Feels Like Summer

Last night there was some crrrraaaaaaaaaaaaazy heat lightening going on and some crazy winds too. But this morning, much like yesterday morning seems to be a typical Hudson Valley summer day -- hot and sticky.

Yesterday Mark and I got out on a few routes in the afternoon. Mark just moved here from the ADKs, so he has been getting to do all the classics for the first time -- something I'm a little jealous about.

We started out on MF (5.9), which Mark totally cruised. What a classic pitch of Gunks 5.9. The improbability of the line, the holds, the gear. Everything just comes together perfectly to give you an awesome, awesome rock climb.

After that, I got on Laughing Man (5.11b), which is a pretty silly climb. It's just to the right of Welcome to the Gunks. You start up an unprotected slab, put some gear in, work out a huge roof on a jug flake, put some more gear in, heel hook, mantel, crimp on a mono-quarter-pad-crystal-nubbin, rock over your foot which is now a toe, and stand up. I got it second try. I'm glad to have done it once I suppose. It'll be fun to put unsuspecting people on it: "The gear is great! You should give it a try!"

We ended the day with Ant's Line (5.9)/Ent's Line (5.11b). Again, two climbs that Mark hadn't done yet. What a pleasure it is to watch someone climb a classic. Ant's line was my first 5.9 lead, which you can read about here. Haha, the good old days.

The heat is on.

Full Afternoon

A break in the rain. Wow. Finally. Unbelievable. Jaw dropping. Awe struck. Flabbergasted. Dumbfounded. Thunderstruck....

Wait, cancel that last one.

So, yesterday I got out in the afternoon with Mark, Mark, and Mark's friend Rand. Like us, most other climbers in the area were taking advantage of the parting skies, and so we headed down to the Slime Wall to start so we could avoid some of the crowds.

With the bugs eating away at us, we started with Falled on Account of Strain, which I led in one pitch...That thing has got to be one of the best 5.10s in the Trapps. So Much fun. Mark and Mark climbed it afterward.

After Rand met up with us, we headed over to the Winter/Spring area. Those climbs were a juuuuust a bit wet in the crack still, so Mark led the first pitch of Boldville (5.8) while Mark led the first pitch of Oblique Tweak (5.8). After the Marks finished their leads, we had both the Winter and the Spring set up on top-rope.

With the top-rope all set up, I got on The Summer (5.11d X), which I had been on once three years ago. At that time, I only made it up like 20 feet off the ground. But yesterday, I cruised it. Fun face climbing for sure!

And for a little contrast to the fun face, the Winter (5.10d) is a crazy corner crack with all sorts of advanced tomfoolery required. Same with the Spring (5.9++), crackey, facey, balancy, fun-ny.

For the last climb of the day, Mark and I did the Sting (5.11d). I don't know how many times I've done this climb now, but it never stops being awesome. I've got it pretty wired at this point, down to which side of the harness the gear should be on for easiest placement. It was Mark's first time on it, and he did really well too. Just a few tries for the first move, and then one hang at the next two cruxes.

All in all, seven pitches of spectacular Gunks climbing. Can't complain too much there.

An Adirondack Foray

The weather looked really good last week, so Margaret and I decided to zip up to the Adirondacks and do some climbing. We got some breakfast in the morning on Sunday with our friend Tim and then headed up.

We arrived late afternoon and went straight to Beaver Brook to get a few pitches in before dark. I couldn't believe how cold it was up there still, and actually there was snow on the ground in places! After getting totally spanked on the Beaver Brook Project, we drove into Placid and got dinner at the Mirror Lake Inn (my old place of employment). It was fun to be back at the ol' stomping grounds for sure. Even got a yummy martini courtesy of Sarah. We drove back into Wilmington and crashed in Colin's driveway.

Next morning, after playing with Henry and Cecey for a little while we headed out to Potter Mountain to meet up with Jim and Alex and Phoebe. Per usual Spring-time-Potter, the top of most pitches were wet. But there was still plenty of climbing to be had. We got like seven pitches of climbing in, included a new pitch that Jim just put up called Jug Or Not. It's a fun pitch that starts on a big jug. Then you go up to the really nasty, tiny gaston crimp, stand up on a nubbin, and cross to a decent hold. That probably goes at close to 5.11c. From there there is some 5.10+ climbing and then it eases back to 5.9/5.10a. Much goodness indeed.

What was not "goodness" were the black flies. They were atrocious. So bad, in fact the we decided to head out to Snowy Mountain Boulders the next day. I've always wanted to head up there because the rock seemed so cool. Turns out, it is. The geology of the rocks here, according to Adirondack Rock creates these awesome "solution pockets" which are created "when mineral clusters dissolved faster than the surrounding rock." The effect is these honeycombed, sandstone like features. Very much fun. Did a couple of super classic problems, including Coitus (V6) which is one of the best anywhere, and the Cure (V8), which is my first V8. Woot Woot. Overall, Snowy is a cool places to visit. There aren't tons and tons of problems, but the ones that are there are really quite fun indeed.

From there, we drove back to Albany with Rich and Nyssa, got some dinner, and then headed home. Another fun time in the ADKs.

An after-work-quickie.

After work yesterday, I raced up to the cliff to try to get some bouldering in before the rain. As luck would have it, it didn't even dribble any raindrops, and the rock was bone dry, despite the gruesome looking forecast. (Today we aren't so lucky.)

I went to the Warwarsing Boulder at the bottom of the stairmaster to start and did the V5 there called Skipski which I had tried a couple of weeks ago. Very cool problem for sure. So good, I did it twice.

After that I drove up to the West Trapps parking lot and tried Happy Monday (V4) and Pubes (V7), both of which I think are pretty hard. I had no luck there and abandoned ship fairly quickly.

I went up to the Behemoth Boulder where there were a couple of people trying A New Pair of Glasses (V7). I had done that boulder problem once before and it has always kind of been my nemesis. I climbed it fairly easy yesterday -- nemesis no mo'. Did a couple of laps on Lorax (V4) after that.

A fairly good after work session, I would think.

A quickie.

The slacking blogger does not reap fruitful rewards. I owe some serious updates. In the meantime, here is an iPhone video of me climbing Infinite Space (5.12a) in the Near Trapps. Maybe someday when I'm rich and famous, I'll get the Lowell brothers to make sweet 3D movies of me. For now, this is what we got:



(Thanks Sarah)

Tripple Right 2x

Even though it was supposed to rain yesterday I got to go out to Tripple Right twice yesterday. Rich and Nyssa are finally back in New York, after being gone since January. We did a bunch of fun boulder problems including one that I hadn't done called Bowling Pin (V4). It's like a 15 foot slab problem that starts with a crystal and side-pull crimp. Then you stand up on some small stuff with super high feet and reach up for another side-pull crimp. High feet again and a super high reach gets you to the lip. Much fun.

Rich and Nyssa are now headed up to Albany where they will be spending the summer. Kasia called a bit later and wanted to do an evening session and with rain threatning we zipped over to Tripple Right again. Did only a few problems before it started raining, but it was good to get out again.

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...

Fast forward and pause.

It's actually starting to feel like Spring outside. Sort of.

The Roundout Creek in our backyard has made serious gains this month.

The flooding days.

Fast forward to today.

The month of March has been fickle with its weather. One day a it was 65 and sunny, a few days later it snowed 4 inches. So it's been on again off again climbing, which, as it turns out, wasn't so bad because we've been able to settle into our apartment. The cleaning and painting is done and most everything is moved in. But who cares about that stuff. Climbing is more fun.

I've slowly been getting into shape again. The Adirondack winter was long, and this one was especially harsh. With basically no climbing from November through February, it's been an uphill battle (haha). But I have been doing some things that I've wanted to do.

On that particularly warm sunny day we were at Triple Right climbing. I top-roped Aphrodite's Divorce (5.11d) cleanly first try. I need to go and lead it. The gear on it is G+ so no real sense in not doing it. Also that day I watched Tim TR the top boulder problem on Cybernetic which is something like V9/10. Go Tim!

I went out and did Yum Yum Yab Yum (5.3) with Maria the day after it rained last week. That's a fun climb. Tons of exposure, long, varied and good movement. If only the crux hadn't been sopping wet...

And just the other day I made it out to the Lost City with Margaret and Kasia. Did some bouldering and then did a few laps on A Brave New World (5.11a). That route is fantastic. Sassy high stepping, reaches, crimps, jugs, undercling-deadpoint. Oh man, so good.

Margaret and I got out yesterday and did some routing in the sunshine, which is always a thrill. We actually did a repeat of one of Matt and my first ever days of climbing in the Gunks. Check out an old post here. (I was such a noob! hahaha.) Margaret and I did the Arch/Wrist link-up and the first pitch of Maria. All in the warm yummy sunshine.

And then again today I got out for a long lunch with Matt to do some bouldering. We tried Tim's new climb Happy Trail (V6?) on the Pubes boulder. We wanted to get some mileage in the short time we had, so we didn't stay there too long to work on it, but it looks like fun. I want to get back to try it again soon. We rushed over to Pat's Pinch (V7) and threw ourselves at that for a while. It seems like it's close to going down, but it's so PEBBLY and ouchy on my soft fing-eys that I didn't work on it long. What I really wanted to do was send Dirty Ricans and White Boys (V7). Finally did it! Woot Woot! Here's a video of the climb, but it's not me in the video:


Tomarrow looks like another baller/splitter/bomber day outside. If only we could pause the weather at today's and keep it there for the rest of eternity.

Classic Cragging.

The climbing season is not quite in full swing yet. It's certainly approaching, however, even if it's not quite quickly enough for my tastes. I keep thinking that 35 degrees is plenty warm for climbing and then realize that my fingers are numb and my toes hurt and all that jazz. That said, I got out a few times in the past days to do some single-pitch cragging.

On Wednesday, Margaret and I got out in the Trapps for a couple hours. I'd never done Classic which, as the name suggests, is a classic 5.7 Gunks climb. It starts with a hard move right off the ground (classic) and then moves up through a very enjoyable face littered with horizontals (classic), and finishes with a roof with Pamela Anderson sized jugs (classic!). It doesn't get much more (C)lassic than that.

After that we packed our bags for the long approach to our next climb, City Lights (5.8), which was about one minute forty-seven seconds away. It again has some hard moves right off the deck and then some spicy run-out face climbing above. Fun. After that we did Frog's Head which was 20 feet right of City Lights. Classic.

Yesterday Matt and I went out for some more classic cragging. (Matt just arrived from the north-country, where he recently ascended Positive Thinking, a 500 foot NEI 5-. *Way* to go!) After picking up some paint from town for our new apartment, we headed out to the workout wall in the Nears with intentions of lapping 'til our arms fell of. We started with Birdland (5.8) which is very much fun. Then we set a TR on Transcontinental Nailway (5.10c). After that we were going to do El Camino/El Kabong, but it was too cold. So we didn't.

It's official, by the way. Matt and I are now living in Rosendale above Margaret's apartment.

March 1

Today, I climbed until my fingers bled. It was a beautiful day indeed.

It makes me nervous how lamb-ish the beginning of this month is seeming to be. Although, really it's just the first three days of March that are nice. After that it seems to be pretty lion-ey...so lion-ey that I had to postpone my climbing trip to the dirty dirty (south).

A random thought.

If things never changed then they would always be the same.

Triple Right

Yesterday was a major win. The forecast called for super nasty weather, which included rain, freezing rain and snow. But it there actually turned out to be some nice weather -- blue skies and sunshine.

I made it out to Triple Right with some people and we did some bouldering. It was fun. Got on the start to Cybernetic Wall, which is a 5.13d. I guess it's more or less three boulder problems -- a V8, V6, V10. But yeah, it was fun to work on the moves. After that we we just kind of poked around. Things were dry-ish out there. Definitely a little bit limited. I'm sure Cybernetic will always be dry, which is a nice thing to know.

Here is Brian Kim sending Cybernetic Wall

Cybernetic Wall from paul jung on Vimeo.

Boulderz

I hit up the carriage road today in search of dry boulders and I found a few. Black Boulder, Rican's and White Boys, Clune's Cranks area. Woot Woot. Felt good to move about on the boulderz.

...

Nothing like terrible weather to get you down... It's miserable out there!!

Anticipation

I was just looking at old posts about Silver Lake, and despite the six fresh inches of snow on the ground (%^$#%$!!), a drop of sweat rolled out of my armpit. And then I realized my hands were sweating.

I.

Cannot.

Wait.

To.

Go.

Climbing.