Minnesotan Skin

It's been a while.....

2010-06-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

I'm mostly adding a post here because I want anyone who stumbles across it to be aware of what we've been up to here in Minnesota.

After being repeatedly ignored, overlooked, and overrun by kids at our local climbing gym, we are starting our own gym/training facilty/co-op. If you want to know what that's all about, go here & read up! Get on the list of members! Or even better, get on the list of investors! Help us get this off the ground in whatever way you can! This is for the climbers, not the kids...not that serious kids who really want to climb will be excluded, we just aren't making a day care here.

So go to www.mnboulderingcoop.blogspot.com for all the info!

We'll be having a boulder comp on July 10th (11th if it rains) in our backyard to help sponsor the start up! So look out for that to posted on our coop blog as well!

MINNESOTA CLIMBERS UNITE!

Sawing to Sawmill

2009-05-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

I was warned by Nic that there had been an ice storm up north, and that I would want to bring a saw. So I brought a collapsable camp saw & a small hatchet....I wish I had brought a chainsaw! What we walked into was a downed-tree travesty!

Chris Hirsch and I drove up Saturday afternoon, to avoid driving the 3 and a half our trip twice in the same day. Jim Merli would meet us at the boulders on Sunday. What Chris and I walked into was enough to scare Jim & Nic into going over the top of the dome the weekend before, verses hacking through the woven, twisted entanglement of fall tree tops. Just finding the trail was made difficult by the thorough devastation of 80 percent of the trees in the forest. Either their tops were broken off, large limbs were snapped, some left hanging, or the occasional completely uprooted tree. Work was made hard with crash pads on our backs. So we eventually dropped our pads, cut through a ways, went back and picked them up, hiked to where we could go no further, set them down again and resumed work. What is normally a 25 minute hike, became a 2-something hour tour de force of sawing, hacking and pulling full sized trees off the path.....ALL the way to the boulders.

I drank almost all of my water for the day before making it there.

Chris had aspirations to work Exodus on the backside of the dome, but as is often the case, the ending was soaked. So instead he put his sights to doing Absolution, a tall problem with a few broken holds & big move at the end. Well, big for anyone of a normal size.
I was on top of the boulder, cutting down the remains of a tree that was broken and hanging off the top, when I heard a smack on the rock behind me. Then Chris' head popped up. "Hey! Did you just do it?" I asked, being completely surprised by his hand & face. "Nah" He said topping out.

Nic had put up a new variation of this problem last weekend, starting from the right arete. Chris put that one down quickly too.

"Hey, has anyone done just the arete?" He asked...."No, I don't think so. You should! That would really piss off Nic!" Chris cleaned the line as he climbed it, pulling out a large chunk of rock from a seam halfway up, brushing out pockets & blowing off holds as he went.

After a couple tries he topped it out, naming it Dic Oblowjoba, after someone very special.

After that Chris started looking at possible lines going up the backside of the large boulder leaning onto Absolution, where The Juggernaut exits. He points out two really nice edges to start on. We scope out a couple more holds, brush them up, and then climbed the very fun new line we're calling Puffer Cheeks, after that same special guy.

It was my first FA. Yeah! As far as I can tell...the holds were all dirty, but that's not saying that it may not have already been climbed. We just don't know that it was. So I'm calling FA! FAAAA!
After that I started talking pictures of all of the boulders, to get something visual up on Mountain Project. Coming soon....
I shot all of the main area and then hiked and clear the path to the right area, with the large slab. We were on Back Slapper when we heard leaves crunching. We had heard that before and we disappointed by a squirrel....but this time it was Jim! We were starting to think he wasn't coming! He showed us a new line he put up on a boulder just below his Turnstile project. I finished shooting the area and we headed back to the main.
Jim and I threw our pads down under the Amateur boulder; me working the arete called Sticky Icky, and Jim on his insane sit start to his insane problem Amateur. Jim has only been climbing about a month since his (almost) 2 year hiatus away from climbing, and the bastard is just as close to doing the line as he was before!

I was feeling surprisingly strong as well, considering I spent the morning sawing trees.

I got to the sloping lip of Sticky Icky with only a few tries, only to find the sun staring me straight in the face!

Chris was nice enough to go up on top of the boulder and hold a pad in front of it as I worked it.
I had always been told that the hard part of that problem is the heel hook at the start. This has never been a problem for me, so I naively thought it would be over quick. Not so quick. Even with Chris blocking the sun for me, the top out if really hard! With no good right foot and the rock under angling away quickly, I pushed and humped and rolled off the top several times until my wrists were raw. Top-out shmop-out! Next time I'll nail it for sure.

The rest of the day I shot pictures of Jim on his line, a very satisfying thing in itself.

But after his fingers couldn't take the tiny holds anymore he sat down under Sticky Icky, "I wanna climb something today!"
To my inner delight he flailed a bit. He's always walking up my projects, so it felt good to see him having trouble on one of them. Sorry Jim! Finally he asked for my beta and sent it, but not before hanging out and humping the top out a bit too. I'm glad it's not just me! That top IS hard, Jim said so!

Between Frost & Melt Water

2009-02-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

On a beautiful saturday @ 36 some degrees, Chris(Hirsch), Eric, Neil, Trinh & I went, um, sightseeing I guess.

We had aspirations to climb on some rock that is only workable when the St. Croix river is frozen. We started in Franconia, just down stream from Taylors Falls. Damn I want to buy that Scandinavian Chalete! What a cute collection of houses in that little glen. We hiked down the river, well frozen over, with about 6" of good snow, (as in NO slush). The wall which held the cave we were headed to came into view after a short 5 minute hike. The small nook in the bottom right of the wall is the "cave".

Josh Helke is supposedly the first ascender of the problem that works from the back of the cave straight out the edge of the roof.

Nic O(god I'm gonna spell this wrong) Oklobzija(?) did another line starting under the roof, going out & up the wall, dropping off at the first large jug you encounter. Josh's goes @ about a 7, and Nic's at a 9. I'm not sure of the names of these lines, so someone help me out here...

You'll notice the while frost all over the underside of the roof. Beneath the cave was an unexpected pool of about 2" of water. Damn! "Drink up everyone!" I exclaimed, until someone pointed out the several dead bats frozen into the ice.

We studied the lines. I hiked around a bit, hoping to scope out something else, but didn't find a thing. Chris & I were both psyched about a crack starting to the right of the cave & swirving up above it. I might have put on a harness, had we come equiped for that sort of thing.

Directly across the river is another great face at the edge of the river. This one Chris & Alex visited last summer by kayak before she headed off to Colorado. Today it was grey & supremely contrasted by the frost over the entire wall. You could make out every micro crimp & feature on it. But again, no climbing today.

The water is apparently pretty deep right in the "drop zone" of the cliff face, so we've put it off until summer, when we can return with a depth finder & really check it out. There is usually a sand bar right in the middle of the river across from it, so you could swim to the wall & climb it barefoot. We also began invisioning a Huck Finn style raft covered in pads, to paddle around to these walls. Kris, um, you're supposedly building this for us.

We headed back to the car, encountering some snow-shoers who of course inquired about "those things on our back". We drove to Taylors falls to walk the river there. Again, a lot of fun looking lines in a not so climbable state. I walked up stream, almost to the bridge, to scope a line I look at everytime I cross the river to Wisconsin. Very often the landing zone is under water, and I've never seen ANYONE climbing on it, though it is supposedly in the guide book. I checked it from the top. There was a huge landing zone exposed by the low water level. Plenty of room to land AND have a crowd watching. I can't wait until fall, when the river will be low again, and frost will not cover it.

So back to the gym with us for now...baahh!

God Damn!

2008-12-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

Well, things could be going better for me...but they aren't. I've had about 3 days to climb, the rest I've spent laid up in my room, with my right intercostal, (rib muscle torn). I tried to go up to the Buttermilks with everyone yesterday, just to take pictures and hang out, but the cold just provoked the snot factory inside me and made me cough too hard again. I felt the right rib tear. Kris had to drive me back down to the room because it hurt to stand, pick anything up, and breathe. As soon as I feel better, something new pops up to smack me back down. My pessimism is at an all time peak.

Eric, Trinh & Mike showed up a few days ago. I spent 1 day in the Happies with them before my curse returned. Kris just left to drive Mike back down to Vegas to fly home. Joel & Erin are headed back up to the happies today with our dogs. Hopefully that's not too much for them. Crazy has totally warmed up to Joel, at last! The whole time Erin lived with us she cowarded away from him. A few apple cores and some other treats have fixed that!

I don't have much to say about climbing right now...since I haven't been climbing, but I'll post a bunch of pictures I've taken. They can probably speak better for the trip than I can...I'm just bad-mouthing it....stupid Bishop....stupid body....damn, I MUST be old now! I've been sick since I turned 30 and it sure doesn't look like the year will end any differently. I did see that it was in the 40's at Taylors the other day though, so I hope all you back home are enjoying your warmth! Maybe if I can do something here again I'll make another post, but right now, I wouldn't count on it!

Many more pics to come...now it's off to the hot springs! Hopefully....

Back in Bishop Again

2008-12-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

After a record time of 25 hours and less than 70 bucks in gas, we rolled into town, Kris with a new cold, and me with a pulled/torn intercostal, (upper side rib, under my arm) from restricted movement for 25 hours and still violently coughing up the remainder of my plehgm. Regardless, we climbed--not the first day, we were smarter than that this year...but after a nights rest we headed to the sun-filled hillside of the Buttermilks.

We started out on the Ironman, to try to start building skin and wake up the muscles. After we decided it was just too hot sitting under that highly reflective oblong rock slice, we walked down to the Tut boulder. Not sure of the separation of holds between Funky Tut & King Tut, we did some fun combination of both.

Around the corner from the Tut problems is Milk the Milks. Erin and I both got psyched on this when we decided to disregard Joel's reachy, slippery-foot beta and heel-hooked the shit out of the start hold to gain the good crimp above. The sloper holds at the finish we snowed over, so we still need to go back to bag this one, but I'm happy to do that!

We hiked over to the Mandala for Joel. I said 'hello' to an old friend, Pope's Prow, getting higher up than most of the guys trying it. When will they learn to SLOW DOWN? I fell at the same spot again and again, just like last year. However, some new beta from Nic the next day made me get super optimistic! Now to put it to the test...whenever the cold and snow recedes again from the hillside.

Our first two days here were really warm and great, but yesterday it got cold, and last night it snowed. So now I'm in the coffee shop trying to fill in the events from the last few days.

Wu Tang Dave and his girlfriend Anna came into town yesterday and climbed at the Buttermilks with us. I got there later, stopping by the emergency room to try to address the stabbing pain coming from my side. Climbing makes it feel better...then, that night it feels worse. Through a treatment of Tylonol, Advil, and Turumodal,(something like that) and an Icy Hot patch I am finding comfort....I mean numbness. As long as it doesn't hurt when I'm climbing I don't care how much damage I cause...I'll worry about that when I get home. I'm not willing to sacrifice my climbing to pain...unless it REALLY hurts. Lucky for me, there IS an acupuncture place in town...phew!

The clouds are parting now, and the sun is coming out. Most of the snow in town is melted or well on it's way. Hopefully by midday we can head out to he Happies. Eric, Trinh & Mike Simon have most likely landed and are driving from Vegas now. I'm super phsyced to get Trinh on some REAL rock! She's gonna crush! AAAND I can't wait to play, "Love it or Hate it" with Simon. Kris can't wait to wish his jewishy friend a Happy Haunuka!

This weeks' weather doesn't look great, but I'm holding on to the optimism that we are in the mountains, and the weather is not predictable up here. We'll see...

PS, forgot my power cord in the motel--computer dead...will add pictures soon...

Governor Dodge State Park...a long, long time ago...

2008-10-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

Once, a long, long time ago...last Labor Day weekend...in a state park...in Wisconsin...named after a Governor...whos name was Dodge...and there was sandstone...Yes, there was sandstone...

We started out on the B2 bluff, through an occupied and unfriendly campsite, (I recommend estabishing a path NOT through the campsite, possibly left of the outhouse.)

This was an intresting little guy we noticed around the park. It's probably asain & intrusive, as all wildlife and foliage I come across and find unique and intriguing, is usually a devistatingly intrusive species.

This is Sandstone Violence that can be seen with less sun/shade contrast on Neil's blog. He also has a really nice video of Nic sending it.

Here's Hirsch making a something tall look rather small...

Moment it time...Pi falling on his kidney trying Illusions of Paradise. I've accumulated quite a collection of pictures of Pi hitting the ground. Someday I'll make a book.

The Godfather Boulder was sweet! Tall, free-standing, and featuring a perfect line right up the middle. Perfect!

And it comes with a perfectly place tree down-climb. Not so great when you're wearing shorts though...

Pi got a little something in his butt...

This was my second day climbing after taking a 3 week break from climbing, coupled with intensive acupuncture & chiro for a really tweaked up elbow. It was pain free for me that weekend, but EVERY muscle in my body was aching from unuse...I dropped off the top of this boulder a few times, always to pumped to top out. I'm psyched to go back and flash it next time.

I didn't even try this one...it has a really high jump start that you jump to off of a little ledge, up and left to the holds.

This is Secret Agent Man, or something. Chris Hirsch set out to re-climb it after a hold was broken. After a warm up run to set the draws, he sent it with effortless style. 5.13 something.
There you go Chris...I finally loaded your pictures!

Halloween Costume Boulder Comp Announcement

2008-10-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hello....wow, I've been pretty lazy about this here...But I must announce this from every forum available to me. And I forgot about this one until just now....

We are psyched to invite EVERYONE!! ALL ages & abilities are welcome to join our Halloween Costume Boulder Comp! November 1st, 1pm in our backyard. A $20 dollar cover will be charged, but that is only to supply you all with food, drinks and sweet CASH PRIZES!! Not only will 1st, 2nd & 3rd place in the comp win CASH, but so will other categories, such as Best Costume, Best Attitude/Effort & the much coveted "Who Annoyed Kris the Least" Award! And to make things fair for all competitors, we've created a format unlike anything you've climbed in before! Not only will everyone be in costume, MANDATORY!, but they will also be PAIRED with a partner! Partners will be decided for you on the day of the comp. A partnership maybe chosen by competitors for an additional $10 entrance fee. Sandbaggers will NOT be allowed to partner together! More intriguing details will be unveiled at the comp! And remember...the more people climb, the bigger the pot!!

The new cave

2008-08-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Kris and Pi had been throwing the idea around about adding a cave to one side of the wall...Kris put it together in under a week, with less than 24 hours of time spent on it. And yet it's still over built & painfully fun!!!

The only help he got was from me, (helping place 2 panels of plywood) and several of us screwing in T-nuts at the end. Kris parked his truck under the wall so no one could climb until all the nuts were screwed down. Thanks to Aaron for his extra drill, as well as Mike Reneke, Chris Hirsch, Jonathan Williams for all their help...and NO THANKS to Pi who showed up late, right as everything was finished...just for that, I have inserted a picture of Pi landing on his face!

Hot Summer Happenings....

2008-07-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

I've been badgered a bit to post something here...apartently I'm not entertaining some people at work enough...

I'll start a the beginning since I've last posted anything. Over the 4th of July, Kris, Pi, Alex, Phil & Corey headed up north to Sawmill. Friday, the 4th, was actually pretty nice for July in the woods! Not too hot, not too many bugs, and got a lot of climbing in, as well as some exploring. Around the backside of the dome, just down the trail a bit further than exodus, seated in a shady, mossy glen, is a vertically fractured arete. It's totally filthy, which makes us certain that no one has probably ever tried it, much less climbed it. It has a really good, flat landing, and a definite line with a slopey top out around 20 feet up. There are actually 3 aretes next to each other...all look like they could be climbed. Sorry, but I didn't take any pictures of this! Why the hell not!!! I don't know.

This is on the Budda Boulder, the sharp right arete has already been climbed from a stand by Tschol, so Pi began working a UBER HARD sit start...

That little crimp rail is about a quarter (coin) thickness! I couldn't put an ounce of weight on that thing!

I've known Alex for a while...but I'm just begining to realize what she may be capable of.

This is everyone on Absolution...WAY too climate specific for a day like this one! But fun anyways.

All the pics shot from this angle are thanks to Pi, up on his little perch...come to think of it...does anyone else feel the Pi crushing down on you from above?

Then, some other day...Kris got a little twitchy and wanted to do something with the lumber left over from the wall. We took a chunk of 4x6 and made a nice 2 sided jug. Then we took some 2x4's and cut the corners off lengthwise to make a few little pinches. Pretty low tech, but super comfy!

Then, on Saturday, with some encouragement from Pi and other's at our Friay night session in the yard, Kris got "a bug" wedged securely up his butt and started in on Phase 2 of the wall. It will be a 12ft x 12ft cave off to the left of the wall. It has a 1ft drop from front edge to the back, and will climb up into the triangular space between the wall and the front, left support beam. Someone said our backyard wall is fast becoming a bouldering gym...no shit! Maybe next time we'll win the "Show Us Your Woody" contest in Urban Climber-damn it.

And here's the silly, little, boulder wall builder who just can't stop himself...

Alex Wins the Boulder World Cup!!

2008-06-11T14:11:00.001-07:00

I've got an article that just posted to www.8a.nu.....go there to check it out!

Sawmill Sunday

2008-05-22T17:55:00.002-07:00

I got to ride in Nic's new Yaris, much to the chagrin of Pi, who road in Chris Hirsch's Escort. You can fit 2 pads in a Yaris with the back seat up, and 4-5 with the back seats down. And we got 35 mpg going 75 the whole way.
On a four hour drive in tandem, things can get silly. Fruit bombing one another's cars entertained us for the last two hours of the drive and had our faces aching from laughter.
It was bright and sunny out, but the air was still cool. Conditions were perfect. Pi hadn't been up here in a while, and was unfamiliar, somehow, with the western end of the boulder field. The slab, Vag Badger & Poppy Cock, everything there was new to him. We showed him around, and ended at a previously unclimbed line on the backside of the split open Backslapper boulder. Jim Merli had suggested the line before, and the boys were intrigued enough to clean it up and give it a go.
I don't know why the name "Foreplay" had been suggested. It seemed like it was the next name in line in their back-log of potential names for new boulder problems. The immature, yet hysterical, conversation was primed and driven by the proposed name. I left a fragment of that in the video..."balls" aren't a swear word, right?
Here's my second video I've made today with iMovie...sweet...

After that we headed back to the main area, where I intended to try Sticky Icky again. But first we had to go around to the east side and check out a few other unclimbed lines...uncleaned...unattempted...makes them so much more tempting.
But I still, like always, had unfinished business on the arete of Jim's boulder. It was starting to get cool, so the guys built a little stone fire ring and started a fire with the bark from a huge fallen birch tree next to us. Birch bark is VERY flammable...as these pictures Nic took of Pi suggest...

(Images of Pi on Fire by Nic Oklobzija)

(I've finally typed Nic's screwed up last name enough to know how to spell it by heart now.)

So anyways, I gave Sticky Icky a few goes, but was unable to consistantly keep the first heel hook on a thin crimp. The last time I worked it sucessfully, (2 seasons ago?) I was wearing old Anasazi's, with the flat mounted heel, that makes for a nice little edge-grabber for heel hooking little stuff. I determined then that it was a lot easier to do it with that particularly styled heel, while I watched everyone else's heel easily slip off it. But my heel, with my Anasazi's, would stick most every time, with out too much effort.....didn't bring the Anasazi's along...damn. My foot did stick a few times well enough to stick the move before the jug, but then it slipped off. I also noticed the first right foot was spliting from the boulder. I'd better do it quick, before someone breaks it off. I won't forget my left Anasazi next time! Hopefully it will be a cool summer, and the northern boulder fields stay cool and climbable. Seeing as we didn't have a spring season at all this year, I just think that's fair.

Chris bouldering Genetic Control

2008-05-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

So here's the video...enjoy...

Awesomely Exhausting Weekend

2008-05-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

I was a zombie by Monday...

Our Friday night Backyard Bouldering Session started ominously with (girl) Phil arriving with the rain. Then it stopped...then it rained only in the backyard...then it stopped again. "Damn cumulobumbous!" But with a wall as tipped down as ours, it just proved to be a decent shelter, with the occasional drop finding it's way through a bolt hole into your eyeball. The bits of rain didn't last long, and with a hardwood flooring fire roaring next to us, the weather couldn't have been better.

We got a really great turn out too! Lots of first timers...

and lots of regulars....

I feel it's safe to say everyone had a lot of fun, and no one got hurt! Excellent! I feel I can say they had a good time, cuz when I went to bed at 1am, there was still a ring of people around the fire....I had to go to bed...I was going climbing tomorrow too.

These next two pictures were discovered later on my camera...I believe they arteest to be Pi...

Kris looks extra handsome blurry and slightly slanted...

I think this is Pi's lap...

Saturday morning Chris Hirsch came over to claim a pile of crash pads left in the backyard. He was going to "boulder" Genetic Control. A 30 foot wall only previously top roped. Or, as far as I know, has never been bouldered. There's speculation Mike Helke may have...but I haven't seen him around to ask.

Chris planned to top rope the line twice before trying it untied. He fluidly climbed through the moves, obviously hardwired, but climbed slowly and methodically none the less. Kris was on belay, the first time he'd been in a harness since we went to Redwing together, before we were dating, um, 2-3 years ago? He's pretty ashamed of being seen in it...

He figured out the top out and lowered back down. Feeling good about his first warm up, Chris decided to go for it on his next try. We had 9 1/2 pads covering the sharp boulders directly under the line. Kris held a pad up against the pile to help catch Chris, should he go down. I stood just behind Kris and shot a video of his ascent. Video to come...I want to add a little music to this one...

Then we headed into the B2 pit. There were several kids already in there, some local, some down from Duluth. We dropped Kris's monster pad on top of theirs, they were more than happy to have it.

I was a bit concerned that I might forget my beta for this problem. I haven't climbed on it for over two years. My beta for this problem, like most, is very different from others taller than me. So watching these guys from Duluth would only provide inspriation to climb it, not really information(beta) to climb it.

And sure shit, I forgot.

This is not my old beta.

Walked right up to the boulder and didn't know where my hands went, much less my feet. After a few frustrated attemps, I tried any way that looked good. I got to my old high point, under the finish jug, but wasn't in the right body position. The foot smears were getting really slick, and kept spitting me off.

Just to show everybody up, Kris walked right up it, statically.

I was annoyed enough by forgetting my methods that I abandoned that line for another. Right behind B2 Bomber is Crash Landing. A short series of perfect crimps over mud. This is the last part of the pit to ever dry out. After a few tries I topped it out. Which brings me to my point, numbers are stupid. B2 Bomber is rated V3, some argue 2. Chris thought Crash Landing was supposed to be a 5. If that is the case, and I struggled on a 3 and easliy did a 5 after struggling on that 3. WTF. Stupid. Don't get lost in the numbers game. It's not all that accurate or consistant.

Chris had ambition to climb the sit start to Mike's Left, and Kris had an ambition to be lazy and stay on the Minnesota side. We worked Lloyd's Sit start, but there was a wet foot. And with out Chris, we kinda lost our motivation. We walked down to the edge of the river, where the paddle boats dock, and yelled across the river to say goodbye. He called back over that his feet weren't sticking, probably wasn't going to go. We waved goodbye, I'd see him again tomorrow. We hadn't even pulled out of our parking spot when I got a text, "Sent sit start to Mike's Left." Nice...Chris Hirsch is on some kinda climbing dream streak.

Sunday at Sawmill to come....

Nic sends The Sporting Life

2008-05-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

Not that I was there and saw it, but I'm trusting that it happened...We were actually out climbing on our wall when I got the text from him..."Did sit start to Left of Lloyds" -V12, first one of that grade!

These are pics from a previous post, but it is Nic trying the sit start...it starts much lower than the first picture indicates.

Some of you already know Nic is leaving Minnesota, like so many strong climbers before him. He's heading out to Cali to be a five.ten rep. Lucky bastard will be living in Redlands, right within 3-4 hours from J Tree, Bishop, Tramway, Yosemite...if I keep going I'll just piss myself off. Anyways, if there was anything left here for Nic to do, (climbing-wise) I'd say he just wrapped it up. We're all going to miss him, his anticts, his unkempt hair, his "Best problem in Minnesota" line, and the enless beta trapped in his hyper-spastic mind. Oh well, that just means I'll have a new beta-boy for Bishop...not all bad. Make a point of saying goodbye to him. We'll be sure to have a party in the backyard to send him off.

If Nic has any of your personal possesions, get 'em back now or kiss it good bye!

Brian Camp, kissing Nic good-bye.

AT LAST!! A nice weekend of sun!

2008-05-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

Everyone in the midwest is very aware of our terrible weekend rain pattern. I think it's been at least 5-6 weekends, including Fridays, that have been completely rained or snowed out. Then, just one rained-out weekend away from killing myself, the sun showed up! My vitamin D level must have tripled over the last 2 days....

Saturday we stripped the boulder wall....a task made much easier with our new cordless impact wrench! Doesn't Kris look happy?

Didn't take long for all those holds to easily over fill our wheelbarrow...not a bad thing...

Neil stopped by to help us set.

The wrench did prove to be a bit powerful, and we all cross-threaded a few bolts in the proccess, but at least the back of the wall is completely accessible.

We eventually figured out to start threading them the old fashioned way by hand first...then torqued to our hearts desire with the little demon of a wrench. No more spinning holds now-for sure!

Yeah, that was posed...but I still like it.

So we've got 4 problems set, blue being a very nice jug warm up, Red is Kris' problem, Neil set green & I set orange w/ the brown variation. We did find that after setting the jug haul, we were pretty much out of jugs, and we have more than enough crimps...good thing we're enrolled in the So Ill sick-hold-of-the-month club...should be getting some more any day now.

After setting we went to see Ironman...great flick...funny, and well worth it. Robert Downy Jr is great!

Sunday, with beautiful weather, we finally got to climb outside again! We (Kris, Neil, Eric & I) showed up at Taylors and ran into Corey &
Phil(lippa) in the parking lot. They were just about to head over to WI, so we took them to the Cave boulder, which is a little hard to find on your own if you don't know where to look. We all thought it would be Neil's and Eric's day to send the cave traverse, but not yet. Eric did send Midget Sit Start though, very nice 7! The cave traverse, however, is so funny how after the hard part of the problem comes the mental crux, finishing it. It seems that with the last half of the problem being a jug haul it wouldn't be a place to drop off. But I think once you've worked through the first half, you're so physically as well as mentally exhausted that it's just that easy to drop off going to the jugs. I don't know yet, I still haven't linked the lower move, swinging my feet under the bulge to drop my right hand down to the sloping crimp. Don't feel bad about it though, Neil popped off a bunch of times, right after the hard part, and walked away with out the slightest bit of frustration. "Oh well, that wasn't it..." I've never seen someone so seemingly unshaken by repeated falls on something that is well within his reach. I'd love that lack of frustration!

Then we hiked just a bit down the road to Big Boy. I think I had looked at this once before, but never tried it. Holy shit! What a mental trip! This is probably the most truely natural line at Taylors, either side. It's a 15ft tall double sided arete, really just a tall squareish monolith. It's all smearing, toe & heel hooking, but it's texture is fantastic; the most gritty rock I've felt in the whole park! My first try I got up a ways, not far past half way, felt really tripped out and jumped off. My next try I got up high right away, and began feeling shakey as I entered the untouched parts of the problem. For a moment I was able to quiet my shaking and calm myself into what felt like a little cocoon of conciousness. I just told myself, "Do it like you were on the ground". My shaking stopped and I easily popped my hand up. I was one move from the top, just had to move my feet and reach for the top, but I lost my focus and started to feel the adrenaline rushing through my blood. I yelled out, "Nope!" and dropped off. It does have a nice landing though... Oh well, I'll crush it my first go next time...that's how I like to do things...It's funny, it's only a V3, but MAN what a head trip! Great line! Great moves, great texture! Best problem in Minnesota! -Nic

Then we headed down to Mike's boulder to finish out our day. The river was so high we had to hike around to get to the boulder! It's kinda weird to think we had walked across the river here just 2 months ago, and now it's a violent torrent of brown, brassy water. I got to the same spot on Mike's Right, trying to grab the higher pinch with my left hand...no new progress. Kris, Neil & Eric worked the Left. No sends, but what a beautiful day! Nothing very exciting happened, but it didn't need to, it was nice out! Something I was being to wonder would never happen again. Did we really, finally break out of winter?....In Minnesota, it remains to be seen...

2008-04-18T10:57:00.001-07:00

Free Counter

Taylors 2 Weekends Ago

2008-04-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

I'm super up to date on this thing...

Well anyways, 2 weekends ago was nice, and we got in some time outside. Nic showed us a V7 we never knew about. It's called Kill Kitty, and it's a tricky lil trucker.

It's a whole of 10 feet high at the most, and though small, the holds are all pretty close together. It' just really beta intensive, and body specific.

And has a totally blind heel hook, you can sort of see it above...I haven't killed the kitty yet, but I'll for surely revisit this little Minnesota boulder again....

Another Minnesota boulder, with a sort of out-of-the-way-sketchy approach, and a huge log sticking into the ending of it, has been less than sought after...but with some (illegal I'm sure) log shortening and boulder rolling, it just might be worth the stumble down to the River Boulder...

Kris, the dogs and I, along with Chris Hirsh, stayed up top and amused ourselves with rock throwing and fort finding...

He's so happy in his little fort...

Death to Minnesota Winters!!!

2008-03-26T05:18:00.001-07:00

Every one here knows how this snow is getting pretty damn tiresome! The yard is just over 1/2 melted and tomorrow we get MORE SNOW? Again? Well, to take everyone's mind off of it I'm posting an about interesting similarity I've noticed between my husband Kris and a particular muppet....take a look for yourself!

First Kris....

Then Sam the Eagle...

Eh? Ehhhh? Kris isn't so patriotic though...

Real Boulders, Fer Realz!!!!

2008-03-06T09:53:00.000-08:00

Holy Crap! I don't know how they're doing it, but this company is selling and erecting REAL 30,000 lbs boulders, for climbing on, in parks and backyards...really puts our wall to shame. Guess we have to "up-graayed" now. Check it out here!

www.rockop.com

They make holds too, all real rock, sealed for longevity, gonna be picking me up a set of these for sure! Build calluses, don't sand them off on plastic!

Kris @ Best of Midwest 08

2008-03-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

So after a bit of pestering, I got Dan McGowen, who was shooting pictures at the comp, to send me a few of Kris....so here they is...

Don't have any of me though...no one takes pictures of me climbing. Maybe I'm not photogenic enough. I do make a lot of weird faces, and noises. Kris calls them my "pretty noises". But that's not a good enough reason....mmm...Oh yeah, it's cuz I never get more than two moves into a problem before I encounter something I can't do....damn

Oh yeah, that's me in the first picture, green shirt w/ stop sign, making a funny face again.

Pants Party,Taylors & Fish Massacre

2008-03-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I forgot my pants...to the pants party @ Niel & Nics house...but luckily others remembered, like Joel, who proudly flashed his black leatherolium dollar store pants.

Pi came in orange pants and brought little, baby sized Pabst Blue...hey wait, this stuff's Budweiser! Damn!

So we fed it to the minor...it looks even smaller in Chris' hands!

I was supposed to bring Nic some cool pants from the prop shop, but forgot them with my pants, so, unfortunately, Nic improvised...

...with long underwear and a hand full of socks...

He pretty much made everyone there uncomfortable...

The next weekend Kris and I went out for the first time of this year's season with Nic & Neil @ Taylors. Nic had ambission to send Lloys sit start, or left of Llyods sit start, something on that boulder that he hasn't done yet...

He came really close, but no go...Kris and I tried the sit start to Lloyds-whatever that starts right of Nic's problem, starting on the undercling, drop knee to small left side pull, other drop knee to higher right sidepull slot...Neither of us got too far, but I'm psyched cuz I'm so close to catching that second sidepull!

Then, despite some nervousness, we crossed the iced over river to quickly get to the cave boulder. Neil came ridiculously close on "Cave Problem to the Left", FAed by Kris Johnson, of course. He'll do it any day now, just needs it all to come together smoothly.
I'm starting to catch the slopey hold down around the corner, but the edge of the block cuts into my tendons sticking out of the inside of my wrist as I grope around the corner for a slightly better position. Now I've gotta get some protective sweat bands for my wrist, you know, to look really bad-ass serious while I'm climbing. I was thinking about how sweet leg warmers would have been that day too, to keep the snow off my ankles. I'm gonna start climbing with all the partial-body-insulating devices I can find...my powers will then be unleashed, muhhahahahaha!

On a similarly evil note...there was a tragic gold fish massacre @ Trappers in Lindstrom. The perpetrator was not seen by any witnesses in the restaurant, but several gold fish now lay dead in bloody pools. Our only suspect is Kristian Johnson. Any leads you may be able to provide is helpful. You may also leave annoymous tips. Thank you...

Old vid from Hueco last year

2008-02-13T13:09:00.001-08:00

I found this video on my harddrive...thought I'd post it, a bit late! This is Nic O...O...O-something-er-other on Accupressure behind the now defunct Mushroom boulder. Goes at an 8. I think some one in CO FAed this. Or did Kris get the FA?

Belated Pictures from Bishop

2008-01-22T10:17:00.001-08:00

We've been back a few weeks now, but I've just finished touching up all my pictures....here's a few to reminisce...

Do you see Crazy?

Four days on in Bishop

2007-12-22T18:22:00.003-08:00

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....

Here in Bishop

2007-12-21T16:51:00.001-08:00

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!

More Trailer Progress

2007-12-11T19:54:00.001-08:00

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!

Lil' Trailer is gettin' there....

2007-12-10T10:52:00.001-08:00

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.

Trailer's gettin' warmer!

2007-12-02T16:00:00.001-08:00

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!

Teardrop Trailer

2007-11-26T10:03:00.000-08:00

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!

Sawmill: A Bit Too Late in the Season

2007-11-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

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!

Boulder & Breakfast

2007-10-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

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

Kris sends Cave!

2007-10-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

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!

Mission: Boulder Wall--COMPLETED

2007-09-09T14:18:00.001-07:00

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?

The progress goes on...

2007-08-15T05:27:00.000-07:00

Ten days to finish it...think we can make it?

The concrete finally starting showing up on Wednesday....FREE CONCRETE! The best kind...We had rented a power buggy(fancy automatic wheelbarrow) for a week to port the conrete from the trucks on the street in front, all the way back of the yard to the wall. Our next door neighbor, Denny, was more than happy to help drive the power buggy for us while we were at work. In three days we topped off the holes with what is about 15 tons of commercial, high grade cee-ment!

Then the dirt piles were hauled away and the steel started going up...

As well as other important parts, like the lip...gotta have something to grab at the top! Thing is, our center truss ended up a few inches higher than the two on either side, so we had to do some creative "bending" to get the 2x8 to be flush to the bottom edge....Wood Bending Tools: 2 Adult Men, 2x4, ability to hang on 2x4...

Now we're on the the reinforcing of the structure...finding all the wiggle spots and tightening them up. We will need to put two front supports on, angled into the wall....after 35W we're all about over engineering!

So this is how she looks today...

well, there maybe more steel in there now...but close enough...here she is from the front...

She's not done yet...but she still holds weight!

The plywood should go on this weekend! We can't wait to have one of the most bad ass outdoor home walls...in the country, probably! Sweeeeet....

Mmmm...More Progress

2007-07-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

So last wednesday we put up the last truss after work. Dillion help out...AGAIN! Along with Kris' old climbing buds Pat and Pat....Patton Fast & Pat Keeley...

Wew...that was easy...now for the hard part....squaring it off!

It took us a long time to figure out that one of the diagonal beams was on the opposite side its the vertical beam from the other two...our measurements weren't working out...Why were we over 4" too wide between the beams, but still 24 feet wide total? Daaa! But then Pat noticed the diagonal beam's orientation, and it all made sense...and all measured up...and level....Thank God! And thanks to the Pat's, who did all the brain work!

Kris started welding some of the steel support beams in, but we're still waiting for the concrete to get poured. Slow going...but we're getting there!

New Rock in Town

2007-07-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

So there might not be a lot of great climbing in the Twin Cities yet! But SOON! Behold...the progress!

At first the neighbors thought we were trying to dispose of bodies....

But they were wrong...

We weren't trying to kill Dillion and Neil....well, not anymore....they were a HUGE help to us this weekend!

Now that doesn't look quite right.....

Ah, yes! Now that's starting to look like something you can climb on!

When we were done all we could do was sit and stare at its HUGENESS! And that's only HALF of it! One more frame to go and it will 24 feet wide, 12.5 feet tall and angled at 50 degrees! If you're coming to the wedding next month it'll be waiting for you! So bring your shoes and chalk!

Minnesota Skin in Minnesota Spring

2007-03-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

So, it was totally beautiful out on St. Patties day, and a whole bunch of us got together at Taylors for some early season action!
Of course, since the bees haven't showed up yet, we all started out on the Lloyd's boulder...It was in the sun, and most of us were down to our t shirts...except Nic, who was hugging rocks bare-chested...

Half of us spent time flailing on Llyod's Sit, and the other half on Left of Llyod's

No, Nic still hasn't done Left of Llyod's with any witnesses...I think he's a dirty liar....

Crazy found her favorite little hiding spot under the pads against the Llyod's boulder...my dog ain't too smart...

For some reason Corey and Dillion brought along a whole rack of gear...I thought we were bouldering? So Nic set up a top rope on Genetic Control to try to flash it. He first thought he could bouldering it if he flashed it first try. Good thing he fell, I wouldn't spot his ass on a dumb stunt like that! He got it on his second go, and Chris finished on his "second" full try...there's some dubiousness about that since I guess there was some hang-dogging, whatever, I don't care, I don't climb on ropes, I just fall and the attempt is over.

There were big ice sheets floating in the river...kind neat...

Then we all went over to Lunge or Plunge...not my idea...All the 6ft guys got it, no problem....not much of a "lunge" as it was mostly "static". Kris & Neil flashed it...Scott, Corey, Nic, & Chris all sent, but I don't remember if they flashed or not...

Dillon and I had a few more complications, being that we could barely span the set up move to the dyno...Dillion took a few nice falls...

And I could barely reach the side pull, I don't like it way up there and sideways...

Then everyone turned their focus to The Prow just behind Lunge or Plunge...Nic did a little gardening in the bucket...

Then it was ready for climbin on...

This is the tree that Dillions ankle slid between after falling on this try...SHAKE THAT DAMN TREE, SHAKEN BABY TREE SYNDROME!!!

Then Chris started up Slick Sides w/ 1 pad underneath him...everything was going great,

until the last crack (in below pic) at the top gave out some sort of screech...

Nic and I were on top, and heard it too...we were all like, "What the Hell was THAT?" Not wanting to be bitten by a shreeking spider, as Nic suggested it must be, Chris quickly jumped down. Further probing and jamming with the stick brush found nothing...Nic probably just farted and didn't want to admit it...

And that's the story of our first day out at Taylors this spring...Not as exciting as Heuco, I know...but we had a great time, and a great landing zone!--Still not good enough for me to actually TRY at Lunge or Plunge...someday...when I grow up and get big!

Too many heel hooks...

2007-02-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I should finish up thruday first. Nic and Brian's hair has been scaring the locals.

Water is pretty scarce in the desert, and they need to truck in the water to the Rock Ranch, so cleanliness takes a vacation too. After I posted last, Brian went next door to the salon and got his hair cut, for $8! Then Nic went over and got his cut too. Kris and I look less homeless now that they've cleaned up a bit.

While Brian was out getting his mop chopped, Nic and Kris taught me to play chess. It's okay, but I still preferr Stratego. Then we decided to go to the lamest movie ever, Eragon. It's a stupid movie made for unquestioning 13 year old boys. Boom, the dragon is instantly big and can talk; why is it faster to travel by dragon, but the guy on the horse can still keep up? Tooo many plot holes for our superior brains. And what was John Malcovich and Jeremy Irons doing in that piece o shite? They mustuv' gotten drunk and pissed someone off at the studio. We're going to see Hannibal Rising today, and we're hoping not to get screwed by it as bad.

Yesterday was a great day for me. North Mountain was completely vacant. Everyone, including Nic and Brian, we on tour on the other mountains. I was kinda' bummed, cuz with out other people around, the energy tends to die. We started at No One Gets Out of Here Alive to warm up. We had been here on our first day, and I couldn't get it. My muscles were still weak, my skin was really thin, and I wasn't commiting to anything that was coarse. So after figuring out a sweet little heel hook at the end, the problem went, no effort. That had bugged me a lot that I hadn't finished it before, so now that was off my mind.

And then it was off to Daily Dick Dose. I had spent the previous night falling asleep, trying to visualize all the moves, so that when I got there I wouldn't have to screw around remembering it all. I also drank a ton of water before. I'd like to thank my new friends Visualization and Water for supporting me in my effort and send of Daily Dick Dose. It was awesome. Kris got it on video, so I'll post on YouTube and put in a link, eventually...Woo hoo! My first V7!

That heel hook I'm doing has ravaged my hamstring. Well, additional right heel hooking that day really did it in, but man my butt hurt later that night! Too get this next little pinch hold I had to drive my hips up to the roof and squeeze everything. Once I hit it, it felt so good I didn't even think of moving my other hand the the undercling jug right next to the pinch. I started moving my feet, and Kris starts shouting, "Get the undercling, get the undercling!" I finished it up easily and felt really great.

Then we decided to get out of the sun and crawl through the slots to The New Meadow where we saw our first people of the day! We found our way to Lobster Claw, and Kris made easy work of it, even if he thinks it was a crap acent.

I tried it out, but was already getting tired, and wasn't really "mobbed" on it anyways. Too many heels hooks for my hamstring...

Kris was told by Brian and Nic to not leave Hueco with out falling off of Choir Boys. We showed up there not long before two dudes with Zealot pads came in. One of them knew the beta for it, so Kris started working it. Too bad, Choir Boys Light starts out with a heel hook on a tiny little spike. The problem also looked a little scrunched for him. He got frustrated and gave up after a number of tries, cursing his heel. Of course, the one thing my little legs can do is heel hook! I got on and linked up the first two moves easily, but not with out pain. I felt really strong, so I'm resting my leg today to go back tomorrow and try to have a last day send! I'm such a wuss when it come to pain. It just shuts off my "effort button". It's okay sometimes, it keeps me from injuring myself too bad.

So tomorrow the game plan is for a North Mountain crushfest! We'll start down at the Mushroom Boulder for Kris to do Mushroom Roof, and Nic to do Accupressure before the sun hits the black hold. I'm very confident Kris will get Mushroom. He's been getting over the lip with his hands enough times now that it's become purely skin dependant. He's got a nice hole in his middle finger tip that's keeping him from sending. And as long as it's not too warm right away, I believe Nic will send too. Then over to Choir Boys Light V7 for me. Maybe next year, if Hueco is still open to climbing, I'll come back and do the low start. Not sure what Brian has planned, but I'm sure it will be excellent boulder-watching.

Last night I walked down the road from the Rock Ranch and got some nice sunset shots of North and West Mountain. Damn, what a beatiful outcrop of rock! No where else on Earth like this place! Chris Craft - YOU MUST GO TO HUECO BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! Boulders just don't exist like this! Write your congressperson! NOW! Or find millions of dollars to donate to the parks department in the name of climbers! Go- NOW! Lynn & Kris

So hot, so dry...

2007-02-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

After a week in the desert I've realized that when everyone was saying "Drink lots of water" when I got here, they weren't kidding. I spent yesterday in a nausious stupor. Sorry to Brian, Nic, and Kris for having to put up with that cranky little bitch.

Anyways, Tuesday we started out on the Warm Up Boulder. I did a fun V1, 2, & 3. We joked around with some French Canadians and then went back on tour with Pete to East Spur for Nic to do Better Eat Your Wheaties, which he did, um, "very nice".

Then we headed back to Rumble in the Jungle for Brian. It has yet to go, but we've discovered the power a good butt squeeze has over a sagging core, and it should go any second now. He's going back tomorrow to put it in the bag.

Near by I found a big wall of cave art....

I like finding all the hidden paintings through out the park. It makes you feel like your back in prehistoric times in this rock jungle. There's no real history in Minnesota, so this gets me really excited to see painting made 10,000 years ago.

In between Brian's burns on Rumble we went over to the French Tickler Wall. SUPER teeny, sharp crimps! It hurt just feeling the holds, but the wall it super cool anyway...

Then we went over to The Long Haul for Kris. He had worked on the last tour, but just needed to hook it up. In about 4 tries he sent. I only have a video of it, so I might have to post it on YouTube and put in a link later. I've been taking more and more videos with my little camera and it performs sweetly!

After Kris swept up Long Haul I did The Weenie Roast; a straight forward V4 on a facing boulder. It had kicked my ass the other day and left me totally disheartened, because I knew I should have flashed it. When I sat down that day I did and felt much better about myself.

On the way out we went back to Jingus Bells, a super tall V5 with a dyno at the top. It's more like a route than a boulder problem. There's a boulder right next to it, so if you are too pumped to pull the dyno at the end you can just step off, but it's still very psychologically sketchy.

The next day we started down at the Mushroom Boulder. Nic needed to work a problem call Accupressure before the sun got on it and warmed up a black sloper on the crux of the problem. Again, I just shot video, so some day there might be a link here.

Kris was ready to give up on Mushroom Roof just because he didn't get it in his first four tries. Brian talked him back in to trying it a few more times and he almost sent it. He was getting over the lip, but slipping off the second sloper. I'm sure he'll get it before we leave.

I did Local Flakes, a fun V2, even if I couldn't reach the start holds with out folding my pad. It was about all I was up to doing that day, I was so dried out from the sun.

Then we went up top of North for Brian to try Barefoot on Sacred Ground again. No go, but Oh so close! No pics, just vid. Mmm, I'm gonna have to start switching it up a bit or my blog will be more words than pictures.... We didn't do much this day because it's getting so warm out. We're getting baked in the sun and it just zaps your energy right out of you. We did see a little red fox when Brian was trying Barefoot. It ran between two boulders, stopped and looked at us, and the ran off too quick for me to get to my camera. That's the first bit of "wild life" we've seen this trip, besides a little lizard at Pete's camp.

This morning we went to the Vista Mercado for sumptuous Mexican donuts, mmm, donuts.... Nic bought a Fruit by the Foot roll of gum so that Brian could put it all in his mouth at once.

So that's it for right now. I'll post again when I can. Hope it's warming up in MN, I'm not getting off the plane until it does...Lynn & Kris

Ahh, First Rest Day

2007-02-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

The Rock Ranch....

After three days on we are pretty tired. It is beautiful down here! Sunny and 70 during the days, but a chilly sub-freezing at night. After a couple nights of shivering we've streamlined our sleeping attire and can now sleep through the night comfortably. Hint: wear pants to bed.

The Rock Ranch is a funny place with people from all over the world. Lots of Brits and other Euros, Canadians and people from all over the states. Everyone here is super cool and eccentric. I'm convinced you'll never meet a cool conglomerate of people than those staying at the rock ranch. The facilities are limited. The first day here the porta-potties were brimming with, well, you know what's in there. Luckily they pumped it that day too. I've never seen one so full. This guy, Rich, said that it's been so full you have to move the shit around with a stick! Good thing the park has plumbed toilets.

Our first day Nic showed us around the North Mountain; the one of 4 areas that you can access with out a guide. After a debilitating hike up the chains, (the elevation is evident) he took us to a bunch of easy 4 star classics to warm us up; No One Gets Out of Here Alive V2, Ghetto Simulator (Highball) V2, and Melon Patch (Highball) V0. We watched this guy Nick Duddle(sp?) try Esperanza V14. Only 4 other people have ever done it. He got so close, but that day wasn't the day for the send. There are so many great climbers here and so many great problems. This place makes you walk around in awe at the things people are capable of climbing! Nic took us to Terremer (Mother Earth)V15. A problem of razor crimps up a 40 degree face. It's insane. It's also very humbling.

Here's Kris & me on No One Gets Out of Here Alive...

This is me on Baby Martini...V6

This was the first thing I worked on in the park. Kinda a mistake as it burned my weak muscles and skin right away.

Here's us on Ghetto Simulator, a really long V2. It's more of a route than a boulder problem. Note the heel hook Kris is using, this is quite a rare occasion...

At the end of the day we hiked down to the Mushroom Boulder at the base of North Mountain. My skin was wasted, but Kris still found some strength to try out Center El Murray...

There are ancient Indian paintings throughout the park, most of the reason for so much restriction. You are not allowed to climb near these.

Day 2: Now we were ready to try some real problems. Brian gave us our mission...Kris:Babyface, me: Daily Dick Dose. Boulder problems are named by the first person to send (climb) them. Most of the problem in the park have obviously been established by single, horny guys. Don't blame me for the names of some of these problems.... If you go to
http://www.joelclimbs.blogspot.com/
you'll find a pic of me on Daily Dick Dose, third pic down.

Kris sent Babyface in less than a half hour. I was just around the corner from him and I decided to take a break to see how he was doing. I got there just in time to watch him send. We were yelling so loudly for him from the ground that he pulled out the last half of the problem. He hadn't gotten that far on any previous tries, so all the holds were new a foreign. Kinda scary to make committing moves to holds you haven't felt before.

According to Brian and Nic, that was a very quick send of a very hard problem.

We watched Brian try to dispatch Barefoot on Sacred Ground, a very, very hard V12. I can't even conceive climbing something that hard.
Then we hike over North Mountain and down the other side to meet up with Nic working Theater of the Absurd.

After that a quite go on Power of Silence, a very energy dependant problem. If you're not fresh, you probably won't send. Still, a very cool problem. I wish I could work it too.

Day 3: Tour to the East Spur...We met up with our guide Pete about noon. Pete was really cool. He had actually been to Taylor's Falls while working on the Sherman Stone Crusade, which is a tour of all 50 states first done by bouldering grandfather John Sherman. He came to climb Mike's Left. It's weird to meet someone who's actually climbed at our little crag. We first showed up at Jigsaw Puzzle, an extra-hard V5.

Kris came over, and disgusted by the heel hook I'm doing here, used his infamous toe-hook instead and sent the problem, after a cigarette, of course. From here we headed over to Brian's project, Rumble in the Jungle. A roof of pinches and toe hooks that stresses every muscle, especially the core, as you can see in Brian's bulging muscles....

He's going back tomorrow to put this problem to bed....

We ran into this crazy guy along the trail who claimed to be Kurt Cobain. He pointed out his large white frame sunglasses and slumped over, depressed demeanor. He later turned out to just be Brain in disguise. We should have known by the large, purple, puffy jacket.

We went into town for dinner that night to a Chinese Buffet. We all commented on how it was the nicest Chinese Buffet any of us had been to. Don't trust appearances. Half an hour later I was puking out of the car. That sucked. That's the last time I eat from a trough of food on this trip!!

More to post on Thusday! Lynn & Kris: Enjoy the cold, Minnesota!!!

We've arrived

2007-02-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Holy crap- I just spent the last hour trying to figure out what the hell my username and password is to get in this! Hint: Don't create your blog 3 weeks before you intend to use it...you will forget everything!!! Anyways, we're sitting in the coffee shop, guys are playing chess. The weather has been pretty crappy down here, as of late. But that should change now that we're here. Otherwise the weather will have to answer to ME! Mmm, that's not a very effective threat, me thinks...More to post later when something acctually happens around here. There's an adult drive-in we might check out. Wow, huge naked people sounds fun to me! And Chic-fil-a! YEAH CHIC-FIL-A!!

Lynn & Kris

A little background for those who aren't climbers....

2007-01-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know anything about where we are going or what we are doing....

Hueco Tanks (pronounced like Waco, but NOT the same place,) is a park preserve near El Paso, Texas. It has some of the best bouldering in the world; hundreds of problems at all grade levels. This time of year, (peak season) the park is usually stocked with some of the most elite boulderers in the world! Which means about 50 people know who they are.

Anyways, the park is full of petroglyphs that are centuries old. The more drunken/immature/destructive/whatever citizens of El Paso who used to stumble into the park without regulation began to deface and spray paint on/over some of these historical paintings, and thus the park was closed to the public entirely for several years. Climbers, who realized the extreme loss of this park, rallied together and, with the park service, negotiated new regulations that would allow the park to open again. This limits the number of people in the park a day to 200. You can only go in the park 3 days in a row before you must take a day off. Then you can go in for up to another 3 days. This way people can't book up the park indefinately and block access for others. (Although you do need to make your reservations several months in advance.)

A little background on Bouldering...

Bouldering is a ropeless form of climbing. You actually climb on boulders, so it is also realitively close to the ground. Boulders are usually about 10-15ft tall, but can go much higher. Those climbs are called "High Balls". But for the most part we will all be realatively close to the ground. The boulders are also more likely to be overhanging. AT Hueco Tanks that varies from straight up (90 degrees) to straight horizontal (zero degrees). You place layers of "crash pads" under the fall zone and spot each other as you climb. The crash pads are foldable and have backpack straps to carry them. So that should explain all the pictures you will see of Sponge Bob-looking people. With a good group of people, all equipped with pads, you can build up a good landing zone. Bouldering is like just doing the hard part (or crux) of a roped wall climb. It cuts out all the easy stuff and leaves you with complex, technical movements and a LOT of finger strength. Bouldering routes are called "problems" because they take so much thinking, trying, falling, swearing, and skin to figure out.

So...A little climbing lingo...

Crimp - Thin edges, usually incut, you kink your fingers up on it and press your thumb over your index finger to add pressure and friction to your fingers.

Slope/r - Just like it sounds, a slopey hold that has no real "positive" position. Friction is key to sticking to these smooth holds.

Pinches - Again, something you pinch, with your fingers on one side of the hold and thumb squeezing the other.

Jug - BIG hold, great for resting on, very secure and deep, and easy hold to hang on. You should be able to jump and grab this one armed without too much trouble.

Heel Hook - Hooking a foot hold with the back of your heel and using your hamstring to pull in and up. I LOVE to heel hook!

Toe Hook - Same thing, but with your toe levered up. Kris loves this, HATES heel hooking. It's his pigeon toes.

Smear - Pressing your foot/toes on the flat rock, there are no edges or holds to stand on. You are standing on friction alone.

There are a whole bunch more, but you'll digest the termanology more easily if it's injected in stages....

Minnesota Skin

2007-01-16T09:04:00.000-08:00

Haven't gone anywhere yet, just getting the blog started....