Preparations

Christmas is over, and the time is drawing near for the road trip to begin. The route has severely shrank, but the psyche is still there and I'm hoping to get things officially kicked off on Monday!

While at my Grandparents' house for Christmas I was able to make some small changes to the Jeep so it will be more compatible with the road trip lifestyle. Papaw and I managed to snag the seat bottom out and then add in a small sheet of plywood over the top to allow for a little more headroom and also to create an awesome little storage nook for all of my food. Today, I started packing things into some small tupperware containers and getting the last of my laundry done up so that things will be ready to go a.s.a.p.

If I do get to leave on Monday I'm going to be heading down south to Georgia for the first leg of the trip. The destination: Rocktown; an epic bouldering crag outside of the small town of La Fayette. Right now, I have the intent to hang there for around 2 weeks and then it will be off to Arkansas to pull on some more stellar sandstone slopers! I can't wait to get things rolling!

A week in SoiLL

Well the last week has been spent in the company of some great old friends, and also with a few amazing new ones. We've explored some great new areas in SoiLL and have been fortunate enough to get some sends along the way. It was great to climb so long with Wayne too, he's definitely kept steadily improving and he did very well for himself in this new sandstone environment. Here are a few pictures from Wayne's camera from the week...

Sending Buzz Arete V4 at Giant City State Park

Wayne flashing the Center Line V3 at Giant City State Park

Wayne nailing the crux of R.I.P V6 at The Graveyard

Sticking the crux move on Bug Eyes V5 at The Graveyard

Sporting the awesome scarf that Mom made me.

Phillip cruising Shorty the Pimp 5.13a at Jackson Falls.

Wayne working into the crux of Shadow of a Man V5 at the Holy Boulders.

Inspired.

Topping out Enlightenment V5 at the Holy Boulders.

Beautiful sandstone slopers at the Holy Boulders.

My ticklist for the time here looks something like this...

V6

Pinch Me

Big Dyno Problem

V5

Enlightenment

No Name Problem

Bug Eyes

V4

Buzz Arete

Wedlock

Arete Problem

Broken

Gill Roof - Flash

No Name Problem

V3

Punch Drunk

The Center Line

Big Pinch

Skeleton - Flash

Formaldehyde - Flash

Hornball

Mollusk - Flash

Face Problem - Flash

V2

No Name Problem

Cracked Skull - Flash

V1

The Tomb - Flash

V0

Devil's Arete - Flash

Eye Sockets - Flash

Next Week

Well Graduation is today, and tonight will be some festive events. But, starting Sunday night I'm gonna be chilling in Carbondale for a week at Kevin Martin's house and climbing all over SoiLL. I'm psyched and Drew and Wayne are gonna be cruising in too, with the possibility of Brian Martin being there as well. I'm gonna be getting left behind by everyone. Crap! At least I have a tan.

San Ignacio Weekend.

Things I did today:

-Went ziplining in the rainforest. Pretty cool.
-Went cave tubing. Awe inspiring.
-Ate termites. They taste like mint.
-Held a wild tarantula.
-Saw a small species of Toucan.d

Tomorrow we are heading a little further south to some great looking Mayan ruins called Xunantunich (Shoe-nan-to-nitch). After the ruins we will head back towards Corozal and stop at the Belize Zoo. We are all definitely excited, and the zoo is an amazing facility where we will see many interesting species of animals!

Thursday was Thanksgiving. It was an interesting experience being away from everyone for the first time too. While everyone was at Grandma and Papaw's house eating, I was at school working, and for my lunch I ate empanadas instead of turkey and dressing. The empanadas were great! Thursday night Marga's mom cooked us some food for a small T-giving surprise and it was really good too. Unfortunately, it made 3 out of the 4 of us super sick for some reason yesterday. So on one of our great days off we laid around the apartment paralyzed with stomach pain. Bummer.

Next week with school I'm teaching science and language arts to the kids. It will be an interesting and quick four days I'm sure. Friday morning, early, we head out on a boat then to San Pedro for our last weekend trip. When we return late Sunday night we'll only have three more days of teaching and then we're back home! I can't believe things are flying by so quickly! It'll be road trip time before long!

Small update

Hey everyone! Things are doing well down here. I had it sprung on me to teach a Kindergarten class today, it was quite exciting, interesting, and it went well to boot. I'm pretty surprised since I didn't have anything planned for the class, but managed to make it all work out somehow.

Again, everything is going pretty well. I'm certainly enjoying myself and I've been able to see a whole lot of exciting sites. On Saturday of last week we all traveled to some great Mayan ruins called Lamanai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamanai). It was great and the sites were beautiful.

On the Thursday before I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Mexico with the group as well. We did some touristy stuff, saw a movie, visited the local markets, and swam in an amazing lagoon called Bacalar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacalar). I've never seen fresh water that was so clear!

We teach until Thursday this week and then have Friday-Sunday off. Saturday morning we are heading down south to a town called San Ignacio where we will do the cave tubing, zip lining, and visit another set of Mayan ruins called Xunantunich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xunantunich). I'm pretty excited, and we will get to spend the night down there as well at some hotel. After that we only have the last weekend trip over the San Pedro!

Belize 1

The Last Weekend

Well this past weekend at Jackson was the last... for a while at least. I shamefully spent it thrutching my way up up Cro-Magnon Warrior .12b, which has to be one of the coolest routes that I've been on. My 4th go I found myself through the first crux, and pumped as all get out. I made it to a decent stance and managed to shake for a minute or so, pulled the last crux move but just couldn't get my hand to close all the way around the hold. Bummer.

Anyways, I couldn't have imagined a more amazing final weekend. There were tons of awesome people around The Falls and I was able to spend that last night with some of the closest and greatest friends a dirty climber could ever ask for. Thankfully, I'll only be gone for a month though and will be able to pick right back up where I left off.

On that note, I do leave for Belize this coming Saturday. I am very excited and can't wait to get into the school there and meet all of the great teachers, kids, and experience a new culture! I'll try and keep this blog updated while I'm down there as best as possible, but the internet is less than desirable as I understand it. We'll see what we can work out!

Jacob on Lost Innocence, 5.12c

Lost Innocence, 5.12c from Logan Smith on Vimeo.

No sends.

This weekend was filled with tons of effort but no sends...

Next Saturday is the last day at Jackson for nearly a month! Better go out with good style!

!!!!

Found my video camera! I'll try and get some footage of Lost Innocence this weekend...if I remember.

Progress

This last weekend was one of the most beautiful fall weekends I've seen at Jackson. Perfect temps, no humidity, and tons of awesome people made for a great time!

On Saturday I hopped on one of the most amazing routes that is probably at The Falls, Lost Innocence .12c. It is sustained, bouldery, and very aesthetic. I managed to two hang it twice, so hopefully with some workouts this week I'll get back next weekend and be able to finish the thing off.

Sunday, I went down to The Ranch area with Drew, who was in for the weekend. He had a few goes on Space Cowboy and I moved a little further south and got on Darwin's Theory, a super cool .12a. I managed a 4th go send and was very pleased with how fun the route was!

Big time congrats this weekend though for Kevin Martin! He sent his first .12a on Saturday and then turned around and did Darwin's Theory second go! Crushing!

So psyched for my last two weekends at Jackson before Belize! Gonna get worked and then enjoy the sun and the rest!

A Few Pictures...

A few pictures that a new friend Phillip took the last day I was a Jackson climbing! Coincidentally, both of these routes are ones that were bolted by Phillip.

On the crux of Goin' Rogue, 5.12c: Pocket with the left hand, bad slopey crimp with the right, and crummy feet, then a toss up to a small flat edge.

Who Let the Snakes Out? 5.10b/c:

Last week's sends

Here is the tick list from my amazing last week at Jackson!

Goin' Rogue - 5.12c

Space Cowboy - 5.12b

Velvet Green - 5.12a - 2nd Go

Shock Therapy - 5.12a - 2nd Go

Umbrella Girl - 5.12a - 2nd Go

Cowboy's and Cross-dressers - 5.12a

Stand & Deliver - 5.11b - Flash

Yuppie with a Gun - 5.11a - Onsight

Wild at Heart - 5.11a - Onsight

Who Let the Snakes Out? - 5.10c - Onsight - 2nd Ascent

The Walrus - 5.10b - Onsight

Possum Grits - 5.9+

I'm extremely satisfied with the week, and I hope that I'm able to carry over this trend the next few weekends. Only 3 left until I leave for Belize!

Deep Throat - 5.10b - Flash

Mid-Week...

I've been sending....

.12b

- Cro-Magnon Warrior - J-Falls

- Tasmanian Devil - J-Falls

- Space Cowboy - J-Falls - 2nd Go on Saturday!

- Remove La Ropa - J-Falls/Promised Land - Upgraded and off the list.

- Balance of Power - J-Falls/Promised Land - Upgraded and off the list.

.12a
- Hidden Treasure - J-Falls
- Everybody Needs Friends - J-Falls
- Detox Mountain - J-Falls
- Energizer - J-Falls
- Cranial Implosion - J-Falls
- Cowboys and Crossdressers - J-Falls - 3rd Go on Saturday
- Team Honda - J-Falls/Promised Land
- Industry - J-Falls***
- Umbrella Girl - J-Falls - 2nd Go!

.11d
- The Vow - J-Falls
- The Reckoning - J-Falls

.11c
- Access Denied - J-Falls
- The Twist - J-Falls
- Blue Velvet - J-Falls

.11b
- Splinter Faction - J-Falls
- Stand and Deliver - J-Falls - Onsight
- Fancy Feet - J-Falls

.11a
- Captain Crunch - J-Falls
- Yuppie with a Gun - J-Falls - Onsight
- Horseshoes and Handgrenades - HCR
- Flingin' Hog - J-Falls

.10d
- Fragile Egos/Into the Sun - J-Falls - Failed at Onsight
- King's Jester - J-Falls - Onsight
- Wild at Heart - J-Falls - Onsight

.10c
- Group Therapy - J-Falls
- The Minstrel - J-Falls

.10b
- Psychotherapy - J-Falls

Past Weeekend...

Went to Jackson again this weekend, and I can gladly say that the climbing season has officially arrived! Temps in the upper 60's and low 70's all weekend made the rock nice and sticky and it was great to meet a ton of new psyched strong climbers.

On Saturday I hopped on one of my long term goals, Space Cowboy 5.12b. All I can say is that .12b is considerably harder than .12a. It still blows my mind thinking about the difference. I started out rapping in and hanging the quickdraws. First go, I managed a mediocre 8 falls/takes, but fired the crux sequence first try. Second go, I knocked it down to 5 takes/falls. Third go, I was happy to get it down to 3, one of which could have been avoided if I stuck a longer quickdraw on. So I'm sitting at two takes basically. I think I could definitely one hang the thing, and then a send would only be a short matter of time after that. Maybe in a month...

Sunday, I got out early, warmed up, and ran right over to Cro-Magnon Warrior, a .12b also. Setting the draws I think I eeked out just 8 takes/falls, and got nearly no beta for the whole climb. What makes the beta so hard is that Cro-Magnon climbs a vertical water drainage seam and has some super burly power/layback moves that will stretch the biceps to their limit. At the same time you're just pasting your feet onto nothing to keep the pressure on your hands, and yourself from falling. I was feeling it quite strongly after the first go, but sucked it up and went again and sloppily fell and hung 4 times.

I'll take the small amount of progress though, and I'm super psyched for these two routes. Fall break here at the school starts next Saturday and I'm going to have an entire week off! Tons of time to get some projects sent hopefully!

Progress

Starred routes are things that I've managed to get sends on since the start of the year! I'm gonna be heading out to Jackson this coming weekend with the intent of ticking Space Cowboy .12b. I saw a guy on it this weekend and it really looks pretty doable! With all of the training we've be doing lately I can't wait to give it some burns! Hopefully, I'll have so good news and good footage to share on Monday!

7 days left with 1st grade!

Routes:

.12b

- Cro-Magnon Warrior - J-Falls

- Tasmanian Devil - J-Falls

- Space Cowboy - J-Falls

- Remove La Ropa - J-Falls/Promised Land

- Balance of Power - J-Falls/Promised Land

- Nagual - King's Bluff

.12a
- Hidden Treasure - J-Falls ***
- Everybody Needs Friends - J-Falls***
- Lavender Eye - HCR
- Detox Mountain - J-Falls***
- Tacit - The Red River Gorge
- Energizer - J-Falls
- Cranial Implosion - J-Falls
- Cowboys and Crossdressers - J-Falls
- Team Honda - J-Falls/Promised Land
- Industry - J-Falls***
- Prelude to Harvest - King's Bluff

.11d
- The Vow - J-Falls
- The Reckoning - J-Falls

.11c
- Access Denied - J-Falls
- The Twist - J-Falls
- Blue Velvet - J-Falls

.11b
- Splinter Faction - J-Falls
- Stand and Deliver - J-Falls
- Fancy Feet - J-Falls

.11a
- Captain Crunch - J-Falls
- Yuppie with a Gun - J-Falls
- Horseshoes and Handgrenades - HCR
- Flingin' Hog - J-Falls***

.10d
- Fragile Egos/Into the Sun - J-Falls
- King's Jester - J-Falls
- Wild at Heart - J-Falls

.10c
- Group Therapy - J-Falls***
- The Minstrel - J-Falls

.10b
- Psychotherapy - J-Falls



Boulders:

V8
- Numerical Methods - HCR
- Orbital Mechanics - HCR
- Project V8 by Miho - HCR
- Zig-Zag - J-Falls

V7
- Cloud of Stars - HCR
- Black Snapper - Fontaine Red
- Leather Face - HCR
- David & Goliath - J-Falls
- Space Invaders - J-Falls

V6
- Always Lead the Possum - Fontaine Red
- Newton's Law - Fontaine Red
- Pinball - J-Falls
- OBD Direct - J-Falls

V5
- Gak Traverse - Fontaine Red
- Bag Piper - J-Falls
- THC (sit) - J-Falls

V4
- Chainsaw - HCR
- Trouser Chili - HCR
- OBD Left - J-Falls

V3
- Cold Fusion J-Falls***
- THC - J-Falls***

Student Teaching...

Today, while creating some artwork about what they wants to be when they grow up, a student writes the following sentence.

I interpret the picture as the student saying he wants to make college students grow up...Awesome!

Detox Mountain

Another goal achieved!

Went to Jackson Saturday and Sunday with the intent to work a few other things but this line is just too awesome! Gave it a few goes Saturday but nothing was happening. I'm blaming the red wine...

Sunday came out cruised it nearly through the crux and then blew all my energy trying to clip a bolt (why I will probably always be a boulderer). Second go was awesome and everything just flowed. A few minutes later I found myself at the chains!

Here is a video we shot of a burn on Saturday. I ended up just editing it all together just for a vague idea of how the route works. Tons of shaking out on jugs and unexciting climbing! Be prepared for a 5 minute boredom fest!

Detox Mountain 5.12a from Logan Smith on Vimeo.

Everybody Needs Friends

I was able to get up to Jackson Falls this past weekend with K-Bro and had a pretty good time. Saturday, I contemplated on hitting up Energizer but just couldn't get into it since there had been so much moisture the week before. It was a good thing. Instead we ran over to the Beaver Wall and I thought that I might give an old project Everybody Needs Friends 5.12a a little bit of work.

I hung the draws quickly and on the second go had already managed to pull a one hang on it. 7 goes later though I just couldn't pull out the send. Here is a little video of attempt number 5 that Matt Guemple, a climber who has been around the falls since I was born, took on his very nice HD camera! Thanks Matt!

Sunday, we warmed up quickly and then ran right over to Everybody Needs Friends again and I was able to finally pull out the send on the second go. It was a pretty awesome feeling! So nice to get back into the route game and be sending some 12's the second weekend back on!

Next weekend I'm hoping to make some progress on Detox Mountain .12a and hopefully take care of business on Cranial Implosion .12a!

Energizer

It looks like I might have suckered some people into heading to Jackson with me tomorrow and Sunday for a little bit of climbing! The weather is just going to be so awesome! Hopefully the humidity will stay low too and I'll be able to draw a small amount of endurance from that last weeks climbing AND be able to make some good links on Energizer. Maybe a send? I'll have the camera in tow!

A few more from Energizer last weekend...

Hot Hot Heat...

Spent Friday afternoon through Sunday at Jackson Falls doing a little bit of climbing, but...it was HOT!

Friday I hiked into a new bouldering area called The Roost which was less than impressive. There were two problems that I really wanted to scope out The Oriel and Screaming Eagle, both of which were too ridiculous to attempt in the heat. And I'm not strong enough to finish either one of them as things stand right now. The rest of the place was kind of junked up and none of the problems were particularly attention grabbing. Later that night Mike, Calvin, and Jordan all rolled in and we got in a bouldering session at Reefer Madness which was nice in spite of the ridiculous heat.

Saturday was another beastly hot day but I had my mind set on getting on some harder stuff regardless of the temps so I worked to make it happen. We all warmed up quickly on Earthbound Misfit 5.10a and then I quickly busted over to Energizer 5.12a. It is siiick! It is 5 bolts of pumpy overhung arete climbing. It was definitely one of the coolest climbs that I think I've been on so far at Jackson. Here are some photos.

The crux, which moves off of a jug into a slopey crimp into a hand foot match, then a bad pinch with the left and a bump into a left hand gaston. With the gaston then you fall right hand into a good pinch and clip and move on into the last pumpy and short sequence to the anchors!

Sunday was spent running laps on Group Therapy 5.10c in hopes for a little bit of endurance! I want to send some harder stuff! I'm psyched for the fall and can't wait to get out and do some more awesome climbing!

Jackson This Weekend

Heading to J-Falls this weekend with Mike, Kevin, and possibly Calvin. A good strong crew. I'm really psyched to get on rope, and I have a lot of hard projects in mind that I'd love to try and tick. I think that I'm going to be doing some bouldering on Friday night too so here are some goals for inspection/sendage!

Boulders
-OBD V6
-Screaming Eagle V6
-The Oriel V5

Routes
-Energizer 5.12a
-Everybody Needs Friends 5.12a
-Cranial Implosion 5.12a
-Here Come the Snakes 5.12c
-Psychotherapy 5.10b
-Yuppie With a Gun 5.11a

I know that is a little ambitious for one weekend, especially since I've yet to send on .12 in a day, but I just really want to suss out some beta on the harder stuff, and keep pressing my limits. I've already been on Everybody Needs Friends and Cranial, so I know the beta and there is a decent potential if I can catch the good conditions sometime during the weekend. It is only supposed to be 92 all weekend...

Chaos Canyon and The Beach - Video

Here is some footage that I put together of a few sends from last weekend and one from the park!

Chaos Canyon/The Beach from Logan Smith on Vimeo.

Long Over Due

I've been pretty delinquent with the blogs here of late, I guess that it is mainly because a whole helluva lot just hasn't really been happening.  I've spent some more days in Chaos Canyon, sent a few new problems, but spent a lot of time just getting frustrated with my climbing while I watch everyone else crush grades like V9.  

I have managed to nab a V7 and V6 send here just recently and am finally feeling like I'm getting back to where I was at during the winter.  I also bought a hangboard for some finger training in the fall since I'm really not too sure what things are going to be looking like with getting outside to climb and student teaching.  I still haven't tied in outside yet this summer, so I'm gonna probably get pretty psyched out on rope a lot as soon as I get back, AND have absolutely no endurance.  Mike will probably own me.  

Here are a few pictures of the V7 that I sent up at Chaos Canyon.

Suzuki Boulder

Went to Suzuki today with Mom and Lane and I was able to re-repeat everything within an hour.  Pretty psyched.  I was also able to make a little bit of progress on the super difficult V5 that is on that boulder.  Maybe that will go before the end of the summer!  I'll try and get some pics of the session up.

Inspiration...

This 86 year old man just climbed this 450m 5.8, running it out sometimes 10-15 meters.  This last year he was even able to redpoint 5.10c.  I'm just blown away.

Pictures from Sky Pond

The snow field:

The "Waterfall" that we hiked through:

Sky Pond from our Grassy Knoll:

Another gorgeous view:

The view back down the valley towards Estes:

I didn't send anything at Chaos yesterday.

Two Days Off

I'm finally getting a few days in a row off.  It seems like work has just been going on forever. 

Yesterday was my first day off and since there was no one off for me to get out and go climbing with I opted to get out for a hike.  After not deciding where I was going to go until breakfast, I was ready for a late start with a new friend, who had also no plans for the day and decided to come along.   The destination was a beautiful alpine lake named Sky Pond.  

The hike was amazing and was actually a moderately advanced one with some snow crossing and actually having to climb through a waterfall on some easy 4th class scrambling.  I had really forgotten how much I enjoy a good hike.  After the 4 miles in we were rewarded with one of the most spectacular views in the park, and a grassy knoll right next to the lake where we spent the next three hours napping and reading the day away.  It doesn't get more relaxing. 

After the rest, we headed back down through the waterfall, across the snowfield and to the car.  We then headed to town and ate some delicious Nepalese food at a restaurant in town.  What a day!

Today, I'm heading up to Chaos Canyon with Emiliyan to do some bouldering.  I'm pretty pumped and after about three days off I'm hoping to finish off a few problems, and maybe even get my first V7 send in Colorado!

Chaos Again...

Well, of late I've been kind of fighting off this little head cold.  Nothing serious just some extra drainage and a little sore throat.  It wasn't enough to keep me away from Chaos on Wednesday though.

I had the intent to try and find some new stuff to work on since I was going up with a new crew of people, but since they hadn't been before we hit the same old stuff.  I got pretty frustrated too, I couldn't repeat Revenge, V6.   However, everyone else had a killer day with a couple of V7 sends being done.  A buddy from Bulgaria, Emiliyan, crushed Tommy's Arete in two goes.  He's pretty strong.

I have two days off in a row next week so if I can find someone to go with me I might try and take a little adventure somewhere.  Tons of options.  I'd really like to get out and see a few things that I haven't been able to see in a while.  Maybe central Colorado and a few new 14'ers?

Choas

On Saturday I finally had a day off, in what seemed like an eternity since my last.  Thankfully, I was able to capitalize on this opportunity with a days trip up into the park to Chaos Canyon with a strong crew of people.

We started off and spent most of the day hanging out in an area known as Lower Chaos, mainly because it would be the most likely place to get any climbing in because of the large amount of snow that is still on the ground at that elevation.

We made good time and were at Lower Chaos by 11:30 a.m.  We did a few little warm-up things on the top of a problem and then I proceeded to send a classic V5, Autobot, second go!  I was pretty pumped about that, and then we did a little bit more stuff to try and get a little better warmed up for the main goal for the day Revenge, V6 which I was consequently able to knock out in a quick 5 goes!  I couldn't have been happier!

We then worked on a couple more V7's through the day, Mikala and Tommy's Arete.  Both of which I'm pretty excited to finish up and hopefully sends will come soon.  Weather permitting I'm heading back up there on Wednesday with Emillyan, my bud from Bulgaria!

Chaos

Going to Chaos Canyon today with a good crew of people and hopefully I'll be able to finish off a problem that thwarted me last summer, Revenge V6.  Fingers crossed.  Also going to be doing some work on one of the problems I'm psyched to project, Tommy's Arete V7.  I'm taking the camera and hopefully I'll get some videos and there will be lengthy update to come soon!

The Happenings

Been busy with work the last few days and I just completed a Wilderness First Aid class yesterday, which was a great refresher for the WFR class that I took Spring Break '07.  

I've made it out a few times since the last post too.  One day I went up to the Suzuki Boulder in the park with a new kid named Evan, so that I could try and finish off the dang V3 that had been rejecting me for the last year.  I gave it quite a bit of time and eventually got frustrated and moved on.  Resent the difficult V4 on the Satellite Boulder, again, and then coincidentally ran into a friend of a friend named Nick, whom I was introduced to last summer by my buddy Drew.  He wanted to see the V3 so I decided one go real quick wouldn't hurt and I sent!  I was pretty pumped!  Now I need to send the V5 and there are two more V3s that I haven't worked and the Suzuki Boulder will simply be a workout spot for me!  

Today, Wayne and Lindsay from last summer are rolling into Boulder and will be hanging out around Estes for the next week!  I'm pretty psyched to run up to Chaos Canyon with them one day if I can bust out of work a little bit early!  This after noon I'm going to be driving a little bit south to check out the 'Wild Basin Boulder' which has quite a few classics on it and hopefully I'll rack up a few points!  A new friend Emillienth (sp?), who I met at the gym, and is from Bulgaria, will be accompanying me for the trip.  Kid is strong!  

Hope all is well, and my grandma's flowers are looking awesome!  

I'm so lazy.

Things have finally started to pick up around here with work, and so here I'm sitting in bed at the butt crack of dawn trying to  type something up, since I haven't in such a long time. 

Not too much has honestly happened on the climbing front either since the last update.  Sunday, I went down to Boulder with Tim and Joey to get gas and then make a trip over to the Flat Irons for a little bit of climbing.  Things were pretty cool and I managed to send through the grades V1-V4.  THEN after that, we went back up to Estes and decided to go climb in the gym for some odd reason since were weren't obviously worked enough already; it was probably the best day of climbing I've had since in Colorado though, I was worked.  

I'm taking a few days off now though to rest up the shoulders and then hopefully it will be off to somewhere cool this weekend.  I'm really liking the idea of going and getting my butt kicked on some sport climbs at Clear Creek Canyon.  That trip would confirm just how bad of shape that I really am in!  

I haven't been taking any video of late unfortunately, but I'll try to when things start heating up with some good hard sends!  Hope all is well with everyone!

Training

Today, unfortunately, I'm going to have to pile into a car and head over to the wasteland that is Snow Mountain Ranch for another week of work training.  I'm honestly not too psyched at all.  The weather here has been pretty dismal the last few days, but with that said the temps have been great and the bouldering really couldn't be too much better.  

Here in a few I'm going to be heading over to Lumpy Ridge with a few people for a morning session, and I'll hopefully get some good work in on Angry Man V7.  Also, I really want to finish off another problem that has been a thorn in my side on the Jaws Boulder today too.  

A good thing about being at SMR though is that I'm going to have plenty of time to chill and relax.  I went to the library in Estes Park yesterday and checked out some interesting reads that I'll ideally finish up a few of during the week.  I already busted through half of "This Side of Paradise" yesterday, an old F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.  

Hopefully at SMR I'll be able to get ahold of some of my friend Brian's photos from the summer.  He takes some great snaps and if I can I'll do my best to post some up on the blog!  Happy Memorial Day to all!

Updates...

Finding time to update hasn't been nearly as easy as I had expected it to be. Work has been super busy the last week, and then when we aren't working there are tons of things to climb, new people to meet, and lots of food to be eaten. The crew out this summer is pretty similar to the group of people last summer but with the addition of a few newer people, naturally. 

On the climbing front I've already made a few trips up into Rocky Mountain National Park, climbed on grounds quite a bit, and hit up Lumpy Ridge for a big session. Sends have been coming and going and I've been able to find a good amount of projects to work on so I can get back into shape and be ready for everything up in Chaos Canyon starting probably in around 2-3 weeks. Nothing really too noteworthy other than that has been going on. No big sends, but when I start getting close I'll get some videos rolling! Here are a few pictures that people have snapped throughout the last week.

Repeating the V4 on the Suzuki Boulder.

Watching Chris do some work on a V3.

Trying to get the send, but failing.

Everyone doing some bouldering on grounds.

Bouldering at Lumpy.  What a view?!

Trying the mantle on grounds.