Mt. Evans and the dyno comp with Charlie... more to come

A week back Charlie Barron and I, on a moments notice, drove down to Mt. Evans on a Tuesday at 4:30 PM to climb. Arriving at Echo lake around 2:30 AM, after having done some late night grocery shopping, we kicked the pads out of the car and crashed in the back of my Subaru. Our prime choice of sleeping location was due to the lake's prohibition of overnight camping (the only type of camping?). Waking up the next morning, I was stoked to already be positioned at the trailhead. We kicked it off, and proceeded to hike the moderate 2.5 miles to the boulders. Day one consisted of Charlie and I climbing a V6 on the Bierstadt in entirely polar styles... he just jumped. Then Charlie jumped on Bierstadt (V9) and oddly did not crush it. It was even more surprising due to the fact my last trip out here, 2 or 3 weeks prior, I had managed to do it in 5 or less tries. Charlie, only slightly fazed, went on to destroy the Dali (V8) quickly. I had done this route in the fall of 2012 and was glad he punted it out just as easily. Next we both completed this silly campus V9 on the boulder with Seurat. In addition to this, we completed Seurat, a deceptively difficult V8. __________________________________________________________ I was also very close to sending Clear Blue Skies (V11). The last move. __________________________________________________________ Day 2 Charlie and I were wrecked. We tried to send Gorillas in the Mist. Every move was worked out, just no linkage. Also of note, The previous time I was at Mt. Evans, I managed to complete Public Execution (V10) quickly. __________________________________________________________ After the hike out, we drove to Lander WY, and once again arrived at 2:30. This time it was raining. Charlie somehow passed out comfortably in the passenger seat, as I shifted uncomfortably in the driver's seat. Around 5, I was pissed, but it had stopped raining, so I set up my tent and slept in it until 8. With minimal sleep, Charlie and I just meandered for a day, friday the rest day, Come night however, and it was game on. Charlie tied for 2nd place in the dyno competition with Matt Fultz, being barely edged out by Ethan Pringle. __________________________________________________________ Photo credit to Danny Baker __________________________________________________________ Next will be climbing in Lander the next two days.

Time to actually make a post.

The last year has been what I can hopefully call progressive. I feel that having a semi-functional, the school's, gym year-round was of benefit to me. If I'm not mistaken, and in accordance with Charlie's views, I am stronger. Thank god. Since the summer after sophomore year of high school, my progress in terms of climbing has felt dismal. Grade wise, I have improved none at all. But maybe, I've just been looking at it all wrong. This lead me to a re-evaluation many of the first ascents I've completed in Cody. Opening my eyes to a more objective critique of many of my first ascents has come, first and foremost, from traveling to other areas (not just Joe's Valley), and another person sending many of my routes (Charlie Barron). Many of my routes need downgrades. Thinking back... Armageddon Savior is a 10, not an 11. Green Glass Door is a 10, not an 11. Hate Satan is an 11 or 10/11, not a 12. Dope is Chrome aka Grim Ripper is 11/12, not 13. Heart of a Masochist is a 10, not 11/12. Pookster is a 10, not an 11. The stand start on Pistol Whip is an 8. Approaching Infinity is an 11 or 10/11. Routes that we should all consider accepting the downgrade on: Riding a Deadman's Harley: v10 Deadman's Harley: v7 Studs: v6/7 or 7. When Life gives you Lemons: v7 or 8 Tribal Vibrations Stand Start: v8. Spear Chucking Baby Throwdown Ho-Down: v10/11, previously v12. And potentially v10/11 or 10 for Tribal Vibrations. Please nobody take any of that offensively. I stand entirely behind the first part, being that they are all FAs of mine, and for many of them, this has been a process of bouncing thoughts between Charlie and I after having traveled to many different areas. As for the second part, I feel that these are adjustments so Cody is not soft in comparison to other areas. Give me another day or two, and I will actually update on my climbing. First and foremost I've has two fantastic days of bouldering at MT. Evans this summer. Similarly, two even better days of bouldering in Lander WY. I've almost completed one of my Cody projects.

As of Late.

Two tuesdays ago, I climbed in Yankee Jim with Dominick. There, I managed to send Rabbit Hole, V11. I don't feel too descriptive today. __________________________________________________________ The Next day Dom came to Cody and climbed two new routes. These are on the newly dubbed Love God boulder. The short route, V4, Dom called Non-Believer; the extended variation, V4/5, is True Believer. Both these routes are stand-starts on a boulder up the hill from the main fourth-swithchback parking lot. The boulder is in the cluster of larger boulders above the fifth switchback before the Kaiya boulder. I managed to pull off the sit-start to this route. I finished with True Believer. The route starts on a left hand tiny two or three finger pocket with a right hand crimp. It then shoots right onto a tiny ledge. The line, now called Armageddon Savior, should be V11. Later that day, Charlie completed the first ascent of Quarter Pounder, the jump start to Wish I Could Have Gone All The Way. Dominick quickly followed with the second ascent. __________________________________________________________ That night Charlie climbed Powface and Dominick climbed The Joker, downgraded to V6 by Charlie who also completed the line. __________________________________________________________ The following day was rather unsuccessful. Charlie almost sent Dragonflies Dance. Both Dominick and Charlie flashed Hiya, V8. Charlie also scoped out another project on the Love God boulder, which will be bound to create a sick link-up. __________________________________________________________ Charlie and I were the only ones to climb friday. I managed to climb a V11-ish eliminate-ish sit start to Hiya. I was psyched. __________________________________________________________ Guest Speaker Charlie has this to say about his ride home that night: We left Cody at 4:30 and ran out of gas 30 miles out after Kerrek forgot to fill up with gas before leaving. To make a long story short I arrived home much later than expected after getting a friend to bring us gas. __________________________________________________________ ... __________________________________________________________ Ok, this is now two weeks into the school-year. I obviously didn't feel like typing then. I'm going to run through sends, with locations, that I haven't touched on. I just need to get it out, or it's never. __________________________________________________________ Yankee Jim- North of Gardiner MT: Mr. Leslie V6 Gigarete V7 Mrs. Leslie V8 Summer in Paradise V9 The Fin V9 Harmony in Ultraviolet V10 Vanilla Gorilla V11 __________________________________________________________ This was over a two day period with Charlie and Ina. Day three we went to Butte. Charlie was the only one to send. He climbed Montana Chicken V9. We don't know the real name, but it is left of Montana Beef. __________________________________________________________ Back in Cody, I was pressured to send the Pistol Whip Proj. Guess what. It didn't happen. I now have done every move but one. I have not stuck the intense precision move into the start of the stand-start V9. I did however climb a kinda-new route. It does the first two moves of the pistol whip proj and links into the finish of Pistol Whip V8. It'll be called Approaching Infinity V11 or 12. __________________________________________________________ I'm psyched to head back to Cody and climb the proj. It is my only end of the year goal. __________________________________________________________ Currently, in Golden CO, I have climbed outside a couple days. I sent the Animal V9. I have worked on Dark Waters and Mobbin' Around. I am psyched to go back to both. I only got on Mobbin when it was dark. This weekend- Mount Evans.

Maybe I disappeared.

It's time, time to say something about what I'm doing. __________________________________________________________ First, it's important to admit I raised the white flag on the fourth. I made it to 100.5 points and then was crushed. Four days on, I can accept that. __________________________________________________________ Rewind. 22nd of June, nearly a month ago, I traveled with my dad, Charlie, and Charlie's mom to Fontainebleau. The day we arrived it took till noon to get off the plane and retrieve the rental car. From there, it took 3 hours to travel 61 km to Font. Once in Font., the entire group was starving so we went and ate at a little restaurant on the mainstreet and did my favorite thing, visit the boulangerie. In France, or Europe in general, always eat bread. It is better. It is cheaper. And boy is it cravable. __________________________________________________________ We went to the boulders around six and climbed till ten. Charlie and I did a bunch of moderates, tried Aerodynamite--which at the time we did not know you could jump start it, BASTARDS--jumped on La Balance, and Charlie tried Biceps Mou, a route I did last trip. __________________________________________________________ The day appeared to be classic Font., rain. Charlie and I climbed Voltane a 7b, but outside of that, we were rained out. Charlie found a cool house under a boulder, and there was a route up the side. So awesome. We searched for Rainbow Rocket, but alas no success. A sad time for Charlie, he was bummed. __________________________________________________________ The next day was long and good. But oddly rather unsuccessful. We sent a route dubbed Fake Michael Ange because we thought it was the route. It was not. Outside of that some fun moderates. We also saw this Amazing route called T-Rex a 7c+. __________________________________________________________ Day four, or tuesday, was my rest day, but Charlie wanted to find Hale Bop. So off into the forest we went. It was found, tried, and not quite sent. Oh, and it rained. __________________________________________________________ Day five. It came together. I sent the sit to Aerodynamite, 7c+. We then both did Bivouac Directe, 7c. Charlie then sent both a 7a and a 7b+. I did the 7b+ and decided to skip the 7a. After that, I did the right variation of Bivouac Directe Assis, 7c or 7c+. We then tried the real Michael Ange, which I think would have been doable after another day's work. Next off to the Duel Area. I managed a 7b+ flash, but can't quite remember the name. Next, we worked on some problems. Tried Karma, 8a+, and the Beast, 8a. __________________________________________________________ This was without a doubt the best day of climbing we had the entire trip. __________________________________________________________ The next day Charlie and I were feeling wrecked from the previous day. I climbed Carnage, 7b, in three tries. __________________________________________________________ We then jumped on a 7c+, or what we thought was the route. Sisyphe Assis might be the name. But we both did it much too easily, so it cannot have been the right route. __________________________________________________________ Last in the day, we went to the Biceps Mou boulder and jumped on a left line not in the guide. Oddly it was one of the most logical routes. It felt 7c and took every last ounce of energy. __________________________________________________________ That night we stayed with my parents' friends, Bryce and Yazmil (possibly spelled incorrectly) in Noyer, a little village. __________________________________________________________ That actual night led to quite the late start for the parents the next day. We went to the Karma area around 3pm and left around 5:30. Charlie and I were feeling fresh. FRESH. It started of with the super crimpy vertical 7b+ that I managed to climb. Then on the way to the next boulders charlie did this 7a+. I then managed to spend an inordinate amount of time on this tricky 7b. I can't remember the name--only that it was on the red circuit. Charlie crushed and did a 7b+ or 7c; I can't remember much of what he did. I just know I was jealous because he did more than me. __________________________________________________________ Trip over. Awesome plane ride home. HA. Miserable. __________________________________________________________ Back in the USA I spent a night at Charlie's, and my dad went home. The next day around 5:45 in the morning we started on Charlie's V11 behind his house. Sadly, new beta was found that makes it much easier. The way Charlie originally did it is easily V11, but now the route is in the V9 vicinity. From there, we went to another of Charlie's routes, a V7. I just got angry haha. Never climb this route. I did not do it. I called Charlie a variety a hateful names, but of course all in good will. I admit, though, I will be happy never to see that route again. Lame Seven is my suggested name for the route. I was put into a much better mood when we went to the next route a crimp face project (most likely, and just because it hadn't been tried). The route was probably V7, and is now titled Rave Ambition. (I was just reading over this and was like, well this is vague. I climbed the Route and named it. Charlie said he thought it was harder. Ya. I couldn't do his seven so it's not harder.) __________________________________________________________ The next day we went to Yankee Jim Canyon. It's pretty sweet this area was developed despite its seeming randomness. Charlie and I climbed Hookers in Training V9. Charlie flashed The Carpenter's Crack. And we both did another V8 down lower the name of which I do not know. We also jumped on Rabbit Hole. __________________________________________________________ Two weeks passed without much commotion. I then went down to Lander for Climbers' Fest with Charlie. We both climbed a 12a. Boss Beans. Outside of that I tried Rodeo Free and damn, no go. Charlie Jumped on Cow Reggae, and I am surprised he did not Waltz up it. __________________________________________________________ The Erratic was our destination on Sunday. I took my pads cause Rope climbing is hard. I climbed Council of Despair, either V10 or 11. Then Charlie jumped on When I was a Young girl I had me A Cowboy. He did all the moves, but did not complete the Link that day. I was once again surprised. Charlie seems to have this short window where he just crushes. Then it closes. __________________________________________________________ On the way back into town, I got a flat. Awesome. Heck yeah! Jim, Charlie's dad, was a great help and the problem was quickly resolved. __________________________________________________________ I didn't think I'd be climbing the next day because I had to have my tire replaced and I needed to talk to the people. We got it to work though. __________________________________________________________ The next day I went to the Falcon's Lair with David Lloyd, Justin, and Ina. The hike in destroyed me. It was only 3.3 miles but enough to tire me. __________________________________________________________ I didn't know if I would ever want to do that again, until I started climbing. We started on the Trolley Boulder. Both David and I did this new route, Seeking Purity V7. I then did another new Route called Train Wreck which was probably a V8. Then, continuing, Justin climbed Cracked Eggs V4. David did a new route called Table Dance V5, and I capped off the day by sending World Conqueror V10. __________________________________________________________ Check out this for France photos and this for Falcon's Lair photos. __________________________________________________________ I did these silly separations because it would not just space for me.

Fourth of July

Back from Fontainebleau. More on that tomorrow. Today is my fourth day on, and the goal is 200 total V-points. The question is, can I do it? The answer, maybe.

The Interweb

Something completely unrelated to climbing. If you are bored, check out Khan Academy. Or check out MIT OCW. The internet is great. Oh and I climbed Full Retard yesterday. Cool route.

New Route.

This is going to sound like rambling because I do not know the names of the boulders to make this clear, but I needed a break from thinking, so here it is.

On Saturday, I went out and climbed with Charlie, Joel, Aaron (maybe just one "a"), Angela, Liz, and Clint.

It's nice to climb with other people that want to climb. Most importantly though, I beat Dominick's V-points from last weekend in a day. So what I've done the routes like thirty times before... they were WEEKEND FLASHES.

Snytonga 9
Shyza-Shyza 16
Fingerpaint 23
Ripper Extension 31
Neurologic 38
Deadman's Harley 46
Riding a Deadman's Harley 57

But, like I said, New Route, and that would be Neurologic. It's a short V7 on the boulder to the left of Black Pearl and Sugar Pie in the Maze area. The boulder the route is on has the 3 and 4. Neurologic starts on a right hand crimp and a barely-there left hand pinch. Then, one move to a two or three finger pocket. From there, one big cross move to the lip.

Back to homework.