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.

In one piece...

We're here and we made it safely and soundly. Yesterday, we arrived in Estes proper at around 4:00 and to the Y at around 4:30. We were able to get all settled, catch up with old friends, eat some dinner, and then make it out to the Marble Boulder for a quick session at around 7:00. It was pretty nice, and I was able to repeat most of the things that we put up there last summer which is nice to do, that way I don't feel like I've totally started sucking.

Today, my friend from the summer of '07 Jamie, and her boyfriend Matt will be making it in from Texas and we're gonna head over to Lumpy Ridge for an easy day of bouldering. Everybody is kind of beat up right now. We'll have to mind those injuries and take it easy for a while. There is a cool V7 at Lumpy that I'm wanting to get on today though. Hopefully with a few sessions it will go down. Pictures and videos will be taken!

Half Way There

Made it to Lawrence, KS today. The half way point of our drive out to Estes. Crashing at my friend Lyndsey's house tonight; I worked with her two summers ago. Nice setup and we hope to be out of here in the morning by 8:00 a.m. This will put us into Estes around 4:00 Mountain Time. I'd love to dump my stuff and run to Lumpy for a session on Angry Man V7 too. Hopefully things will go as planned! Here is a list of just a few project goals for the summer. They are QUITE lofty!

Autobot V5 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Revenge V6 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Potato Chip V7 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Left Angry Man V7 - Lumpy Ridge
Tommy's Arete V7 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Terrorism Arete V7 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Skipper D V8 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Gang Bang Arete V8 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Podophile V9 - Lumpy Ridge
Right El Jorge V9 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Deep Puddle Dynamics V9 - Chaos Canyon, RMNP
Whispers of Wisdom V10 - Emerald Lake, RMNP
Kind Traverse V10 - Emerald Lake, RMNP

The overall goal is V9 for the summer. I'm just throwing in some really hard stuff to make sure that I keep attempting hard things and don't become complacent with climbing at a certain ability level. Which goals will be met realistically? We'll just have to wait and see come August. I have my video camera charged and ready though, and hopefully there will be some post worthy shots and sends to show for the summer! Keep an eye out for updates!

P.S. - I just watched the first 5 episodes of a NBC show called Kings on line. Everyone needs to watch this show. Intense and very interesting with loads of historical and biblical references! Starts back up in June so keep your eyes peeled!

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Live Long and Prosper...

The Future...

Well, I finished another semester of school successfully again today. All that remains is student teaching! Kind of a wild situation and I'm honestly a little hesitant to have it all over with. I'm gonna have debt and responsibility staring me in the eyes here at the end of the year.

On Friday though, I'm gonna be flying down to Jacksonville, FL to pick up a new (used) car from my buddy Scott whom I worked with three and four summers ago. I'll be hanging out there throughout the weekend and then It'll be back to Nashville for a rest day. Then I'm gonna visit the family, get things lined out and be in Estes Park on the 17th. This is gonna be a whirlwind!

I just got some projects in mind today for the summer. I'm really hoping to send some hard things! One goal is to red point a .12+ and to send a V9 boulder problem. I think that both are pretty attainable goals and hopefully I can stay healthy. I'm still trying to nurse this damn finger back to 100%. Soon enough though!

Be looking out for some consistent updates again mid-month!