Two Old Videos

I'm feeling a little bored studying so I'll post a couple of old videos here. The first is me on the FA of Right Angles in the JY Boulders in Leavenworth, and the second is the FA of King Kong at the same area. I can't wait to go climbing...

Oktoberfest

Even though the last weekend was Oktoberfest, Cortney and I decided to join the masses travelling over the mountains. We camped on Saturday night and then climbed at Mountain Home the following morning with Joel, Michelle, Jeanna, Blue, and Leah. The weather was incredible and everyone was in high spirits. Cortney climbed quite well, sending The Barn Door and Andy's Arete, on her first try of the day. I had a good time repeating many of the wonderful climbs in the Pasture, and made a quick excursion down to the South Seas, where Joel and I climbed Desert of the Real, which is strangely listed as a project in the guidebook (what were they thinking??) It is a high slab with a tough start followed by enjoyable moves on gorgeous granite holds. Much credit goes to Joel for opening it on the day, although this one has to have been climbed by someone else before...

After our extended morning session we headed up the Icicle to climb at Forestland. We went straight to the Practitioner where I made a bit of progress but still flailed. I am making better linkage through the lower part, but the very last move remains super-hard for me and is going to take a seriously good day to stick on link. Fortunately, it's such a good climb that it's even fun to fall off of... over and over again.

Happy Monkeys

Jeanna tops out a warm-up in The Pasture

Cortney tops out The Barn Door

Michelle working on Darth Maul

The view from Mt. Home

The Practitioner

Cortney working on The Pony Ride

The Swiftwater Cave

Leavenworth Again

I headed out to Leavenworth again this past weekend with Cortney. We arrived on Friday evening and camped in the Icicle. Saturday was a gorgeous day with perfect fall weather. We started at the Fridge Boulder, where we met up with Jessica Campbell. I had fun warming up on the classic lines while Cortney worked on the center line and Jessica worked on the left line. I was psyched for Cortney to climb with a strong chica like Jessica instead of just listening to me spray beta all day...

Cortney on the Fridge Center

Jessica working the Fridge Left

After hanging out at the Fridge for a while, Jess went to work and Cortney and I went up to try an unclimbed dihedral on the same clean face as Kyle's line From Russia With Love. Johnny had come close to climbing this problem a couple weeks earlier, and I wanted to see how it felt to me after two years away from it. It still felt hard, though a little better. Maybe I could send this one with a bit more work. Johnny will probably send it first try on his next visit... it's a good thing I'm not competitive. Anyhow, our plan had been to come home on Saturday evening, but we felt the need for another night under the stars, so Cortney and I headed up to Mt. Home and camped for the evening. On Sunday, we climbed for an hour before starting the drive back over the mountains. I was feeling pretty frustrated on Sunday evening as I sat in the library trying to focus on the immense amount of reading I had, and I was playing catch-up until I stayed late to finish old assignments on Tuesday night. I'll finish all my work for Monday before I take off this weekend...

Me, in the role of amateur contortionist

More Leavenworth Pics

Here are some more pics from last weekend in Leavenworth. The only really noteworthy news of the weekend was that Johnny completed the probable first ascent of the big, sandy hueco line below the Forestland parking lot. I had tried this climb on mini-traxion with Kyle earlier this summer and I can personally attest to the height and difficulty... the mantle is one of the harder top-outs in Leavenworth, and is way up there. In other news, Cortney came close to finishing the Pony Ride on her second day of effort, and Joel Zerr's Finished Product is too tough for me. We're headed back out there tonight to spend Saturday bouldering amid the changing colors of fall.

Me on Finished Product

Cortney on The Pony Ride

Cleaning + Consultation

Johnny on the likely FA of No Strings Attached

The Artist in action

Johnny coming close to completing the low start to Batman, Batman Begins

Max on the most difficult crack in the world

Leavenworth Weekend

This past weekend I headed to Leavenworth with Cortney, where we met up with Dimitry and Johnny for some bouldering. I have been really busy with the start of law school, and it was great to be outdoors for a more significant amount of time than it takes me to ride my bike to and from UW. I took some great pics of Johnny, Cortney, and D, but haven't had a chance to upload them yet. For now, here are some pics of me on the Peephole that Max shot on Sunday afternoon.

Johnny and Ivy

Bachelor Bouldering

This weekend was Kyle's last as a single man, so him, Drew, myself, and Joel Zerr, on loan from Reno, all went up to Skyline Ridge for some camping and climbing. The rest of the guys were a bit tired from climbing at the Equinox wall on Saturday, but we had a fun morning of climbing on Sunday, then headed down to the Index River Boulders for some afternoon chillin. Here are pics from both Skyline Ridge and the River Boulders; video to follow at some point.

The Campsite

Drew on The Bowling Pin

Joel on The Bowling Pin

Drew Contemplating His Demise on The Self

Drew on an Unnamed, Ungraded Highball

Me on Nunchucks

Two Pics of Kyle on the var to Chutzpah

New England Trip

I was back in New England last week after nine months away, visiting family and traveling up to New Hampshire to see friends and rock climb. I spent a weekend with my folks in Little Compton, RI, then got to boulder for a day at Lincoln Woods, RI. Lincoln Woods is a totally underrated area, and even though I've climbed there far more than anyone ever should, I still managed to find two climbs I hadn't done before, Straight Again and Loadies Zen, both on the Try Again boulder. Cortney flew in on Monday and after another day at Lincoln Woods, we headed up to Boston to spend the night with my sister before continuing on to New Hampshire.

A self-portrait of me climbing Straight Again

Cortney warming up on the Cave Boulder
After a bit of a tour of Dartmouth, including a requisite chance encounter with Bobby Hardage, Cortney and I climbed at the local boulders I had spent so much time on several years ago. It was awesome to tour the woods repeating old classics, even though it was warm, humid, and buggy. After a full afternoon of climbing, we stayed with my good friend Gabriel in his newly renovated home in Wilder, VT.

Cortney attempting a tricky Bobby Hardage line on the Smeagol's Castle Boulder

Cortney climbing on the Devonian Fish boulder

The next day we headed up to Rumney for a bit of bouldering. It would have been nice to climb on the stunning schist cliffs themselves, but alas we had nothing but a crashpad and our shoes, and I had my sights set on Satan on a Halfshell, a difficult problem in the Blackjack Boulders below the cliffs. This problem was put up by John Sherman in the 1980's on a wet day... his decision to dry the holds with a blowtorch so that he could send lead to the unfortunate breakage of the last hold by one of climbing's largest hardmen, Dean Potter. The problem stood unrepeated for several years until Dave Graham gunned down the 'new' first ascent now-much-more difficult climb. I had tried the problem four years ago when it was way over my head, and I was excited to have another shot at sending Rumney's best boulder problem. As sometimes happens, I wanted the climb too bad and didn't end up sending, so after a couple of hours we threw in the towel and hiked up the hill to take a peek at some of the cliffs. We eventually found Gabriel at the Orange Crush wall, and hung out long enough to snap some pics of an unknown climber on the Rumney icon Predator.

Me topping out the classic Zig Zag Crack

Gabriel being a sexy belayer

An unknown climber attempting Predator

Cortney and I spent the evening at Dartmouth's Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, a 90-year-old log cabin staffed by Dartmouth students where I had lived six short summers ago as a member of the DOC Trail Crew. We enjoyed a classic family-style lodge dinner, and then Cortney whooped me in a game of chess before we turned in for the night. We were awakened bright and early for the lodge breakfast, then hiked just less than two miles to an observation tower and panoramic views of Mt. Moosilauke. After the hike we went back to Rumney, where I got shut down again, and then headed south to pick up Kara and zip down to Little Compton for our last weekend. It was an awesome, if all-too-short, trip to the East Coast, and it was great to show Cortney around some of my old haunts. I'll probably head back East in December for some more family time - unfortunately, Satan will be snowy and seeping by that point. It's too bad I'm ethically above blowtorching a boulder...

The Lodge

The gentle hillside of Mt. Moosilauke

The Umbrella Boulder. Satan on a Halfshell follows the light streak up the center of the overhang.

Finally, a video of three climbs near Hanover. Music by Midnite - check this group out if you haven't already.