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!

Another Black Mt Weekend

I spent the weekend bouldering and camping up at Black Mountain again, with Anthony Tarascio and others. I met Anthony up there on Friday night and over a delicious MSR powered dinner and some beers we both yammered on incessantly about how good the bouldering at Black Mt is and how beautiful the prominent Milky Way was in the sky, until we decided to pass out in our respective sleeping bags.

A view of the boulder-covered ridge above the group camp sites during morning coffee.

Anthony, the Sauce Boss, whippin up some breakfast.

On Saturday, after a brief warm up around the summit area, Anthony found and cleaned a nice little line on the back of the boulder that hosts the wall of moderates that we cleaned up the previous week. He and I both worked the overhanging crimps to slopers for a while and decided it would go next time.

Anthony tossing to the lip on the Sauce Boss project

We eventually made our way over to Cracker Boy, a known classic that I'd meant to try for a long time. The crew gave it a good session, and I was psyched to send second try.

Aron on "Cracker Boy."

Anthony gives a perfect spot as Ryan dismounts in style.

Anthony snuck in the repeat send before I could even get the lens cap off.

Team Evolv chalk buckets representing.

Eventually we made it over to the December Boulders, were we continued Abbey and Ty's obscure classic tour and I was doubly psyched to send Megalomania on my second attempt of the day.

Abbey getting into "Moon Drops."

Ty hanging crystals on "Moon Drops."

On Sunday, after a slow warm up and a prolonged session on Bang On, during which I tagged the crux crimp numerous times, I met back up with Anthony and the gang up at the summit area, where we worked on an old Rob Mulligan project and a nice steep line that had been hiding in plain site in the cluster of boulders adjacent to NRA and the summit block. The lines didn't go yet, but I'm confident they will next time.

Kristen campusing the first move of the old Rob Mulligan project.

Anthony starting the Choss Boss project

Check out that sick dropknee Egyptian

Small crimp!

As I've been raving for a while, Black Mountain season is in full swing, and the temps are only going to get better. Hopefully I can send some of my projects before the snow comes and they close the gate in November-ish. Stay psyched!

New Moderates and Hard Projects at Black Mt.

Friday and Saturday were another couple of great days up at Black Mt. I went back up with Alex Hoffman and met up with three of his friends from Santa Barbara, Logan, Tim, and Wyatt and gave them a pretty decent two-day tour.

On Friday, I first took the group over to Born Under Punches, and then on to the Round Boulders. After showing them Bang On and the boulders beyond it on the edge of the mountain, we decided to head up the hill to the incredibly featured NRA.

Literally on the side of the mountain, as the rounded boulders are on a tier below the summit and NRA, I led the group on a West Mountain-esque scramble up a chasm of fallen boulders to find ourselves in a hidden corridor on top of a dome of granite. The wall in front of us looked like a crown on top of the mountain. I quickly ran around to find that we were hidden atop the dome adjacent to the summit block, a highly traveled part of the mountain for decades, and yet this wall of rock we were looking at was untouched, incredibly dirty, covered with little flakes of onion-skin-like choss and lichen. It was clear that if the wall had ever been seen, it had not been climbed on. The crew quickly went to work brushing the three most obvious lines, left, right, and center, and made quick work of the sends as well.

Alex standing on top of the wall while Tim readies for an ascent of "Crown Jewel" and Wyatt looks on.

I chose to brush and FA the middle line, running straight up the face via just three holds before the topout. With a sit start to an obvious edge, you then make a big move to a huge rounded bulb sticking out of a ledge before topping out with bucket huecos. Because of its prominence in the middle of the wall we started to refer to as a crown, we named it Crown Jewel and figured it to be about V2.

Tim FA'd the right line, which we named Crown of Throws, due to its one challenging move being a dyno from one sloper to another. Another "Black Mountain V2" was born.

Tim brushing the upper sloper on his FA "Crown of Throws."

Then Logan finished cleaning and sent the line on the left, which has the most moves and consistent and obvious holds. It starts low at the base of a ramp on the overhanging left arete and follows good holds to topout on perfectly sculpted jugs. Sticking with the established theme, he named it Crowning Royalty.

Logan finishing up cleaning his line "Crowning Royalty."

Logan psyched on the find. Alex Hoffman photo

Logan cleaning and sending "Crowning Royalty." Alex Hoffman photo

After the fun moderate FA-fest, we ran over to NRA, and after playing around on it for a while to warm up, I was anxious to run back down the hill to Bang On  to see if I could continue to make progress on the testpiece. To my surprise, I was able to do almost every move, pausing on the crux 2nd hold and slowing my momentum for just a moment before falling on my best efforts. Needless to say, I am psyched about this progress and will continue to try this toughie throughout the season!

So close to sticking the crux first move of "Bang On" (V12).  Alex Hoffman photo.

A long evening around the campfire gave way to a heavy sleep, during which I dreamt of projects to be sent at the far-flung reaches of the mountain.

I awoke Saturday to the faces of my friend and former coach Ryan Held and his girlfriend Kelsey standing over my tent, and was psyched to have another pair of passionate climbers to head with us to the YMCA Camp area for the day.

The roof of the giant boulder on the right is home to what I have taken to calling "The Sea Monster Project" at the YMCA Camp boulders.

San Jacinto peak, and a boulderfield on the next ridge of the mountain, yet to be explored.

I showed the crew the moderate Bambi's First Waltz, which I established last week, as well as the nice v2 on the back of the prominent central boulder (name unknown to me). Eventually, people started throwing down attempts on the newschool classic, Ghost Dog.

Ryan going for it on "Ghost Dog" (V7c/d)

Tim coming so close to the send.

Another perspective of Ryan on "Ghost Dog."

I cleaned the crumbly bottom of the Sea Monster Project for a bit before putting on my shoes and giving it a few serious efforts, only to have a good portion of the best hold in the roof explode in my hand, sending me back-first into a sea of pads. I'll try it more in the near future, and I'm seriously hoping this hold doesn't continue to erode further. The line will be really incredible if/when it goes.

Ryan convinced me to get some attempts in before dark on the other epic project up there, which lies on a near-45-degree overhang looming over an obvious lightning strike. Roland, whom I only know of through our mutual friend Anthony Tarascio, apparently rappel-cleaned this one a few weeks ago, and it looks mighty fine with some chalk on the holds. On our best efforts, Ryan and I both linked from the starting hold to a prominent rail at mid-height of the boulder. It's another incredible line, and we'll come back to it another day as well. Hopefully by then it will have been sent and have a name.

The crew beneath lightning strike project and the glimpse of the valley beyond.

Ryan Held attempting the lightning project.

Me attempting the same. Alex Hoffman photo.

Alex Hoffman photo.

In addition to these two steep projects, I ran around the area for a while mid-day and found four additional potential projects, all of which are steeper than 45-degrees and look hard! With all of these projects, plus the established Beowulf, the YMCA is starting to look to me like the most concentrated cluster of hard steep climbing at Black Mountain. With so many projects elsewhere on the mountain as well, I hope that I'm able to send some (ANY) of them this season, and maybe even make a hard FA contribution to my favorite bouldering area.

A side view of the lightning strike project to show how steep it really is.

I plan to go back to Black next weekend, so we'll see what happens then.

The closer boulder field is adjacent to the old YMCA camp. The ridge in the distance is unexplored.

Alex Hoffman photo.

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