Laying In Wait

Its been raining a lot lately but we've gotten in some climbing. And the rainbows have been nice...


Yesterday John and I went to Lincoln Lake. John made quick work of Chalk on Rock (v8). And I tried Daniel's newest v14, The Exfoliator. I did all but the second move which felt quite hard and awkward. I even did what I thought would be the crux (the final move to an undercling) first try. Photo:


Afterwards John and I decided to go try the v8 slab Laying in Wait. It's a very friction dependent boulder (slopers) and the summer weather was less than ideal. Somehow I managed to slap my way to the top. Check the video:



That's all for now,

Brion

Another

My motivation has been suffering lately. After a full summer of hiking and climbing it seems that all I want to do is sit on the couch, watch a movie, and eat some good food. John and I have been to Movement a couple time though to test the endurance. Turns out mine's not very good. I've noticed that no matter the difficulty of the route, whether it be 12d or 13c, I can make it about 3/4 the way up the steep wall before losing steam. It's been fun though, a nice change of pace from bouldering. But my left middle finger has been giving me some trouble - another pulley... So I wont be competing the trade show comp. As for bouldering outdoors there are a couple more things I would like to cross off my list before the summer is up and yesterday I was able to get one done - I Comb My Hair Like God (v11).

John Gass and I met Jon Glassberg and Ryan Silven in upper chaos and after figuring the beta Glassberg pulled it off. After a little more effort and the loss of all my gym skin I finally figured out the body positions and did it. It's starting to feel more and more like summer in the park. That is, there are more mosquitoes, less snow, and afternoons are hotter than ever. I have another couple weeks before I'll be back home in the real heat and until then I'll be out climbing...

Brion

The Amazing Red Bull

Yesterday John sat a half full Red Bull can on top of the car, forgot about it, drove from Lincoln Lake to Idaho Springs (about 20 switchbacking miles), stopped at McDonalds for a McFlurry and upon returning to the car noticed the Red Bull can still standing upright on the roof of the car. Amazing...

Other than that though not much has been going on - the weather has been limiting. It seems that every climbing day is plagued with heat, rain, humidity or a combination of the three. I thought I would post some pics though so here they are:

Nate climbing a slab at Lincoln Lake

Nate flashing Potato Chip (v7)

Me trying to figure out the slot project at Lincoln Lake

-Brion

Lincoln

We went up to Lincoln Lake again yesterday... It was a nice day - sunny and windy.

After the warm up I was feeling pretty good and I was psyched on trying Daniel's The Great War for Civilisation (v13). I ended up falling off the last move 4 times... bummer. The last move is this huge right handed lurch to a sidepull sloper. The hold is extremely difficult to see and hitting it right is tough. From there its a simple left hand move to a jug. Here's a picture Nate took of me midway through the boulder. (the last hold is at the very top of the frame). next time...


On the bright side I ended up climbing this beautiful slab/face for its first ascent. The boulder starts on a nice protruding shelf feature with a big right foot and climbs up and right over another boulder. It ended up being a dyno from the shelf up and right to a sidepull jug at the lip. The downside is that you have to pick your feet up really high to avoid dabbing on the other boulder. I decided to call it Purple Is Not a Color. As for the grade, v10 seems appropriate though it may be easier (its an extremely weird problem). Here's a pic:


Also, here is a video of Nate climbing Unshackled and Whispers of Wisdom:



-Brion