Rain rain go away...AND DON'T COME BACK.

I've had two days of climbing since the Red. One evening session bouldering near my house and one day climbing route with Matt.

The boulders we got on are right on the road so they are perfect for an evening session. Did a fun V4 first go and then tried this thing call Sparkle Motion (V6). Came close to doing it but couldn't quite stick the crux move. We got on one other problem that evening, as the light was waning and I discovered that I "need to learn how to sit start, son."

Yesterday Matt and I got out for the day, which was fun. Started at the Stairmaster boulder and tried Skipski (V5) which is actually a really fun problem. Then we hiked up the stairmaster with intentions of getting on Kligfield's Follied (5.11d). About ¾ of the way there, a sun shower appeared and so we got on the Sting (5.11d) which is under a huge roof and usually stays dry. After that I got on Wasp Stop (5.12a) which was dramatically harderd than The Sting. But hey, bouldering on a rope is always fun.

After that we went over to the Nears and got on the Pearl (V8). What a pretty boulder. Not the best thing to climb in a sporadic drizzle, however.

The Red

The Red River Gorge will always hold a special place for me. It was there that I climbed outside for the first time, it was there that I went on my first climbing trip and it was there that I decided that I wanted to be a climber.

The routes are so much fun and the commitment level is so minimal. The climbing there is easy -- not in the sense that the rock climbing is easy or soft, but in that the approaches are short, the climbs are obvious, there are usually tick marks on the important holds, the steep stuff there often has fixed draws and the anchors are safe and sound. In a sense it's gym climbing outside.

I've been to the Red every year except one since 2007 and each year I've been I've had different eyes and ideas. My first trip there I was in awe of everything. My slogan for the trip was "Rocks!! Siiiiick!!" and I was just flabbergasted by everything rock climbing. My second trip down I met up with the St. Lawrence student trip (which I had been a part of the previous year) and I felt like I was the seasoned pro, having climbed for a year in the Gunks. "Sport climbing is way easier than trad climbing, I'll get on anything!" Last year I went down with Margaret and Matt and Rich and we all met up with our friend Al. That was probably my favorite of the trips I've been on. It was just pure fun. I had relaxed a bit since 2008 in terms of being show-offey to the SLU kids and just climbed on things that looked good.

This most recent trip, I've had several thoughts about the climbing down there. First, it seems like there is endless potential for route development. There are so many routes, waiting to be equipped. I wasn't looking at the cool, pre-existing climbs. Rather, I was looking at the cool, future lines.

But I also felt a major gym-climbing vibe this time around. Not to say that gym climbing is inherently bad. I learned how to climb in a gym, and the gym was where I first fell in love with climbing. Maybe it's that I'm turning into a crusty trad climber, or maybe it was my experience developing climbs in the Adirondacks, but climbing in the Red doesn't seem to have that same sense of adventure that I've come to love most about climbing.

For example: Climbing at Silver Lake would be something like, find the appropriate place to park having no real beta other than being able to see the cliffs. Then wander around on old logging roads, sometimes for hours at a time, until you find the cliff. Then walk the base of the cliff until you a probable line. Battle your way up it any way you can, often with scrub brush in hand. Fix a line at the top. Spend a day or two cleaning the route, try to get all the lichen out of your socks and hair, come back later and send. Climbing in the Red is something like, battle other climbers for a parking spot, follow the obvious trail for 5 minutes to the cliff. Put your shoes on, tie in, climb a route, lower off the top, move five feet left, rinse, and repeat.

I still love the Red and can't wait to go back, so don't think this is a striaght up bash-and-slander. I guess my goals as I climber have evolved since my virgin fingers first touched rock. The Red seems to be a great place to hone your technical abilities as a gymnastic climber and it can be really fun. Just try not to get the stink-eye from some dirt-bag-holier-than-though Red-resident who has been waiting 24 days for the perfect conditions to send her most recent proji but when that day comes she decides to slack-line instead because her calluses on her fingers aren't were they need to be and her new shoes aren't broken in yet.

Kentuck': The Highlights

So Margaret worked until Eight o'clock on Saturday. The plan was to try and drive four or so hours that night so we could get some climbing in on Sunday afternoon, but the weather would not have it so. It rained really really hard and the wind was whipping us all over the road. And on top of that, we discovered a leak in the cap of my truck...So we crashed at Margaret's sisters' place in Scranton -- only two hours into the twelve and a half hour drive.

Managed to get on one climb Sunday afternoon at Roadside. And suddenly all that driving was instantly worth it.

We woke up full of gumption, and headed to a crag with climbs all across the grade spectrum, ranging from 5.8 to 5.13. A Brief History of Climb (5.10b) was one of the highlights of the day. A spicy boulder problem with crimps and smears down low leads into steep steep jug tuggin' at its finest. Another stand out climb was Different Strokes (5.11c). It's a relatively short climb, with six bolts in fifty feet, but it has hard climbing for pretty much every move. The guide book says of this route, "If you find a horizontal hold, you must be on a different route." I mean, this route had every kind of hold you could imagine, but not one single thing to pull down on. Very much fun.

Tuesday was a fun day for me. I got finally got on Iniquity (5.12b), which is something I've been looking at for a long time. It's one of the classic Kentucky climbs that is just mind-boggling steep. "How could it only be 5.12b?" It starts with a boulder problem right off the ground. Couple of crimps, a sloping rail, smeary feet, pop, pop, jug. And from there it's pretty much jug, jug, jug, jug, jug, jug, jug, dyno, jug, heal-toe cam, jug dyno, no hands rest, jug jug jug jug. Crimp. Crimp. And that's where I fell. I crushed the opening boulder problem and was cruzing the thing, thinking I had it and meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, there was another crux near the top! With only one bolt to go I fell. What a sweet route. Pure fun. I'll have to go back and try the horizontal hand-jam beta. Whatwhatwhat?!

Tuesday was also a fun day for Margaret -- she took her first whip! After I had my fun on Iniquity, we went of to a wall with a bunch of 5.10s. Gettin' Lucky in Kentucky is one of those classic, plated jug walls. It's steep and pumpy. The perfect combination for a whip. And she went for it! We're all so proud.

Because of the rain on Wednsday, it was a bit of a rest day. Probably the most interesting route of the day was the last -- Capture the Flag (5.11b). I was climbing up and I got one bolt from the top when I spotted a wasp building a nest right where my face was going to be in one move. So I had Rich lower my down far enough to reach the stick clip. After evicting Mr. Wasp, without getting stung, I passed the stick clip down to Rich and finished the climb.

The last day of climbing gets the award for both best weather and highest number of high-quality climbs. Everything we did was really really good. Pogue Ethics (5.9+) was a real adventure, with well spaced bolts and route finding as a requirement. Quite good. Margaret hung the draws on Lord of the Flies (5.8) and totally crushed it. It's one of those super-pocketed faces and with no hesitations, she just walked right up the thing. The climb around the corned Overlord (5.10b) was atypical for Kentucky -- almost slabby, with small holds and precise footwork. Way much fun. Margaret said along with A History of Climb and Different Strokes, it was one of her favorites climbs of the trip.

So I had sort of a back-burned goal for the trip of on-sighting a 5.12a. Other than Iniquity on the second day, I hadn't gotten on any 12s or even 11ds. With the clock ticking away towards end-of-trip-o'clock I decided to get on Twinkie. So. So. Steep. Like way way way steeper than Iniquity. It starts out on a slab, and then kicks back at a forty-five degree angle. This thing has some of the biggest hold you've ever fallen off from. And fall I did. I made it to the second bolt on the steep part and lost my feet and fell. Then I gave it one more try and just wasn't making and real progress so I bailed on that. We headed over to Left Flank after that to try and squeeze in two more climbs.

There just happened to by the another 5.12a that I wanted to try and on-sight right next to a super classic 5.10a. What a good way to end the trip, right? Too Many Puppies follows an arete for 60 feet or so. It starts out really bouldery, continues to be bouldery, and then ends with a boulder problem. And this isn't one of your standard jug tuggin routes either. Delicate footwork is most certainly required, along with crimpy fingers and a bunch of skill. I hung on every bolt. And actually, I think I pulled on every draw to clip the rope. But it was much fun. With a morning of working on that thing, figuring out the beta, it could go down.

And just to remind us why we climb in the Red, To Defy the Laws of Tradition (5.10a) gave us everything we could want. Cool holds, steepness, beautiful rock and jungle setting.

So no hard on-sights for the trip but lots of pitches in four days --26 to be exact -- and decent weather for most of the trip, despite the forecasts.

Next up: "The Miguels ' Sport Climbing Scene from a Crusty Tradster's Perspective."

Kentuck': A Trip Report

Saturday night, drove two hours to Scranton post-work.

Sunday morning, got up at 5 and drove the rest of the way to Kentucky.

Sunday afternoon, climbed at Roadside crag and did one route:

• Trouble Clef 5.9-

Monday climbed at Pendergrass Murray Recreational Preserve (PMRP), specifically the Gallery crag:

• A Brief History of Climb 5.10c
• Happy Trails 5.10d
• The King Lives on... 5.10b
• 27 Years of Climbing 5.8
• Different Strokes 5.11c
• DaVinci's Left Ear 5.10b

Monday evening, Rich and Nyssa arrived.

Tuesday climbed at Muir Valley, specifically The Boneyard, Midnight Surf and Tectonic/Johnny's crags:

• Cinderella 5.9
• Iniquity 5.12b
• Gettin' Lucky in Kentucky 5.10b
• Plate Tectonics 5.10a
• 59" DrillBitch 5.10a
• Bethel 5.10a
• Spinner 5.10a
• Burning Bush 5.11a

Wednesday, despite morning drizzle, climbed at PMRP, specifically at the Volunteer Wall and Playground crags:

• Darwin Loves You 5.9+
• Johnny on Roofies 5.11a
• Donor 5.11b
• Monkey Bars 5.10a
• Capture the Flag 5.11b

Wednesday night Rich and Nyssa headed out for Ohio to look for apartments. Starting in the Fall, Rich is studying for a Master's degree.

Thursday climbed at the Phantasia Wall and Left Flank crags:

• Pogue Ethics 5.9+
• Lord of the Flies 5.8
• Overlord 5.10b
• Twinkie 5.12a
• Too Many Puppies 5.12a
• To Defy the Laws of Tradition 5.10a

Thursday afternoon we packed up and drove to Cooper's Rock. It rained when we woke up so instead of doing some bouldering, we drove the rest of the way home, where it is currently pouring.

Stay tuned for more talk on Red River Gorge Climbing.

New boulder problems?

So the Shawangunk mountains that make up the Gunks would better be described as a rocky ridge that is seven miles long. That means there are at least seven miles of routes and boulder problems. That said, there is so much rock in the Gunks. I mean, like, so, much. And while the Trapps may have been climbed out a decade or more ago, the Gunks is still an endless sea of fallen blocs with countless hours of exploring to be had, much of which will yield hidden gem after hidden gem. This past week I got a taste of that.

I went on a hike last week to explore Giant's Workshop. I'd heard that there were a couple of hard classics out there and I wanted to check them out. I took a bit of a circuitous way to get there and happened upon a bunch of boulders and short, boulderable cliffs. I'm not sure if what I saw was a part of the Giant's workshop boulders, or if it's something else, but there was no chalk on anything. At the very least it deserves another look-see.

Then just the other day Margaret and I headed out to the Northeast boulders. Margaret worked on Megan Fox (V5) for a little while, making good progress and I sussed out the Schwapple (V5/9). The easier stand start looks totally doable and I think the sit start isn't too far out of my range either. With a few pull-ups maybe it'll go down this season.

After that we went to find some more problems that Margaret knew about, and while we didn't find those we found three new boulders! Margaret nabbed the first ascent of The Sloth (V1), and I did Anowon, The Ruin Sage (V3). Both problems definitely get stars. Mucho fun. And then there is another boulder that has some hard looking problems. One with slopey upside down slapping, Budha-like stuff, and another with some small crimps up a steep face with poor feet. Yum.

And toDAY I went out to Lost City with a couple of buddies. We went to the right side and warmed up at the Warm-up boulder. Then we figured out a new sequence to the V5 on that boulder and then did Fantastic (V5) which doesn't have a fun helicopter move on it when you do it the correct way (turns out). After that we meandered our way over to Middle Lost City where Alex Honnold put up a new problem. Turns our there is like a 20 foot tall slap with little crystal knobs going up it. The one previously established line on the bloc is called Stand Up Start Button (SUSB) (V5), and the name literally says it all. You stand up on that start hold, which looks like a button.

Anyway, Alex's problem went up next to that and we did two new problems left of his: The Creative Male Light (V0) and The Emotional Female Void (V4). The former is a really fun, tall arete with pastey feet and the latter is a really fun micro-crimp high-stepping smear fest that certainly gets your heart racing by the top-out. After that we did two more problems on a boulder behind the SUSB boulder, one called King of Lames (V3) and another called Tree's a Crowd (V1). Yay!!

To finish the day we checked out some more lines at a little place that was on the way home. Fun fun.

The Weather

I'm trying to think back to when I first started paying close attention to weather reports. Of course, with the advent of the internet (thank you, Al Gore) instant weather reports are way more available, but I suppose the fist time I can remember the weather being important was maybe when I was like five or six years old. My dad had one of those old battery operated hand held radios with a long antenna, and with it we could listen to the National Weather Service. We were going on a fishing trip for King Salmon on Lake Ontario, and we needed to make sure the weather -- specifically the waves -- were going to be in our favor.

The next time the weather was important was probably Spring Break 2007. It was my first time headed down to good ol' Kentuck'. And apart from a little dallying on some pebbles in India, it was to be the first of my outdoor climbing experiences. Since then, I've been ruled by the weather.

Like, I'll wake up, make coffee, take a leak, look at the front page of the New York Times and then check the weather. And if I'm going on a trip, even if it's a month and a half away, I'll check the weather there too. (Right now, for instance, they are calling for rain every day that we are supposed to be in Kentucky...boooooo.) But the weather dictates more than just compulsory actions and nervous habits.

Look at the words temperature and temperamental. The first a noun, the former an adjective. They both originate from the latin temperare: "to mix correctly, moderate, regulate, blend," (www.etymonline.com). And of course mental is from mens, which has to do with the mind. Now, you would think that a rational being could temper his or her own emotions, but when it comes to temperature and weather, we (rock bums) are all quite temperamental. If we could just get a proper amalgam of warmth and sunshine my temperament would drastically improve.

Of course, I could just take up gaming. I'm sure a serious gamer doesn't worry too much about the weather. I mean, what, maybe a bad lightening storm, or snow storm that would knock out power might be something to keep on your gaming radar. But then again, if I were a serious gamer I'd have a back-up generator or two coupled with a satphone ISP. So even then, weather is no big deal.

I did recently bust out my Magic The Gathering cards recently. And Twilight Princess is pretty sweet too...