Mega Man

Here is the footage of me climbing Mega Man (v11).

This Week

A lot has been going on lately. Last week I did an interview for Deadpoint Magazine. Check it out here.

Also, earlier this week Jimmy, Brad Weaver and I filmed a short video with Brant Hawkins of Projekt Media. The film will feature me climbing The Law (v11), Jimmy climbing Western Gold (v11), and Brad on Lord of the Dance (v11). A big thanks to Brant for putting up with our antics, for his excellent camera skills, and for making us look cooler than we really are.

Jimmy, Brad and I had a good day yesterday climbing on some of Chattanooga's finest river boulders. Brad and I both climbed a line called Damn Yankees (v9).


Afterwards, we were all psyched to go try a project. I'll just say it's not a project anymore! The crew took it down with three sends and decided on the name: Southern Slang (southern v11). The line is a crimpy roof with a difficult last move from a sloping crimper to a sloper/edge on the lip. Here is an old picture of me trying it:

After countless failed attempts, we decided to skip the bad lip hold and dyno to the jug about 8 inches higher. It worked and Brad sent for the FA. Nice work hommes! You have to really want this one as the dyno tends to cause a little pain. My arm afterwards was red and pretty swollen:

Then Jimmy decided to jump from boulder to boulder over the rushing water:

He barely made it back...

Also, we spent last Monday climbing rocks in Alabama the beautiful. I managed the second ascent of Jimmy's Mega Man (v11) and also a flash of Hustle and Flow (v10). Video should be up soon!

Yesterday I was extremely psyched to find a pair of 5.10 Yosemite Jeans at my door. If you are looking for a pair of comfortable jeans to climb in these are for you. Unlike most other jeans, they have some stretch and a wide enough leg to allow a good range of motion. I'm psyched to put them through some climbing days to see how they hold up.

That's all for now,

Brion

So Ill Vid

Thanks to Jimmy here's a video from last weekend in Illinois. Enjoy:

Big Gulp

A couple days ago I got word, via Andy Salo on facebook, that Matt Bosley climbed a new problem on the Seven Eleven roof. Instead of exiting left after the opening crux, Big Gulp (v11) climbs through a couple massive moves directly to the lip. Jimmy and I were naturally syked to go check it out and second and third ascents were the result. Here's the vid:



-Brion

So Ill

We trucked North this weekend in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and found ourselves at the Holy Boulders in Southern Illinois. Turns out it was wet. We had a pretty epic day Saturday. It was a lot of drying boulders, slipping, and getting pissed.

It was nice though to spend time enjoying simple movement on easier climbs, to enjoy climbing for climbing's sake rather than for difficulty. I took some pictures as well but there is only 1 worth posting. Here's Nate Drolet climbing a beautiful v5 face (I don't know the name):



-Brion

Matchmaker Footage

Ok, so here is the vid of me climbing Matchmaker (v11). It also features Kasia climbing Odd Job (v8) with crazy beta and Ben climbing Orca (hard v3).

Too Cold?

So the crew was at Horse Pens Tuesday in the 20 degree weather. I guess we thought it would be a little warmer 100 miles south... It wasn't really, and the HP slopers felt like straight glass. I had my sights set on Skeletor (v10) though, and after a warm up I was determined to give some good efforts. After some really slippery times, I unlocked the key beta - sweaty hands. Still, halfway through the boulder my hands would be icy again and I found myself hanging on horrible slopers breathing on my tips to heat them up. No dice. This boulder is f-ing hard/I need good conditions/damn slopers! I moved on.

Last time at the Pens I had gotten close on Jimmy's Matchmaker (v11) and I was syked to go polish it off. After a beta tweak/total overhaul I climbed it for the second ascent. Way syked! Video should be up soon.

Oh, and Wednesday I went up to try Seven Eleven (v10). I was successful but used slightly different beta than Jimmy and Nate. Instead of the crazy campus, I did a right heel hook, a terrible left toe scum, and moved right hand to the first hold. Crazy stuff and probably the only other beta possible on the climb. I've got no footage or pics but here is the video of Nate Draughn sending:

Also, here's a pic of Nate nearly sending Breadloaf Factory low last week:

That's it for now,

Brion

Roll Tide

Happy 2010!

Ok, so I haven't been too good with updating lately, just been climbing and hanging out. But I'm gettin' with the program. Since last time I have been all over Alabama trying to tick off sloper problems. It's been going pretty well. Saturday, I managed the second ascents of the low to Breadloaf Factory (v10) and The Boss (v11). Both climbs have horrible slopey cruxes. Check the vid:

The day before Jimmy and I did a new climb called Innovation which is somewhere in the 9-10 range. It's only 5 moves and the crux involves a move from an undercling out left to a sidepull and holding the barndoor. In the past few days I've also managed to climb Grand Papa (v9), Dog Laudnam (v10), Master Beta (v9), Unlocked (v9) and Landslide (v9). Here's the footage of me climbing Landslide and a couple others along with footage of John Gass climbing a bunch of classics:

Also, here is more footage from our trip to Hueco. Sorry I didn't manage to get send footage of Full Throttle but here's a good attempt at least.

On a completely different subject, has anyone else noticed that the V-scale is being replaced by the Font scale? It's not very consequential, but it's worth noticing.

My skin has been burning today but I'm hoping it cools down by tomorrow so I can get out. Until then.

-Brion