Mortar Rock

Last Thursday I went to Mortar Rock with the intention of destroying my skin in hopes of building calluses for the upcoming two weeks to Hueco Tanks with Chris and Jen. I did not plan on sending any projects or even coming close to doing moved I had previously thought to never have and never will be able to stick. Seems the rock gods had other plans for those intentions. Here's what I mean by the previous statement:

• Jungle Fever went from not being able to move off the first hold to grabbing the peanut. This problems feels harder than Midnight due to having a low percentage crux because body positioning always being a key factor to success.
• New Wave. Yet again, I couldn't fathom standing up into the undercling, let alone actually grabbing the pocket type hold until trying it today.

I has also been fun to see that sometimes the two words in climbing, On Command, still hold some value with the classic Nat's Traverse. Hopefully these words can hold true for the Impossible Wall problem when I try the lower problems as well (Mission Impossible and the ridiculousness that is known as Chinese Connection which I definitely need to be stronger for). Impossible Wall was put into the bag of sent problems today. First try of the day, first try coming back to it since June when the conditions where less than ideal. I was also able to get some footage from the previous day on a solo mission at Mortar where I did Nat's (on command) and the obscure warm up Girl's Problem Low. I put all three sends into one clip. You can view the video on DeadPoint or you can watch it right here, right now. Enjoy!

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Midnight Lightning V8 [FOOTAGE]

Ride the lightning! Here's the footage of Midnight Lightning I captured via camera on tripod. Thanks to Mad Rock for the shoes, Organic Climbing for the pads, and the mass amount of people for the additional pads, spots, and psyche so I didn't eat complete shit on the slightly wet from Friday's rain top out.

Here's the footage! Enjoy!

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Yosemite Valley

Michele and Donn Goodhew invited me for some rock climbing in Yosemite Valley on Sunday. It turned out to be an amazing day. Temperatures were PRIME. Cold and sticky. The rock felt amazing. Possibly the best conditions you could ask for a day of climbing in Yosemite.

Sunrise on the drive out

Cold conditions = prime temps

Lander and the pads

Breakfast of…me?

We stayed in Camp 4 all day. Warming up at the Wine Boulder/Cocaine Corner Area. It felt good to get on rock. Since returning from Colorado I had climbed once outside at Mortar Rock this past Thursday with Michele and Chris Bloch. Today was my second day outside home and it was a perfectly “welcome back” to climbing outside. I completed Torque Spanner which should be known as Tweaky Spanner. My wrists felt like they were about to rip off. It was good to do finally.

Chris Bloch got me psyched to get on Midnight Lightning. “The lightning bolt is a finger bucket. When you get to the mantle, really put chalk on you left palm to mantel to the good hold,” he told me. In the back of my mind tucked away, I wasn’t positive thinking. It’s hard, the mantel’s over that rock. Even Sharma ate shit on it and tweaked Andy Puhvel’s ankle (and sent next try) once back in the day before the first season of Yo! Basecamp. That story was in the back of my head anytime I thought about the problem. Please don’t pitch off, please don’t pitch off, was the only thought before I tried. My first try I didn't stick the first hold, but second try I stuck the first move to the lightning bolt. Third try I missed the bolt hold, while my fourth try I got to the mantel and almost ate shit. My forearm was knocking my hand off and I was spooked I might eat it onto my face. I opted to come down to collect myself. I got collected, set my camera up (thankfully!) and promptly sent on my fifth try. The mantel was the crux for me. Donn gave me the best beta to turn my left elbow in and look at the Wine Boulder. Once the boulder came into my sights, I hopped my right foot up and pressed it out. It’s a do or die commitment up there. There is no exit but the next hold. As I reached up, I could sense my left palm slipping. Already pressing up, I had to go for it. As soon as my arm extended it was full on Cards (John Cardiel) "IT'S ON!" popped into my head. I stuck the jug and never felt so relieved to top out a boulder problem. It's the most rewarding problem I have ever done. Scott Cory says that sending a hard route is more rewarding than completing a boulder problem. While I tend to agree on some points, this was not the case. This is the quintessential boulder problem. It's tricky, has a jump move, a fucked up mantel (fucked up is good, shitty is bad), and a slab. All the elements of climbing in one boulder problem (except crack because crack is whack without a rack kids).

Mission Accomplished

It hasn't FULLY sunk in that I actually did. Slowly it's seeping into my head that I never have to do that mantel again. No other mantel will ever freak me out like this one. But then again, no other mantel will ever be as rewarding as the Midnight Lightning mantel. EVER. 

Michele on a slab. A healthy diet of slabs is high in frustration if you aren't very good at them.

Gumballs bigger than your mouth

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p.s.- Video will be posted soon here. More on that story later. 

On Command

When I climb at Mortar it means one of two or possibly three things.

1. I'm trying to build my calluses up for an upcoming trip (Hueco most likely)
2. I'm actually kinda of psyched on it for about a month
3. I'm bored out of my mind and don't want to climb in the gym for a while

While the later two reasons are more frequent than trips to Hueco (where you want good skin to go day after day), that is mot the case this time. I'm conditioning my skin so they won't tear or get flappers on my up coming two weeks in Hueco Tanks with Chris Bloch and Jen Atkin (to name a few who are on the trip). it just so happens that I am psyched there right now after tonight. 

I got up early thinking I was gonna do routes in Oakland with Ben Eastman, of whom is like "an elusive chupacabra." as described by Ben "The Flea" Polanco. That didn't happen. And since other friends already were midway to Castle Rock, Mortar Rock/Stoneface was my last viable option for outdoor rock climbing. My last time out there was in June and that's when I found out I needed my two month trip to Colorado. I was over it for awhile. But it's nice to come back with no intentions of doing anything but messing around to get your skin in shape. I walked up to Stoneface today. I planned on spending the rest of the day till it got dark and I would be forced to walk to BART in the dark again. Fortunately, Michele texted me she and said she was on her way. I thought I was 30 minutes away from Mortar at Stoneface but turns out I was just 10 minutes walking. Never really knew nor bothered to care until today. A short jaunt you could call it. 

I arrived at Mortar to pretty good conditions. A bit warmer than ideal, but not bad at all. I didn't think I would end up there today. But if you're trying to climb in the Berkeley Hills, you'll most likely end up at Mortar Rock (aka Morder Rock when you're not psyched on it). As I walked up there, Chris Bloch (aka CAPTAIN as he was promoted to fire captain last Tuesday) texted me and he met Michele and myself up there. Both of us are in the skin conditioning for Hueco mode. And since there nothing else for miles BUT Mortar Rock, it'll have to do till next Wednesday. Evidentially I did ended coming one move away from Jungle Fever. One of many problems there that has gone from never have never will, to almost being done. It's definitely body position dependent as well as condition dependent. After falling off the last move to the triangle hold, I thought about just doing Nat's Traverse for the fun of it. Usually I pump out midway through, but something was way different about tonight. I didn't get pumped, I didn't feel like I had to try incredibly hard like I do every time I try it. I just…did it. I got to the top and looked down and asked, "On command?" because it really was tonight. Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come in the future. 

The perfect ending to a day that started out seeing me almost blow it.

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Training

This week has been all about training for my upcoming trip to Hueco Tanks for the week of Thanksgiving with my friends Chris Bloch and Jen Atkin. It’s a good thing to train for as I would enjoy completing some problems I tried when I was first there in 2009 (See Spot Run, Mojo, Meddle Detector, Better Eat Your Wheaties to name a few) and get on problems I looked at but deemed above my head at the time (Full Service, The Egg, Babyface to name less than 1/10 of what is on my list). Some of these problems are on my to do list simply because I didn’t have enough pads the first time. Either way, I’m excited to go back and have been going in to the Bay Area gyms and Bridges Rock Gym to get some milage in.

Friday night was the second full climbing session I had. My friend from Hawaii, owner of Volcanic Rock Gym Justin Ridgely, has been visiting California for a about a week climbing. He was on his way to destroy the problems (or be destroyed whichever came first) at Bridges with Spenser (STS setter at Bridges) and his Hawaiian crew. it was good seeing him as the last time I had I was in Hawaii and had a mohawk (back in the day).

August 2010. Volcanic Rock Gym.
photo: Steve Miraglio

He’s one strong mother-shut-yo-mouth on the wall. It was cool seeing them climb and getting to climb with them, despite the feeling of tiredness and sleep creeping up on me. After they departed, I was fading fast. In moments of haste, I forgot to make a lunch before I left the house yesterday morning. It proved to be almost fatal to my climbing that night. I had to act fast. I was cold, tired, but needed to climb some problems. I put on my down jacket and walked to Peet’s Coffee (saved the session!). If I haven’t been thankful for having a coffee shop close to work, today was the day. It was a good thing I got out for a bit at Bridges because $5 Friday was in full effect when I returned 10 minutes later.

5
5 Dollar
5 Dollar Friday 

Usually the chaos on Friday nights at Bridges drives most people away. I tend to stay home or go to other gyms, but a friend of mine wanted to climb so I agreed to go in Friday night. It ended out being a good atmosphere to get a lot of climbing done (surprisingly). This week has made my Mad Rock Demon 2.0s my favorite shoe to train in. Comfort and style in one package, I can’t wait to take them out to Hueco (and Bishop…and everywhere else).

Plus, the post climbing tacos at the taco truck at Hotsy Totsy  is pretty god damn good as well. 

Thanks for reading!