Well on Saturday I drove in to Jackson and met up with my friends Will and Chris, and their friend Carmen for some climbing. We headed out around 1 p.m. and quickly went down to Lovely Tower and I led up and red pointed Lovely Arete .11a again. On the way down, I set the draws up on a cool .12a I had been wanting to lead for quite a while now, Hidden Treasure and gave it a go after a good rest. It went quite well too. I made it through the lower bouldery section fine and all and got in a good rest before the third bolt clip. After the traverse across on tiny crimps I clipped the third bolt and then nailed the dead-point crimp (which is the crux) and in the process of getting my right foot up I took a fall. I fell once more after that in the same spot but was quickly able to finish it the next time. Pretty psyched and I think that with a little more strength it should go sometime in the winter or possibly in the spring. We'll see. After that we went over to Spleef Peak and I was able to red point two .10a's that I'd been meaning to get for a while, Rattler and The Garden Route. I also gave a really cool boulder problem, THC a go but couldn't finish it up.
Sunday we woke up and went over the Mr. Jimmy and dallied around for a while and I didn't really have anything there that I was too psyched to get on. After that though everyone decided to go to the whole other side of the canyon to The Ranch area and do some stuff over there. When we got there I was able to onsight a pretty cool .10b called Southern Inquisition that's super bouldery and kinda scary through the top section. After that I rappeled in and set up TR on a .12a called Cowboys and Crossdressers. I worked that for a bit and figured out most of the moves. Finally, we headed back and I threw down sloppily on Cranial Implosion .12a and fell once, and didn't try again since it was getting dark so quickly.
That's pretty much it. This weekend is looking to be pretty cool too though. Friday, I'm probably gonna head to Nashville to climb in the ABS competition and hang out with Will and Chris there that night and then try and head back up for Jackson on Sunday. Should be great!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Jackson Falls Weekend
I was lucky enough this weekend to spend the past three days living my dream at Jackson Falls in Southern Illinois. Pretty awesome! I cruised in on Friday night and stayed through today, climbing with tons of people and getting to climb on tons of new stuff! Here is a quick recap:
Saturday:
I camped with Evan and Katie, who are both from the Chicago area, and we woke up early to head out to a very hard to find sector at Jackson Falls called The Promised Land. It's pretty awesome, and was named because of the high potential of really amazing lines that were there. They were right.
When we got there Evan and I warmed up on an awesome .10b called XOXO (hugs and kisses), which I sufficiently sucked it up on by falling once and then taking twice after that I believe. It was a really cool overhung route though. The kind of line that I really love, but the kind of line that I'm not so great at due to my lack of endurance on that style. Next, we went over and I TR'd an .11a called better late than never that I was able to get clean. Maybe, I'll lead it next time. After that Evan led up a few .12's that I decided to not get on and then we left. On the way back though I was able to stop at Industry and give it one quick go and reached a high point just past the 3rd bolt. It will hopefully go soon with the change in temps coming up this next weekend.
Sunday:
Evan, Katie, and I woke up, and had an epic after Evan locked the keys in their car. Mike ended up coming in too and we were finally off and hit up The Sophomore a super run out 5.9 that I luckly onsighted. Then, I moved over and flashed this cool .10c called Tons of Fun that Evan had just set the draws on. After that we cruised over to the Mr. Jimmy Boulder and did an .11b variation of this arete route called Piss Ant. I led it up but took a fall and had I believe another 2 or 3 takes. It was pretty stout for sure. After that Evan and I hit up Who Needs Friends a super stout 5.12a. I led it up through the 3rd bolt, clipped the 4th draw in but since I have no endurance I just couldn't stick with it and took the whipper and let Evan have his 10 minute epic near onsight.
Monday:
With Evan and Katie gone I ended up hooking up with an old climbing parter of Dads, Dave Downy. It's definitely really cool to get to climb with him and it's really great to to watch him climb harder than me and he's like 60 something. We got up and chilled out for a bit in the morning and then warmed up on TR on a trad route called Suspended Animation 5.9, which I was able to turn into a 5.10 with my terrible beta. Next, we went down and I was able to onsight a cool .10b at The Gallery called Deep Throat. After that, Dave and I husseled over to Big Star Wall and I gave an onsight go of The Birthday Route, 5.10b, which I flubbed up about 4 bolts up by missing some dumb hidden foot hold. Go figure. Next, I was successfully able to onsight another route, also a .10b, and it is called Alaska. It wasn't my favorite. It was nice to be able to really get to work on some of my endurance on that route though. Finally, Dave and I ran over and I gave a go on Group Therapy, one of the best .10c's at Jackson, and probably even in Southern Illinois. I sucked it up on that one too. It's basically and overhung jug haul, not my style...yet, so I ended up taking a few times and having a fall. Kinda bummed because it would have been really nice to have red pointed that one. There is always next time.
That's pretty much the weekend in a super quick summary. Definitely, was worth it though and I think that I might finally be getting some endurance back! I can't wait to be back to full form for sport. It looks like I'll be at JF again for next weekend too so I'll definitely be posting some stuff up after next weekend! I hope that everyone is doing well!
Saturday:
I camped with Evan and Katie, who are both from the Chicago area, and we woke up early to head out to a very hard to find sector at Jackson Falls called The Promised Land. It's pretty awesome, and was named because of the high potential of really amazing lines that were there. They were right.
When we got there Evan and I warmed up on an awesome .10b called XOXO (hugs and kisses), which I sufficiently sucked it up on by falling once and then taking twice after that I believe. It was a really cool overhung route though. The kind of line that I really love, but the kind of line that I'm not so great at due to my lack of endurance on that style. Next, we went over and I TR'd an .11a called better late than never that I was able to get clean. Maybe, I'll lead it next time. After that Evan led up a few .12's that I decided to not get on and then we left. On the way back though I was able to stop at Industry and give it one quick go and reached a high point just past the 3rd bolt. It will hopefully go soon with the change in temps coming up this next weekend.
Sunday:
Evan, Katie, and I woke up, and had an epic after Evan locked the keys in their car. Mike ended up coming in too and we were finally off and hit up The Sophomore a super run out 5.9 that I luckly onsighted. Then, I moved over and flashed this cool .10c called Tons of Fun that Evan had just set the draws on. After that we cruised over to the Mr. Jimmy Boulder and did an .11b variation of this arete route called Piss Ant. I led it up but took a fall and had I believe another 2 or 3 takes. It was pretty stout for sure. After that Evan and I hit up Who Needs Friends a super stout 5.12a. I led it up through the 3rd bolt, clipped the 4th draw in but since I have no endurance I just couldn't stick with it and took the whipper and let Evan have his 10 minute epic near onsight.
Monday:
With Evan and Katie gone I ended up hooking up with an old climbing parter of Dads, Dave Downy. It's definitely really cool to get to climb with him and it's really great to to watch him climb harder than me and he's like 60 something. We got up and chilled out for a bit in the morning and then warmed up on TR on a trad route called Suspended Animation 5.9, which I was able to turn into a 5.10 with my terrible beta. Next, we went down and I was able to onsight a cool .10b at The Gallery called Deep Throat. After that, Dave and I husseled over to Big Star Wall and I gave an onsight go of The Birthday Route, 5.10b, which I flubbed up about 4 bolts up by missing some dumb hidden foot hold. Go figure. Next, I was successfully able to onsight another route, also a .10b, and it is called Alaska. It wasn't my favorite. It was nice to be able to really get to work on some of my endurance on that route though. Finally, Dave and I ran over and I gave a go on Group Therapy, one of the best .10c's at Jackson, and probably even in Southern Illinois. I sucked it up on that one too. It's basically and overhung jug haul, not my style...yet, so I ended up taking a few times and having a fall. Kinda bummed because it would have been really nice to have red pointed that one. There is always next time.
That's pretty much the weekend in a super quick summary. Definitely, was worth it though and I think that I might finally be getting some endurance back! I can't wait to be back to full form for sport. It looks like I'll be at JF again for next weekend too so I'll definitely be posting some stuff up after next weekend! I hope that everyone is doing well!
Friday, October 10, 2008
A little more of the wall...
Here are a few pictures and a video of recent climbing on the wall! Thanks to Taylor for everything.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
This Weekend
Well, it looks like it should be a pretty good up coming weekend. My friend Katie from Chicago is coming down with one of her friends and I'm gonna climb with them Saturday and most of Sunday I believe. After that, I'm hoping that I should be able to meet up with an old climbing friend Dave Downy, back from the days when we climbed with dad, and one of his friends and continue the climbing on into Monday! Pretty psyched! Especially since 3/4 of my classes were already canceled for Monday. It's gonna be awesome, and I'll definitely be trying to take some pictures!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Horseshoe Canyon Ranch and Jackson Falls
Wow. These last few days have undoubtedly been quite a whirlwind, with me being what feels like all over the place with fall break.
On Thursday, I was fortunate enough to have my class and work canceled and I headed out at around 10 a.m. to Jasper, Arkansas to meet up with people that I worked with the past summer and do some climbing at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. I was definitely satisfied with my experience. I cruised in on Thursday evening close to five and jumped out of my car to go and get some quick bouldering in before it got too dark. I was quickly able to dispatch a few problems one being an interesting V1 arete and the second a cool pockety problem called Bottoms Up, weighing in at V2. I also did a problem that I thought was V3 but I messed the start holds up so it might have been a little easier. Still would have been probably hard V2, in my opinion.
Friday day rolled around and my friend Kevin Martin was there for me to go and do some climbing with. We were up relatively early, and then headed right up to a sector called 'The North Forty.' First, we warmed up on a pretty cool little 5.8 named Green Goblin that wasn't too bad. Next, we decided to just jump straight into the business and both were able to nab an ascent of Sonny Jim 5.11b, mine being a flash due to Kevin's onsight. It's definitely a cool route and has a cool balancy crux to a cool roof pull. Next, I led up a 5.10a called Season of the Storm and got that flashed. Finally, Kevin and I both gave another 5.11b called Big Top a shot and man was it hard. It's a super overhanging jug haul, but just not my style and I took several falls, and felt pretty pathetic. After this we decided to call it quits for the morning and went down and took a siesta.
Green Goblin:
The roof you pull on Sonny Jim:
In the evening my friend Wayne and his buddy Josh rolled in and we headed out to the Idaho's to do some quick bouldering. With a bit of help from Wayne on beta, I was able to finish a desperate V4 called Dig Dug that is a classic for Horseshoe and then I was able to nail another V4, Make You Cuss Arete, on the second go! Next, we did a really cool V3 slab problem called The Crescent. Not too bad of an evening session and I was almost able to send another V4, War Bonnet, but just missed it from muscle failure. It'll have to go during the winter trip!
Saturday, the weather ended up being pretty crummy in the morning so I decided to cruis back to KY, and ended up climbing at Jackson Falls today. My sister Lauren also came out today which was quite a surprise and she was kind of a good luck charm...of sorts. What I mean is I was finally able to figure out the top out sequence for my 5.12a project Industry. Pretty cool and definitely pretty physical. My beta involves getting a jam of sorts on a vertical seam at the bottom where water pools when it rains and then crossing up and hitting another identical hold with my right index and middle finger. Definitely feels pretty burly and there is probably some better beta but it works! I gave it two goes today and on the second I was able to make it completely through with only two falls, one of which being in a section that I typically have on lock down. I really hope that this will go sometime in the next few weekends! I'd love to sleep well again!
Other than that now I'm studying my butt off for the two exams that I have tomorrow. Yuck, and I guess I need to get back to that!
On Thursday, I was fortunate enough to have my class and work canceled and I headed out at around 10 a.m. to Jasper, Arkansas to meet up with people that I worked with the past summer and do some climbing at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. I was definitely satisfied with my experience. I cruised in on Thursday evening close to five and jumped out of my car to go and get some quick bouldering in before it got too dark. I was quickly able to dispatch a few problems one being an interesting V1 arete and the second a cool pockety problem called Bottoms Up, weighing in at V2. I also did a problem that I thought was V3 but I messed the start holds up so it might have been a little easier. Still would have been probably hard V2, in my opinion.
Friday day rolled around and my friend Kevin Martin was there for me to go and do some climbing with. We were up relatively early, and then headed right up to a sector called 'The North Forty.' First, we warmed up on a pretty cool little 5.8 named Green Goblin that wasn't too bad. Next, we decided to just jump straight into the business and both were able to nab an ascent of Sonny Jim 5.11b, mine being a flash due to Kevin's onsight. It's definitely a cool route and has a cool balancy crux to a cool roof pull. Next, I led up a 5.10a called Season of the Storm and got that flashed. Finally, Kevin and I both gave another 5.11b called Big Top a shot and man was it hard. It's a super overhanging jug haul, but just not my style and I took several falls, and felt pretty pathetic. After this we decided to call it quits for the morning and went down and took a siesta.
Green Goblin:
The roof you pull on Sonny Jim:
In the evening my friend Wayne and his buddy Josh rolled in and we headed out to the Idaho's to do some quick bouldering. With a bit of help from Wayne on beta, I was able to finish a desperate V4 called Dig Dug that is a classic for Horseshoe and then I was able to nail another V4, Make You Cuss Arete, on the second go! Next, we did a really cool V3 slab problem called The Crescent. Not too bad of an evening session and I was almost able to send another V4, War Bonnet, but just missed it from muscle failure. It'll have to go during the winter trip!
Saturday, the weather ended up being pretty crummy in the morning so I decided to cruis back to KY, and ended up climbing at Jackson Falls today. My sister Lauren also came out today which was quite a surprise and she was kind of a good luck charm...of sorts. What I mean is I was finally able to figure out the top out sequence for my 5.12a project Industry. Pretty cool and definitely pretty physical. My beta involves getting a jam of sorts on a vertical seam at the bottom where water pools when it rains and then crossing up and hitting another identical hold with my right index and middle finger. Definitely feels pretty burly and there is probably some better beta but it works! I gave it two goes today and on the second I was able to make it completely through with only two falls, one of which being in a section that I typically have on lock down. I really hope that this will go sometime in the next few weekends! I'd love to sleep well again!
Other than that now I'm studying my butt off for the two exams that I have tomorrow. Yuck, and I guess I need to get back to that!
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