the heel was just terrible for me.  So much air in there and I couldn't heel hook in them for the life of me (although the Jet 7's seem to fit me very well and I actually use them in the gym right now and love 'em, but sadly, their rubber is wearing thin).  Then I got a couple pairs of Mad Rock Super Locos a couple years ago because they were being discontinued and were super cheap.  I loved 'em!  They fit really well, and their rubber wasn't too bad either.  So I alternated back and forth between the Evolvs and Mad Rocks until I put holes in all of them.  Then back to Evolv it was since I knew they fit and I couldn't find a store to try on any of the new Mad Rocks. 

The Talons are my favorite Evolv shoe since they fit pretty well in both the toe and the heel, although I do wish the heel was a little more secure.  In order for the Evolv Shamans to fit, I had to size them down a half size (I believe most size them similarly).  The heel is much more secure with the Shamans, but my toes feel too scrunched and I find that I am unable to toe in as well as I can with the Talons.  Unfortunately I am now starting to bust holes through both of them and I guess it's time for some replacements.  I love my Evolv Talons so I will definitely replace those.  As for the Shamans, I thought about it and almost ordered a pair when for some reason I remembered about my Mad Rock Super Locos.  I browsed the Mad Rock website to see if there was anything that looked interesting and that was when I stumbled upon the Shark 2.0.  I read through all the specs and they looked like a pretty nice shoe, but what hit me was the price tag.  They weren't dirt cheap or anything, but at $120 they were very reasonably priced and I was willing to give them a shot if there was a chance that they would fit my feet as well as the Super Locos did.  I emailed customer service to see how they fit compared to the Super Locos and they said they were very similar.  Sold. 



I received my Mad Rock Shark 2.0's yesterday and so far I have only put them through one gym session warm-up.  My first impressions so far are positive.  They fit really well, almost like a glove.  My toes are comfortably uncomfortable (I don't know if that makes sense?) and the heel is very secure with very little to no dead space.  They are like a cross between the toes of the Talons and the heel of the Super Locos/Shamans.  And that flexible arch thing is really nifty too.  My only concern is with the stretch.  Right now the fit is just about perfect and I am hoping they do not stretch much, if at all.  As for the rubber, I'm not yet sure what to think since they still need some breaking in (and I am not used to wearing a shoe with some actual rubber on the toes...).  I really want to like these shoes but only time will tell.  I'll update this post as I use the shoes more and more and put them through some abuse.  Some more photos of the shoes are below.  Enjoy!
   

*Update (5/21/2013): So it has been a few months since I first posted about the Sharks and since then I have been able to give them some decent mileage in the gym and on some real rock.  I was originally worried about stretch since the fit was just about perfect when I received them.  I am happy to say that the fit of these shoes is still just as good as they were when I took them out of the box and they are still some of the best fitting shoes I've owned.  Although they fit really well, I did notice that my arches had a tendency to ache after wearing them a lot or on very long climbs, which is probably due to the flexible arch and lack of support.  However, I didn't find this to be that big of an issue since I mainly climb single pitch routes and boulder.  

Now the rubber is a little bit of a different story.  To me the rubber seems pretty darn hard compared to my Evolvs and I definitely have not yet broken the rubber in after a season at the Red.  I still don't trust my feet on tiny footholds and for smearing and they just don't stick to the rock as well as my Evolvs do.  The sole is pretty thick and it will probably just need a little more time for me to wear it down to where I like it.  I think I've read of other climbers actually sanding the soles down to solve this problem, but I don't have a sander.  So I'll just have to wear them down naturally.  

The Mad Rock Shark 2.0 is an excellent fitting shoe with so-so rubber.  So far I've only been to warm up and train in these shoes and I have yet to use them on my projects.  I'm hoping that I will be able to wear the rubber down enough that I'll be able to trust my feet and start projecting with them.  Once I do I will post another update.   

Crank'O'Ween 3

Just spreading the word about a bouldering comp being held at my gym next Tuesday, October 23rd in Columbus, Ohio.  More info can be found at Kinetic's website or Facebook page.  There should be tons of good problems, a bunch of new holds, lots of prizes, and a good group of people.  So if you are in the area and are in the mood to crush or if you just want to hang out, stop on by!  If you have not yet been to the gym and have always wanted to check it out, next Tuesday is a pretty good time to do it.  So mark your calendars, put it in your planners, set reminders on your phone, whatever.  Do it!  Do it now!

As for me, I will be there at some point in the evening, but it would depend on what time I get home from work.  I have not yet decided if I will climb.  I have never really enjoyed climbing in competitions since the large crowds, abundance of noise, and craziness of it all is just way too hectic for me.  But we shall see.  Maybe I will enter and use it as a high volume training day...

Must. Climb. Stronger.

The problem with climbing (well, at least for me) is that I always want to climb stronger.  I can remember thinking to myself several years ago when I first started climbing that I would be perfectly content being a solid 5.12 climber.  After a couple of years I climbed my first 5.12 and then I began knocking out more 12's and harder 12's.  Awesome.  I achieved my goal.  However, I wasn't perfectly content like I thought I would be.  I wanted more.  I wanted to be a solid 5.13a/b climber.  That should be pretty reasonable.  If I could climb hard 5.12, easy 5.13 should be attainable with proper training, right?  Then the 13a's started rolling in, and then the 13b's, and then my first 13c.  Awww snap.  Now 13d and maybe even 5.14 seem attainable somewhere in the future.  When does it end?  Does it?  I am already extremely happy with my level of climbing, but there is a part of me that wants to keep going and wants to see how far I can push my abilities.  I have only climbed one two 5.13c's (just added Kaleidoscope to the list this past Friday, yay!), but that doesn't mean anything.  So I would definitely love to add a few more 13c's under my belt and maybe take it to the next level with a 13d and I have a few in mind that I would love to try this fall at the Red.  The season has only just begun so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.  Will I send one?  None?  Hopefully the training pays off.

My basement training center: homemade adjustable edge and Metolius Simulator

Training.  Most of my progress is a product of training.  I am not a professional climber nor am I a climbing bum.  I work for a living and having a 9 to 5 job only allows me to climb outside on the weekends (well, it is actually more like 7 to 7 because of my looong commute).  Plus, I live 4 hours away from climbing, making any sort of after work trip impossible.  So the only way for me to improve and climb stronger is by training in the gym or at home.  The first few years that I climbed I didn't train much.  I just went to my university's gym a few times a week.  Then a bouldering co-op called Kinetic opened up in Columbus and I started going there.  The awesome crew and the great facility was very motiviating and after a while I could tell that I was getting stronger, slowly, but still getting stronger.  However, it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized that I would need to actually train and not just boulder around in the gym in order for me to improve faster.  Yes, bouldering a ton would eventually make me stronger, but it was definitely an inconsistent way of training, and inconsistent training methods lead to inconsistent results.  So, I decided to do some research into training for climbing, which led me to articles by Mike Doyle, Mike Anderson, and Kris Hampton on periodization training.

I won't go into too much detail, but periodization basically breaks down training into several phases: first a strength training phase, followed by a power phase, and then an endurance phase.  At first I wasn't really strict with my training as I tagged on exercises after my bouldering sessions, but I did see some improvement as it did help me to climb my first 5.13 and a buunch of others.  I probably continued with this half-assed approach to training for about a year or so and found a good bit of success.  But the cycle continued and I wanted to climb even harder.  So things got a little more serious last winter.  I was a little more strict with my training and began keeping a logbook of my exercises as my approach to training became a little more scientific.  As a result, this past spring and summer I was able to climb more hard routes at my level and redpointed my first 5.13c. 

Then, this past summer I stumbled upon Eva Lopez and her methodology for training.  Being an engineer and biomechanist I loved her scientific approach to training.  Her methods were easy, short in duration, and scientifically/physiologically made sense to me.  So I thought I would give it a shot and made some tweaks to my periodizatoin cycle to incorporate some of her exercises and her ideas (not sure if it can be considered a periodization cycle anymore...). 


Bring it on!


So our training was cut short (I guess we will have to start earlier next time) due to good weather at the Red and we had to skip over a few exercises that were in our schedule.  However, we did manage to get in a couple weeks of power endurance training.  I would like to think that this new training method is working for us.  I just sent my second 5.13c this past Friday, Nadya made 5.12 look easy, and our season has only just begun.  Hopefully it wasn't a fluke.  Only time will tell.


Stoking the Psyche - Rifle, CO

You can climb on either side of the road.

After about a month off from climbing Nadya and I found ourselves on the road to Rifle, CO.  We wanted to try something different this summer and knew that Rifle would be a great place for that.  We have heard from many friends that Rifle was the anti- Red River Gorge.  The routes there are very cryptic and super beta-intensive as opposed to the mainly straight forward climbing at the Red.  And KNEE BARS!  Lots and lots of knee bars at Rifle.  For those non-climbers reading this, a knee bar is when you cam your knee into the rock in order to take weight off of your arms or so that you can position your body to do certain moves.  I am terrible at using knee bars (I can think of two routes at the Red where I've used a knee bar).  In addition, we have never climbed on limestone before, always sandstone.  In contrast to sandstone, limestone seems to have less friction than sandstone and it also has a tendency to become glassy and polished.  This was going to be a new adventure for us and we were hoping that this trip to Rifle would be a great learning experience and help us improve in our climbing.

After about 20 hours on the road we started to approach Denver.  Then we headed north to Boulder. We have heard that people either hate it or love it there and we wanted to check it out for ourselves.  We arrived just before lunch and headed to the Pearl Street Mall.  After walking around for a bit we decided to have brunch at a place called Snooze, an A.M. Eatery.  The place was hoppin' and we had to wait about 15-20 minutes for a table, but it was definitely worth it.  Everything sounded good on their menu, but I settled for the Pancake Flight (a trio of different pancakes) and Nadya went with the Early Harvest Benny.  The menu items were reasonably priced (similar to what you would find in Columbus) and it was delicious!  Wish we had one here!



Pancake Flight: blueberry, red-eye velvet, and sweet potato pancakes

Early Harvest Benny

 After brunch we walked around a little bit more, checked out all the outdoor retail stores in the mall, searched for some knee bar pads with no success, then headed out for a little 1.5-2 hour hike to the Royal Arch.  I guess a lot of the smoke from the Fort Collins wild fires headed south to Boulder and Denver, which is why we couldn't see the mountains during our drive in.  Apparently it was so bad in the morning that it smelled like campfire everywhere and some people couldn't even see their neghbors' houses.  Crazy!  Fortunately for us, by the time we arrived, a lot of the smoke had cleared.

View of Boulder from the Royal Arch

After the hike we went back to Pearl Street to grab some dinner.  This time we went to Centro Latin Kitchen and Refreshment Palace.  We ordered some guacamole with roasted chillis and goat cheese for appetizer.  I can't remember exactly what we ordered for our main courses, but Nadya ordered the salad special for the evening and I ordered something with fish.  Another great place for delicious grub!

Some salad special from Centro

Something tasty with fish from Centro

During dinner we decided that we wanted to drive that evening to Rifle.  We didn't really know what else to do in town since our friends in the area were either already at Rifle or out of town.  We also kind of wanted to have a relaxing first full day in the canyon.  So we drove through the night, arriving around 1am.  We set up our camp and went to bed, excited to finally be here.

We woke up the next morning to the delight of seeing our friends Chris and Heather, the sweetest people on Earth.  They gave us some pretty good tips, showed us some pretty sweet climbs, Chris lent me his knee pads (thank you so much!), and they let us spoil Grammie Dog.  They were a blast to hang out with and we were both glad that we were able to hang out with them for a week before they headed back to Boulder.

You guys are awesome!  Glad we got to hang out for a little bit!

Before going to Rifle we were informed that we would want to pick a morning project and an evening project since climbing in the summer sun is a bad idea.  The canyon runs north-south, so the western facing walls have morning shade, while the eastern facing walls have evening shade.  We were advised to not get on any of the easier stuff since they see way too much traffic and will actually feel harder, especially to us Rifle newbies.  Lastly, we were also told that it is hard to climb two days in a row because the climbing is so different than the Red and our bodies will take a beating.

Rifle Mountain National Park, CO

We were hoping to use our first several days of climbing as our adjustment period.  The last time we sport climbed was a little over a month ago so we needed to get back into climbing shape.  We also needed to figure out how to climb in this new place since everything was so different.  We quickly realized how cryptic Rifle is.  Climbing here is HARD!  We definitely struggled during our first few days.  We stuggled so much that we lowered our expectations.  I originally wanted to come out of the trip with a 13b/c and Nadya with a 12b/c.  We started thinking that maybe a hard 12 and hard 11 seemed more reasonable.  Climbing here was definitely a humbling experience.

After our first few days we started to realized how much harder the easier stuff seemed because of the abundance of chalk, glassy feet, and lack of beta.  We were both frustrated with our poor climbing and what we thought was an inability to adapt.  With some convincing from our friends, we decided to just get on the harder stuff.  Although still glassy, the harder climbs definitely seemed more straightforward.  We should have listened earlier.

Evenings in the canyon

Campfires were banned throughout Colorado during our trip.  What do you do when you can't have a campfire?  You play with flashlights!

Things clicked a little faster for me as I was able to do In Your Face (12d) on my third day.  I followed that up with Le Specimen (12d) on our fifth day while Nadya finally did her first Rifle 5.12, Cardinal Sin (12a).  It was a pretty impressive send as she struggled to figure out the beta at first, but once she did, hung three times on her first redpoint burn, then sent it on her next.  Later that evening I did Pump-O-Rama (13a).  What a relief!  I guess maybe we should try something harder!

Nadya's next project that she picked out was Ruckus (12b) - very short, but very bouldery at the bottom, especially for shorter ones.  The crux of the route was a pretty big move that was just barely within Nadya's reach.  After a few tries Nadya was able to nail the move down and soon figured out the rest of the route.  However, during one of her redpoint attempts, she ripped a huge flapper off her left hand middle finger.  She was bummed.  After taping the finger, she tried the move again, but couldn't hold it.  She just couldn't get enough friction with the tape on to stick the move.  So she decided to give it a break, let her skin heal, and try another day.  A couple days later she got back on it and ripped the flapper open again.  So she came down a little bit frustrated and we had a talk.  If she really wanted to do this route, she would just have to do it with tape around her finger.  So she did the move over and over until she could finally hold it.  The next morning she did it.

Meanwhile, with fantastic beta from our friend Neely, I was able to do Vision Thing (13b) after a few tries.  Thanks for the beta Neely!

Nadya on the bouldery start of Ruckus, 12b

We pretty much spent most of our rest days getting rid of our filth, getting fat, and exploring the nearby towns.  We mostly stayed in Glenwood Springs (maybe 30 minutes away), but checked out a few other towns as well.  In Glenwood, there is a really nice rec center for taking showers that cost us $4 + $1 for a towel per person.  Plus they have free wi-fi, which was nice.  For really good coffee (way better than Starbucks) we went over to Bluebird Cafe, which is adjacent to the gear shop in town.  For smoothies we went to Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse and Deli , although a bit pricey.  Nadya and I had some really juicy and delicious bison and lamb burgers over at the Grind (Half a pound of meat in each!  YES!).  You have to check that place out if you are in the mood for burgers!  Soooo good!  (My mouth is watering as I type this.)  Russo's Pizza definitely satisfied our pizza cravings when we were there and is reasonably priced too!  Across from Russo's is the Roaring Fork Bakery, which I highly recommend.  Her croissants are the perfect combination of doughy and flaky and are to die for!  Maybe the best croissants that we have ever eaten!  We had them plain, with spinach/feta/tomatoes, and with ham/cheese.  They were all so tasty.  She had so many other baked goods but we didn't have the chance to taste them all.  Maybe next time.  Carbondale is another cool little town 10-15 miles south of Glenwood.  I will have to recommend another burger joint called Fatbelly Burgers.  Also juicy and delicious and at a pretty reasonable price! Their burgers are good, their chicken sandwiches are good, and their milkshakes are yummy.  Then there is a Thai restaurant called Phat Thai that was also really delicious and not too heavy and provided some good energy for next day sending.  We also went to Aspen and the Maroon Bells (pictured below).  We didn't care much for Aspen because of all the ridiculously rich people parading around.  However, the Maroon Bells were amazing and so pretty!  Definitely a sight worth checking out.

In front of the Maroon Bells on a cloudy and chilly day

Us being goofy with the Bells in the background

I think this is Maroon Lake

Some pretty aspen trees

I ended my trip by doing The Beast With Two Backs (13a) and onsighting my first Rifle 5.12 with Pretty Hate Machine (12c).  Nadya wanted to do one more and decided to give Defenseless Betty (12a) a try.  With Seth's beta, Nadya was able to make it to the top no problem with enough time in the day to give it a few redpoint burns.  She soon discovered that she would have to do one section a little bit differently, but it would have to wait until the morning.

So the morning that we were leaving, we got up early so that Nadya could get on the route one more time.  After warming up she gave the route one redpoint burn, but fell at the sequence that was proving difficult for her.  After looking at it for a few minutes she figured out another way to do it.  That was it!  Next attempt and she sent!  She later told me that she almost fell at the top, but wasn't going to let go.  Good work!

The Beast With Two Backs, 13a

We ended up loving Rifle.  We thought that we wouldn't like it as much because the climbing is so different than the Red, but our early frustrations turned into delight and Rifle is now one of our favorite places to climb.  I'd say it is on the top of the list with the Red.  My only regret is that I didn't get on anything that was super challenging for me.  Next time!  But not only was the climbing awesome, the people were awesome as well.  Our experience would not have been the same without all the friends that we met there.

Nadya's Ticklist:
Cardinal Sin, 12a
Defenseless Betty, 12a
Ruckus, 12b

Brian's Ticklist:
Cardinal Sin, 12a
Pinch Fest, 12b
Ruckus, 12b
Pretty Hate Machine, 12c (Onsight)
In Your Face, 12d
Le Specimen, 12d
Pump-O-Rama, 13a (3 tries - 2 RP)
Vision Thing, 13b (4 tries - 3 RP)
The Beast With Two Backs, 13a (3 tries - 2 RP)

Not too shabby for 9 days of climbing ;)  Now time to get on the harder stuff!  Looking forward to this Fall season at the Red!  Time to train!

Sunset on the drive to Rifle

Neely on Vision Thing, 13b

Seth on Slacker Direct, 13c

Our new Chicago friends Andy and Jess on Ruckus, 12b

Our campfire

A storm in Kansas on our drive home.  I don't think mother nature wanted us to leave.

Red River Wrap Up, Spring 2012

After a couple weeks off and a vacation to Hawaii we returned to some pretty nasty climbing conditions as the early arrival of summer brought some hot temps and high humidity.  Before our break I started working out the extension of Flour Power called Pushing Up Daisies.  It seemed the most logical route for me to get on after doing both The Madness and 40 Ounces of Justice.  However, after we returned, my motivation for the route dropped.  I didn't really want to climb Flour Power again just to get into Pushing Daisies and I felt that my endurance was on a decline anyway after taking a couple weeks off.  So with some persuasion from Nadya, I got on Cutthroat instead.  I'm glad I did as I sent it fairly quick.  On my first attempt I worked out the moves and then the next weekend I sent it second go in nasty conditions.  Awesome climb and super fun!   Kind of bittersweet though that it went so quickly.

Memorial Day Weekend was our last weekend at the Red for the season.  We didn't do much climbing that weekend as Nadya's mom and our friend Jerry rented a cabin at Lago Linda's.  We were able to take them out to do some easier routes at Muir and both of them climbed, which was really exciting.  Jerry got on a few routes and Nadya's mom got up some slab route that wasn't easy.  It was pretty awesome to see them both try it out, especially Nadya's mom.  There's also a pretty funny video.  Should I post it?  Hmmmm.  Nadya's mom might not like it...  I think that was about all the climbing we did that weekend.  I think we watched more TV (River Monsters is pretty addicting) in the air conditioned cabin than we climbed. 

So this Spring season at the Red was probably one of our best one's so far.  Nadya sent three of her projects and I sent several, including my first 13 onsight.  I was pretty psyched with my season as the 13's I did, with the exception of The Madness, only took a few tries at the most.  Progress!

Nadya's Spring 2012 Ticklist:
Tissue Tiger, 12b
Ale-8-One, 12b
Rocket Dog, 12b

Brian's Spring 2012 Ticklist:
The Legend, 13b
The Madness, 13c
Forty Ounces of Justice, 13a (Onsight)
Calm Like a Bomb, 13a
Cutthroat, 13b

Next up...Rifle, CO!!!

A Final Push Before Some Time Off

So this was our last weekend at the Red before we took two weekends off to go on a family vacation.  We were both finally beginning to build up our power endurance but we were kind of sad that we would have to take some time off during what would probably have been the period of our peak performance.  But that's okay.  Family time is always the best and I can never complain about going to Hawaii.  We will just have to make this weekend a good one.

On Saturday we found ourselves at the Motherlode again.  Nadya started working on Rocket Dog after her ascent of Ale-8-One and I decided that I should hop on 40 Ounces of Justice while I still had fitness for the cave.  The conditions were not as ideal, but it still turned out to be a good day.  Nadya managed to burl her way through the manky slopers of Rocket Dog and sent the rig by the end of the day.  It was a cool sight watching the send as she almost peeled off at the top of the route but stayed focused and dug deep to finish it.  I had a good day as well as I onsighted my first 13 with 40 Ounces of Justice.

More success on Sunday as Jeremiah (I mean Tony Horton) and I both made quick work of Calm Like a Bomb at The Gallery.

We ended the day at The Chocolate Factory hoping to get on Malice, but it was baking in the sun.  Instead I got a taste of Cat's Demise and both Nadya and I finally got on one of Bentley's routes (the one that starts in the crack).  Both of which were awesome.  I think we will have to revisit this crag during the nice fall conditions.


Jeremiah making it look easy



The Madness

First, Goldenboy.  I love it, but I hate it.  It might be one of my favorite routes at the Red, but I still have yet to conquer it.  I started it last spring, figured out the beta pretty quickly and one-hung it after a couple of tries.  I worked on it for a couple of weekends in the spring, a few weekends in the fall, and a couple of weekends during the beginning of this spring and I have fallen at the sloper almost every time.  On my first weekend back on it this spring I actually highpointed going to the horn, but every attempt afterwards had me falling at the sloper again.  Nadya insisted that I give the route a break and that my inability to do the route is probably all in my head.  I hate to admit it, but she's probably right.  I guess it will have to wait til the fall.

So while Nadya was working on Tissue Tiger, I decided to get back on The Legend.  I tried it a couple times last fall so I knew the beta and lucky for me, I had the assistance of my long lost Caucasian twin, Josh Trick, to refine my beta.  And what do you know, I sent it on my first weekend on it.  Sweet.  So I guess Nadya was right about my mental block on Goldenboy.  In the time I have worked on that route, I did both Dirty Smelly Hippie and Elephant Man in the fall and now The Legend early this spring.

The Madness was another route that I tried a few times early last fall until the permadraw drama took place.  After that incident Nadya and I decided to stay away for a bit, but this spring we decided to go back.  Nadya really wanted to do Ale-8-One and I really wanted to finish up The Madness.

We drove in late Friday night and decided to sleep at the Military parking lot.  We figured we could wake up and cook breakfast at the parking lot, head to the wall before the major crowds arrive, then move on to the Motherlode.  We did just that as Nadya quickly threw down Tissue Tiger (see previous posts).

We arrived at the Motherlode to much better conditions than the previous weekend.  The weekend before was pretty humid and I couldn't get anything back at the either of the two rests on the route.  I was losing more than I was gaining back.  Hopefully the nicer conditions would lead to better results.  I figured the routes at Military served as a decent warmup and decided to hop on The Madness right away. 

I clip the first, tie in, throw my shoes on, chalk up, take a few deep breaths, and begin climbing.  The bottom moves did not feel manky so that was a good start and I soon find myself at the sit down ledge before the wall begins to cut back.  I'm feeling great.  After a few minutes of rest I begin climbing again.  I make it to the first little crux section, get a high right foot, cross my right to the small crescent shaped crimp, lock it off, and grab the left.  Alright.  Now I just have to keep moving.  I know the beta and effortlessly make my way up to the first semi-slopey rest.  I'm still feeling great.  I get some energy back and charge up to the next rest before the redpoint crux.  This is awesome.  I've never felt this good at this point on the route and positive vibes start flowing.  After several minutes I think I'm ready.  I move left.  I hit the left hand edge, throw a left heel, crimp with my right, and huck with my left.  Now I'm working over the bulge and start paddling up the crimps, which surprisingly felt like jugs.  Should I clip the last two bolts or should I skip them?  I don't want to blow things now.  Screw it.  I'll skip them!  And before I know it, I find myself clipping the anchors.  What an awesome ride.  

Nadya sent Ale-8-One right after (see previous post).

So what's next?  I guess I could do 40 Ounces of Justice.  Maybe next weekend.  I think I'll relax for now.

       

The Madness Cave at the Motherlode

The Crushin' Russian - Part 2

Last weekend we made our first trip back to the Motherlode after staying away for the majority of the Fall due to the permadraw drama.  I wanted to get back on The Madness (more on this later) and Nadya wanted to get back on Ale-8-One to figure out the moves again.

After Nadya sent Tissue Tiger we drove over to the 'Lode so that I could get on my project (more on that later).  After I got down, I hung the draws on Ale-8-One so that Nadya could work on it again.  Our friend Stacy got on it first, who, by the way, went from standing in her apartment in Columbus to standing at the 'Lode in four hours flat.  You're either crazy or I drive like an old fart or both!  Nah, you're crazy!

After learning a few things from Stacy, Nadya got on the route.  No expectations.  She totally screwed up a few moves here and there but held on to get to the next resting jug.  Before we knew it she was at the last jug before the anchors.  Stacy and I looked at each other and smiled.  She isn't going to fall.  It's in the bag. 

She sent two rigs in one day.  First go on both of them.  Nice work.