Tucson

Based on the bouldering tucson website, it was pretty clear that "The Matterhorn Boulder" was going to be my best option.

The line I had my eye on was "Jewel Thief" a V10 straight up the steep main face of the boulder. I'll let the Tucson bouldering site describe the problem:

"The most sought after send here is the Bob Murray testpiece Jewel Thief. Sent in the early 1980's (I think), this is still a difficult and committing climb, with most people opting to rehearse the moves on toprope first. The climb involves a strenuous sit start on horrendously sharp incuts, then moves to a rail, then up to a series of difficult sidepulls. Using the sidepulls, you set up up for a long deadpoint for a bad sloping edge at the lip, with your feet well above the ground, and facing a potentially dangerous swing off the lip. You bump your right hand up to a small hold higher up the lip, then match your hands, then topout. All the more impressive is that this problem was originally sent without crashpads, and with a potentially jewel thiefin' tree right in the fall zone. The fact that it may not have been repeated until 2008 is a testament to the vision and strength of Bob Murray, possibly the strongest boulderer of his era. Since 2008, Jewel Thief has been sent by Brent Silvester (probable 2nd ascent), Jared LaVacque and Sam Davis, and maybe a couple others."

Though I am not normally one for particularly tall problems the description just sounded too good too pass up. I found a video of the problem online and watched it enough to have the beta memorized. Though, once I got to Arizona, I was mostly just hoping my finger would be healed enough for me to climb at all.

The day we went to the Matterhorn boulder was atypically cold for Tucson at that time of the year, which worked out well for me because once we got to the 7000 ft altitude on Mount Lemmon of the Matterhorn boulder it was actually cold enough that there was still snow on the ground. Perfect conditions.

I taped up my finger and put on my shoes. On the very first warm up problem, a fun V0 arete with a cool horn feature, I felt my finger hurting already. I decided to ignore it. I was likely only going to be here once and I was not going to turn around and stop climbing at that point.

warming up

After a couple more V0's I moved on to a crimpy V3 called "Sidepulls" and then a really fun V5 called "The flake". After completing those climbs I was feeling strong and could hardly feel any pain in my finger.

Sidepulls V3

I started trying a V7 on the same face as Jewel Thief but with a crux near the top and no beta I did not have the nerve to commit to figuring out the moves over one pad with just Erica below me.

So then it was time to start trying Jewel Thief. The video I had watched made it seem like the first move pulling off the ground was going to be one of the cruxes and it did not disappoint. Starting super low and a good incut jug you need to do a big pull to a small but decent right hand crimp.

After a few goes I managed to slap the hold and knew I would be able to grab it. A few tries later I stuck the hold and kept going, I managed to make it to the point that I was trying to put my heel up on the rail feature before I fell. I decided to leave the start for now and start working on the upper moves.

Working the moves

The drop in move right before the final lunge took a couple tries to get the body position right on. Once I stuck it I surprised myself by hitting the lip my first try on the lunge. I went around to the top of the boulder to scope out exactly where I needed to grab then, not wanting to do the top out more than once, went back to trying from the start.

Scouting from above.

It took me a few tries to stick the start move again but once I did I just kept going. Setting up for the last big move I didn't feel like I had my left hand set quite right but went for it anyway and surprised myself even more by actually sticking the lip. Trying unsuccessfully to ignore how high I shakily rolled myself on top of the boulder.

It really was an incredibly nice climb and would be a gem in any area. As for the grade, I really have no idea and am less certain about all grades the more I climb. Whatever the grade it was certainly one of my most satisfying climbing experiences.

Erica's Mom was nice enough to come out and film so here's a video of the send

Austin

I just had a two week trip to the southwest U.S with Erica to see her family. Her sister is in Austin, Texas and her folks are in Tucson, Arizona. Even though it wasn't really a climbing trip, I brought my pad down intent on doing as much bouldering as possible.

I did my research on what would be accessible from each city and had a few problems in mind for each area.

In Austin the first spot we went to was "McKinney Falls", a state park with some cool water falls and a long overhanding limestone bouldering wall.

The online guide describes the problem "Evil Eye" V5 as one of the area's classics so that's what a set my sights on first. It climbs a steep section of the wall on deep pockets with the crux being a dyno to the lip off a split finger two finger pocket. Basically a double mono with one finger in each pocket.

My first time trying the crux move I hit the lip but immediately dropped off because my fingers were hurting in the pockets. Not wanting to get injured I decided to leave the problem alone and work on something else...

However a few minutes later my fingers felt totally fine and I convinced myself they were not actually hurt I was just not used to climbing on pockets.....

I decided to give it one more go.

This time I topped the problem out but paid the price. Both my middle and ring finger on my right hand were hurting and I was now worried I had actually hurt the tendons.

Here's a weird video someone else made that gives an idea of how scary the move off the pockets is...


I played around on a couple more problems and then called it quits to go home and ice my fingers. As the day went on they started to feel worse and worse.

Every morning I woke up with pain in my fingers and sadly had to give up on doing any more bouldering around austin. I had my sights set on a climb I really wanted to do in Tucson so I was hoping a full week off would let my finger heal enough to climb there.

New Boulder

The other day while browsing around on bing maps I came across this boulder:

http://binged.it/xGOhjG

From what I could see online it looked like it was probably big enough and maybe had a steep prow feature.

Yesterday I finally got a chance to head out and check it out and I was not disappointed when I found this:

I'm calling it "The Sandcrawler Boulder" because I think it looks like one of these from Star Wars and because I am a nerd.

See the resemblance?

No?

Today myself, Joel Harvie and John Bennett headed out, despite the forecast saying it would feel like -12, to check out what climbs we could do on it. The prow is heavily featured an yielded two easy but very fun problems. "Bing Crosby" up the left side an "Chandler Bing" up the right. There is potential for a hard climb straight up the feature in between those two but it would likely be an eliminate.

Joel on "Bing Crosby" V1

"Bing Crosby" from another angle.

The money side of the boulder is the vertical face to the left of Bing Crosby. There will likely be 4 very distinct lines up this face. The first problem we tried on this face today was the line furthest to the right before you get to "Bing Crosby". It's a stand start on a good right hand crimp, then goes up to a cool sloping rail feature which leads to some more crimps and some blind footwork to get to the top.

Andrew scoping for holds on what would become "Bantha Fodder" V5

Taller and harder climbs remain to be climbed to the left. I started trying the moves on one today and got shut down hard. The holds are definitely there, its just going to require doing some serious pulling on painful credit card sized crimps.

Joel also climbed up the cool crack/arete feature on the left side of this face for "Catchy16" a fun V0 and a nice addition to the boulder's warm ups.

I'm excited to get back to try some of the harder projects and clean some more of the easier lines. Also with a couple other potential boulders spotted on bing maps and an already long list of projects I want to complete I am excited about the prospect of bouldering this spring in general.

Entre les gouts

I'm in Geneva again for a short visit and was excited to try and take advantage of the winter temperatures.

My goal was "Entre les gouts" a two move V10 I had tried in the summer. A really simple problem, it starts with a high, bad left hand gaston, pulls up to a really thin crimp/pinch or "crimpinch" to use a word I just made up. The crimpinch is hard to even just hold but you then have to pull off it to do a big move up with your left hand to an awkwardly shaped but kind of incut hold at which point its just one easy move the finish jug. After quite a bit of effort in the summer I had managed to stick the first move but was never able to come anywhere near the second.

I was hopeful that a combination of cold conditions and the fact that I have been climbing/ training quite a bit since the summer would lead to success.

The day after I arrived was a perfect 0 degrees, and snowing lightly but the crag is overhanging so that did not matter. I took the train and bus out to St. George and once again found myself bouldering alone, except for a couple deer (or something?) that were having a snack nearby.

Deer?

Ice bouldering anyone?

After a quick warm up I got right to business. I was a little nervous after failing to stick the first move on my first couple tries but I eventually got the movement sorted out and then was getting the first move consistently and throwing for the next hold. The first time I slapped it with any semblance of control I knew I could do the problem.

Excited, I kept throwing myself at it... but not sticking it. After 3 hours of solid effort I was having to face the fact that I might have to walk away and try to come back and send it while fresh. The bus back from the boulders to geneva leaves every hour and I knew I did not have another hour of attempts left in me. So with 10 minutes until the bus arrived I told myself I'd have one last try and then pack it in for the day. Next thing I knew, I had stuck the crux move and finished the problem. I quickly threw my things in my pad then ran up the hill just in time to catch the bus.

I've noticed (and mentioned here) that I frequently climb my best when climbing without any expectations and this send certainly supports that. What I need to figure out is a way to get myself climbing with that mentality more consistently, but it's a hard thing to fake. While trying the problem I felt confident that I was physically capable of doing it. As I continued to fail I tried a number different mental techniques to try and get out of the cycle of falling. But it wasn't until I was actually climbing without any pressure or expectations at all that I was able to do the problem. Something to try to work on in the future for sure.

Anyway, heres another phone on the ground video of the problem.

Last climb of the year

The last day of the year was atypically sunny so myself and J-Bro headed out to the chapel boulder to get in one last climb for the year. There was a project I had tried before on this boulder that I wanted to check out again.

All I remembered from last time trying it was getting to a position where I felt like the next move would be a big dyno to a jug high up. After a few minutes figuring out the start moves and getting our fingers to adjust to the sub zero temps we found ourselves in the same spot.

The climb goes directly up through a small roof section that has a big jug above it. We were getting to two side pulls on the roof and starting at the jug above us. Eventually we got up the nerve to slap for the jug and realized the throw would not be as wild as we had anticipated.

The line goes pretty well straight up from where Jamie is sitting here.

Confidence boosted I went from the start and threw for the jug. The swing was big but luckily the hold is huge so holding it was not hard. Then there was just easier climbing to the top. Where despite being on good holds the whole way I still found myself shaking... I definitely do not have a head for soloing.

The climb was probably around V4 and I think I'll call it Happy New Year, because it's NYE and I am not feeling creative.

Jamie got on next to send but ripped chunks off three of his fingers when he threw for the jug so that ended his climbing for the day

St. John's Hardest

I idly started making a list of the 10 hardest problems around St. John's. I tried to list them not just by the grades they have been given but also how hard I personally believe them to be relative to each other. Basing this not just on how hard I find the problems myself but also on how many other people have attempted them and their levels of success.

I've also tried to list every ascent of the problems with the first ascentionist's name listed first. It's very likely I may have missed some people here or have some information wrong. Please let me know if that's the case. Also I'd be very interested to hear of any disagreement in terms of difficulty of the lines or any hard problems I may have missed.

Here is the list as I've got it so far...

1. Commitment to Quality- V9, Dave Stack (Unrepeated)

2. The Mandolin- V9, Sean McDowell (Unrepeated)

3. Born to Clear Cut- V9, Dave Stack/Sean McDowell.

4. Me Ol' Cock - V10, Thomasina Pidgeon, Dave Stack, Jamie Robbins

5. Warlord- V9, Sean McDowell, Dave Stack, Thomasina Pidgeon, Greg Foote, Jamie Robbins

6.The View- V8, Greg Foote (Unrepeated)

7. Beat it Like a Red Headed Step Child- V8, Phil Smith, Sean McDowell, Dave Stack, Andrew Osnach, ???

8. Smack- V8, Thomasina Pidgeon, Dave Stack

9.Nightmare-V8, Phil Smith, Sean Mcdowell, Neil Phillips, Dave Stack, ???

10. The Wire- V8, Dave Stack (Unrepeated)

Me Ol Cock.... V9?

As you may have noticed I listed "Me ol cock" lower than three problems graded V9. I've put quite a bit of thought into this and believe it to be accurate. Since climbing "Me ol' cock" this fall I re-climbed both "Warlord" V9, and "Born to clear cut" V9. I believe with the beta I used "Me ol Cock" lies in between these two problems in terms of difficulty, as such I am now suggesting V9 for Me ol cock. I believe with Thomo's original beta the climb more than deserved the V10 it was given. However my new beta, while still quite hard does not put it a grade above the other V9 problems around here.

Notes and Honourable Mentions:

It's important to note that I left the problem "Addiction" at the trailer boulders in Flatrock off of this list. It was climbed by visiting Tim Doyle and it would likely be listed as harder than any other problem around St. John's. However very little is known about how it was climbed and no grade was suggested. For this reason I am leaving it off the list for now.

At #6 "The View" is a problem I know very little about, Greg climbed it with Thomasina when they were both here two summers ago. On a boulder at Fort amherst that I had previously tried unsuccessfully to pull off the ground on. They established two lines from the same start "Green eggs and ham" goes left and was graded V7, and "The View" goes right and was graded V8. I have managed to find my way up the V7 version, but have not been able to figure out the right beta at all. As such I am not sure where to include the problem in the list. I believe it likely requires some very specific beta that I have not yet unlocked. So for now I have listed it as the hardest problem given V8.

"Lunar Eclipse" is another problem that may well deserve to be on this list. It was climbed by Phil Smith (anyone else??) at Freshwater Bay and given V7. I have never given the problem any serious effort but what few attempts I have made have seen very little progress.

I know there are some hard problems put up by Sean McDowel at "The chapel" boulder and in butterpot park. However I'm not sure what grades were suggested or whether they should be included in this list. Sean if you are reading, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.

I was surprised when I made the list that the top 10 was all V8 and above. It shows standards have risen quite a bit from when V6's were considered the areas' test pieces. Including V7 would add at least another 9 problems!

Anyway, that's all just some pointless rambling on a rainy day, but I would be very interested in hearing what you think! Did I miss anything? Get anything wrong? Let me know in the comments. Please include your name, I allow anonymous comments to make posting easier... not so people can hide who they are.

Videos

As promised here is the video of Me Ol' Cock

On Saturday we headed out to the highway to try the problem "Warlord" on the barrens boulder.

This is a problem I had climbed before a few years ago and have not been able to repeat since. I particularly wanted to finish it after some frustrating sessions this summer.

One session I felt really close to doing it but ran out of time and had to rush to make it back to town for a wedding. My next session on it was as a tropical storm was approaching and it was too humid to even do the easier moves on it. Then the next time I walked all the way in to the barrens boulder only to realize I had left my climbing shoes at home.

So I was happy to be at the boulder, with my shoes and nice cold conditions. I managed to repeat it fairly quickly and then filmed Jamie and David Bruneau as they attempted it.

Here is the video of Jamie's send: