Saturday, December 22, 2007

Four days on in Bishop

Well, four days on and my tips are intact, my body is a little weary, but I can't complain about nothing! Not in this place!



Kelly and Brian left the day after we got here...bummer...but they were here long enough to show us around a bit and climb in the Happies.

We rolled into town about 6:30am thursday morning. Kris and I were both awake, Dillion was well trampled by Pete in the back seat, and we were starving. After a quick breakfast at Denny's we tracked down Brian and Kelly and woke them up--Housekeeping! Then we crashed for a few hours, got up and went off to the Happy Boulders. The picture from the previous post is shot from the upper rim of the Happies. This area is a lava flow that cut through the valley. The shallow valley of boulders with many pockets and other Hueco-like features is completely different from the higher altitude granite boulders of the Buttermilks.



Even though we were road weary and mostly worthless we pulled around on Morning Dove White. Dillon tried it once, did well, but then refused to try it again. Guess he wasn't inspired...seems to take a lot to inspire Dillon. This stupid little three move Minnesota-ish (short and pointless) right next to Mourning Dove got his attention for a second...



Then we went back down the hill to the boulder with the "Hulk", a 4 star V6 that Kris sent with only a few tries....following behind Kelly. Kelly's awesome, she sends just about everything she tries, and she seems to do it effortlessly.

After we left the Happies, Brian and Kelly took us up to the Buttermilks where we would be camping. They had just gotten snowed on the day before we got there, a lot of the boulders had snow capped tops. There was an sheet of clouds being dragged over the mountain tops, reflecting the already set sunlight back into the valley. The decomposed granite gravel hillsides glowed yellow and pink, and the snow patches made it all feel like some surreal, impossibly-wonderful afterlife.



Kelly tried Soulslinger a few more times before they would leave the next morning after living in Bishop just over a month--lucky!



The next morning we woke up, a little kinked and getting sprinkled on...the breath of Kris and I, combined with the dogs, froze to the ceiling of the camper, and with the kiss of the sun it instantly begins to melt. Drip, drip, drip....drip......drip...Note to Self: chinese water torture is effective, even in Bishop.



We went over the hill, quite literally over the hill, from our camp, to the Buttermilks. We knew our skin was completely unprepared for this rock, so we set out to have an easy V1-V4 kind of day to build some skin.

We started at the Sunshine boulder, a big slab facing the am sun. I did a tall and tricky V1, Good Morning Sunshine. That's where we first met the Italians, Alezandro and Flaminia.

The next boulder we went to was the Ironman!



Beautiful! You can see it plain as day from the road. The white chalk line vividly crosses over it.





And there were the Italians again. It's really fun communicating with people who speak broken english! They are both excellent climbers, coming here from Hueco for a week in Bishop. Nice va-ca! It's especially fun listening to them cheer on Dillon. I don't know how to convey it here, but just ask me to impersonate it later. Come on Deel-lon!

Then Kris found a fun little v5 line just next to the Ironman boulder, called Easy Grit on the Hero boulder. It had a fun undulating, sloping left side, and some good edges/crimps on the right.





It had a nice flat landing, plus one 3 foot round boulder directly underneath. Kris was past the point where we thought he had sent it, until I saw, through my camera's viewfinder, Kris fall past and bounce, chest first on top of the boulder in the landing zone. Luckily my pad was across it, because he bounced right up, but he was not unscathed.



Tis merely a flesh wound! So much for building skin and sticking to grades 4 and below!

Day 2:

We woke up and noticed quickly how warm it was. This meant that the problems in the shade would not be too cold to climb in! There's a good 15 degree difference between the sunny spots and the shade. I screwed around on a 3 star V2 on the Green boulder and got my ass handed to me. The guide book said it was technical, but damn! I must be missing something!



Kris went up a really tall V2 slab called the Hunk.



Next to that boulder is the Drifter Boulder. This boulder held Kris' attention all afternoon. I worked the first few moves, on some fairly sharp crimps that I am still ill prepared for, skin-wise. Kris worked through to the head wall quickly. After a couple from San Fran, Tim & Becca, showed up; Becca threw some good advice at Kris, and with that he sent High Plains Drifter, a very tall and well known 7. That left Kris smiling for the rest of the day. He didn't even climb on anything else, he was so content. Just like after sending Babyface in Heuco.





I had become distracted by Pope's Prow, next to the Drifter boulder. It's a super techi, vertical, footwork intensive 6 that spits everyone off! I worked it most of the way up, but began to loose my edge, with fatique sapping me, my technique waining, and my tips glowing red, I left it for later.



We went down the hill to the Peabody boulders. Lisa Rands had been warming up down there with her husband, who wrote the guidebook we're using. Pete, who wanders off to make all sorts of friends, was found by Kris scrounging through her bag. I'm sure there was a Clif Bar in there. She was just leaving the boulder when I got there. She sure didn't look all that small in person. She's like the height I'd dream to be. We worked a really fun 5 called Go Granny Go. Dillon flashed it, that being the first thing he's climbed and the second thing he's climbed on since he's been here.

Not to diss on Dillon. He did find his problem. It doesn't have any stars in the guidebook...but it's a super crimpy, low traverse that is just right for him. It's right below and left of Evilution on the Grandpa boulder, La Balette, V11. He worked it with Alesandro and got through a few moves. Today though, he linked it all up. Minus a dab on the pad, he did it. But we're going back for a cleaner send tomorrow.



The first place we went to this morning was the Siagon boulder. I warmed up on the Monkey Dihedral, a 2 near the back arete of the boulder. It was kinda balancey, kinda reachy, but when it was over, it was allll goood....



By then some older(late 30-early40s)guys showed up and layered their pads under Siagon. The start is very simple and straight forward. Then there's one hold, in the middle of the wall, a slopey, super crystalline sharp crimp thing that doesn't feel too nice to put weight on. I figure I might be better prepared to climb on that hold a little later on...when I've grown my skin. Kris disliked that hold so much that he stopped working the V6 version and began working the v9 direct that goes straight up and only uses that hold as a foot. He's super psyched on that now. That's gonna be his first 9. We figure that the next time he tries it he'll send...if not the time after that.



I wanted to go over to a fun looking 6 called the Cave Problem, but it was dripping with snow, melting from the top. One of the guys from the Siagon boulder called over to me. "Hey, try this over here! It's great!" So around the corner I went. Another large, heavily padded area greeted me. "Pain Grain! It's painful on the bottom, and grainy on the top." He shouted. The first crimp you move to is small and sharp. I was really excited that my skin was still holding up, and improving! I would never have been able to snatch this thing even 2 days ago! I got through most of the problem, but found the holdless top was a bit too exhausting. Another unfinished project!



I've climbed a lot of fun, 3 star v2's, and a lot of other problems half way, leaving me with unfinished missions all over the place! I'm gonna have to start taking care of business here soon. But really, I'm so happy just to be in a place like this. And to climb in a place like this feels like a privelage! It's beauty is omni-directional and always awe inspiring! I don't know that I've been to a more incredible place, all tucked away in the mountains, known only to the climbers who go there....

Friday, December 21, 2007

Here in Bishop

We made it, after 28 hours! Then we slept a little, and Kelly and Brian took us out to the Happies. We were all worthless after the car ride, but it was good to move our bodies again.



Oh, and the camper made it!



This is all I can post now...coffee shop is closing!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

More Trailer Progress

Kris and I attached the hatch tonight. We were both equally surprised when we tested the hinge and it opened and shut perfectly. It really is looking finished now. Too bad Kris managed to lock up all the tools we needed in the back of the hatch. He had some "precisely" placed clamping devices to hold some trim to the hatch while its glue dried. It rendered the hatch unopenable, thus trapping most of our power tools....



So we cut the carpet and placed it, waiting for the staple gun to be freed to tack it down...



The caulking gun wasn't trapped either, so Kris filled in the inner door edges.
Not much work, but it made a huge difference!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Lil' Trailer is gettin' there....

So Kris and I spent a lot of our weekend working on the camper. We're getting so close to the end, but there's still more to do...

First, we got the roof on, bolted down and mostly sealed with silicone..


We did get a kink in one of the roof panels, sucks, but oh well, it'll work the same...

Then we installed the doors...that took some figuring out, since no hardware or installation instructions were included with the doors...but we got it to work...




Kris sealed up the body with clear silicone...I'm actually a little worried that we're too air tight, but that just means we're water tight...hopefully!

We finished off everything in the cabin, except for the carpet...not hard...





We've got the roof on the hatch, we just need to trim it and install it.



We'll hopefully get this all finished within the week. I've been so busy with this camper I haven't even had time to get overly-excited about Bishop! I'm sure I'll have plenty of time on the 32 hour long drive out there to get excited enough.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Trailer's gettin' warmer!

Kris and I made some really good progress on our little camper this weekend. We're definitely nearing the end now!

I finished the rubberized undercoating...



Our plan to laminate formica to the insulating foam inside backfired...the plastic sheeting on the outside of the foam delaminated, leaving us with formica glued to a thin sheet of plastic...plan B...1/8" masonite. MUCH BETTER!



While I was at my nephew, Jake, 7th birthday party, Kris kicked some serious ass! He traced and cut out the masonite inner wall pieces and screwed 'em in place. Then he finished off the roof braces.

We made the frame for the hatch on Saturday...that proved to be the trickiest part so for. Making the curve right was a bit frustrating at first, but after enough tracing and cuttings, we finally got a template close enough to cut from.



This shot is from the very front center, looking into the cabin. You can see the dog bunk that is still open to the back. One more wall piece will separate that from the rear hatch. We still need to insulate and masonite this back wall, stain the thing, put on the hatch, roof and doors and we're done! I can't even think of how many tubes of water-tight glue we've put into this thing so far...but we're not done yet, and there will be several tubes of silicone added to that as well!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Teardrop Trailer

So after last years less-than-comfortable couple of weeks in Hueco, we decided to go to Bishop this year in style! We got these really simple plans off the internet to build one...here's what we've done so far....

Here's Kris installing some conduit for the wiring to the lights to go through...


Here's the bed platform, upside-down, getting it's rubber bed liner. We're building it 5ft wide on a 4ft wide trailer, so we had to build a 4ft wide box to raise up our floor over the fenders. The inside of the box is insulated and sealed...



Next we put the bed on the trailer and bolted it down...




Then we cut out the side walls and attached them too, also using water sealer! We're not getting wet in this baby, no matter what my dad says...When Kris and I build stuff, it seems to get well over built...



Then the other side...



Then we started doing some work on the back wall and shelf/dog bed, but we ran out of plywood...building in 5ft widths tends to waste a bit of 4ft wide plywood. They need to make plywood in 5ft widths so that this project would go easier...



That's it so far...we're gonna be the coolest and comfiest kids in Bishop!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Sawmill: A Bit Too Late in the Season

I guess it's Nic's fault that we all optimistically headed up north to Sawmill this last weekend. It was freezing when we left the cities, I don't know what made us think it would be any warmer up there...Jim, Nic, Scott and I crammed into Jim's Subie Impreza, and with only room for two pads and ourselves, headed north.

After the hike in we were all quite warm. After a half hour, we were all quite cold. Jim and I warmed up on Luke Warm Persistence...I came close to doing the stand start, but never did. It wasn't very long after putting on your shoes that you'd lose all sensitivity in your feet. Not long after that your fingers start to fumble just trying to FEEL anything!

Jim asked me how cold I thought it was. I was like, "Oh, I don't know...35?" He laughed..."Really? I feels a lot colder than that!" Well, it was. We're not sure, but it was definitely below freezing. There was a 1/4 dusting of snow on the top of everything, so top outs probably weren't an option today.



Scott cuddled up under his southwestern blanket between tries on Payback, which he would have sent had the proper beta been spewed at him...here's a video of Scott pretty much sending Payback. Listen for Jim at the end...



Jim and Nic were working on Ametuer next to me on Sticky Icky. I landed the first hold a couple of times, but refused to keep going due to the distinct pain in my feet. After taking your shoes off and on again several times, you're feet just stay frozen. It was so cold out the rubber on our shoes had lost its friction! But the friction on the rock...oh...it was sooo amazing! Like velcro! Very, very cold velcro.

Jim watched Nic try to pull in the lock-off on Ametuer several times, getting more and more squirrely with each attempt. Finally he was like, "Aren't you psyched? I'm so psyched watching!" Right after that, he jumped on, and just missing my head, pumped Ametuer out to the lip; snow preventing the top-out. That was really cool...here's that video...



Then Jim started working the sit start project that flows into that. He came very close to connecting the two halves, but in the end, no go. Here's the video of the first half of the Amateur sit start project.



We ended up staying out in the freezing woods for 4 hours! By the end we were all silly with freezing appendages, jumping around, doing jazz hands, anything to get the blood flowing. And yes, Nic burnt a hole in his sock...



After watching Scotts last attempts on Payback, Jim and Nic jumped on a stupid, dinky,little crack to the left of the tall, (not so tall looking now that I've been to the cabin boulder) highball, Absolution. They were climbing in their tennis shoes, slipping off the biggest foot hold ever, Jim spotting with his "prison shiv" urging Nic to climb. "You'd better not fall!.....Cuz I'll shiv ya!" Jim's the next best thing to a Soviet coaching you. Jim did it first and called it "Blaze Orange", tributing the orange vests we were all wearing, and hoping, not to get shot on the last, trigger-happy day of hunting season. Not that this little line hasn't been climbed before, but I think that name will stick to it, no matter how lame and small it is...

On the way back we stopped at Betty's pies and ate until we hurt. Mmm, bumbleberry. I slept most of the way home. I slept most of the way up there also....I got off pretty easy. Thanks for driving, Jim!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Boulder & Breakfast

This last weekend we headed up north 4 hours to Eric's family cabin near Orr, MN to check out this new boulder he had finally found last winter. It's a short 7-8 minute hike from the cabin to the boulder, shortest approach besides the minnesota side of Taylors! The cabin was warm and the temps were cool...we'd wake up to Eric cooking us breakfast, wait for some of the frost to clear, and then hike out.

The boulder is HUGE! Kris and I discussed it, and including the basement of our house, we figure they're the same size. I think the boulder might be bigger. It's cracked in half, and every portion of the boulder, even inside the crack, has awesome problems!



I started working on this V2-3 call the 10th Plauge...super fun climb....perfect movement, if I wasn't so short, I probably would have flashed it, but the second to last move had me stretched to my limit, and taking quite a few 10+ foot falls. The falls were actually really fun!

We cleaned off a lot more problems, and there's still more to do. Nic put up a nice slab he calls Coffee & Cocaine, he says because he had the shakes something awful near the top. Then there were a few put up on the backside of the boulder, Squeaky Clean, a tall, sketchy V1 arete that moves into the crack between the boulders before the top out. Then there's Mr. Clean, a slopey arete that tops out at around 12 feet. Next to that is Sneaky Pete, a few slopey crimps to the 12 foot top out.

The top of the boulder was still heavy with moss, so Kris and Nic did a bit of work pushing it off, along with a large loose boulder.



Kris really did more cleaning than climbing...his hand is full of blood blisters from the board he was using to shovel moss, not from the problems he was climbing. He did send Dragon Fruit, a couple moves on tiny little slot crimps, and the 10th Plauge, but he spent most of his time on top of the boulder. Wish I could get that to translate to our house!


This is the "skyway" at the top of the boulder...

This is the last side to get cleaned...I'm super psyched, cuz there's already a couple really fun looking lines! One goes from the bottom left corner on the big chalked up jug, to the right across the bottom, then up into the arching crack! I wanna climb it and call it "C is for Cookie", even though it's a backwards C...




This is definately going to be a destination for a while! It's really nice to be off in the woods, where no one else is going to show up, AND still being a short hike from the warmth of the cabin! Not to mention, the cleanest, brightest, whitest Out House I've ever pooped in!

I don't know how to edit videos yet, so here's 2 of me on 10th Plauge...The first one isn't the send, but you can see what the bottom of the problem looks like...the second on is from above, and topping out...I sent it my first go on Sunday...





Then here's one of The Sycamore, a 20ft tall slabby arete.



To see Kris doing Dragon Fruit in a really cool video put together by Niel, check out his blog post @
http://borntobreathe.blogspot.com/2007/10/cabin-boulder-weekend-1026-1028-2007.html#links

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Kris sends Cave!

I'm soooo slooow at posting stuff. Anyways, a couple weekends ago, when it WASN'T continuously raining...Kris and I headed to the Wisco side of Taylors to both work on the cave traverse. It was pretty warm out, close to 80, and humid. I was working out the hard drop move in the middle to connect the two halves, and Kris was complaining about having forgotten his beta. He hadn't been to the boulder for over a year now. He'd been building our boulder wall from early July on, so he hadn't even been climbing for months. He'd only worked on cave a few times before, and was never that inspired by the line. But being that it is kinda the testpiece of Taylors, he worked it with me. After a few goes, we got his first half of the problem worked out. He was feeling a little more interested in working the problem now. My skin was peeling off, and we were both a bit tired, but he sat down at the start one last time. I grabbed my camera, just cuz something made me, and I caught his unexpected ascent. He was good and strong through the whole hard part of the problem. Then, once on the jugs, he started to pump out quick. But he held on and finished it. I was quite proud. I love it when the problems go unexpectedly, and you fight to stay with it. Good work Kris...the video is too big to post on Youtube right now, so until Neil can compress it for me, you'll all be held in suspense!

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Mission: Boulder Wall--COMPLETED

So for those of you out there in the state who might actually climb on our wall...it's done. Climb-ready, anyways...There's a few more details to finish up.





- Need to fill cracks between boards
- Texturize
- Put roof on back side
- Lay rubber mulch or something

But no one here cares about those details anyways....

So the rain kept us from finishing the wall in time for the wedding, but the first 8 feet of the right side were done and climbable. It was fun, except for all the kids there thinking the crash pads were for jumping on. Well there's no kids here now, and there never will be, so the landing is good.



Kris and I finished off the in a few hours. Dang, one day without rain and we'd have finished in time...oh,well.





I climbed in between hammering bolts into the plywood...



Did I mention the wall is big enough to fit Kris' truck AND crazy under it at the same time! WOW!



Truck did make an awesome ladder for putting up those top 4x8's!

It's finally September, and the temps are dropping...ready to go out back and climb?