Birthday Challenge 2013

Well, another year has passed, and with my birthday landing on November 10th, it was time for my second annual Birthday Challenge. Last year, I climbed 27 problems in Joshua Tree that I had never climbed before, so naturally I had to continue that tradition this year. I decided a while back that I wanted to go to The Underground, a remote sector atop Queen Mountain, a far hike over rugged terrain, but rumored to have the best rock in Joshua Tree. I had never been to The Underground, so it seemed like a perfect area to attempt to send 28 new problems.
After over an hour, we reached the top of Queen Mt. and climbed a few problems on The Watchtower boulder, officially beginning the challenge.

#1, "Left VNothing" (V0)
#2, "All Along the Watchtower" (V2)

From there we hiked a further 30 to 40 minutes and made it to The Underground proper, where I really set to work. (All photos, Alexandra Fox)

#3, "Kranium R" (V3)
#4, "Kranium L" (V3)

#5, "Misfire" (v6)

#6, "Intruder" (V5)

#7, "V1 Center" (V1)

Putting on the shoes in front of the exit of "The Heart."

#8, "The Heart" (V4?)

Looking up through the hueco on "The Heart."

 

#9, "4:20 at The Underground" (V4)

#10, "Body and Soul" (V5)

Tell me this rock doesn't look just like Hueco.

For my eleventh problem, after a decent warm up, I decided to try "Dark Matter" (v9), one of the few 5-star boulders in Miramontes' guide. I got lucky with a third-try send, managing somehow not to punt off of the topout.

#11, "Dark Matter" (V9)

Sticking the crux with the SDK and sending by the skin of my teeth on the third go. Kevin with the spot.

We didn't get many pictures after that, but here is the rest of the list:

#12. "Sketch" (V4)

#13. "When Pigs Fly" (V0)

#14. "Fight Club" (V5)

#15. "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" (V3)

#16. "Nicole Face" (V4)

#17. ""Saucer Full of Secrets" (V1)

#18. "Warm Up Problem" (V2)

#19. "Feature Problem" (V3)

Epic View

#20. "V1 Left" (V1)

#21. "V1 Reverse" (V1)

#22. "V1 Traverse" (V2)

#23. "Kranium C" (V3)

#24. "Unnamed V0" (V0)

#25. "Another Stupid Traverse" (V1)

#26. "Brain Teaser" (V0)

#27. "Breezy" (5.7)

#28. "The Swallows Tail" (V0)

 

I finished the challenge with"The Swallows Tail" for number 28, a V0 jug traverse on the same arch feature as "The Heart," It made for a beautiful view as the sun dipped on the horizon, but we still had close to a two-hour hike out to make in the dark.

Finishing the challenge on top of "The Swallows Tail" (V0).

Needless to say, the hike out was a challenge! Searching for kairns by headlamp, moving slowly from one rock-pile to the next, was definitely type-2 fun, but it made for a truly full-value day.

Of course I owe a huge thanks to everyone who came out and supported. That hike/scramble approach is no cake walk, and I really appreciate your support, pads, and spots. Big thanks to Kevin, who helped us get to The Underground in the first place, as well as for providing beta and psych on "Dark Matter!" Props on your send of it too! Huge thank you as well to Jeremy Meza, who helped us get out of there in the darkness! I also particularly owe a huge thank you to Alexandra, who acted as official record keeper and made sure I finished all 28 problems before the sun went down.

We have lots of day trips and longer trips to Bishop and Red Rocks planned for the coming months, so hopefully I'll be able to share more soon.

Cheers, and climb safe!

Another Day in JTree and Four in Bishop

Last Sunday, I went out to JTree with Patrick Luther for a short bouldering day trip. It was a beautiful day with perfect temps, aside from the intermittent freezing wind. I managed to punt off of the very end of Cave Man Sit Start twice, but at least Patrick managed to send. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to going back to that one.

Hidden Valley Campground

Patrick starting "Cave Man Sit" (v10)

Patrick climbing through the tunnel on "Cave Man Sit."

Vid of myself punting off the end of Cave Man Sit.

A coyote came out to hang for a while at the end of the day.

After a few days of route setting back in town, I picked up Culin on Friday and headed straight for the Buttermilks to give him his first introduction to outdoor bouldering. On Friday, we stayed close to the road and played around on Grandma Peabody and the Drifter Boulder. On Grandma, Culin was able to flash Go Granny Go Right Exit, and I managed to fall off the last move of Center Direct twice.  Over on the Drifter, Culin very narrowly missed sending High Plains Drifter, one of the most classic lines in the 'Milks. We had the good fortune of running into my pal Anthony Tarascio, with whom we climbed each of the next three days.

Culin Li coming very close on "High Plains Drifter."

Saturday, we headed back out to the 'Milks to give Culin a better tour. We warmed up at the Birthday Boulders, where Culin sent Birthday Direct (v3) and onsighted The Rising (v4).
Then we hiked up the hill to the Fly Boy Boulder, where Anthony, Chris Chen, Christine Ubaldi and I joined the growing session on Haroun and the Sea of Stories (v11 low start) and Fall Guy (v9) neither of which I could send. Culin tried Fly Boy (v6 stand / 8 sit) a few times and made quick work of the Fly Boy Arete before we ended the session and grabbed some burritos at Las Palmas back in town.

Culin sending "Fly Boy Arete."

 

Sunday,  we were all looking to get away from the crowds of the central Buttermilks, but wanting to continue climbing on granite, we opted to make the seemingly never-ending uphill hike to the Druid Stones. 

After a few super moderates, we ran laps on the mega classic, Arch Drude. I hadn't been up there before, but according to Anthony, something might have broken down low on the climb, increasing its difficulty slightly.

Anthony sending "Arch Drude" (v5) with the White Mountains across the valley.

Culin sending "Arch  Drude."

Culin pulling into the topout of "Arch Drude."

Myself sending "Arch Drude."

Chris led the charge to the immaculate Thunder Wall, where after quick sends of Kredulf (one of the best, sandbagged, v4s I've ever touched) and Denton's Diversion, I followed Chris and Anthony's lead and began working the sit start, Denton's Remorse. I'm very psyched to say that, after working out the beta and a couple of false starts, I pulled on at the super low starting undercling and went to the top of the boulder. Unfortunately, neither Chris nor Anthony sent this one, but at least they have something to send next time we make the long hike up to the Druids!

Chris Chen starting "Denton's Remorse" (v10).

The Sierras from the Druids.

The edge of Bishop and the White Mountains from the Druids.

Bishop and the Whites.

Myself, sending "Denton's Remorse" (v10).

Pulling perfect patina edges on Denton's Remorse.

The difficult lockoff on "Denton's Remorse."

Bishop, and the Volcanic Tableland north of town, from the hike out from the Druid Stones.

Chris and Christine had to head home on Sunday evening, but on Monday, Anthony and I gave Culin a tour of the Happy Boulders. Culin was able to send the classic The Hulk, Anthony sent some link up that didn't quite appear to be Disco Hulk, but might as well have been, and I pulled off Disco Diva. Of course, in typical Anthony Tarascio style, he brought a Nightmare Before Christmas Santa Hat for us both to send in, photo evidence below.

Anthony, sending in his sending hat.

Me doing the same on "Disco Diva" (v8)

 

We made the quick four-hour drive back to LA, and I've spent the last couple of days setting up at Boulderdash. This weekend, I hope to get back out to Malibu Creek a couple of times, so let's see if next week we can have an update about what chains I've clipped out there.

Stay psyched, climb safe, and see you out there!

Birthday Challenge 2012!

For those who missed last week's update or didn't see the many Facebook updates, this past Saturday, Novebmer 10th, was my 27th birthday. I had planned celebrate with a birthday challenge to repeat 27 boulder problems at Black Mountain, but with a few days of snow in the mountains starting on Thursday, we made the decision to relocate the festivities to Joshua Tree. Now that a day has passed since we left the park, it's easy for me to reflect back and say without the slightest hesitation that Saturday was my most fun (and of course challenging!) day of climbing ever!

Of course, to the initiated, it's known that climbing in Joshua Tree is hard. The crystals that compose the quartz monzonite granite are really sharp, even more so than most of Black Mountain. Many of the ratings are fairly stiff, and terms like "old school" or "Joshua Tree" are frequently used as prefixes to qualify the V grades. Good thing that I'm fairly used to this from Black Mountain and that my goal was just to climb 27 boulder problems, with no minimum of difficulty. Remember, while my list of problems that I had planned to send at Black were all repeats, I have spent verrrrry little time bouldering in JTree, so every problem was a new to me!
The other things about the style of bouldering at Joshua Tree are that the boulders are usually fairly tall and the style is highly technical, with bad feet and plenty of hard mantles high off the deck. It was an adrenaline pumping, high-volume, highballing day for sure!

Now for some photos. All shots by awesome homegirl Christina Pilo, unless otherwise noted that they were taken by other awesome homegirl Tia Stark.
 

Driving into JTree during the early morning hours. Tia Stark photo.

Warming up on problem number 2, "Riffraff" (v0), at Ryan Campground. 

# 3, "Fidelman Arete" (v2). 

#4, "Figure Five" (v2), Ryan Campground. 

Topping out "Figure Five." Christina Pilo photo.

Coming painfully close on "Chili Sauce" (v7) at Ryan Campground, one of the few that got away. Sick shot by Tia Stark.

Christina Pilo sending the amazing "All Washed Up" (v6), one of the best problems I completed during the day!

All up ons # 6, "All Washed Up."

Homeboy Jesse Weiner giving it on "Picture Perfect" (v5).

#9, "Picture Perfect" (v5).

#10, "Joker" (V1).

#11, "Prince Hoi" (v2).

Brett Gottdener running up "Foot Fetish" (v2).

#12, "Foot Fetish" (v2).

I love the desert.

Tia Stark photo.

#13, "Hoi Palloi" (v0).

#14, "Maverick" (v0).

#15, "The Boxer Problem" (v2), at the Manx Boulder.

 

Rob Miramontes with the pole cam all up ons during my send of #19, "Undertow" (v3).

View from the Manx Boulder.

#20, "Out of Touch" (v2) with Miramontes' pole cam catching the action.

"Out of Touch."

#24, "Mighty Dog" (v7) Tia Stark photo.

Coming painfully close to completing "Vicaryous" (v10) as problem 27. I totally could have sent if I'd gotten here more fresh! Next time! Tia Stark photo.

We didn't quite get photos of every problem, as my camera was dying by problem 22 or so, but we came awfully close.
Here is the full list for anyone interested.

#1. "Wannabe" 5.9
#2. "Riffraff" V0
#3. "Fidelman Arete" V1
#4. "Figure Five" V2
#5 unkown v0 (#28 in Ryan campground)
#6 "All Washed Up" V6 (highball, committing, hard for the grade, and amazing)
#7 "Warm Up" V1 (in corridor with "All Washed Up"
#8 "Lunge For It" V3
#9 "Picture Perfect" V5
#10 "Joker" V1
#11 "Prince Hoi" V2
#12 "Foot Fetish" V2
#13. "Hoi Polloi" V2
#14. "Maverick" V0
#15. "The Boxer Problem" V2
#16. "Xylophone" V2
#17. "Scuttlebutt" V0 (amazingly awkward stemming scoop that I don't even understand how I started)
#18. "Fishbait" V0
#19. "Undertow" V3
#20. "Out of Touch" V2
#21. "Off Camber" V4 (really cool big move to a sloping topout with a triiicky mantle)
#22. "Gambit" V1
#23. "Wrangler" V2
#24. "Mighty Dog" V7 (onsighted at the end of the day and then almost did the sit start crimping traverse "Vicaryous" (v10) right after! Unfortunately I was getting tired at this point!)
#25. "Pea Brain" V4
#26. "Retro" V0
#27. "Footsie"V3 (This was actually the hardest climb of the day, took the most number of efforts, and felt the most satisfying!)

After the long day of bouldering, Brett suggested we hit the Joshua Tree Salloon for some burgers and beers, which I could not have agreed with more. It was a perfect birthday dinner with great friends, which included a really big chocolate lava cake dessert and plenty of jukebox kareoke.

Cheers to Christina, Tia, Brett, and Jesse for being an amazing support team throughout the day, and to everyone that was there in spirit. You were missed.

Of course, the next morning we had to hit up the Meadows boulder so that I could send (somehow!) both "Sloper Safari" (v4) and "Rasberry" (v6), both of which felt near impossible after Saturday's sendfest. We packed up shortly after and zipped back to LA, and by 6 pm I was up at Boulderdash resetting the roof on the boulder.

For some reason I feel justified in taking a couple of rest days!
Have fun out there, climb safe, and thanks again to all of you for your amazingly positive birthday wishes. It was my best  birthday yet and I look forward to sharing similar experiences with you all in the future!
I've got 27 years of life behind me, and I feel like I'm just getting started!