Qualifiers

So I left work at lunch on Friday and got ready to head up to Albuquerque for the Yank-N-Yard 2012. I expected the drive to take about 3.5 hours so we left at around 1:00 PM for the 5:00 PM isolation.  The drive, however took about 4.5 hours and I had conceded to not participate in the evenings qualifiers, but rather the citizens comp the next day.  I took my time getting to the hotel and got to the gym at about 5:50 PM.  At that point I was in no mental state to climb anytime soon.

Of course, as things go, the manager, Brian, let me know that if I went to iso right then, I could still climb.  I went around to the back, turned in my phone and started warming up.  After almost 2.5 hours of waiting, I went out to my first onsight comp.  The routes were hard, only seeing a few tops each.

After I was done, there were only two more competitors and we waited for the list of people that made it to finals.

 

    

Fun at Hueco

This past weekend I went to Hueco Tanks with Alex.  My intent was to send Dean's Journey, but after I got up on the problem and turned face down to see the rock below, my arms stopped working.  I am really bad at heights.  Then I did Free Willy and Bloody Flapper for redemption.  Then, since it was a little cooler I went over to try Black Mamba, a slopey 3 move problem.  It was not quite warm enough for that.  Since that didn't go either, I did the one move V3 next to it for fun and actually got it on video.  Here is the video and some of the pictures Alex got.

After a while I got on Power of silence and I actually felt really good.  Everything except my fingers.  After crimping Free Willy and Bloody Flapper, then sanding what was left of my skin off on Black Mamba, I just couldn't hold on.

Regardless of the pain, I continued to try it.  After a while though, my feet called and said they'd had enough too.  I guess it will go next time. 

ABS Local Phoenix Rock Gym

On Friday night, 4-1 Field Artillery Battalion had their post-deployment ball.  Military events like this are an excuse for the women to get dressed up fancy, and the men to get drunk in public.  I, however, was not drinking because I had a competition.  At 4:00 AM Saturday morning I woke up and got dressed for our trip.  At 4:45, we hit the road.  It's been 3 years since I have competed and I was a little nervous.  These local comps are pretty low-key though and I was more nervous about disappointing myself.

We started the drive and luckily for me, I had great travel companions to drive while I slept a little more.

I got to the comp and it was like I had never left.  I actually felt a little more relaxed than I used to be.

The setting there was pretty burly and so I stuck to a lot of the more delicate crimpy stuff.

After getting enough problems to establish a decent score, I decided to work on some of their harder stuff.

There were some really hard problems that I really liked there.

I guess that is the problem with comps though.  If you don't get it during the competition, you may not get a chance to work on it again.

That is when I have to consciously go to my gym and set something like it.  That way I work on my weaknesses.

Luckily for me, there happened to be enough problems my style to get first place.  Next competition is in Albuquerque.  Lots more training to do until then.

Campus Board!

For a while now I have been trying to figure out how to put a campus board up in my apartment without being completely in the way.  Finally I have figured it out.  In college, I built one that just happened to be out of the way enough to not bother anyone.  In this apartment, I don't have that luxury.  Therefore I had to build one that could be put away and to Alex's specifications, wasn't ugly.  Cue the following series of pictures.

The initial step was to build a frame out of 2x4s that was 2' by 4'.  It would be the base for the plywood to mount to.  We didn't get any pictures because we were so excited about the build but it was pretty basic carpentry.  I attached the plywood with wood screws and used carriage bolts to attach legs.  To the back I attached a 2x4 with hinges onto three more 2x4s (pictured later).

Once we had the base built and the legs attached, we mounted it on the wall and got to painting.  I started with masking tape and made rock walls.

Then we got to the computer and printed out some silhouettes of climbers.

Alex very meticulously cut out the climbers with a knife.

Once the climbers were cut out, I sprayed the backs of them with adhesive and applied them as a stencil.

I made sure to keep their feet and hands touching the rock to give the appearance of them climbing the faces I had previously made.

Once I had them where I wanted I did any of the necessary masking to keep my stencil clean.

I had a few cross sections to cut away and it was ready to paint.

Once I started peeling the tape away, the design started to take shape.

A few pieces to remove and we almost had a work of art.

I used tape to keep the climber safe and create rope back to his belayer.

Viola!  A work of art...now let's make it useable.

I started by taking the cut dowels and drilling pilot holes.

Keeping them level, I attached them with wood screws.  

After a good bit of time and lots of drilling later, I had a functional campus board.The legs, attached with a carriage bolt, take most of the weight.

The top is held by a chain, making it adjustable with a small carabiner keeping the chain attached to the screw eye.

As mentioned before, the 2x4 with the hinges is screwed straight into the studs behind the wall.

And there you have it.  It is a functional, collapsable campus board that is not an eyesore.

Let me know what you think!

The Family

I would like to welcome to the family the Chase Phantom and the Five Tennie.  I got these in a couple of days ago and they are wonderful.  Alex wore the tennies to Hueco and for once she didn't worry about slipping, leading to her having a much better experience.  She even freesoloed a 5.6 and successfully down climbed it.  It's amazing what you can do when you trust your equipment.

Sign me up

I have officially signed up for the 2012-2013 USA Climbing series.  This includes the Sport Climbing Series, American Bouldering Series and Collegiate Climbing Series.  I am at a disadvantage because I am pretty far from any of the comps, but hopefully we can get the team together and take a van to them.  I would really like to compete sooner than later but we'll see what we can do.  Nationals is in Colorado so at least I am only 8-9 hours from there.

Helmets!

My two Black Diamond Half Dome Helmets came in and they are wonderful.  I am not an avid helmet wearer, but I am a proponent of Alex (or anyone I take climbing) not cracking their head on the rock.  I am pretty pleased with these helmets, especially that they fit perfectly.  This weekend I intend to take Shawn to Hueco and hit up some of the multipitch stuff.

Since my dog Cooper can't operate a camera, he helped me test out the new helmets.  

Then he gave up in the struggle.

V9s

Today I went to Hueco Tanks and was just going to take some picture and scope out some stuff I might want to get on later.  However, I did get on some stuff anyway though and knocked out 2 V9s.  I started at Martini Roof because Alex wanted to see Baby Martini.  I got on Dirty Martini and got it first go of the day.  This is not to be confused with Dirty Martini on the Rocks.  The one I did was the little crimpy problem that goes straight up through Big Iron on His Hip.  Then we wandered around looking at all sorts of stuff, to include; Loaded Direct, Martini Roof, Dope Fiend Low, Barefoot on Sacred Ground.  Then we went to look at Alma Blanca and since it looked pretty hard, I got on Pumped Full, and got it second go.  Alex had to move the pad on Dirty Martini, so we didn't get a picture but here is one of Pumped Full.

Reel Rock

I laughed, I cried, I sweated watching Honnold solo.  It was everything I wanted and more.  I cannot express to you all, how much you need to get out and see the Reel Rock tour.  You will not be let down.

Trolls

Being no spring chicken to the internet world, I am used to trolls in every topic across the internet.  Every topic except climbing.  There are people that get flamed when they make stupid comments that Chris Sharma sucks or Fred Nicole is a little girl, but usually there aren't trolls like this in a legit discussion group.  Today I was proven wrong, however. (Content Warning)

I was commenting on a discussion about how someone was burning trees, illegally bolting, and chipping in Joshua Tree, California.  I understand that there is a free-spirited aspect to climbing, but the reality is, we live in a world with rules and in order to keep our freedom, we must abide by these rules when we do encounter them.  I am not offended by the fact that Mr. Yuppie here disagreed with my opinion, nor by the manner he chose to express it.  Merely by the fact that he would pollute the minds of young climbers that would read this and think it is better to behave the way the person did in J-Tree. Groups like the Access Fund would not exist if there wasn't a problem.  It is our responsibility to maintain places like Hueco for future generations.