Born to Breathe

Bigger and Better Thing

2009-01-09T00:52:00.002-06:00

I got tired of the blogger platform finally -- so I've started creating a shiny new blog!

Come check it out: http://www.mncrimp.com. Like all personal websites -- it's still a work in progress -- but may as well have people start going there now..

If you are subscribing to this site's RSS feed and want to keep my posts coming your way -- you're gonna have to subscribe again over at the new place -- sorry 'bout that.. but it really is a much nicer site I think..

I've imported all the climbing posts from here over to mncrimp and will have a dedicated video as well as classic mn problems pages.

Governor Dodge State Park Video

2008-10-17T17:00:00.002-05:00

Governor Dodge State Park from Neil Berget on Vimeo.

Click through to Vimeo to see larger size, or full-screen here.

Governor Dodge State Park

2008-10-16T09:53:00.007-05:00

This past weekend I drove out to Madison and met Nic and got a few hours in to check out Governor Dodge State Park. Governor Dodge has been seeing a lot of development recently and I've been interested in checking it out for quite awhile now. The climbing is all on featured sandstone - and while the rock quality is unfortunately low - I did find the problems to be fun and the setting very pretty.

We started the day by meeting up with Vince from Madison at the Camp B area who was psyched to show us around. We all warmed up on and near the Picasso wall which provided some fun introductions to the area.

Picasso Right:

Very quickly, however, we set sights on Sandstone Violence - a superb looking V8 in the area. To our knowledge, it has seen just 2 ascents so far:

The line starts standing on an obvious jug, then goes straight up into two really bad pinch crimps. Work your foot up, and go to a higher left hand crimp, switch feet, and go out right to a bad, side pull crimp and then a jump for the break. I tried it quite a few times but was never able to get past the 2 pinches but Nic quickly worked the bottom moves and after a few tries managed to grab the 3rd ascent! Video of the send (and more) is coming soon.. I definitely would like to get back out there and work on it more myself too -- wish it wasn't so far away.

After Sandstone Violence, we went over to the other side of the Backbone and to check out the Hangman/Excalibur area.. Hangman is a traverse on slopers culminating in a dyno to the top. Very fun moves.

And finally, we headed over to the Godfather boulder. The Godfather is quite a tall, proud looking line that goes at about V4/V5. The pockets were pretty painful to pull on, but that was probably because it was toward the end of the day. We both managed to get this one on our first tries:

Another cool line in the area is the jump start problem around the corner to the left -- footage of this coming as well..

All in all, a fun day of bouldering. It's a very scenic area with pretty fun problems although it's too bad you're always slightly afraid the holds you're pulling on might break.

Taylors Falls

2008-10-07T17:31:00.003-05:00

Been way too long since my last post.. Hopefully more coming soon..

I had a great time this past Saturday showing Brian, aka the ClimbingNarc, and his wife Amy around to most of the best problems at Taylors. The 3 of us started by warming up on the river boulders down below the Cave area on the WI side and soon moved up the hill to the Pharoah and Cave boulders where we spent the next few hours. One of the largest groups of people I've seen at the cave was out and the energy level was great! After hanging out at the cave awhile -- where Brian flashed the Midget Stand and did the Sit in a few tries and I had my best go yet on the Traverse (will send soon - somebody hold me to it) -- we headed up to do the always fun Big Boy problems. And finally, to end the day, I gave them a tour of the MN side where we ended up hanging out in the B2 pit.

Anyway -- had a great time -- and although most readers of this blog probably know this already, Brian wrote up a great post about it too and has some sweet pictures of me not doing the Traverse:
http://climbingnarc.com/2008/10/taylors-falls-bouldering

B2 Bomber

2008-08-11T13:22:00.002-05:00

I headed out to Taylors Saturday with Brea. It was pretty warm so my only intention was to get some time in climbing on easier stuff on the MN side and have some fun. We started in the B2 Pit and before I knew it I was eyeing up B2 Bomber. This is a classic taylors falls V4 that I had tried once a few years ago but never did - having taken several back landing falls from the last move that made me too scared to try it until now. After getting to and/or attempting the last move about half a dozen times - getting more and more confident as I went - I finally stuck the top move and did it. I was really glad to finally get over my fear on this thing and do this essential problem.

B2 Bomber - Taylors Falls from Neil Berget on Vimeo.

B2 Bomber is one of the problems mentioned in John Sherman's historical bouldering book Stone Crusade -- first done by Jim Holloway in 1978 and at the time was considered "one of the last great problems in the B2 Pit" and is "now rated B1."

Taylors Falls - 7/27/2008

2008-07-29T13:05:00.003-05:00

It's the middle of the hot, muggy summer but I got out to Taylors on Sunday with Nic and Lynn as well as Justin Evidon. We started out in the Cave area and I managed to grease off the holds quite spectacularly at least once so quickly just went to work on improving some individual moves.

It was cool meeting Justin -- he is a very good photographer:

Check out his stuff at http://exposure.evidon.net -- or go straight to his rock climbing pictures at: http://exposure.evidon.net/Rock%20Climbing. You can see more pictures from our day by clicking on Taylors Falls > July 27th, 2008.

After hanging out there we went over to the Big Boy (or is it Peeler's Rock?) area and climbed Big Boy - a super cool V3 that I'd recommend to everybody to try if you are very comfortable at that grade and don't mind getting up off the ground a ways (this problem has sprained ankles before). We also climbed the face to the left of Big Boy. I don't know if it's got a name so I'll just refer to it as Big Boy Left. This ended up being another taylors classic in my opinion that I had not done before. It does have an awful landing but it is pretty easy - especially if you have a long wingspan - V0 probably if you can reach both aretes - but quite a bit harder and headier if you can't. It involves starting with 2 foot smears and a slopey hold and then popping your hands up 2 aretes, followed by a high step to a foot smear and a long stand up to the top jug -- really fun. You can find these boulder problems by continuing up the road past the Cave area and looking for the prominent prow to the right of the road and set back about 20-30 yards. Check out this quick video of Nic on Big Boy followed by me on Big Boy Left:

Taylors Falls - Big Boys from Neil Berget on Vimeo.

We finally ended the day by hanging out for a bit over at Mike's boulder. It sure was a hot and muggy day - but with the right mindset it was definitely worth getting out there. I certainly didn't expect to do a new line - let alone one as high a quality as Big Boy Left.

Video on MomentumVM.com

2008-07-15T11:59:00.002-05:00

Well - I'm famous! Well...only to myself and a few close friends though.. A video I took of Andre De Felice doing Right Martini V12 in Hueco this past January has suddenly appeared on momentumvm.com yesterday. I had sent Andre a copy of it after the trip and it apparently has since made its way to the site. If I'd of known it'd be published on a super popular site climbing site I might have done things a bit differently in the filming :) Anyway you can check it out over there or a bit higher quality version right here:

Right Martini from Neil Berget on Vimeo.

Vimeo

2008-07-09T23:37:00.002-05:00

Recently I've started seeing a large increase in the number of videos floating around the internet that are hosted at vimeo.com (including some great bouldering clips at Ethan Pringle's blog I discovered today that I'd recommend checking out: http://www.ethanpringle.com/?page_id=104). I've noticed that videos on vimeo are always far higher quality and have a niftier player interface than youtube so I've decided the check it out today... I must say I'm really impressed - these guys have thought really hard about how to make online video sharing a better experience for uploaders and watchers. I'd recommend anybody uploading videos to youtube to give vimeo a good look. I'm pretty certain I'll be using it from now on. Here's a video I've published before of a trip to sawmill last fall that I've re-uploaded to vimeo for comparison (the differences are even more noticeable full screen):

Vimeo:

Sawmill Creek Dome Bouldering from Neil Berget on Vimeo.

Youtube:

Kris and Lynn's Wall

2008-06-22T12:50:00.002-05:00

Haven't done a whole lot of climbing since my Joe's trip back in April. Made it to Taylors twice or so to work on Cave Traverse but just haven't quite pulled that thing off yet. It's been too hot for quite awhile now to get psyched enough to drive anywhere for outdoor climbing.

I have been climbing about once a week at Kris and Lynn's on their backyard wall they built last summer. It's been a lot of fun. On Friday there was a pretty good session going on and I took a time lapse video:

Joe's Valley Part 2

2008-04-09T13:20:00.008-05:00

Finally getting around to Part 2 of the Joe's trip....

Thursday ended up being a pretty good day for me. We went up to the Garden of Eden area and I checked out Anatomy Act - a V7. The guide isn't very clear as to what the problem is exactly but after talking with some other guys there I finally figured out it climbs up an arete. I almost flashed the thing. I fell off a sloper on the topout that I couldn't quite hang on to right. Fortunately, I did the thing next try which is the fastest I've ever done a V7. It starts on 2 crimps without really any feet to speak of and a pretty big move right to a pocket. Then slap your left hand up on slopers a few times, get your foot up to the start holds, then another pretty big move with your right to a bad sloper. Adjust it and rock up to a nice rail and it's pretty much over.

After Anatomy Act I checked out the other lines in the area and decided to try Arma - another V7. Not the most amazing line but it looked worth doing. I nearly flashed this one too! Falling off the topout again. After jumping onto the topout and doing it, I did it on my next try from the start. It involves 2 crimpy moves to a jug on the topout slab and then a couple of balancey crimpy moves on the slab to get your feet up. A nice little problem.

On Friday, I went back yet again to the Boy Size area but failed yet again on the same move. So it'll have to wait for a future trip. I did try Boy Size Right, however, which starts on the same starting holds and goes right. It ended up being a great problem. One guide calls it a V4 and the other a V6. I was able to do it in 2 tries and was quite happy to do it.

Brea worked more on Peep Show and made great progress. She made the crimpy first moves look easy and she got very close on the higher moves as well. It was cool to see the progress and even though it's too bad she didn't send it -- it's something for her to dream about and it'll be waiting for her next time :)...

We finished the day checking out the Gun Shot boulder and both of us climbed on the easy problems to finish the trip.

We still had some time left in the day so we drove out to the Gulch Overlook in the San Rafael Swell to check out the Little Grand Canyon. I had visited this spot last year and it is still amazing. Huge views of the canyon all to ourselves. A great way to spend the last afternoon of our trip.

Joe's Valley 2008 Part 1

2008-04-02T15:10:00.010-05:00

It is good to be back in Utah! I've been in Joe's Valley since Sunday night for a week long trip with my girlfriend Brea and it's been a great trip so far. We made the drive on Saturday and Sunday and have been camping out here. We got here in a thick snow fall but got camp set up successfully and fortunately the snow was gone by mid-day Monday.

We started Monday at the Boy Size area which I hadn't seen before. I warmed up on a few easy problems and then ended up trying and doing a short unnamed V6 in a couple tries. After this I tried Boy Size - a very cool V7. I quickly did all the moves except 1 and thought it would go soon, but I wasn't able to put it together.
Brea also climbed a few problems in this area. She did her first outdoor problem - Dos Mundos -- a V0 on the back of the Boy Size boulder and then Sole Food - a really cool V0 technical slab on some very nice rock.
Sole Food:

After the Boy Size area, we headed to the Small One boulder which is right on the side of the road. Brea climbed 2 V1's on this boulder - Tiny and Mini. I decided to try Runt - a crimpy V7 that I briefly tried last year and couldn't pull off the ground on. This year, I nearly did it first try, falling off one of the last moves and then did it completely on my 4th try. Very glad to see the improvement.
Brea working on Mini:

On Tuesday we headed back to the Boy Size area as I really wanted to do Boy Size and I was also curious to try Golden Plates - another nice looking V7 in a picture I'd seen. I ended up making no progress on Boy Size but hope to get it after a rest day now. Golden Plates also shut me down -- the crimps were too small for my fingers. Brea did a cool unnamed V1 on the back of the Golden Plates boulder. She really had to work for this one -- got her first flapper in her pinky finger but it was fine after taping it up. She also did a nice V0 on the back of the Boy Size boulder. She then talked me into trying a V5 next to Golden Plates called Mono e Mono. I jumped on and did it first try. This is my first V5 flash so I was excited and glad I tried it. After this we hiked over the The Fit boulder which has a very cool looking wall on it with 3 problems. Peep Show is a pretty inspiring looking V1 that goes up the middle and The Fit is a V6 or V7, depending on what guide you look in. I decided to give The Fit a try since we were there and ended up doing in on my 4th try. Nice moves on solid rock on the face but then the topout was awfully sandy and quite scary feeling.
The Fit:

Peep Show:

After this, we headed to the Maxi Pad boulder to try the amazing looking V6 Maxi Pad. I must say this this line is among the best I've ever seen. It climbs out a huge prow that comes out of a big cave on amazing rock. It is set a bit up the valley as well in a sort of ampitheater section of the rock that is really neat to be in. The moves are huge and I worked it for awhile but couldn't muster the strength to do the crux throw. This is a must-do boulder problem someday.
This doesn't do Maxi Pad justice at all:

We finished the day by heading to the Warm-up boulder and I ended up doing a V1 called Scoopable that ended up being higher and scarier than I thought it was - but it worked out fine. Brea did a V0 called Whatever and we decided to call it a day.

Today is a rest day that we're spending in Price.

Only 2 days of climing left -- going way too fast. I really hope to do Boy Size, and I think I'll get on They Call Him Jordan on Thursday.

Joe's Valley 2008 Coming Soon...

2008-03-26T12:58:00.002-05:00

I leave on Saturday!

Here's a highlight reel of last year's 2 trips that I put together a long time ago that I never bothered to post:

Taylors Falls - 2/23/2008

2008-02-29T12:13:00.006-06:00

Last Saturday Nic, Chris Hirsch, and myself headed out to Taylors hoping to find some climbable rock. Despite their being lots of snow everywhere, we did all manage to get climbing in on the problems we wanted to try. We started at the Left of Lloyds area where Nic was trying the sit start - The Sporting Life. He gave it a few really good burns and managed to slap the final sloper but couldn't quite do it.

After this, Chris went to work cleaning up Sizzlefoot - a 5.12 route that he wanted to boulder and Nic and myself walked over to the cave so I could try my project The Cave Traverse. It was my first time on it since the fall so I forgot my beta on the opening moves on my first go but quickly re-learned it. I didn't manage to send it but feel much stronger on it - my injuries from hueco have been healing much better than I feared and didn't present a problem. I got through the drop move and into the opening moves of the Midget feeling very strong and fell at that point a few times from technical reasons so I know I'm strong enough to do the problem..just have to put it together.

Once I had enough, we all joined up at Sizzlefoot and Chris bouldered the thing! Truly frightening and inspiring to watch all at the same time. This line is usually top-roped and is probably over 25 feet tall with the crux move coming at the top. Chris warmed up by climbing up to the jug at the midway point a few times and jumped down before doing the whole thing. Very nicely done! I wish I'd have gotten video of it but we decided a spotter would be more valuable than video.

After Chris did it, Nic decided to give it a go as well. He took a few long falls from just above the jug in the middle before finally working through the crux and making it to the lip. But he grabbed a wet spot that hadn't been cleaned and blew off the top! Chris and I could only watch and attempt to spot as he fell all the way to the pads... somehow he managed to not get hurt and got right back on the problem. After taking one more pretty long fall from above the jug (at this point I decided I had to take video in case he fell off the top again) that is in the video he sent it too.

Here's some footage Nic edited together from the day:

Pretty nice day considering we didn't know what to expect when we got out there.. Hopefully there will be more days to come very soon.

Stop the Madness...

2008-01-28T13:18:00.000-06:00

Oh what a trip.. The Murphy's Law climbing trip. It's finally all over now..

Here's the rundown:
3 of us got ridiculously sick (puking guts out/not eating anything for 3 days/losing 10 pounds sick)
everybody got injured at some point: a tendon in my left knee and a tendon in my arm connected to right ring finger (which will probably keep me from climbing for a month), eric and nic pulled hamstrings and couldn't heel hook, chad sprained an ankle

Oh well -- even an awful climbing trip is still much better than sitting at home on the couch. I had a great time hanging with friends and met a lot of really cool people from around the world. Hueco is beautiful and I do hope to get back again.

The exact moment of tendon injury:

Final day:

Hueco Update #3

2008-01-21T13:19:00.000-06:00

Still in Hueco. Everybody seems to be at close to 100% health finally........

(PUNCH!KICK!POW!)

TAKEOVER-

by Nicholas Oklobzija

back to 100% my ass.

Let us take role

skin- well I have a full pad flapper (pointer finger) f'n power of silence (still not sent)
stomach- able to eat however I left Minnesota at 152 and am now at most 143.... WTF!
muscles- looking amazing seeing that i have rested and sunbathed more then i have climbed
friends- great as always, yet we could hang out in minnesota (did not need to spend 700$ to go chill in a coffee shop in el paso) not my idea of a good time.
family- lost a great woman in my family this week and a key player in my life (we will miss you bonnie!)
girl friend- is wishing she would have thought twice about "us" (joke)

but on the bright side i would change nothing... this will be the trip of my life (i just have to kick ass these next couple days) if all go's well i will climb "dark age" v11, "power of silence" v10, and "diaphanous sea" v11/12. I do not want to sound like a baby i am just letting the public get the real story kinda like cnn?

well neil is coming to better go before he wakes up..

peace,

-----------------

........okay back to Neil here...Nic is right - this trip has really sucked at times and featured extreme hits to our psyche but we still have a week to go and things are on the up.

I sent Baby Face V7 on Friday on my 2nd try of the day which is one of the best lines I've done. My sights are now firmly set on Adjust Your Attitude - a roof V8 with some of the craziest moves I've tried. I have all but one of the moves worked out and it feels close.

Chad and Eric are both working on projects as well. Chad hopes to do Baby Martini V6 and Eric has done King Cobra V6 is making progress on Speed Bump V7. Nic has done the Right hand variation of Free Willy V9 and has his projects as well.

Jeff Fink joined us this weekend for his first outdoor bouldering experience -- quite an introduction this was! He really enjoyed climbing on a whole lot of fun problems throughout North Mountain. Nice work Jeff!

Dan and Andy have left us to go back home. It was fun climbing with these guys and too bad to see them go.

Here's my send of Baby Face:

Nic On Free Willy:

Jeff on a nice line:

Warming up:

Chad:

Adjust Your Attitude:

Hueco Update

2008-01-17T14:52:00.000-06:00

Not much to report. I got food poisoning or something a few days ago and am just now getting better from it. Yesterday was my first day of climbing since my first day and I was really weak as I've eaten hardly any food for the past 3 days. I did make some progress on Baby Face and have no doubt that I will send it when I stop hyperventilating after 2 moves :). I'm falling currently going for the 2nd pinch on the arete.

I'm not the only one feeling under the weather so it seems only Chad has really been doing much of any climbing. He did a nice V5 called Lobster Claw:

After this, he and Andy went to work on Lithologic and Andy did it 2nd go. Here's Chad on it who is also very close:

Hueco Tanks Day 1

2008-01-14T11:24:00.000-06:00

We've all made it to Hueco. Eric Johnson, Chad Johnson, Nic Oklobzija and myself met up with Dan and Andy Kolar and our trip has begun. On Sunday (the 13th) we started the trip with a circuit of amazing easier problems. I commented after the day was over that this day was probably the greatest climbing day of my life as measured by sheer number of mega-classic problems done for the first time on a single day.

We started by doing the V0 problem Melon Patch. This is a tall, beautiful face covered in large jug huecos and was the perfect way to start the trip:

After this we hiked over to check out the Terremer/Diaphanous Sea cave to look at the amazingly small holds on Terremer. We then did a V1 highball slab problem called Hershey's Symphony:

We all did this one a couple times and Nic started working the moves to Diaphanous Sea:

After this we walked over and did the V3 Sign of the Cross. I was very psyched to flash this one.

After this, we went over to check out the V10 Power of Silence and Nic started trying it. He almost did it his second try of this trip, getting into the left hand gaston slot and falling going for the top. I'm sure he'll get this one soon.

After this, we hiked up the chains and all did the V2 roof problem Nobody Gets Out of Here Alive. Very fun moves on jug holds out a horizontal roof:

We then went and did the super long, amazing V2 problem Ghetto Simulator. Props to Chad for flashing this one. I got too pumped my first try but did it second go. It is the longest ropeless problem I've ever done. But it parallels a big slab behind you the whole way that if you get into trouble you can step off at any time.

After this we headed up to the Baby Face area. Eric did a V6 problem in about 2 tries called Daily Dick Dose that he has worked in years past and made it look easy:

I gave Baby Face a few tries and am really psyched to do this one. I think when I come back fresh I will do it right away (hopefully!). This is probably the best V7 I've ever seen:

All in all an amazing start...

2007 (Personal Bouldering) Review

2008-01-02T16:08:00.000-06:00

How strange it sometimes seems to measure success in terms of 10 to 20 foot sections of rock. Start on the ground and get to the top, using the hardest section of rock you can find or manage.. Stepping back and imagining this sport from a non-participants perspective is always good for a chuckle and maybe a healthy dose of perspective. But no matter how hard it is to explain and how tired I get of explaining why climbing without ropes is not the suicidal pursuit non-climbers perceive it as I am currently of the conclusion that this sport is truly the greatest sport.

2007 was quite a year for my personal climbing development. I'm not the strongest guy around but fortunately success is a personally defined attribute in climbing and by my reckoning - this was easily my most successful year yet.

I've been climbing for 6 years now -- starting in late 2001 hanging from top ropes at VE. Before the start of 2007, I had never climbed anything harder than V5 and my interest in the sport was actually at an all time low -- By late 2006 I had hardly climbed in 6 months. But then two things happened. First, on Thanksgiving Day 2006 Eric Johnson found the single most amazing boulder I've seen anywhere practically in his cabin's backyard and second, my first trip to Bishop (and first climbing trip anywhere for more than 2 or 3 days) in January 2007.

The boulder discovery was important to me as it injected a new interest in Minnesota bouldering in me. At that time I was bored with Taylors and frustrated at Sawmill (since then my attitude has shifted significantly on both these places) so the possibility of new lines on amazing rock was a huge shot in the arm and motivating to get stronger and contribute to its development.

The trip to Bishop opened my eyes to how beautiful and fulfilling spending time among rocks can be. On that trip I think I completed only a single boulder problem but I was in school the entire week and learned an immense amount about how to move on rock and what my body was capable of pulling on. I came back very psyched to get stronger and ready to plan the next trip somewhere.

Well, to make a long story short, I did go on more trips and I have gotten a lot stronger. Joe's Valley in Utah twice -- once in April with a group of friends and back again in May alone (I did meet up with friends I'd met on the road). A quick trip to Colorado where I got completely shut down but still had fun. A week in Horsepens 40 in Alabama in the fall on the crazy sandstone. And back to Bishop for a second time to close out the year where I climbed everything I had left undone a year ago. Not to mention dozens of local trips to Taylors, Sawmill and the development of the Cabin/Big Swirly Boulder up north which has exceeded all of our expectations. Favorite problems of the year include Scary Monsters V6 in Joe's, High Plains Drifter V7 and Saigon V6 in Bishop, The Sycamore V2/3 at the Cabin Boulder but I can think of dozens more that were a blast.

While I do think it is important not to place too much emphasis on grades, they are the most obvious way of measuring progress. So as long as you're not skipping over amazing problems just because of their low grade or searching out only the soft problems to inflate your tick list I think it is important to be trying to increase what grades you are capable of climbing over time. For me personally I was able to go from having never climbed a V6 to climbing 15 problems V6 and above including 7 V7's in the past year. To me that is solid progress and I'm quite proud of this. I hope to continue to get stronger and hopefully break into some V8's and hopefully beyond soon. Who knows -- maybe in Hueco in 2 weeks I can get started.

Another aspect of climbing that has become quite clear to me is how wonderfully social the sport is. I've made some great friends in the past year and developed older friendships further as a direct result of climbing. There are of course some loud exceptions, but it seems the vast majority of people you run into at climbing destinations are some of the coolest and friendliest people around. The more you travel the more you begin to run into the same people randomly at different places around the country and pick up where you left off with people. How crazy is that? Not too many activities allow that. It's also funny how diverse the people are that get drawn together. 16 year old kids stand next to 40 year olds and everyone in between equally enthused and cheering each other on as equals to succeed. There are of course dramatic exceptions and occasional back-biting but that seems to be the exception.

Well, I've written this mainly for myself but perhaps some of you out there that read this found something of interest in here. Thank you to the friends I've been able to share this year with and here's to a great 2008...

End of Trip

2008-01-01T01:29:00.000-06:00

I'm just killing time in the Las Vegas Airport - about to celebrate the new year's here in Terminal D...woohoo!

We finished the trip by heading to the Happies. I was able to barely do Action Figure - a V6 I couldn't do last year. This was particularly nice for me as it completed for me every problem I got on last year that I gave any significant effort to that I didn't do -- basically met all my trip goals and assured myself that I have indeed gotten significantly stronger in the past year.

I also did Ketron Classic -- a very nice V4.

Eric worked out all the individual moves on Cholos and has another project to dream about:

Bishop Continued.

2007-12-30T22:32:00.000-06:00

Our 4th day in Bishop was a rest day. The 5 of us drove up to try to find the hot springs to relax in but all we found was one of them that was already occupied. Did get to see some nice views however:

The next day we were back out to the Buttermilks. We started the day working on Get Carter - a classic V7. Pretty cool looking problem with a very hard start involving either a huge drop knee or a wide spread and powerful move. I worked out the top moves pretty easily but got completely shut down on the bottom. Eric did pretty well on it and was able to do all the moves and could probably do it all with more work.

After that we headed back to the main Buttermilks area and I ended up doing a really fun V5 called Go Granny Go

The following day we started by getting on the Ironman Traverse (V4). Super classic line that I tried a few times a year ago and didn't have the endurance to do. I was able to do it this year fortunately (barely though), in addition to Eric and Kris who also did it.

After this we briefly tried the Leary/Bard Arete (V5) but none of us had the strength/skin at this point to do it:

And after that we hiked up to the Checkerboard V7/8 to check it out. We tried a few moves but it's way too crimpy for me at this point in the trip. A truly inspiring line though -- perhaps the best I've ever seen. Something I'd love to do on a future trip.

Today I didn't do much climbing -- felt pretty much worthless. Started the day trying Pain Grain (V5) - but it lived up to its name and I gave up after 2 tries.

I also briefly tried the Cave Problem but gave up on that too after ripping off the holds and tearing yet another hole in my fingers. Kris got it though. We also went over to work the crimpy Yayoi (V7) but I decided not to try it to protect my fingers. Kris got this one as well after about 30 minutes of work. I finished the day by doing Green Wall Essential (V2) along with Eric. Nice line on a beautiful face.

Tomorrow we'll climb for a few hours and then head back to Vegas and on home. I'll try to put a slideshow up when I get home. My fingers are completely shredded (worst they've ever been - holes in most my fingers it seems) but I'm really psyched to get them healed and pulling again in Hueco in 2 weeks!

High Plains Drifter

2007-12-27T14:29:00.000-06:00

Edited: Much higher quality video:

Bishop

2007-12-26T18:18:00.002-06:00

I've been in Bishop for the past 3 days and am absolutely loving it. Eric Johnson and I rolled into town on Christmas Eve at about 3 in the afternoon and drove straight out to the Happies to warm up for the trip. We figured there wasn't enough daylight to make the Buttermilks worth it. We started by doing a V4 called Sucker Punch and a V3 called Carrot Top that were both pretty fun and nice warm-ups.
Eric on Sucker Punch:

We then headed over to Serengetti (V5) - a classic problem that shut me down and ripped a hole in my finger last year. I did it this time in 2 tries and Eric quickly repeated it as well.
Eric on Serengetti:

We ended the day by working on The Hulk (V6) -- which felt doable if we go back to the Happies -- and by doing a high and committing V1 called Heavenly Path.

On the following day - Christmas - we met up with Kris and Lynn Johnson and Dillon Doyle and headed up to the Buttermilks. The Buttermilks are one of the most scenic bouldering spots in the country if not the world. We warmed up on the Sunshine Boulder and then quickly went up to work on Saigon - a classic V6 I worked on but couldn't do last January. This time was a different story and I did it on my 3rd try. A truly spectacular line. Here's me sticking the crux move:

Kris worked on Saigon Direct (V9) for awhile and he really seems close. It's pretty tall and committing and he was taking some big falls down to the pads:

After this we worked on High Plains Drifter (V7) for a little while and Lynn came very close on Pope's Prow and then headed down and Kris and myself worked on Soul Slinger (V9) and Eric and Lynn worked on the Cave Problem (V6) before calling it a day.
Eric on High Plains Drifter:

Me trying Soul Slinger:

Today we headed back up with High Plains Drifter as my primary goal. It felt close enough yesterday that I was completely certain I was going to do the problem today -- never really had that feeling before -- at least not that strong. It took about 5 or 6 tries and a key bit of beta from Kris (who sent it earlier this week) and I did it -- so psyched! I got video of it but will have to wait until I have faster internet before uploading it. Eric is super close on it too and I have no doubt that after a rest day he'll do it. It was very cold up there today and everyone was pretty much ready to go by this point but I made them come spot me on Soul Slinger for a few goes. Unfortunately I tore a hold in my finger on my 2nd go but it did feel a bit better than yesterday. The hole isn't bad so after a rest day tomorrow it should be fine..

5 Days Away

2007-12-19T16:58:00.000-06:00

Rest.

2007-12-01T14:35:00.000-06:00

I've been climbing with a tweaked finger tendon for the last 6 weeks or so and I've come to realize it's gotten bad enough that I have to take a break.. The plan is 3 weeks of no climbing and then the following 3 weeks of slowly escalating to the Hueco trip. Hueco is 6 weeks away and counting and even though taking a few weeks off now will be frustrating -- it will be far more frustrating to be in Hueco not at 100%. It's just as well I take a break now -- the MN season looks to be officially over -- we're getting 6+ inches of snow dumped on us right now and more to come tonight and tomorrow. So all I'll be missing is plastic climbing. I will be focusing on core workouts in the meantime and antagonist muscle training.

Here's some random pictures to brighten up the post:
Me about to fall off Kahuna Roof at Carter Lake -- over and over again:

Chad Johnson on The Angler/The Rail in Joe's Valley:

Josh on Boogie Nights in Triassic:

Eric Johnson sending Serengetti in Bishop:

Jim Merli on Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground at Swede's Forest (there's the same Tetanus Kettle in the background from my previous post, 2 years earlier):

Me trying Germ Free Adolescence in Eldorado Canyon 2 years ago:

Swede's Forest - 11/24/2007

2007-11-25T02:02:00.000-06:00

It was pretty nice weather for a late November MN day so a few of us headed out to Swede's Forest. The group consisted of myself, Nic, Dillon, Chris Craft, Chris Hirsch, and Joe. Turned out to be a really nice bouldering day. Swede's doesn't have much and many of the problems are short, but they are fun. I hadn't been there for two years so it was good to see it again.

I did Swedish Lightning - a really fun V3 and Swedish Slopers to start the day. I then moved on to work on Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground -- a really great V7 that has got a great jump move to a sloper for a crux. I was able to do all the moves but just couldn't complete the jump and hold the sloper from the sit so the problem will have to go another day.

Nic got the 2nd ascent of Choppin Broccoli. Chris Hirsch got a nice (for Swede's at least) FA. He climbed from the start of Choppin' Broccoli and instead of finishing on the slab finished up the arete. Nic followed with the second ascent shortly after.

Chris Craft came really close on Tetanus Kettle as well -- here he is posing in front of it with the actual Tetanus Kettle:

Video:
1) Me on Swedish Lightning
2) Chris Craft on Swedish Meatballs
3) Nic Oklobzija on Swedish Slopers
4) Nic on Choppin' Broccoli
5) Chris Hirsch on Choppin Broccoli -> Relationship of Command (top half)
6) Me then Nic on Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground

Trip Down South Wrap-up

2007-11-09T14:17:00.000-06:00

Finally got out of Atlanta on Thursday and drove up to Rocktown... Where to begin telling you about Rocktown......uhh..at the same place it ends...

Nothing more to say about that :(

So we drove all the way back down to HP 40 and made it there by 2pm or so. Nic had some serious unfinished business and I knew I could find some stuff to work on. Nic ended up having a pretty great day. He did his trip goal Slider (V9), and then added Ghetto Superstar (V9), The low start to Step Child (V9 i think), and Mulletino (V7). I worked on Mulletino and did the tall top-out but couldn't do the roof moves at the start as my right middle finger pulley was really acting up after 4 straight days of pulling on plastic in Atlanta. It hurt bad enough that I decided that was it for climbing for me on the trip.

I did pose for pictures on Hammerhead (V5) which I had done last week:

Since I needed quite a bit of rest for my finger and Nic's fingers were worn down enough that he felt he needed a few days rest, we decided to call it a trip and head home. So we packed everything up at 5:30pm last night in Horsepens and hit the road and rolled home at 11:30am today.. Totally exhausted now but trying to stay up at least most the day so my sleep schedule doesn't get completely thrown off..

Atlanta Lifetime Routesetting

2007-11-07T20:23:00.000-06:00

Nic and myself have been in Atlanta since Saturday night working on a routesetting job for a brand new Lifetime Fitness... First time I've done this (at this scale -- I've set a few routes here and there before). Quite an immense job this has turned out to be. We arrived to find 18 70 pound boxes of holds - over 1200 pounds of holds and 300 pounds of bolts that we had to carry in from outside a box at a time and then open and prepare for setting:

We had 44 routes to set from 5.5 to 5.11 so it was over 3 days of hanging from my harness developing cuts and abrasions on my legs and trying to haul myself up ropes with a gri-gri and climbing through 30 feet of scaffolding behind the wall when setting the ropes. Pulled up on so many holds that I completely trashed a brand new pair of pretty decent work gloves.

I think we're finally done now -- just to have to go back tomorrow morning for the final check-off and help with some clean-up. I lost my phone there and am hoping to find it tomorrow. Should hopefully be climbing in Rocktown by tomorrow afternoon.

HP40 - Short Long Video

2007-11-04T17:29:00.000-06:00

Didn't take much video but I did get Nic's send of Short Long V8:

Horsepens 40

2007-11-03T19:58:00.000-05:00

I have been in Horsepens 40 for the last few days. Nic and myself drove down all day last Tuesday (Oct 30) and arrived early Wednesday morning at about 5:30 AM. We got checked in and found a campsite and went to sleep on our crashpads under the stars. We got up about 2 hours later when the sun came up and hit the boulders that are literally right there next to the campsite.. Impossible to sleep in with that.

We started by heading over and checking out Slider - a classic V9. I tried it once but decided it wasn't for me at this time. Nic set to work figuring out the moves on that and I moved on to a fun V4 right next to it called Cuts Like a Knife. It is a couple of really crimpy moves up to a classic HP40 slopey top-out that was a good intro to the area for me.
Slider:

After this we headed over to look at some other classic problems Ghetto Superstar and Thief but neither of us tried these. We did both end up doing a fun V5 called Popeye. It felt really hard for me until I figured the moves out and it clicked into place.

Finally, we checked out the Millipede area and did Bug Boy - a really slopey V3 that felt really hard. We both tried Millipede V5 as well but just couldn't do it.
Here's Nic on Bug Boy, Millipede is on the far right:

The next day (Thursday 11/1) I tried a V6 called Boomslinger that's on the Slider boulder but couldn't do it and then later tried and did a really cool V5 called Hammerhead. It climbs up a roof arete to the hardest topout I've ever done. Felt like I had to use every ounce of energy I had to top it out.
Hammerhead:

Friday was a pretty light day. All I tried was Redneck - a hard V6 - a few times which Nic ended up doing and hanging out the rest of the day. Nic also did a pretty cool looking V8 called Short Long that climbs out of a steep roof.
Short Long:

This morning I headed back out to Redneck and ended up doing it. Pretty fun problem that climbs up an overhang using a lot of crimps and a key heel-toe cam. Pretty fun climb that is unlike most things at HP40. Nic went back to Slider to try to finish that one early this morning as well but unfortunately fell off the last moves several times.
Me on the 1st move of Redneck:

The rest of today we wandered around as spectators watching the Triple Crown Bouldering Competition and it was pretty inspiring to see a lot of really strong climbers who'd come into town to compete.

I'm quite impressed with Horsepens. A high concentration of great sandstone boulders. It's a different style of climbing than I've ever done before and quite difficult to get used to.

We're in Atlanta now and will be heading to a Lifetime fitness tomorrow to set routes and then after that will head on to Rocktown...

Cabin Boulder Weekend 10/26 - 10/28 2007

2007-10-29T19:28:00.000-05:00

Headed up with Nic and Eric J. on Friday morning to Eric's cabin in northern MN. On Friday afternoon, we stopped to check out the Myrtle Lake boulder that Eric, Chad and Nic had briefly looked at early this spring and seen potential. We also checked out a second, smaller boulder on the hike in to the larger, Myrtle Lake boulder:

The smaller boulder was kind of cool and would have a couple of crimpy face climbs on it. We quickly left it for the bigger boulder. This was the first time I'd seen this boulder and I was quite impressed. It's not quite as big as the boulder at Eric's cabin -- but it's close. Probably 10 or so decent lines on it and a few gems.

The best line on the boulder starts on an arete and climbs up this overhanging, featured prow and tops out on some bad slopers. Nic went to work on it and after awhile sent the thing and called it V8 or V9 "Significant Other":

He also added a variation that exits left onto a slab and called it "Insignificant Other". And the video:

Later that night Scott Ferris and Kris and Lynn Johnson joined us and the next day we went out to the Big Swirly Cabin Boulder. A great session as usual. Fun to see the jaw-dropped looks on Scott, Kris and Lynn's faces as this was their first time seeing this boulder. 5 new lines ended up going up to bring the total to 15 I believe. The 2 super-projects remain. Scott managed to climb 11 of them on Saturday including 2 new lines. "Squeaky Clean" is a highball, scary arete that starts on the back side of the boulder and finishes up inside the slot and "Mr. Clean" climbs the other, shorter arete on the back side. The other new lines were "Sneaky Pete" - a short crimpy problem on the backside to the left of Pendulum, "Coffee and Cocaine" - the highball slab to the left of The Sycamore that was named because Nic said it makes you jittery from the scare factor, and "Carpe Diem" - a 3rd line to go up in the slot. Kris did Dragon Fruit V7 and made it look easy.
Lynn sent 10th Plague (check out http://minnesotaskin.blogspot.com/ for her report of the weekend along w/ videos of her on The 10th Plague and The Sycamore):

Here's a video of a few of the days sends:
1) Kris does Dragon Fruit V7
2) Nic does Coffee and Cocaine V4
3) Nic trying the crux of the "Understudy" project

Climbing Trip!

2007-10-25T19:04:00.000-05:00

I'm heading up north tomorrow to the cabin/Big Swirly boulder for the weekend (goal: the super crimpy problem Dragon Fruit) and once I get back am leaving the next day to head down south with Nic to hit up Southern Illinois, Rocktown GA, and Horsepens 40 for 2 weeks! I'm sure I'll keep the blog posted as I find coffee shops with internet..

Sawmill Creek Dome - 10/20/2007

2007-10-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

I drove up to Sawmill again yesterday. Got there and the rain stayed away and enjoyed a beautiful fall day. After warming up I first tried Lukewarm Persistence V7 and after a few tries did it.. The problem starts sitting with two slots for your hands and a micro-edge left foot. You pop a left hand up to a sloper with a divot in it and do a big move up again to a good hold. Then match, get a heel hook and do a pretty hard top out on slopers up and left. After this I still had lots of energy so I then did Jaws V7 in a few tries as well. Jaws starts the same but after the match you traverse a few moves right along a seam and then do a scary top-out on a bulge with small crimps and slopers. I really like both of these problems - a lot of fun to climb. This would technically be me best day ever -- never done 2 V7's in a day.

After this Nic went to try the project on the arete to the right of Counselor Moon. This is a pretty scary line as there's a big chasm beneath it that you would fall into. But fortunately he didn't fall from the scary points but sent the project and called it Pitfall - probably a V7. You can see me being really nervous in the video and spotting quite close and trying not to fall into the chasm at the same time myself..

Here's the video of the day -- it's me doing Lukewarm, then Nic doing Jaws and then Pitfall complete with overdramatic music:

M7Bouldering.com

2007-10-17T14:15:00.000-05:00

I've been working lately on a website with Nic Oklobzija called M7Bouldering.com. We have launched it today. It's a guide and media viewer for Minnesota bouldering as well as a place for Nic's blog. Right now we've got two Taylors Falls areas on there - The Cave Area below the road on the WI side and The Boneyards on the MN side. Each area has a video as well.

We're going to release new areas every week until the site becomes the place to find what you need for MN bouldering destinations. Next week will be an area of Sawmill Creek Dome and in the months to come you can expect other areas as well.

Check it out!
http://www.m7bouldering.com

Let us know how you like it and if you find it useful..

Sawmill Creek Dome season continues..

2007-10-13T23:15:00.000-05:00

The alarm went off this morning at 6:30 am and I shortly thereafter met up with Nic O., Jim M., Scott F. and made the drive up to Sawmill. We finally made it to the boulders by 1:00 pm or so. The hike was particularly interesting today as we all took turns hauling a ladder up to help with some filming attempts:

After warming up and doing some spotting for Scott who re-did Counselor Moon for the filming I started trying my project Sticky Icky. I was really hoping to do it in 1 or 2 tries as I felt really close last time. I did get to my previous high point on my first go but screwed my feet up and fell off. After blowing the starting moves for the next 4 or 5 tries I finally did it - felt great doing another MN project of mine done this season.
I didn't get any pictures or video of this problem today but here's a shot of the problem from 2005:

After this, I joined Nic and Scott who were working on The Onion. Nic ended up doing it. I feel like I'm pretty close on it but really have to figure out my body positioning on one move that is currently shutting me down.

After The Onion I went over to another line I've tried a few times before but never done - My Stereo. This problem is basically a one-move wonder dyno off a big rail to a sloper then a few more moderate moves to the end. Took me about 8 tries today to figure out how to do the jump move but finally stuck the 2nd hold and topped out the problem.

All in all a beautiful day at Sawmill and I hope to get back up a few more times this season. I plan on working Lukewarm Persistence and Jaws Sit Start next as well as Counselor Moon and Payback as well. Sorry for slacking on pictures lately -- spent too much time climbing today I guess :). Here's one of Nic, however, working what I believe is a project on the arete to the right on Counselor Moon:

TF Update

2007-10-10T21:30:00.000-05:00

Scott Ferris just did Oxygen Cocktail V9 today at Taylors Falls. Nice job Scott!

The temps have finally gotten good after the terrible heat last week.. So get out there and take advantage..

Projecting Cave Traverse...

2007-09-29T17:12:00.000-05:00

I've officially begun projecting Cave Traverse. Headed up there by myself on Wednesday afternoon to start learning the moves and again today with Eric J. to continue working it. On Wednesday I was able to do every move -- in about 8 pieces of course but it was a good start. Went back today and was one dab (more like a step off and back on) from 2 piecing it -- and was able to finish it from the start of Midget Sit Start. I think I've got my beta for the first few moves figured out now -- toe hooks -- just have to do it now.

Also, while I'm on the subject -- big props to Chris Johnson for sending Cave Traverse last weekend... Nice job man!

Sorry for no pictures -- you can see Kelly do this problem 2 posts back, though.

Sawmill Creek Dome season begins...

2007-09-23T18:12:00.000-05:00

I drove up on Friday night with Nic and Eric to Chad's place in Duluth and the four of us headed up to Sawmill on Saturday morning where Jim and Scott joined us for a great bouldering day. The temps aren't perfect yet but they are getting better and the air is getting drier as well. The colors were pretty much at their peak as well -- very pretty. It looks like it will be a good season for a lot of people up there.

We started the day by warming up on the standard warm-up problem - which I learned is called the Luscious Lips Traverse:

and following that with some problems I don't know the names of that are around the corner from Jaws and back behind Juggernaut. There was a nice arete problem and a little roof on the opposite side of the same boulder.

After warming up, I started working Sticky Icky (V7) with Eric. Eric came really close to doing this problem this spring and was ready to do it -- and sure enough he beared down and sent the problem after 3 or 4 tries. I gave it about 10 tries as well and made good progress on it. I had never stuck the first move before but managed to do it nearly every try this time and got the next few moves figured out before my fingers got too sore to do the whole thing. I'm pretty confident I'll do the problem next time I go up there.

Scott then went down and sent Jaws in a few tries to begin what was to be a great day for him. Soon after this, we all headed to work on Counselor Moon - a V7 on the face around the corner to the right of the tall slab. Scott sent this heady problem too and was really psyched - he made it look easy.

During this time, a lot of us were working on a double arete problem that I don't know the name of that was really fun:

The problem has a very short fall and isn't too hard so we weren't using pads on it - and of course I managed to blow off it elbow first into the rock below and bleed a bunch. Got it wrapped up with some paper towels and climbing tape and it was fortunately fine.

We then all went to the Exodus area and Jim went to work on the Left of Exodus project. He was working the stand start and nearly sent it -- got into the top out a few times but didn't quite do it. To the left of this is a problem called Umberger Helper (put up by Joe Umberger I guess?) that is pretty fun that I was able to do.

After this, we headed to My Stereo for a few tries on that and then headed home. Had some car problems so had to borrow jumper cables from some other people but we managed to make it home finally - at 2 am.

Scott, Me, Nic, Chad, Jim, Eric

Taylors Falls Again

2007-09-16T18:11:00.000-05:00

Nic, Kelly, and myself headed back to the cave at Taylors Falls today. Our goals being Midget Sit Start (V7) for myself and Cave Traverse (V8 or possibly 9?) for Kelly as we were both really close yesterday. After warming up for a few minutes I gave the Midget a try and sent it right away. Felt good to do -- the moves are fun on this one and this problem I remember looking at years ago when I first started climbing and wondering if I'd ever be able to do it.

Shortly after this, Kelly McBride did the 2nd female ascent of the Cave Traverse and all projects for the day were completed! No video of me doing Midget but I did get Kelly on the Cave Traverse:

Taylors Falls - Left of Lloyds

2007-09-15T21:23:00.000-05:00

Today I headed out to Taylors Falls for some climbing with my friends Nic Oklobzija, Eric Johnson, Kelly McBride, and Chris and Lynn Johnson. We started the day by hiking over to the Wisconsin side and climbing in the cave. My current project is Midget Sit Start - a V7 I think - that climbs up the middle. I got through the crux and was on the easy top-out when I blew the beta and came tumbling off. I ended up not doing it today but I know it should go very soon now. Kelly was working on the Cave Traverse with Eric and she came really close to doing it. Some of us might head back up tomorrow and hopefully we can both finish these projects.

After climbing in the cave for awhile, we headed back to the MN side so Nic could have a go on Left of Lloyds. Left of Lloyds - at V11 - is one of the hardest boulder problems at Taylors Falls if not the hardest. Nic has been working this problem for a long time and he crushed it on his 2nd go of the day. This is only the 5th ascent of this boulder problem -- a true MN testpiece. And the video:

Nice job Nic!

And some pictures from the cave:

Lake Jeanette Camping and Cabin Boulder Trip

2007-09-03T22:31:00.000-05:00

I spent Labor Day weekend up in the north woods hangin' with some good friends of mine. Eric, Nic, and myself drove up on Thursday to Lake Jeanette and were joined by Chad on Friday night. It was a very nice weekend of relaxing on the lake just hanging out and exploring the area. Spent Thursday through Friday night on an island on Lake Jeanette and then Sunday night at Eric's cabin before heading home today (Monday).

We did have some time for some bouldering.. (WARNING: lots of technical bouldering details to follow..)
On Thursday afternoon Nic, Eric, and myself swung into the cabin boulder for a quick hour-long session. We hadn't been to the boulder in a few months while the temps have been too high so it was good to see it again. It's still amazing. We all warmed up on the 10th Plague. After this Nic did a quick 3rd ascent of Dragon Fruit. This is a problem I hope to do this season sometime -- a technical crimpy problem first done by Jim Merli this spring.
Nic on Dragon Fruit:

After Dragon Fruit, the 3 of us went to work on a new line to the left of it and pretty soon 'Cool Hand Luke' got it's FA from Nic. This is not the prettiest line in the world but it climbs extremely well. The low-start (V5 range) has a technical move into some tic-tac-y crimps and then a high bad foot and a big deadpoint to a small hold before grabbing an undercling gaston w/ your right hand and standing up and stabbing a sidepull before either going right or left to your choice of crimp jugs and then topping out.
Eric working Cool Hand Luke:

Friday was mainly a day of exploration so the three of us went to check out the Pauline-Astrid Boulders that Eric, Jared Waterworth, and myself discovered a year ago and built a trail to last summer. We hung out for a few minutes in a cave area and I got an FA of 'Purple Glider' - a V2 or so problem between rails with a slopey, technical top-out.
Nic doing Purple Glider:

We then went to check out the overhanging wall area that we remembered having lots of potential. It unfortunately endup having pretty poor rock quality and it was getting quite hot and buggy so we left before long without doing any more climbing to speak of.

On Sunday, with Chad having joined us, we returned to the Cabin Boulder for lots more climbing. Quite a day of First Ascents this turned out to be. The first new problem to go up was Pendulum - another V5 or so that Nic did. This problem is right around the corner from 'Kelly Clarkson' and is right in front of the smaller detached boulder. It starts on a sloper and goes up to some crimpers and then a high step up to a 2 finger undercling gaston with your right hand way up high that you have to step up into. After grabbing a pretty terrible rail with your left hand you flip the gaston to an undercling then work your feet up and do a big reach move to an ok hold with your left hand. Then another big move to a vertical slot and another big (and scary) move to a muffin feature at the lip and a pretty easy top-out. This problem is very, very good.. I was very psyched to get the second ascent of this problem. It was named The Pendulum because of the way your body swings back and forth at the top of it.
Eric on Pendulum:

The next new problem was put up by Chad -- his first FA! The line climbs up the bulge feature on the far corner of backside of the boulder. The problem features some fun, thuggy, spread-arm moves on the bottom and then a high, easy-but-hard-enough-to-really-pay-attention top-out above. He named it Watershed b/c the top half of the climb is clearly where all the water drains out when it rains. The rest of us also quickly sent this good problem that's probably about a V2.
Chad topping out Watershed:

The FA:

After this, attention shifted to the lines that climb out of the inside of the split between the two halfs of the boulder. Good work to Eric for doing a lot of work cleaning what became Inside Scoop. Inside Scoop is one of the best V2s I've ever done (The 10th plague or The Angler being the competition) -- perfect crimps, edges and sloper holds with good, fun movement between them all the way to the top. This problem is pretty scary as an uncontrolled fall would lead to an awkward sliding on the boulder behind you for a ways but it's not too bad to spot appropriately.
Eric doing the second ascent:

And video of me doing it. It's more overhanging than it looks like in this video:

After Inside Scoop, Nic worked on another line to the right of it that ended up being very hard and very scary he called Slot Machine. This problem is in the V8 range with very cool movement. I really wish the landing wasn't so insane as this climb is pretty incredible but too scary for me at this point.

We called it a day at about this time but we headed back out Monday morning for a quick session before hitting the road and I was able to get the second ascent of Cool Hand Luke from the low start and Chad got the 3rd ascent of Pendulum - which I believe is his hardest problem to date.

All-in-all a pretty great climbing weekend especially considering it was only a secondary purpose of the trip. It's probably been a long time since MN has gotten this many boulder FAs in one weekend:
Cool Hand Luke V5
Purple Glider V2
Pendulum V5
Watershed V2
Inside Scoop V2
Slot Machine V8
These are all quality boulder problems also. This brings the established number of lines on the Cabin Boulder (aka Camp 40 / Big Swirly Boulder / Johnson and Johnson) up to 10. The two mega-projects remain that will both potentially be double digit problems. There are probably a couple more moderate independent lines to be done as well.

And one more thing -- over the course of the weekend we did stumble on more rock:

Chris and Lynn Wedding / Bouldering at Taylors 8/25/2007

2007-08-25T22:26:00.001-05:00

Today was (some of my climbing friends) Chris and Lynn's "big" day -- they tied the knot and are now married. Chris and Lynn are big time climbers so they decided to have the ceremony outside at Taylors Falls and they encouraged all their climbing friends to come out early and boulder with them in the park before the wedding. I drove up with Eric, Dillon, Nic, and Alisha and met Scott and Chris in the B2 Bomber pit for some relaxing climbing. We mainly all just screwed around climbing stuff we'd done before and trying the prow problem to the left of B2 Bomber.

After hanging out there for a couple hours, we headed over to the Armpit area where Lynn eventually joined us. By this time, quite a crowd started to gather to watch -- mostly relatives and friends of Chris and Lynn who were around for the wedding who had apparently heard about their climbing but this was apparently their first time witnessing it.

Nic jumped on Shrimp Tempura -- a highball crimpy face problem to the left of Ben's crack first put up by Pi. He took a few giant falls off of it onto the pads - and after about 6 or 7 tries nabbed the second ascent.

After a bit, it was time for the wedding and we all ran up to the area behind the park office and watched the ceremony. Took about 5 minutes and it was done :). Afterwards the guests all drove out to Chris and Lynn's house for the reception where the main topic of conversation it seemed for all the guests (non-climbers included) was the giant climbing wall they just built in their backyard -- 45 degree overhanging and 12 feet tall by 24 feet wide or so.

All in all - probably the most unique wedding experience I will attend and a great day. Congratulations Chris and Lynn :)

The groom-to-be Chris on the prow problem to the left of B2:

Chris on the top of Twinkle Toes:

Nic way up on Shrimp Tempura:

Scott and Eric discussing beta:

The newlyweds:

Sawmill Creek Dome / Palisade Head - 8/15-16

2007-08-17T18:59:00.000-05:00

I headed up Wednesday night to Sawmill Creek Dome with Nic Oklobzija and Dillon for some climbing. We made it up there around 11pm or so and since the temps felt good hiked right up to the boulders. We climbed until about 2 am before hiking back down to hit the tent. I tried the V7 Sticky Icky but only stuck the first move once. Dillon and Nic worked on Amateur.

The next morning we headed to Palisade Head to check out the boulders in the talus field at the base of the cliff. There are a lot of big boulders down there and we did find a fair number of lines to do. Nic got two likely first ascents. The first - he called it 'Prince of Palisade' - climbs out this cave type area using cool slopers and heel hooks before turning around an arete out onto a face to top out. Great, great line. Probably V8 or V9. After that he did an arete line -- called 'Hi Tide' (as in 'hello' as we had to time the start when the waves were low) -- that has a combination of fun moves on crimpers and a sloper that's partially over some water for added value. This was comes in around the V5/V6 range. I was fortunately able to repeat this line and it was really fun.

We were all totally exhausted after scrambling around on the talus all day and headed home Thursday night. We stopped at Fitgers in Duluth for a nice meal on the way home.

Hi Tide:

Prince of Palisade:

Random Water Shot:

Dillon trying The Amateur:

Taylors Falls - Mike's Left

2007-07-15T19:14:00.001-05:00

I headed up to Taylors Falls today with a good sized crew to go try Mike's Left - the classic V7 (maybe classic of any grade there) boulder problem at Taylors. I've tried this boulder problem spread out over 3 days over the past 2 years and it has been a bit frustrating. I pretty much always felt like I was just about to send the problem on my previous trips before the sharp second hold would cut into my skin too much and I wouldn't do it. Well, today finally was the day. Took about 15 tries and and a big hole in my left index finger but I finally stuck the top jug and finished the thing.

Good job also to Chris who also sent the boulder for his first time:

Satisfying Moment...

2007-06-27T15:49:00.001-05:00

Pocket Rocket at Joe's...must go back..
Photo by Josh

Slideshow of 05/07 Joe's Trip

2007-06-22T17:30:00.000-05:00

Joe's Valley 5/17/2007

2007-05-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

My time in Joe's has come to an end. I left this morning and am now in a hotel in North Platte, Nebraska. Hopefully should be home tomorrow night.

Joe's Valley 5/15/2007

2007-05-15T16:11:00.000-05:00

After resting a few hours after doing Moby Dick yesterday, I was ready to climb again. So once the sun had gone down I talked a few people into going up to spot me on Team Effort. It was pretty dark but I remembered my head lamp and gave it a go and sent it first try last night. Felt really good to send it. It is the hardest thing I've done so far.

A photo of me on Team Effort from my April trip here:

And one Josh took last night:

Today, Josh, Ryan (a friend of Josh's from Portland) and myself headed up to New Joe's. It was the first time I'd been there on this trip. I warmed up on a V3 called Get Shorty that wasn't than fun and spent awhile putzing around on stuff I'd done before -- Super Sloper, Snake Bite, etc..

After a bit, though, we headed over to the Self Service boulder to try Self Service - a classic V5. I really should have flashed it. Got up into the top out but then didn't use my feet right and just got too pumped and fell off the thing. Pretty bummed but I sent it two tries later after slipping off the second move on my second try.

Video:

Then, we headed up to the Anarchy boulder to look at Pocket Rocket - a V6 I'd been recommended. It is an amazing looking boulder problem on a sweet rock face. It involves a big dyno off a good 2 finger pocket and a sloping side-pull up to an incut, almost jug quite a few feet up and then an easy top-out. I stuck the dyno second try but didn't get my fingers on it far enough and fell trying to match. Fortunately, I stuck the dyno again two tries later and sent it. Really, really fun.

Pocket Rocket:

Joe's Valley 5/14/2007

2007-05-14T20:01:00.000-05:00

I felt pretty good today so after killing a couple hours in Price and attempting to see the Dinosaur Quarry (and failing since it's only open Friday, Sat, and Sun) I decided to go climbing. Didn't see anybody else around so just headed by myself up to try Moby Dick since you don't really need a spotter on it. I had all the beta figured out from the night session a few days ago so hoped to send quickly. On my first go I got to the top-out and fell off. I then proceeded to fall off the top-out on the next 8 or so tries before finally sending the thing. Here's the video:

I also tried Black and Blue for 2 tries but my tips were in way too much pain to do the move on it.

Joe's Valley 5/13/2007

2007-05-13T20:32:00.000-05:00

Ok -- today is a rest day finally. I'll also rest most of the day tomorrow and climb tomorrow night I think next.

To pass the time I drove up to Price to confirm what I already knew -- pretty much nothing is open there on Sundays. Eventually I left and headed out to the San Rafael Swell as I heard it had some very nice views. I went to an area called Gulch Overlook and got to see some great views of what is called the Little Grand Canyon. Well worth the 20 mile dirt road trek to get out there.

Joe's Valley 5/12/2007

2007-05-12T19:55:00.000-05:00

Today was supposed to be a rest day but instead became day 9 in a row that I climbed (at least of a few moves). I need more self-control! Must take a full rest day.

Josh and I headed up to Price Canyon (about 10 minutes north of Price) and met his friend Allison to check out the boulders there. Really cool place. It is a bit higher in elevation than Joe's and was alot more shady so bouldering was possible. I meant to only go check the place out but ended up trying some of the stuff there. The rock is identical to Joe's sandstone - black and tan. Pretty high concentration of boulders there as well - quite a good destination that I'm sure would get a lot more attention if not overshadowed by Joe's and Triassic. It sounds like it's growing in popularity among the locals, however, as the potential here is huge and it's a solid hour to hour and a half closer to SLC than Joe's or Triassic is.

Here's some pics--
Me doing the middle 2 moves of some crimpy V9 (couldn't do the other moves but seemed like it was close enough to work if I was rested and could stand the pain in my fingers):

Allison on The Turtle:

Joe's Valley 5/11/2007

2007-05-12T11:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I spent most of the day just hanging out at the Food Ranch and then up in Price trying to rest and stay out of the heat since it's getting hotter and climbing in mid-day is pretty much impossible. At about 8 pm or so though the sun had fallen below the valley rim and the temps were feeling pretty good so we all headed up to the Moby Dick area to try the problems up there - primarily Team Effort.

After warming up on Skins Game (and unexpectedly blowing off one of the high crimps taking my worst fall in Joe's so far-on a warmup) I went to work on Team Effort (V8 in book, probably easier though). I tried this line a bit on my last trip but had new beta now involving a heel hook to make a huge reach move. This actually worked pretty well and although I still had some figuring out to do I am now able to make the huge reach move every time. The topout moves are still quite hard - and scary - so I did not send the problem, however. I am psyched to go back to it fresh one of these days and try again, however. I think I only have to pull one more move and it's over.

After working Team Effort until it got really dark, we all grabbed headlamps and headed up to try Moby Dick - a classic V6. I hadn't been that impressed by this line but after resting a bit I started working on it and it actually climbs really fun. Got all the moves worked out except the top-out again but I see how to do that now so also believe this will go pretty easily when I'm fresh.

By the time we were all done trying Moby Dick it was about 10:30 so everyone headed back. I still felt like I had some energy though and wanted to try a fun looking V1 on the UMWA boulder which is right off the road pretty close to our campsite. I talked Josh into coming with and I climbed it (don't have the name with me). It was really fun - so I least climbed one boulder problem yesterday :) After that I tried Walrus again but only gave it 3 burns before realizing I was again way too tired to do it.

All in all a great evening into night bouldering session last night. Didn't get any good pictures.. Today I'll probably head up with Josh to check out the Price Canyon boulders but I doubt I'll climb on anything. Feeling quite beat today.

Here's one of Josh's pictures of me on Team Effort:

and of of Moby Dick:

Joe's Valley 5/10/2007

2007-05-10T14:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon Josh and I made the drive out to the Moore Cutoff boulders. We saw the largest, most amazing boulder field I have ever seen. There were probably 100 Peabody sized sandstone boulders stretched along a 2-3 mile cliff band along the road and thousands more smaller boulders. Unfortunately, I would estimate that 90% of the rock here is choss.. Still, 10% of thousands of boulders still is a lot of climbable rock but it would take a lot of work to find them and I think the problems would be quite spread out.. If only :( ... We may head back for one day to do a few lines we saw that did look really fun.

This morning we went to the Riverside area up the Left Fork - across the road from Big Joe by The Angler. We found some shade and climbed on the next boulder over and had a good time. I warmed up by doing several V1 - V3 problems and then started working on Kelly's Arete - a beautiful V5 prow. After about 8 - 10 tries I finally figured it all out and was able to hang on long enough to get the send. It was a really scary topout for me -- really insecure holds pretty high off the ground.

After working this, we walked up and Josh tried Big Joe a bit. I was too tired so just watched.

Me doing Kelly's Arete:

Me on Chi V3:

Me on the bottom of Kelly's Arete:

Me on Kelly's Arete:

Some of the Moore Cutoff boulders:

Joe's Valley 5/9/2007

2007-05-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

I left Ft. Collins yesterday morning and made the 8 hour or so drive to Joe's and have arrived safely. I made it with a few hours of light and found a place to camp at the Black and Tan boulders parking area:

After getting camp set up, Josh showed up shortly thereafter. When he finished getting his trailer set up we decided to do some late evening bouldering in the last available light. The UMWA area was just 1/2 mile up the road so we headed there. We climbed a V3 called Reach Around and a V2 called High Ride before it got too dark to see anything. They were both pretty fun ways to start the trip. We also tried Rug Rat, a really nice looking V5 but didn't get it last night.
Here's Reach Around:

And here's Josh on the rail of Rug Rat:

Today we got up and returned to the UMWA area. There were quite a few people on that boulder so we walked across the road to the Small Boulder. Warmed up on a fun V2 and V3 and then tried a V4 called Pee Wee. The first move was really hard for me and I finally stuck the move after about 15 tries and sent the problem. Really fun. After climbing all the easy stuff on the Small Boulder and briefly trying Runt, a V7, we walked back to the UMWA boulder. Today I sent Rug Rat on my first try which felt really good. Josh sent it too. I also tried Walrus, another V5 right next to it and did all the moves but just got too tired to put it all together. I'm pretty tired now having climbed at least a few moves every day since Friday.

This afternoon we'll probably go check out a massive boulder field I found while driving on an 18 mile stretch of dirt road on the way to Orangeville - a "shortcut". I was pretty blown away by the boulders right on the side of the road and am anxious to go check them out. No fences or signs indicating to stay out either.

Colorado - 5/6/2007

2007-05-06T20:40:00.000-05:00

Not the best climbing day. Went to RMNP, Big Elk Meadows, and Boulder Canyon and got snow or rained out of all them. Tried two boulder problems at Big Elk Meadows but didn't even get a single move.. It was cool to see Brian Camp pull off a sweet, desperate send of Get Over It (V10) at Big Elk Meadows in the rain.

The plan is to head back to the Poudre tomorrow before taking Nic back to the airport to head home and then on to Joe's on Tuesday.

Here's us hiking in RMNP to go check out Veritas:

Colorado - Carter Lake - 5/5/2007

2007-05-05T22:45:00.000-05:00

Got my second day of climbing in Colorado today. It was quite rainy through most of the area but we managed to get a few hours of climbing in at Carter Lake. I felt pretty weak today and didn't climb any boulder problems.. Tried Kahuna Roof which is a pretty great V5 and then a new problem called Doughboy which is a highball V6/V7 and a classic V5 called Sloper Chief.

Me on Kahuna Roof:

Marty on Kahuna Roof:

Nic on Doughboy:

Colorado Day 1

2007-05-03T19:39:00.000-05:00

I've made it to CO. Nic and myself left at 2 yesterday afternoon and arrived it Ft. Collins last night at about 3 am or so. Got a bit of sleep on the couch and got up for day 1 of climbing. Made the drive up the the canyon to climb at the Poudre. It was very impressive. Very nice granite and beautiful boulders nestled in among pine and birch trees below large cliffs.

I didn't climb anything other than a fun little warm-up problem but still had fun getting close on Perch (V6) and working on Tilt (V7). We'll probably go back up there this weekend so I can hopefully do them.

After climbing at the Poudre, me, Nic, Chris Craft, and Brian Camp headed to the Gym of the Rockies for even more climbing. I'm pretty worked now..

Here's me on Perch:

Nic on Perch:

Nic on Tilt:

Joe's Valley April 7-15 2007

2007-04-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a great week of bouldering in Joe's Valley, Utah. I flew out there with Eric J, Chad J, and Chad H (Chadly). This was the first outdoor bouldering trip for the Chads and we were all very excited going in.

We arrived Saturday afternoon and after setting up camp at the Joe's Valley Resevoir campground still had a few hours of daylight to start climbing. We began by going to the Mine Cart boulder since it had a number of easy climbs on it that would get us warmed up nice and easy for the trip. Here's Chad on one of them:

There are about 6 or so problems on the boulder from V0 to V3 or so and we all got off to a good start by sending them all.

The second day was rainy so we ended up heading out to an area called Triassic which is about a 20 or 30 minute drive from Joe's. I was pretty amazed with this area. There are boulders stretching out for as far as the eye can see and it appears that only a fraction of the area has been developed by climbers yet. We hung out in what is known as the Main Area and climbed for a few hours. I ended up borrowing a pair of shoes from Chadly (since I thought it was a rained out rest day) and doing a really fun V3 called Wham! and an unnamed arete problem that I estimate to be around V4. The arete problem I barely pulled off as it started to rain as I finally sent it. Eric also sent these two problems. Here's Eric on Wham:

Our third day was our first full day of climbing. We went to the Big Joe area of Left Fork to try the problems there. Today we started climbing with 4 cool folks from Portland -- Josh (whom we met in Bishop), Kendra, Jon, and Jen. We warmed up on a few really nice V0s and soon set to work on the problem Big Joe. This is a pretty powerful roof problem with a crux sequence moving through a small 2-finger pocket. I couldn't quite pull through the sequence but Eric came agonizingly close before pulling something in his arm while hanging on the pocket. Unfortunately, this injury kept him from completing the problem and would cause some problems the rest of the trip. Hopefully it heals quickly! Here's me doing the big reach move into the pocket on Big Joe:

After trying Big Joe, I went up to try Scary Monsters - a crimpy V6 up the hill. After awhile, I figured out a pretty easy way through the bottom part by using some of Kendra's beta and started working on the huge reach move between crimps at the top. Didn't quite make the move today but came close. The Chads did a couple of nearby problems -- Lefty Loosey and Righty Tighty that looked pretty cool. Chad J and myself also got the nearby problem A Bobcat in the Kiparoo which was pretty cool. Here's me on Scary Monsters:

Our next day was our first full rest day which felt really nice after climbing at least parts of three days in a row. We spent it in Price and had a great dinner at El Salto -- a really great Mexican restaurant -- and watched the movie Ghost Rider. On other rest days we would watch Wild Hogs and 300. Here's Eric about to enter El Salto:

The following day was back to climbing. We went to Area 51 at New Joe's. This is a very cool area with four very large boulders all very close together with lots of problems. We got to walk up and look at the classic Black Lung -- a pretty famous V13 put up a couple years ago by Ben Moon. Very impressive to look at that. We started by doing Joe Cool -- a nice and high V3. Chadly ended up getting probably the biggest fall of the trip off this boulder problem when he fell off one of the higher holds -- fortunately he was fine. I worked on Big Boy for awhile - another V7 roof problem. It felt pretty close but I didn't pull this one off either. I ended up just running around and sending just about everything I could find in the area in the V4 and lower range. Highlights were the highball problem - Scary, Super Sloper, and Phoney Baloney. The other guys all sent quite a few problems today as well. Here's Eric on Snakebite:

and me on Scary:

Our next day ended up being snowy in Joe's Valley, so we went back to Triassic:

I did a very reachy V3 called Whoa, Oh, Oh, It's Magic and then went to do an impressive line called Golden. Here's Chad on it:

It started to rain after this so we all packed up but it quickly ended and so I decided to try a V6 called Boogie Nights. Josh, Kendra, and myself started working it. It felt very hard at first -- I struggled to pull off the ground on the starting holds or even make the first move. Fortunately I was eventually able to bear down and make the move and after working the rest of the problem was able to send it after about a half hour of work. I was very pumped -- as this was my first outdoor V6. Here's Josh doing the first move:

The next day was another rest day spent in Price and exploring some bouldering areas we hadn't seen yet.

Our final day was a pretty full day. We started by returning to the Big Joe area. The first thing we all did was the super-classic V2 called The Angler. It's a beautiful line that tops out over the water when the river is high. It wasn't on this trip however. All of us did this line. Here's Chadly on it:

I did it several times it was so fun. Eric then worked on Big Joe some more and I went up to do Scary Monsters. It felt easy today. I fell of the second move on my first go but jumped back on from that point and made it all the way to the lip before downclimbing and jumping off -- the topout looked hard and was very high so I didn't want to risk it on a go that wasn't actually going to be a send. The very next try I did the whole thing, however. I must have been in the zone because on that go I felt no pain on the crimper holds that all previous attempts had hurt so bad. I was excited to have a V6 feel that easy. Makes me believe that alot harder climbing is possible for me. After a bit at this area we went over to the Right Fork to climb at the Moby Dick area. We started out by all doing Skins Game - a nice easy V3. I then tried Black and Blue - a beautiful V6 prow. I almost did it but couldn't quite stick the big move on it and the very sharp holds were starting to really hurt. So after giving up on this I went to join Eric on Team Effort - a sweet looking V8 prow:

We didn't quite do it but I felt close enough that I believe I could do it with a bit more work. After this, we went up to the road to try the classic V4 Frosted Flakes but by this time we were all completely exhausted and none of us had the energy to do this one.

So our trip came to an end. We drove to Price after climbing to stay at a Best Western and enjoyed the pool and hot tub. The next morning we got up and drove back to Salt Lake City and flew on home. It was an amazing trip to a place I'm definitely going back to. Everybody seemed to have a blast and it was great having the chance to see the Chads climb outside for the first time in such an amazing place.

The Camp 40 Boulder

2007-03-28T12:17:00.000-05:00

On March 24th and 25th a group of us local boulderers headed up to Eric's cabin in the northwoods to climb on the gigantic boulder discovered there last Thanksgiving. The group consisted of myself, Eric, Jim, Nic, Chris C., and Chris H.

After a short hike in early Saturday morning we were there and began cleaning and climbing the granite boulder. The first climb most of us did was The 10th Plague which had been first done two weekends earlier by Nic when he, Eric, and myself went up.

This V2 problem is one of the best and funnest lines I've ever done and everyone seemed to agree. I added a variation to the problem that starts on the arete to the right of it and finishes on the top of The 10th Plague. My first First Ascent even if it is a variation. I named it "Pharoah's Regret" to stay with the plague theme.

After climbing The 10th Plague, attention quickly shifted to the arete about 20 feet to the left of it. After a bit of work, the V4ish problem was done - named "Kelly Clarkson (Anna Nicole Smith)". Don't ask why it was named that - I don't know. Ask Nic.

The next problem was the amazing "The Sycamore". The Sycamore is a 27 foot or so slab arete around the corner and across the face from The 10th Plague. Very tall with perfect holds and just good enough feet all the way up.

We had a large number of pads and stacked them all at the bottom, but fortunately nobody fell from the top. It is a truly amazing line. Technically not too difficult - V2 or so I suppose - but very heady. Nice job Nic putting it up first.

Later in the day, work began on a crimpy line a few feet to the left of The 10th Plague. It involves a nice rail to start on and up to two improbably small crimp edges that you must match on. Then pull your feet up and make a big move to a good rail which will get you within a few easy moves of the top. Everyone worked it for quite awhile and Jim ended up getting it first. A few minutes later, Chris H got the second ascent in very impressive style. He definitely had to dig deep to send it. "Dragon Fruit" - as it was named - is probably a solid V8.

Also done by Jim was a line that started on the far left side of the Project Wall (just right of the split) that went up off of 2 crimpers through a sidepull rail and traversed right to an obvious jug. He didn't top it out since the top hasn't been cleaned yet but it is still a really cool line. Unfortunately a key foot hold broke at the start in subsequent attempts so new beta will need to be figured out for the yet-to-be-done repeat.

Work also continued on The Project. A beautiful line coming out of the cave part of the boulder onto sloping crimpers. Some progress was made but much remains. This problem will easily be in the double digits of difficulty..

Some News

2007-02-09T16:12:00.000-06:00

I have decided to leave Pearson. My last day is Friday, February 16. I don't know what is next yet.

Of immediate concern will be playing my guitar and piano and going climbing more.

Climbing in Bishop

2007-01-16T12:59:00.000-06:00

I've been in the Bishop, CA area since Saturday trying to climb on rocks. Been a blast so far. Here's pictures from the first day working on a V4-ish problem called Weekender.

Off to Bishop

2007-01-11T16:34:00.000-06:00

I'll be bouldering in Bishop, CA for the next week. I'm leaving tomorrow (the 12th) and will be back next Sunday the 21st.

NZ -- Friday 10/27 (Queenstown to Christchurch)

2006-12-14T13:03:00.000-06:00

Today was another early day with a lot of driving. We drove all the way from Queenstown to Christchurch through Lake Tekapo. It was another day of striking scenery. It just never ends in this country. We made it to Christchurch and are staying in the Stonehurst hostel.

NZ -- Thursday, 10/26 (Routeburn Track)

2006-11-27T21:39:00.000-06:00

Got up at 7:30 and hit the road today. Not a really long driving day. Just a few hours to the north and east up to Queenstown. It goes without saying that this is a very pretty drive. Made it into Queenstown alright and found a hostel called the Deco Backpackers Hostel.

We had a quick start and it’s not a long drive from Te Anau to Queenstown so we decided there was time to have an afternoon hike on the Routeburn Track. The Routeburn is one of the most famous treks in New Zealand and normally takes about 3 days to complete. It is in fact so popular that if you are going to stay on the trail overnight, you have to book a spot months in advance. The Routeburn starts about a 45 minute drive from Queenstown so we drove up into the mountains past Glenorchy to the trailhead. We found it alright and set off about 1 in the afternoon.

The trail starts by crossing a swinging suspension bridge which was quite a fun experience since I'd never been on a suspension bridge before. It then quickly enters what looks like a type of pine rain forest. This start area is dominated by large evergreen trees with lots of moss everywhere. The walk also travels along and across several mountain streams for the first part (as well as later parts of our walk). After several more suspension and wooden bridges we started to see glimpses out of the forest of the mountains above.

One interesting thing I saw was a new sport that I hadn’t known about before. On one of the wooden bridges that crossed a pretty impressive set of rapids and waterfalls we saw a guide taking a group of 4 people down the river -- through the waterfalls and all. They were using a combination of techniques – rappelling, sliding, or downclimbing – to descend the raging water. It looked like a whole lot of fun.

After a long, slow ascent, the trail breaks into its first breathtaking clearing. The trees cut away for awhile in an area known as The Flats and unobstructed views of the peaks above come into view above. Soon after this (a little over 2 hours from the start) we reached the first hut on the trek – known as the “Flats Hut”.

After the first hut, the trail turns sharply uphill -- the next hour proved to be much harder than the entire hike so far and really let us know how out of shape we were. Finally after completing this section and several more bridges we reached the second hut. Along the way, we passed perhaps the prettiest spot I’ve ever seen. On the side of the hill, just below treeline (or “bushline” as a local called it) the trees clear away and great view appears of the flats, now far below, and the peaks towering all around in every direction. Truly awe inspiring and impossible to describe. The pictures really don't do it justice.. Soon after this we reached the second hut – the “Falls Hut”. We hung out for about 30-45 minutes and after eating some food and checking out the falls we started back down.

A couple hours later and the hike was over. In all we were on the trail for 6 hours. We checked a map at the trailhead afterwards and we hiked 7 km as the crow flies one way, which probably means 9 – 10 km with all the curves each way, or 18 – 20 km total. Not bad for a quick afternoon hike. The one blister I got is one perfectly fine price to pay for this truly memorable hike. I would love to go back and do the rest of it someday.

NZ -- Wednesday, 10/25 (Milford Sound aka 'most beautiful place on earth')

2006-11-16T12:27:00.000-06:00

The alarm went off at 6 am this morning. By 7 we were on a Rosco’s Sea Kayaking van heading toward Milford Sound. The drive between Te Anau and Milford is even more stunning than everything we’ve seen to this point. It climbs up to the divide and back down to sea level through some incredibly rugged mountain terrain. At the top the road goes through a roughly kilometer long tunnel that is very poorly lit (one light every 100 yards or so) and dripping water from the roof and walls. We stopped on the way up at a place called Mirror Lakes. They are a set of pools on the side of the road that in the early morning are completely calm and perfectly reflect the mountains above. Also in the van were a couple from Colorado who both grew up in Minnesota. It was fun talking to them after hardly seeing another American for the trip so far.

After arriving at Milford Sound, we were all provided with a full set of kayaking clothing and gear that we got changed into. After a brief explanation of how the things work, we were on the water. The sea kayaks we were in were the two-seater variety so me and Eric were in a kayak together. There were 8 – 10 kayaks in all in our guided trip.

It was a “bluebird” morning – as our guide Tex described it – as we set off. The sound is at least 10 – 15 km long and perhaps 3 – 4 km wide where we were paddling but it was calm as we set off. It was a great environment to enjoy the view. The cliffs rising out of Milford Sound really cannot be described. In the cliffs, several waterfalls cascade down. They don’t look too big compared to the cliffs towering above them, but the closer one we were told was 3 times the height of Niagara. We later got to kayak right underneath this waterfall into the mist and see it's power up close.

In addition to the scenery itself, there was a lot of wildlife to be seen. One interesting thing we saw was a penguin hanging out on the rocks. The real show, however, was a whole school of dolphins that we chased across the sound that ended up swimming right by us. They were literally a boat’s length away from us. They are quite large as well – nearly as long as the kayaks we sat in.

After a few hours of cruising around, we got introduced to “The Day Winds”. Every day in the early afternoon, the air on the sound between the valleys has been warmed sufficiently to be lifted up out the area and the cold air out on the ocean rushes in to take its place. The result is a literal wall of wind that comes crashing in and makes the water really choppy all at once. We went from calm water to 5 and 6 foot rollers in a matter of minutes. This was really intense. The wind blew hard and we had to fight through the waves to get back. I'm really glad we were in a kayak and not an open canoe. Got soaked through and through – which was fine thanks to all the waterproof gear they gave us to use. We made it through all right for an adventurous end to a great day.

After spending 45 minutes or so in the town of Milford we got back in the van and made the hour trip back to Te Anau where we ate a really nice dinner at the Redcliff Restaurant and headed to bed early again.

NZ -- Tuesday 10/24 (Dunedin to Te Anau)

2006-11-08T12:35:00.000-06:00

Today was another day of a lot of driving. We drove from Dunedin on the east coast all the way across to Te Anau – the gateway to the Fiordlands in the West. We took the Southern Scenic Route along the Southern coast. Today was the day the scenery that was really nice yesterday got really, really good.

We stopped at two waterfalls as we drove through the Catlins along the south coast – Barss Falls and Parakaunui Falls. I think the water levels are below normal as I was a bit disappointed by the small amount of water coming over them. They were nice walks in to see them, however.

The further West we went, the more spectacular the scenery became. Perfect, pastoral farmland (mowed down to a nice lawn height by the sheep) lined the roads the entire way. As we approached Te Anau, the mountains got larger and larger and mile after mile went by of perfect scenes of perfect farms and rolling hills in the foreground which snow capped mountains in the background. The sun came out in full for the last 100 km or so of our trip that really highlighted the scenery before us.

Te Anau was also very impressive itself. A small resort town of only 7500, it serves as a base for the outdoor activities that occur throughout the region. It is on the shore of Lake Te Anau – the second largest lake in the New Zealand -- and ringed by mountains.

We found a place to stay at the Te Anau YHA in a tiny, but colorful room that unfortunately has too thin walls but otherwise nice. We spent the afternoon checking out the scenery by the lake and preparing for a kayaking trip tomorrow on Milford Sound. We also went to a local pub – The Moose -- to try a local drink.

NZ -- Monday 10/23 (Auckland to Dunedin)

2006-11-08T12:26:00.000-06:00

Got up extremely early this morning – about 4:30 am and drove down to the Auckland airport. Eventually found our proper car drop-off point and made it through the relatively lax security (compared to what I’m used to back home) and got on our flight to Christchurch. It was a quick flight – just over an hour. Sat next to a friendly young guy from Christchurch who had been up in Auckland listening to bishop T.D. Jakes (or something) speak to his church. Most of the flight was cloudy but as we descended into Christchurch the clouds parted and we got a glimpse of the mountains to the west. I was very impressed. Actually, this is the first moment we used the adjective 'ridiculous' -- the first of many times over the trip.

After landing we called up Scottie himself of Scotties Rent-A-Center who picked us up and drove us back to get our car. This is a very laid back country we were quickly learning by this point – he swung by his place on the way to get our car to pick up his wife, Moira, to help him at work. When we got to the rental center we spent about a half hour watching as they pulled our car from out back (behind about 3 rows of other cars that needed to be moved first). The wait probably would have been annoying in the States but these folks were so friendly I didn’t mind at all.

After finally leaving with our car from Christchurch – a 5 speed manual on the left side scarily enough – and driving about 5 minutes down the road we had our first mishap. After pulling over to get gas (in NZ you typically receive your car empty and then return it the same way) the battery failed to start us back up. So we had to wait for Scottie to come replace our battery, which he did and we were on our way.

Spent the next 5 or so hours driving south on and off the Eastern coast to Dunedin down NZ Highway 1. It was all pleasant farm land. Learned that nobody was kidding when they said NZ had a lot of sheep. They are everywhere. After a bit of a stressful start, I eventually got used to the manual shifting with the left hand and driving on the left side started to become more comfortable as well.

We arrived in Dunedin, this day’s destination at about 3 or so and found a decent hostel – the Manor House. We got a 4 bed dorm room but fortunately we were the only two that stayed in the room. Dunedin is a very interesting town of about 110,000. It’s either the oldest or second oldest British city in the country (I read both in different places). Because of this, there are a lot of large and old Colonial style buildings in the city center along with dozens of little cafes and shops.

Coming out of Dunedin is the Otago Peninsula. It is famous for how much wildlife can be found on it. Albatross, penguins, sea lions, seals, and many more animals can be found on it. We drove out to the end of the peninsula along 25 or so kilometers of winding road literally right on the Otago Harbor. At the end there’s a scenic overlook and visitor center perched high on the cliffs above the crashing waves below. Tens of thousands of sea gulls flew around the cliffs near by and over our heads. There also were many other sea birds of various species that I did not recognize swooping by. Far in the distance, I also saw several Albatrosses with their 11 ft wingspans floating on the wind.

Also while out on the peninsula, we stopped to take a penguin tour. For $30 NZ you can take a guided tour into a Yellow-Eyed Penguin reserve. The reserve is complete with underground tunnels, trenches, and viewing stations to allow you to get literally just feet away from the penguins in the wild. The reserve is also on the beach so if your timing is good (which ours was fortunately) you can watch the juvenile penguins return from a day of feeding at sea and wade up on the beach and back to their nests. We were lucky to be the only two on our tour (the next tour had 15 or so) and had a good time with our guide who was a really friendly, helpful guy named Dave. He showed us a few things he only shows small groups – like a nesting bird right by the path.

After the wildlife viewing we headed into the city center and took a quick self-tour of the train station and ate in a cool café and drank hot tea with milk – something I find myself enjoying here, even though I’ve always disliked tea back in America.

NZ -- Friday 10/20 - Sunday 10/22 (to Auckland)

2006-11-08T12:16:00.000-06:00

My brother Eric and I finally left for New Zealand. Our plane left Minneapolis on-time at 5:15 pm on Friday, 10/20 and headed for Los Angeles. We arrived for what should have been a 2 hour or so layover but the 747 that was to take us on arrived later so we ended up waiting at LAX for around 3 ½ hours. When we finally did get underway, it was in the largest plane I’ve ever been on -- 10 seats across and 75 or so rows and 2 decks. This flight was a 12 hour flight, also the longest flight by far I’ve ever been on. Surprisingly, this was a really comfortable flight. I guess Qantas knows how to take care of its international travelers.

We arrived in Auckland at 8am on Sunday, 10/22. It was just an overnight flight, but since it crossed the international dateline, our 10/21 simply vanished. But no worries, we’ll get that day back when we return. We got through customs ok, despite having the guards hand search my tent and our hiking boots. They are very serious about not introducing foreign plant species so wanted to be sure our outdoor equipment didn’t have any seeds along for a ride.

We were greeted at the terminal by a man working for the rental car company – Scottie’s Car Rental (a branch of Advantage) holding a sign with my name on it. He was our first point of contact w/ a New Zealander (called 'Kiwis') and he was very friendly. I had reserved a car to be picked up and dropped off in Auckland but he helped us arrange a domestic flight tomorrow morning to Christchurch where we’ll pick up a car and drive it one-way back to Auckland. This should save us several days of driving and the money saved by only having to take the ferry once will completely offset the money spent on the domestic flight (only $95 NZ each w/ tax).

An unfortunate American couple who traveled with us to the car rental place were having a rough start to their trip and giving the poor rental car man a bad day as well. They were a bit upset by the delays in processing (locals don't seem to always be concerned about doing things as quickly as possible) – on top of the lost luggage they had – and when they finally left with their car they came back 5 minutes later with a flat tire. “It’s always the Americans” the rental car guy muttered as they rolled in.

The problem was with driving in the left lane. He took a round-a-bout too tight and hit the curb. I don’t blame him. This is my first time driving on the left side of the road as well, and I must say it has been a pretty harrowing experience on my first day. Feels like I’m 16 again learning to drive all over again – constantly thinking about what I’m doing, hitting the wipers instead of the turn signals since they're on opposite sides of American cars. I hear when people return from NZ they get the opposite problem since they’ve acclimated to the left way of doing things.

Today was a pretty boring day. Once we found a hostel (Oaklands Hostel) we basically just loafed around and walked to a few cafes. The most exciting thing was a trip up to the top of Mt Eden. It’s an old volcano a few blocks from where we’re staying with incredible views across all of Auckland and a giant crater at the top.

We’re both extremely exhausted now from traveling and have been fighting to stay awake all day to ensure our sleep patterns match up with the day and night correctly. We’ll be going to bed shortly (6 or so) and will have to get up early (4:30ish) to catch our flight tomorrow to Christchurch.

(Not much for pictures w/ this post as neither of us took too many in Auckland)

New Zealand Part 1

2006-11-06T23:17:00.000-06:00

I have made it back from two great weeks in New Zealand. Words don't describe how beautiful this country is. The only adjective my brother Eric and I kept coming up with that seemed to come close was "ridiculous".

Here a few pictures of general NZ goodness..more to come..(Be sure to click on them for larger views)

On the shores of Lake Te Anau

On the road from Queenstown to Christchurch. This is what the whole 5 hour trip pretty much looked like.

Thermal Hot Pools near Turangi

A stream by the Routeburn Track

A lake (Lake Pukaki I think) on the drive from Queenstown to Christchurch. I didn't mess with the colors -- it actually looked like this. Just about all the water is as blue like this.

Trout fishing at the "Trout Fishing Capital of the World" on the Tongariro River near Turangi. The minimum size there to keep a fish would be a fish of a lifetime here.

"Inigo Montoya, your burger is ready."

2006-10-11T21:56:00.000-05:00

I've been in Mesa, AZ since late Sunday night and will be here through next Wednesday. This trip is a more typical work trip, unlike my previous trip to Folsom, in which I am traveling alone. It is also my first return since my 2 month stay this past spring. The major difference being that I am staying in a nice Marriott Residence Inn instead of the more hole-in-the-wallish Homestead Suites I was at before. Even though this hotel is much nicer, I still find myself looking down the roads that go back to that old hotel though since that direction still feels more like home to me.

I am also guitar-less on this trip. It's making me antsy. I feel like I don't know what to do with myself after work. What I've done is hung out at the Gold Bar coffee shop a few nights so far. Cool enough place to waste a few hours online. I was saddened to find out the Essenza Coffeehouse that I enjoyed so much this spring has now been closed. I've got really good memories of that place -- mostly the coolest open mic sessions I've been to. I was even all pumped up to head out to this Friday night's session and borrow a guitar and play (heh -- easy enough to say now that I'm off the hook for it, of course). I've also bought a couple of books. One is 'The Piano Shop on the Left Bank' which is pretty good and interesting to me now that I'm learning piano myself. Another is a Kurt Vonnegut novel -- I don't know anything about him or the book but have heard his name enough times that when I saw the book at Borders, decided it was time to give it a go. The last is a story about a guy who walked across Afghanistan a month after the Taliban fell. Should be good reading.

Long blog post -- this isn't my style and these 5 minutes are more than all you readers will spend combined on this, so time to end. And in case you're wondering, the above quote is what I heard tonight over the speakers while enjoying my Fuddruckers burger while the 3 young guys at the next table burst out laughing to go get their burgers. It was pretty funny..

Rex's Blues

2006-10-03T19:53:00.000-05:00

Here's me singin' my favorite Townes Van Zandt song...

Rex's Blues

Or to use the online player

Townes Van Zandt:

Lake Tahoe

2006-09-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday after work, Brent, Aaron J. and myself drove up the hour an half into the Sierra Nevadas and up to the city of South Lake Tahoe. One of prettiest drives I've been on -- compares with anything I've seen in Colorado even. S. Lake Tahoe is really cool. Lots of shops and old buildings all right on the shore of Lake Tahoe with the mountains all around it. South Lake Tahoe is in CA and Lake Tahoe is in Nevada as the border goes right through town. It was pretty funny to see casinos built literally _right_ up to the Nevada border.

We were only in town for 2 1/2 hours. We ate at the Lake Tahoe Brewery which was pretty good and then walked into the Harrah Casino (since we parked only a a block from the state line) and each gambled and lost about $2 in the quarter slot machines.

The Word from Folsom

2006-09-27T00:37:00.000-05:00

I've been in this eastern Sacramento suburb since late Sunday night. Got in late that night -- to bed sometime around 2 or so I think (pacific time, which was 4 central). This was after not getting much of any sleep Saturday night so I've been pretty tired these first few days.

Interesting thing happened tonight after supper. There are 6 of us stayin' in this hotel. We got back after eating and all 6 of our room cards had quit working. We all ended up meeting back at the front desk, unknowingly and shocked as we realized what happened. There must have been a weird magnetic disturbance or something at the restaurant.

Went to the Powerhouse Pub tonight as well (I have a big "PHP" stamped on my hand now). That is a cool bar (karaoke night tonight as well). Got to see alot of the classic california types tonight. Alot of pretty girls, alot of guys goin' for the pretty girls, and alot of not so pretty girls with a pretty girl attitude (or the 30-40 year olds trying to pass for the 21 year olds).

Two more working days than I'm flying back Friday morning.

Superior Hiking Trail

2006-09-20T22:02:00.000-05:00

Haven't updated this in awhile so figured I'd upload some pics from my recent Superior Hiking Trail trip with Adam, Eric, Lee, and Nate. Four days, about 25 miles. Very hard work for me. I'm not in the best shape and I think I looked like an old man by the end. But it was fun and we all made it.

Jackie Greene Show Download

2006-08-01T23:37:00.000-05:00

http://www.streamjackiegreene.com/fido.php

Very good quality mp3's from a show in Folsom, CA on 7/22 (I was in Folsom, coincidentally on 7/24 -- just missed it).

Also Jackie will be on Conan tomorrow (Wednesday) night.

HitoriConquest.com

2006-07-24T14:27:00.000-05:00

I've been working a website these past few weeks that you should check out. It's at http://www.hitoriconquest.com . Hitori is a Japanese game vaguely similar to Suduko that involves numbers in a grid. Hitori is a bit easier than Suduko in my opinion but still can be fairly challenging. Check it out! There's a link on the page that explains the rules..

Tim Easton

2006-07-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

Went to see Tim Easton at the 400 Bar last night with Dan, Hallie, and Eric. All I have to say about it is, and I can't stress this enough, don't miss a Tim Easton concert when the opportunity arises.

Speaking of concerts, there's alot of good (and cheap) ones coming up:
Scott Holt 8/18 Rochester
Jackie Greene 8/23 MN Zoo
Danny Schmidt and 9/7 St Cloud
Kelly Joe Phelps

All of these musicians are really good.

Pauline-Astrid Boulders (Part 2)

2006-07-04T20:51:00.000-05:00

I returned to the boulders this past weekend with Eric J that Eric, Jared, and myself discovered this spring. We took a brush cutter and chainsaw this time and cut a trail in from the creek to two of the future bouldering areas. If you have never cut a trail in before, just know it's plain and simply really hard work. Do it in July in northern MN when all the bugs are out and you could say we're crazy. Nevertheless, the trail is in and ready for us to return in the fall to clean and hopefully send the problems. After returning, we are both more excited than ever about the prospects of bouldering in this area. There are hard lines to be had and loads of potential.

View of the cave from the trail. The bottom of the cave right above the trees is about 8 feet off the ground.

View from the left side of the cave.

View from the left side of the overhanging wall. (Further down the trail from the cave)

View from the right side of the overhanging wall.

More pictures at :My Flickr Account

Bass Guitar

2006-06-28T23:51:00.000-05:00

Matt brought over his fiancee's (Deborah) Bass Guitar a few days ago and I've been learning how to play it. Pretty cool. I don't think I can live without one anymore. Even the simplest bass part really fills out a song.

Everyone who reads this blog has probably heard this song by now, but here's a new version of it (recorded in it's entirety in the last hour an half or so):
Lonesome Roads

I also put a bass track on Crystal's at a Bar but am in the middle of re-doing the vocals on that one so won't upload that yet.

Bluegrass Jam

2006-06-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

Went to a beginner's bluegrass jam at the Homestead Pickin' Parlor tonight. That was pretty fun. Definitely a new experience. There were 5 guitarists, 3 mandolinists (that a word? maybe it's 'mandoliers'), a banjo player and a fiddler. I've never really tried to play bluegrass songs before so thought it'd be cool to try. At least one other guy was a first timer, too. Let me tell you, it is pretty challenging for me to try to remember the chords to all these songs I've never even heard before but it was great practice, I know.

Crystal's at a Bar

2006-05-20T21:03:00.000-05:00

Here's a song I wrote down in Arizona.. Needs some drums but it's coming along.

Crystal's at a Bar

Let me know what you think.

Fingerpickin' Guitar

2006-05-18T20:34:00.000-05:00

I think I might actually be in the middle of writing my first fingerpicked guitar song. Which is about time as I learned to fingerpick the guitar sooner than I learned to strum it. Took me a very long time to be able to fingerpick anything interesting sounding while singing. I think it's going to be my first legitimate love song (as opposed to love-lost -- I have several of those). But who knows what will happen. I don't know yet if it will be any good.

I hope to post a few songs soon.

Perlman-Astrid Boulders

2006-05-07T01:02:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I went camping up north with Eric Johnson and Jared Waterworth and we discovered a _lot_ of rock up there.. What follows are a few pictures of what we found. The best areas I don't have pictures of as I didn't have my camera when we found them. You have to boat into these boulders, the area is beautiful. The boulders are scattered around the lake. There is potential for alot more than what we've found so far.

Probably 2 easy warm-up lines close to the campsite. 10 or 11 feet tall.

A big, cool wall in the same area that looks too featured, but worth some more exploration.

Another area across the lake. This just might be one of the classic lines in the area. Will sit start in the cave and climb straight up and out.

Eric jumping for the top of the cave.

A nice wall to the left of the previous line. A number of fun looking, easier routes up this one, and a traverse.

The campsite.

Not pictured is the biggest area where we found a huge roof with a number of potential lines and a 10 degree, 18-20 foot tall overhanging wall that probably had at least 5 lines up it, all looked classic and bold of various difficulty. These 2 spots are both on the same 200-300 yard cliffband that will probably produce a number of other problems as well.

Back Home

2006-04-26T17:34:00.000-05:00

I made it safely home Sunday afternoon. It's good to be back. I'm on vacation this week and loving it.

New Jackie Greene Web Site

2006-04-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

Check out http://www.streamjackiegreene.com/

It's got rare, live, unreleased, and a few released Jackie songs and are pretty much all great. Start with 'Talkin' Midtown Women' for one cool talkin' blues song like an early Dylan (recorded when he was 19) and 'There is no Wrong' for some nice slide work.

The site was made in collaboration with Jackie himself, I guess, so you're not downloading bootlegs or anything like that.

More Jeffrey Foucault

2006-04-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

Ok,
for anyone that cares (probably just Dan), you can also check out Jeffrey Foucault's myspace page for a couple complete new songs of his:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=64726466

and for a bunch of older stuff:
http://www.jeffreyfoucault.com/music.html

5 Days

2006-04-16T22:50:00.000-05:00

5 more days and I'm going home...it's about time-I've been here long enough. The desert is cool for awhile but I'm ready for a vacation to the north woods. The other day we had a crazy dust storm come through -- wind gusts to 40-50 mph they said on the news and dust everywhere. Palm trees blowing around in the wind.

Had a nice big Easter dinner with my grandparents and aunt and uncle today. That was very nice.

Ghost Repeater

2006-04-10T22:43:00.000-05:00

Just got a new album by Jeffrey Foucault called Ghost Repeater. He's one of my favorite folk singers. On this album, he's got a full backing band. Just started listening to it -- it's really good so far.

I had to buy it while I was down here because track 10 is called Mesa, Arizona. Check out samples at: http://www.younghunter.com/ghostrepeater.html

The wages of sin
Don't adjust for inflation
It's a buyer's market
When you sell your soul
Jeffrey Foucault Ghost Repeater

"We Collide"

2006-04-06T12:34:00.000-05:00

Here's another good song of my brother's that he said I could put up here.. It's called "We Collide". Enjoy.

http://www.box.net/public/static/k3o6nimm2q.mp3

Oak Flats Trip #4

2006-04-02T17:21:00.000-05:00

Made it up to Oak Flats yet again yesterday. Pretty fruitful day. Ran into another group who were looking for the Maze. One person in their group had been there a long time ago so between the directions I had got from people at the gym and her memory, we eventually found it. So I climbed there yesterday. Pretty cool stuff. All I sent was a cool warm-up problem and a pretty hard scary slab problem but worked on some harder stuff (the pictured arete) before tearing my fingers up yet again. Also, the group I ran into showed me the alternate road to drive up to the bouldering area which isn't as rough as the road out of the campground that I knew about, so now I can drive up to the area next time instead of walking up.

Modern. Timeless.

2006-03-30T15:46:00.000-06:00

So I went clothes shopping last night. Even ended up buying a shirt. Now, that's boring and I wouldn't blog about that (got a haircut, too, while I'm talking about boring stuff), but something I saw there was pretty funny.

Saw a slogan calling an item "Modern. Timeless..." Isn't this an oxymoron? You can't have it all... All it was talking about was a pair of plain black jeans.

Update

2006-03-27T17:00:00.000-06:00

Been here well over a month now. Looking forward to my return. I see the weather up there in Minnesota is starting to get really nice this week -- into the 50s even. That sounds perfect. I went jogging last night for the first time in about a year. It was probably between a mile and a mile and a half and man my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I must keep it up though and it will get better very fast I know.

Here's a song of my brother's called Ocean he gave me permission to post on here:
http://www.box.net/public/static/2bqboii934.mp3
I think he did an excellent job on this and it's worth listening to.

Lonesome Roads

2006-03-19T17:41:00.000-06:00

Time to have you vote and comment on two versions of one my songs. Just before I came down to Arizona I wrote and recorded a rough version of 'Lonesome Roads' that was a short and simple, slow, sort of country-ish song (more folk than country, probably). I've gotten kind of bored with playing it slow so recorded a faster version of it today in my hotel room and want to see what you all think is better. I've spent hardly any time with either version and of course the recording quality of the newer, faster one is really bad, so don't comment on sound/engineering quality, of course. Let me know which you think sounds better (or 'could' sound better if someone w/ talent was playin' and singin' ;) ).

Slow version recorded back home in MN:
http://www.box.net/public/static/9qh9bme3my.mp3

Faster version recorded in AZ hotel room:
http://www.box.net/public/static/iurxflssru.mp3

Oak Flats Trip #3

2006-03-18T20:37:00.000-06:00

The forecast called for rain today but as what it appears normally happens here when rain is forecasted, it didn't rain. Instead it was perfect weather in the mid 60s so I headed back up to Queen Creek to boulder more at Oak Flats. A few other groups of two were out there and we all ended up hanging out together -- unfortunately, since I'd been here before, I ended up being the expert of the area since all of them either hadn't been here in years or were first timers -- so I didn't learn any new areas. I didn't climb very well today as I stayed out pretty late last night but it was good to get back up there and breathe the fresh air and hang out in the rocks.

Last weekends rain really changed the look of the area. Because it hadn't rained in 5 months, everything was really dry and I guess all the trees got covered in ice and snow which they just couldn't handle so large broken branches were everywhere. The creek bed was also flowing with lots of water and the base of my DJL Project #2 is under 2 feet of water now. So, I worked on DJL Project #1 and again did better but still didn't send it. Not in good enough physical shape today is my excuse :).

I cut my wrist on it as well today and while it's not that bad, it does look it. It looks like I tried to slit my wrists :) -- I'll probably have someone do an intervention for me at work if anyone sees it.

No pictures today - forgot my camera.

Recording Music in My Hotel Room/Rainin' in the Desert

2006-03-15T22:28:00.000-06:00

I climb Tuesday's and Thursday's so Wednesday happens to be one of my guitar nights on a typical week. I came up with a couple of cool bluegrassy licks tonight and strung them together in a little jam I decided to call 'Rainin' in the Desert'. I've often wondered how musicians name their instrumental pieces..sometimes very specific titles that simply don't make any sense. 'Rainin' in the Desert' doesn't make any sense either. It's just the first thing that popped into my head. I decided to check out a free recording program called 'Audacity' (thanks to Amit) and have recorded my attempt at bluegrass jamming here in my hotel room -- gotta love the built-in laptop microphone:
http://www.box.net/public/static/85no9bkxht.mp3
or if you want a fancy online player and can't be bothered with things like downloading:
http://www.box.net/public/85no9bkxht

There's Snow in Them Hills

2006-03-12T15:04:00.000-06:00

Tried to go out to Oak Flats today with Dan to do some climbing again. It had rained all day yesterday but today was beautiful. Felt like perfect climbing conditions. After renting shoes for Dan, we made the 45 minute drive only to discover that instead of rain, it had snowed yesterday at the higher elevations starting just before we got to Superior. Apparently, the word had spread as what appeared like thousands of people had congregrated in this little town and kids and families were everywhere building snowmen and having snowfights like they'd never seen it before. The traffic backed up for miles. And then we found out -- Highway 60 through Queen Creek Canyon was closed -- apparently snowed in. What a bummer! We ended up turning around and as a consolation prize found a pullout, jumped a barbed wire fence and hiked up to a ridge to take in some cool views.

Rain..

2006-03-11T12:58:00.000-06:00

After nearly 5 months with no rain, the wait is over here. The weekend Dan comes down to escape the winter in MN it drops to 40 degrees and has been pouring.

Therefore, no climbing today but I'm really hoping it will dry up by tomorrow.

Inspiration struck

2006-03-05T18:01:00.000-06:00

A new song just hit me. I've got the music for the verses and chorus 'done' and the first verse lyric written and a clear direction on where to go with it. I recorded the verse with the Windows recorder program so I won't forget it. Not quite as nice a program as Sonar.

Update..Up to 4 verses and half a chorus

Oak Flats Trip #2

2006-03-04T18:05:00.000-06:00

I made it out to Oak Flats for the second time this trip today (3rd time ever -- I went back in January as well when I was down). Had a fun time again, but man, this rock is brutal on my fingers. Here's a picture of me on my new Davy Jones' Locker project (DJL Project #2). Not the best picture b/c of the sun creeping over the top of the boulder and I had to do it w/ the timer but it's a crimp climb up an overhanging bulge. Took me about 10 tries to do the first move. It demanded pretty precise footwork for me to stick the second hold. I got close to sticking the second move -- would hit it for a second and bust off.

I made good progress on DJL Project #1 which I posted a picture of last week. Made it two moves further so I know I can do the problem. It's kind of freakin' me out doing this one by myself, though. It's overhanging and there's a big rock right behind it so the higher you go the more likely it feels like you'll hit the rock on the way down. It would be nice to have a spotter sitting on it.

I also walked around alot more after I was done climbing and am getting a better feel for the lay of the land. Found another one of the climbing areas. I forgot the guide today so don't know yet what that area was called.

Here's another picture of the new project:

And a shot of the area:

One Week Down

2006-03-02T23:59:00.000-06:00

It all pretty much feels routine now. Went to the Phoenix Rock Gym on Monday and tonight. Lots of new routes compared to last week and even though the place leaves alot to be desired it's starting to grow on me. I should get back out to Oak Flats this weekend. Finally bouldering consistently is going to be very good for my climbing -- I'm feeling stronger every night. Met some stronger climbers tonight that I'll hopefully hang out more with that will be good too.

Couple of things I've heard on the radio down here that I don't hear back home:
1) "We're under a pollution warning again today, so you all know the drill..."
2) "It might hit 80 tomorrow, finally starting to feel like spring!"

Funny conversation overheard at work today (not sure if this is going to be funny in a blog, sorry if not..):
Lady in cubicle diagonal from mine (out of the blue): "So I hope you don't mind working with me"
Guy in cubicle across from me (who doesn't see her): "Why's that?"
Lady: "Me being bipolar and all, just thought you should know"
Guy: "Oh yeah?" chuckles a little uncomfortably
Lady: "Yeah, I was hanging out w/ some random name last night and she said I was like a freakin' camel that had gone insane"
Guy: "....pause That doesn't make any sense."
Lady: "so that's why I'm calling you, I wanted to warn you........blah blah"

and then she continues talking, now obviously into the phone and not to the guy in the next cubicle, can't imagine how he felt :). I almost burst out laughing.

Oak Flats Bouldering

2006-02-25T18:26:00.000-06:00

First trip out to Oak Flats today! Got in some good climbing and hung out with some nice people while I was out there. I climbed alot of the same stuff I climbed last time plus added a few more. This place is so huge, I have alot more to learn. I tried searching for an area called 'The Maze' but had no luck so finally went back to an area I was more familiar with - 'Davy Jones' Locker' -- I'm lucky I didn't get lost out there and still be wandering around. The problem I'm doing in this picture is my first project out here. No idea what it's rated as it's not in my guide but it is a really cool, overhanging problem. I got on it toward the end of my day out there and my tips were too shredded to give it a really good go. I look forward to trying it again with fresher fingers.

Here's a V2/V3 I did in the same area.

The latest I've heard about this place is that it will eventually be shut down. This is too bad as it's a great place--I do hope a fair land exchange does happen so more climbing areas will open up in exchange for this one. (http://www.climbtamo.com has info on one possible area). I do feel lucky that I am getting the chance to climb here before it is shut down.

In other news, I got invited to a $10 buy in poker game friday with some guys from work. I ended up winning and taking home about $40 :). I think that really annoyed most of the people there since only one person there even knew me. Oh well.