Jackson

Well today was actually quite an awesome day at Jackson. BC, Will, their friend Chris, and I all headed out last night and camped out and then were up bright and early around 7 a.m. so that we could take advantage of the best temps of the day.

First things first. After much insistence on my behalf, we went and I gave Lovely Arete a go right off the bat. No luck though. However, after watching BC climb it I found out some new beta that should definitely ease the crux section for me and make the send considerably easier...when it does happen. Next, I went ahead and top roped Hidden Treasure, .12a, again and made some considerable progress by only falling/taking a total of like 4 times. If I keep going at it hard it should be doable by the end of the fall or early spring.

Next, we headed over to the Royal Arch Wall area and got on a few more climbs. One of which was Arch Angel a .10a that I was able to flash. It's a pretty cool climb. Then I top roped a .9 and an .11b that I got shut down on hard core last fall but now is actually pretty easy. I might try and give it a go on lead here sometime soon. Who knows?!

Next, we ran back over to Spleef Peak where I was able to get another send, this time though it was the .11a variation of Master Marley in which you use the Arete for the most of the way towards the first bolt and then you pull on to the face. Pretty cool route and really balancy. Next I bumped over and gave another .11b that gave me some trouble last year a shot and man, it is still really hard. I figured some different stuff out though from watching Mike climb it so I think that it should go sometime in the near future. Finally, for myself atleast, I went over with some people and tried bouldering the start to a .12a called Digital Delicassend. Pretty cool route that is pretty much all two finger pockets until you get to some small edges, but I was able to make it pretty close to the edges where it would get considerably easier. I definitely think that this could possibly go this fall too so we'll have to see!

I might be heading back out to Jackson on Monday so if I do I'll be sure to update things if there are any new developments and pretty much even if there aren't!

Jackson last weekend...Jackson this weekend!

Well last Saturday I went out to Jackson Falls with a good sized group of people from school as well as my good buddy Mike. It was great to get to see everyone again and finally see some different stone AND realize how much my new found technique is not applicable to the sandstone at JF. lol Mike still whipped my ass too. I guess a lot of things still haven't changed.

I got to RP a cool .10a called Master Marley though which was cool, and I was also able to give Lovely Arete a shot again but I just couldn't pull it out. Then we swung over and top roped Hidden Treasure which is a .12a. Damn it's hard.

Well this weekend I'm going to be cruising back out with Mike and as well as some Nashville peeps. Should be a good time and I hope I'm able to pull it together and get a send on Lovely!

Chaos Again

Well, Thursday right after work, in the face of some rough looking clouds, Wayne, Joel, and I all headed up into Middle Chaos to try and wrap up this really cool problem called Revenge V6. Unfortunately, no one was quite able to get the moves all put together and when we did finally make some good progress weather moved in and we had to bail early, right before all of the temps got awesome. I was in the end pretty happy with the day of climbing though, I got a problem second go that felt V2 or V3ish, happy and then I made some serious progress on the V6 but I just couldn't get it together for the last few moves that put you on a lip with good holds at a little less difficulty. Wayne's brother took some video of the trips up to Chaos and I think that I might be able to get a few of those from him so when they get to me I'll do my best to post them up on here!

In other news, I'm finally home! My flight made it into St. Louis this afternoon and after some confusing directions Lane finally found me and we made it home by 5 p.m. Tomorrow I'll get to see Papaw and Grandma and then it's off to Murray so I can try and find somewhere to live that is actually feesable for accomodating Lane and I for 9 months! So psyched to be back though, and I can't wait for next weekend and for Hidden Treasure!

Chaos Canyon

Well, like I said earlier I ended up going to Chaos today and man was it ever great. We got there and warmed up on some stuff and I flashed a few V0's and two V2's. After that real quick we set to work on a really cool V5 that after about 30 minutes I was able to make an ascent of! I'm pretty psyched about that and I'm finally feeling like I'm getting strong after all. After that we went over and Wayne worked hard at a V8 for a little while and I gave it a few goes but decided to save some more of my energy for something that I thought might be a little more in my current range. Finally, we headed down to the middle part of Chaos and worked on a pretty classic roof problem called Revenge V6/7. It was a pretty cool problem and I think that with a little more work that it could see a send from me. All in all I'm just bummed with my decision to not make it to Chaos until today. Kicking myself in the ass.

Leaving Time...

Well, my time in Colorado for the summer is coming nearly to a close and with it I'll be making my return to temps 25+ degrees higher and humidity 100% more than probably anything I've been used to at all out here. I'm also finally starting to realize that I'm going to be leaving behind so many good new friends that I've made this summer, more than I anticipated, and its really setting in that none of us will be together at the end of the week.

On the bright side though these last few days are going to probably be amazing with friends. Tomorrow, Wayne, his brother, and I are all going to go up to Chaos Canyon in RMNP and do some bouldering on some of the best blocs in the country, if not the entire world. Several people are having comp nights too throughout the week which is nice because it gives us a nice place to go and chill and enjoy everyone's company for the small amount of time that is left.

However, I guess that in all I'm pretty ready to get back to school and get into the swing of things again. I'll fly back in to STL on Saturday where Lane will be picking me up and then from there I'll get to see G-Maw and Papaw again, and I'd love to get in one day of climbing at Jackson on either Monday or Tuesday, but then again I also need to find a new apartment. A ton of new projects and routes lay ahead for me though and I really hope to be sending some new bests for myself all fall and getting new goals for climbing since a lot of mine for the last year have really been met! I'm also ready for the new responsibilities that are ahead of me for the semester as well. I'm currently the VP for MSU's branch of Amnesty International and on top of helping to get them out of debt I really would love to see the organization expand a lot and really do some good outreach locally which I think would do wonders for interest in the club. I'm also the treasurer for the environmental club and I definitely know that we're going to be doing some amazing things this fall that I can't wait for!

Well, I guess that I'll be definitely seeing everyone again soon! Mike if you read this give me a shout or something, I've tried to give you a call the last two days but can't get anything back. I'd love to get out to Jackson possibly early next week like I said so you best be calling or e-mailing me! See everyone soon!

Scott was here!

So on Sunday Scott, who I worked with the past two summers at Sanborn, was up with his family to the park so I tagged along with him. We tried to make a hike up to a lake in the park but because the weather ended up being crappy we had to come down and settled for a real touristy hike around a beautiful lake called Bear Lake. After that we all went down the road a little ways and with the art supplies that Scott's family had made at a recent trip to Michael's we all painted a landscape of Long's Peak. Pretty cool, and fun, except Scott's painting had a frowny face in it. After that we went and had a bite to eat and parted ways.

Monday, though, Scott came back up in the afternoon with his sister Brittany and we hung out in a room I was able to get for free here at the Y and just enjoyed the evening and each others company. Tuesday morning I had to work though and after that we all packed up our things and headed up to the Monastery to do some camping. Upon Scott's insistence we headed out ridiculously early, 3 p.m., and were extremely bored all afternoon so I ended up reading a little bit more on my book "Around the World in 80 Days," by Jules Verne. When dark finally came around though we were lucky enough to get some really clear skies and had some awesome star gazing and satellite watching. On Wednesday, we all then ended up heading into the park and hiked up past Bear Lake, this time to another lake called Emerald Lake. It was beautiful, but on the way down we got slammed by a storm and were stuck under a pine tree with this really cool family for like 30 minutes until we just decided to make the last mile a run for the cars. After that we headed back to the Y where I had an epic trying to find a comp night room and thankfully Joey came through and let us use one of her comp nights so Scott and Brittany didn't have to pay for a room. Joey is great!

That leads us to yesterday which was pretty awesome. I got my roommate John to cover my afternoon shifts and Wayne, Abbey, Lyndsey, Matt, and I all headed down to Boulder to do some shopping and head to Morrison to listen to James Taylor play at Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was awesome! We didn't have tickets so we hiked up on the hill that overlooks Red Rocks and could hear perfectly. Towards the middle of the second set though everyone was getting a little tired so we started to head down. Just by chance I wanted to run in and see if I could catch Scott, his sister, and Elliot, who I worked with two summers ago, and it happened. I cruised right through the gates and for some reason found Scott on his way to the bathroom. I was then lucky enough to SEE some James Taylor and give some proper hellos and goodbyes.

These last four days have been insane for sure and I really can't wait to get back home, get my wall setup, and start climbing and working on some new projects at Jackson Falls! I'll be seeing everyone soon!

Suzuki Boulder's Again

Well yesterday I went back into the park and did some bouldering at the Suzuki Boulder and the boulder that is downhill from Suzuki whose name I don't quite know. All in all I think that the session went quite well. We started out working this V2 that pulls out of a little roof and then makes a throw off of slopers out to a good jug and out the top. Starting out was frustrating because I just couldn't get the opening move to go. After reworking my beta a few times I finally was able to put things together and get that problem all sorted out and sent! Next, there was a V4 around the corner that I had worked on a day in the past but couldn't even pull onto it. Frustrating. Well after flailing on it for a few goes I finally, with the help of Wayne, was able to figure out the foot beta that lets me move off of my crossed hands and up to a small sharp left handed crimp. From the left crimp you stand hard on your right foot and the move right hand up into a good undercling pinch and the from there you take some small crimps out the top keeping the problem pretty sustained. So, that's two V4s sent here lately and I'm pretty psyched! It's great to feel and see yourself getting a little strong and your technique improve.

On another front, this summer hasn't quite been the luckiest I've had in respect to LCD screens. About a month ago I was getting out of Drew's jeep after running to town and then I slammed my phone in the door and shattered the face of my phone. It sucked. Well the day before yesterday I was getting ready for bed and kicked my laptop right onto the floor shattering the screen. It sucked too. So now I have to Blog and surf the net from a roommates computer and if anyone feels generous I'd be more than happy to take some donations to help towards the new screen which should cost about $150.

I hope everyone is doing well though and I only have two weeks until I'll be back home. Crazyness. I can't wait to see everyone again!