East Side Bouldering

The Season that Never Was

2010-10-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a video to make Andrew psyched (I know we already have one of Jeff, but mine is more stylish and better quality)... unless he sends today*! Make me proud old man!

We are going to try and be serious about this whole blogging thing but until Jeff gets his head out of Colorado's ass, shit's gonna suck! Get on Jeff; facebook him, email him, call him, punch him... do whatever it takes to get him back on here. When he blogs more, I blog more!!!!

Two Dragons from Eric Lang on Vimeo.

*Post-prepost edit... He did not send, and I will be praying to the climbing god, Weathor, that he gets another chance (although he has had three since that video was taken). Give him shit and tell him he has to send or Weathor will come after him and his first born... THAT MEANS YOU NATHAN... sheesh, talk about 2 birds... ;)

SEXY LADIES!!! (do I have your attention?)

2010-02-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to the old and unimproved Eastside Bouldering... although Jeff moved to Colorado so I suppose something is new and the improvement part is debatable (take that how you want Jeff).

Anyway, we were waiting until our readership dwindled into the single digits but Andrew went and ruined it by sending his 4 year project, Stained Glass. (I will also comment that Wills ruined it further by posting about the send before I could get my lazy ass to blog a video, but you can't trust anyone who drinks that much tea...)

Another picture of Andrew in case the other picture was too provocative
Photo- Eric Lang

Andrew on try number 297 of 300... roughly... Stained Glass V10
Photo - Eric Lang

Unfortunately, we only managed to capture the top half of the send, but everyone knows Andrew was power spotted through the beginning so we wouldn't want to show that anyway... (anyone who has seen Andrew try this problem knows that comment was a joke; I think a power spot would make the beginning harder for Andrew!)

Without further delay... GRAINY VIDEO!!!!

Grainy footage of Andrew sending Stained Glass V10
Video - Shaun/Andrew

In other news, this guy had a great weekend also sending Stained Glass, Saigon V6, and flashing Yayoi V7! Way to go guys!

Shaun and the surprisingly good energy drink, Ol' Glory... Jeremy Shockey already has a tattoo of this can...
Photo - Eric Lang

Then in true American fashion: after finding something awesome, we smashed it...
Photo - Eric Lang

Long story short, Jeff moved, Andrew sent, Shaun's awesome, and I suck at blogging and climbing... I'll work on one of them; or not...

So Sore

2009-11-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

Six new (to me) areas in seven days.

Day 1 - Taylor's Falls, Minnesota

Didn't see as much as I wanted to, but this seems like a fun little area. I climbed Mike's Left (V7) and blew my flash attempt of Cave Traverse in the dark and rain. The rock is basalt and ranged from super slick to perfect fine gritty texture.

Nic warming up on Peeler's Rock a.k.a. Big Boy (V2?)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Day 2 - Devil's Lake, Wisconsin

Steve and Katie showed us around for the afternoon. The rock is purple quartz... enough said. Some of the best rock I've ever climbed on. I'm probably biased though since it was 40 degrees out and the friction was perfect. I'm guessing I would feel a little different if it was warm out.

Steve coming very close on Massive Vertigo (V6/7/8ish)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nic getting ready to do his new problem Death of a Traveling Salesman (V5)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

This problem does not have a good landing. I didn't get a good shot of it, but let's just say these pads aren't going to do much.

Nic running laps on Alpine Club (V9). Purple rock!

photo - Jeff Sillcox

I came pretty close to doing Keymaker (V10/11ish). Must go back... purple rock! You can read more about our day at Devil's Lake on Steve's blog.

Day 3 - Driving (with Nic in the 5.10 van so it doesn't actually qualify as a rest day)

Honeycrisp apples!

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Day 4 - Little Rock City, Tennessee

Apparently we didn't take any photos this day. FAIL. Great rock, fun problems, blah blah blah. Best of the day was a 20+ foot V3ish slab.

Day 5 - Horse Pens 40, Alabama

Free breakfast courtesy of Five Ten

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Carlo cruising some V9 thing that I'm too lazy to look up the name of.

photo - Nic Oklobzija

I entered the Star Chaser category and finished 59 very good boulder problems for 112 stars. It was just enough for 2nd place and I'm really psyched considering it was my first day at HP40. Much better than trying to climb 10 hard problems in less than ideal temps.

Day 6 - Rocktown, Georgia

Me warm-up-flashing Nose Candy (V6). I hate warming up with Nic. I was so sore from HP40. We did not last long.

photo - Nic Oklobzija

Day 7 - Dayton

This day hasn't actually happened yet. I'm guessing we will suck because I can barely lift my arms right now. So I'm off to bed and maybe we won't be lazy and take some photos and post later.

We're back!

2009-11-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a while... some climbing has happened and photos were taken. Maybe we'll post some of that stuff. But first, this is much more important.

Vote for Capt. Awesome

2009-08-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

Do you remember my last post about Sadie? Let me refresh your memory...

Do the world a solid and vote for her by following the link below.

http://www.cutestdogcompetition.com/vote.cfm?h=07CE5C6739F88D0C0698D7B3EB8CDACE

Your kindness will be rewarded by angels giving you gold, covered in chocolate, smothered in Unicorn poop... maybe...

Way Lake Media

2009-07-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

Since Eric and I have been extremely lazy on the photography front (Eric is actually too weak to lift a camera right now), here are a few links to some media from more motivated people.

Alex Savage posted a nice video from his trip up here. It's got Mike taking a terrible fall off the top of Green Mamba (V7), me repeating I'm Too Drunk to Taste this Chicken (V6), Darryl sending Serpentine (V8 or 9, I'll get around the the grades discussion in another post), and Alex crushing a number of hard problems.

Dom put up a bunch of good photos on his blog. Day 1 and Day 2.

Here's a sample of Dom's work... Me on Excitebike (V0ish). Check out his blog for the rest.

photo - Dominic Palmero

And Paul Barraza created a Way Lake Bouldering channel on Vimeo. The videos are all from last season, but I thought I'd put it up anyway since there's so much good stuff on there.

More to come soon. I actually have a bunch of photos that I haven't posted yet and I just got a new lens today!

Keepin' up with the times...

2009-07-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

So I decided that it was high time for me to ~~sell my soul to the devil~~ keep up with the times of photography. Below is an image I took and ~~(basically butchered)~~ tweaked a little bit; I just ~~(oversaturated)~~ helped the colors, and added some ~~(absurd and impractical)~~ subtle ~~(I don't have a Holga or any other means of drawing natural attention to the subject)~~ vignetting, ~~(not to mention there is no highball like this at Way Lake so I had to crop Jeff off a picture of Natalie V8, shrink him and put him back on the same problem to get "the feel" I was going for)~~.

Note - I do actually have a Holga and it creates really artistic, natural vignetting... I find it interesting that the more we move forward in technology, the more we strive to be old school cave-people...

Jeff on Jeff on Fake Natalie, VMagic.
~~Photo by~~ ~~art by~~ shameless and blatant misuse of artistic license by - Eric Lang

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Now that's out of the way... there is a new addition to the Eastside Bouldering crew (that is, if Abbie ever allows her to visit the Eastside)... I give you; Sad Daisy...

Daisy being sad that she is no longer the token barnyard animal of the Eastside crew... poor little pig dog...
Photo - Eric Lang

No but really, we have a new dog. Her name is Sadie (which I would like to add is just a hodge podge of the sounds that make up the name, Daisy). She is a mix of Jack or Parson Russell terrier and hobo and goat... BEHOLD!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
... and then Derek Spencer came to California (and by "and then" i mean prior to everything else in this blog, since it is exactly backwards)

Derek has made the Sierra angry...
photo - Eric Lang

There has been climbing, but I couldn't care less... stupid shoulder...

Derek pushing the "oh fuck, i'm pumped... fuck, i'm gonna fall" button on King Spud, 5.12a at Clark Canyon, CA
Photo - Jeff Sillcox

Derek Spencer getting the presumed 3rd ascent of the season of Secret Pinches, V5... after Jeff and I cut steps in the landing.
Photo - Jeff Sillcox

Enjoy climbing with all of your healthy body parts, audience...

Chumscrubber

2009-06-27T23:42:00.000-07:00

That was fast. Here's the footage of Nic killing Chumscrubber (V12) today. Photos soon if I don't get lazy.

video - Andrew Stevens
edit - Dom Palmero

So hot right now

2009-06-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take a moment to complain about how hot it is. Heat makes boulder problems hard. And it grows mosquitoes. And it makes people grumpy. Okay, that's enough. Photos of people climbing on rocks as promised...

Eduardo cruising up Riding Dirty (V8) at June Lake.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Andrew working Meadow Face (V9) at Way Lake.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Noah and Nathan spent a little time improving the scenery near the Meadow Roof boulder.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Eduardo came really close to finishing Chumscrubber (V12) this week. He will send soon.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

I finished this one off last weekend for the second ascent and Nic crushed it today for the third. Video of Nic coming soon...

Vail

2009-06-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

Lisa slab climbing.

Andre representing some country up North somewhere.

A whole bunch of people watching some girl from Belgium.

Nalle punting... fortunately he turned things around and crushed boulders shortly after the comp.

Kyle killing semifinals.

Nic in his Little Red Riding Hood costume.

Alex dynoing.

Nic and Pinto watching Alex dynoing.

Alex dynoing again.

Dave and Nalle showed up fashionably late for finals. Notice Nic in the middle trying to sneak around in the VIP section.

Alex giving out bad beta for the finals problems.

Like this double dyno campus beta...

This one's for you Andy.

Photos of people climbing on rocks coming soon...

Colorado Part 3

2009-06-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

Mt. Evans

Nic warming up on The Ladder

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Chucking a lap on The Dali (V8)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nic threw himself at the shoulder move on No More Greener Grasses (V12) for a while and came very close to doing it...

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Until this happened...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Colorado Part 2

2009-06-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

RMNP

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nic trying to earn his shoulder merit badge on Low Left Veritas (V12)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Nic sticking the dyno on his new problem, Cumquat (V7)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

More Nic... earning employee of the day on the stand start to Storm Shadow (V10). He also sent Whispers of Wisdom (V10) that day.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Colorado Part 1

2009-06-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

The Poudre

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nate warming up on Simple (V7)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Crossing the river. Very cold.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nate sending As Hard as they Come (V9)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Nate on a sandwich

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And trying Divergence (V9)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

good decision...

2009-05-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Since a creationday would sound stupid (some may disagree with this statement, but that is not for this blog...), Abbie decided that she wanted to be born... today... today in the past... 26 years in the past to be exact.

Now, before you get all "damn girl! how you look so young when you so old?" and "how your elbows be so sharp?" and "are you gonna eat that?", yes she is... and she is also wise beyond her years. She teaches children with learning disabilities (namely me), volunteers, is going to Cambodia to work with underprivileged kids, and is keen with an elbow sharpening stone...

*Abbie apparently does not work with children with learning disabilities, but children with special needs. Yes, there is a difference, and no, I don't know what it is.*

While this blog is dedicated to her (although I liked the pictures I took, and she happened to be in them, and we needed a blog this month, and I haven't taken many pictures lately... well, you get the picture), we'll call it a dedication of convenience since East Side Bouldering is not in the business of birthday dedications. Afterall, between Drew's and Abbie's there have been at least a dozen birthdays on the planet, and we haven't dedicated a blog to any of them...

Abbie just before she threw up on the jug on an unnamed V3 at Tram
Photo by Eric

Abbie on the crux(?) of The Cube V5 at Tram
Photo by Eric

And no blog about Abbie would be complete without a picture of the disembodied head of shaun staring down a sloper ready to pounce with an equally disembodied hand...

Shaun's head and hand (off and on, respectively) on My Infested Destiny V7 at Tram
Photo by Eric

Until the time when next unimportant person is born, (insert signout cliche).

So over driving...

2009-04-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

I've driven roughly 5000 miles in the last four weeks. Sorry earth. But it did get me to some cool places. Two weekends of sportclimbing at Red Rocks. No pictures in this post, but maybe Eric will post up a few from his camera. Then Eric and I decided we needed to go bouldering before we became sportclimbers, so we hit the road again for Utah. We stopped short of Joe's because of some bad weather and checked out Isaac's new spot near St. George. Amazing looking rock, but unfortunately, we got snowed on there too and ended up at a little limestone roof for the day.

We made quick work of a very nice V8/9ish problem with some big pulls and then I started working Isaac's Six Shooter (V11).

photos - Eric Lang

With some perfect beta from Isaac, I worked out the moves quickly and sent on maybe my sixth try from the start.

After some more epic weather, we made it to Joe's to find perfectly dry boulders and great conditions.

Eric trying Worm Turns (V10 or 11 depending on where you start and how hard you want it to be).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric groping Playmate of the Year (V9). We did not send. I wasn't even close and Eric fell off after the crux about 500 times.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Fortunately, Nate sent Resident Evil (V10) which made his crazy drive in the snow worthwhile.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

A bunch of other junk got sent too but we were too lazy to take photos.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Spectre

2009-04-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Since I'm getting a lot of complaints about lack of updates... here's some footage of Cory sending Spectre (V13) to hold you over. I went back out there with him Monday night to shoot a few photos and he fired the crux section over and over in 85 degree heat with mosquitoes swarming everywhere.

One of these days I'll get off my butt and post some photos from Joe's Valley and maybe even some sportclimbing shots from Red Rocks.

Dongle Goblin

2009-03-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

Eric and I spent the day at the Boneyard today since it was crazy windy at the Buttermilks. Conditions were just about perfect. Eric did a bunch of problems including an impressive flash of Jeff's Mantle (V5/6ish) and the second ascent of Lichen Poisoning (V8). I repeated a few problems and then set to work on a project next to Twin Dongs. I was psyched to do the stand start in a few tries since it felt impossible a year ago. It's called Dongle Goblin and I think it's hard V9 or V10.

The first move is a giant lockoff to a sloping crimp.

photo - Eric Lang

Then you setup for the crux and jump to a good sloping dish.

photos - Eric Lang

Then I figured out the sit start moves and fell off the end a few times. It will be pretty hard.

photo - Eric Lang

Another big lockoff

photo - Eric Lang

My head about to explode

photos - Eric Lang

And here's a random photo of a Joshua Tree near Las Vegas.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Drop your knee... other knee...

2009-03-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Andrew wanted to prove to me, once and for all, that Senior citizens, while slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can serve a purpose! (I feel like we've used that quote before on this very blog...)

After Andrew's previous attempts at sending Stained Glass, we didn't think he could be any closer and NOT send... but we were wrong. We don't have any pictures, but he may still be hanging from the jug, slowly falling.

Later that day, we went over to a problem that Andrew had never tried; Seven Spanish Angels or The Ruckus. Yea... that's right... 400 years of climbing (250 of them in Bishop) and he had never tried this problem. So he was going to try and flash it.

photos by Eric Lang

He didn't... Notice in the second picture where his head is looking (i.e. not at the jug he is dynoing for...)

But he did send easily, third go (after another attempt at not looking at the hold).

Andrew sending Seven Spanish Angels V6
Photo by Eric Lang

Later that day we (Wes and I) decided to take advantage of the cool lighting brought on by a storm.... Here is Wes being glorious...

Wes using his powers of color-necromancy to "liven-up" this field...
Photo by Eric Lang

And Wes's shirt being awesome, all by itself.

I drew the zebra blue because I've never seen a blue zebra before. And to be honest with you, I wanted to see a blue zebra.
Photo by Eric Lang

A Maze of Death

2009-03-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

photo - Jeff Sillcox

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Enough said

Lots of sending

2009-03-18T23:26:00.000-07:00

Let's start with the biggest send of all...

Okay, now that we have that out of the way... Lisa sent Haroun and the Sea of Stories (V11/12ish) this morning!

photos - Jeff Sillcox

More photos of Lisa on Haroun on Wills' blog.

Cory crushed Form Destroyer (V12) this afternoon after I broke part of the starting hold.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

I managed to climb Xavier's Roof (V11) and A Maze of Death (V12) on back to back days. Photo of Justin sending Xavier's Roof on Wills' blog. And a couple of me on A Maze of Death.

photos - Alex Johnson

And Alex finished up A Birthing Experience (V1) after a couple days of work...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Stained Glass Right

2009-03-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

I managed to claw my way up Stained Glass Right (V11) yesterday. It was painful, but has some fun moves on it. Well, maybe one fun move... No pictures, but I have a couple of Paul on it last season.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

The fun move... unfortunately, at this point your fingers are in so much pain that you can't enjoy it.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And no post with photos of Paul would be complete without a shot of the Rasta project.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

random quote of the day:

Jeff: and become a photography/hobo
photograher
photographer
whew... that took three tries

Eric: you certainly not become engrish teacher... maybe you join traveling spelling circus

Night session

2009-03-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

Jeff H. and I did a quick night session yesterday after I spent a couple hours trying A Maze of Death in the afternoon.

The White Mountains at sunset.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeff H. about to launch on Iron Fly.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Me not quite sticking the "jug". I finally got it after 20+ tries last night plus the other 100 or so times I'd tried it. I suck at dynos.

photo - Jeff Honeywell

And and few more sunrise photos from last week...

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Check out Justin's latest couple posts for some photos and video of more Bishop action from the last week and Wills' blog for some sweet FA photos and video.

Too many projects

2009-02-24T22:20:00.000-08:00

Me falling off Direction (V13) again...

photos - Charlie Barrett

Andrew trying Magnetic North (V9).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

I'd like to direct your attention to the lower left portion of the above photo.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

What the hell?

Light at the End of the Tunnel

2009-02-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

Another new one at the Sad Boulders. It's the face above the jug that several problems in the Ice Caves finish on. It would be a perfect problem if there weren't boulders trying to attack you on the last move. Oh, and the landing kind of sucks. It's called Light at the End of the Tunnel and it's V8ish. Some crimpy moves lead up to the last move crux, a big deadpoint to the top with some potential for an ugly fall into the pit.

Charlie on the first few moves...

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Me on the 2nd move to a really cool edge.

photo - Jeff Honeywell

Me wearing a different beanie on the 3rd move to the sidepull.

photo - Charlie Barrett

4th move into the crack.

photo - Charlie Barrett

photo - Jeff Honeywell

The last move.

photo - Charlie Barrett

Aquatic Hitchhiker

2009-02-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

I did a new problem at the Sad Boulders on Sunday. It climbs the problem Feels Like a Barnacle except without the use of the other boulders for footholds. I called it Aquatic Hitchhiker. Not sure exactly how hard, but maybe hard V10 or 11. Definitely harder for me than Beefcake and Beefy Gecko. Anyway, here are a few pictures.

It starts on some opposing holds under the prow roughly where Beautiful Gecko starts. First move slaps out to this pinch.

photo - Jeff Honeywell

Then there's some heel hooking and a left hand crimp.

photo - Jeff Honeywell

Then grab the pocket and throw for the jug.

photo - Jeff Honeywell

Another sunrise

2009-02-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

photo - Jeff Sillcox

There was a narrow window in the clouds letting in a little light onto the Wheeler Crest.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Kind of hard to decide which direction to shoot...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Sunrise

2009-02-10T22:11:00.000-08:00

photo - Jeff Sillcox

All those photos of holds were starting to hurt my brain so they're getting bumped. Click the photos for the large version (especially the first one).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

photo - Jeff Sillcox

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Round 3

2009-02-07T21:22:00.000-08:00

Last one for today. These photos are from Wills and some are a lot more difficult (you get what you ask for). They are all Bishop granite. I was going to separate them into hard ones for smart people and easy ones for dumb people, but as Wills pointed out, what's easy for one person isn't easy for another. So in no particular order, here they are. Good luck.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

16)

So played out

2009-02-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

Is anyone sick of these Evilution silhouettes yet? I'm not... deal with it.

Alex cruising up to the lip at sunset.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And trying to top it out upside down?

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Thanks for letting me borrow your camera Matt. Round 3 of the guessing game coming soon...

The hold guessing game

2009-02-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

Due to popular demand, the 2nd round of the Hold Guessing Game... Eric, don't spoil it for everyone.

So these are all at the Buttermilks since that's where 90% of my photos are. I know there are more than one hold in some of them. Just guess the problem and maybe one of the holds and I'll give it to you. Also, I'll label them so you can say #1 is blah, blah, blah in the comments.

1)

B)

#)

Magic)

5)

Okay, go!!!

Damage report

2009-02-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

2-3 inches of snow and melting fast.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Even the Grandma Peabody was wet.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Charlie and I invented a game called "Guess that hold". There will be hints if nobody can figure it out.
*** Eric figured it out really fast so don't look in the comments yet unless you want to cheat.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Catch up

2009-02-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

About 24 hours left until the 24 hours starts. Don't worry, it will make sense in a few days if the weather cooperates and any of us survive. So I'm catching up on photos just in case we don't make it.

Nate, Suspended in Silence (V5)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Another sunset

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Hey look, it's Matt Birch.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeremy almost flashing This Side of Paradise (V10). He sent 2nd go.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Cory trying Form Destroyer (V12)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeremy on Evilution Direct (V11)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeremy off Evilution Direct (V11)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

More Haroun

2009-02-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

Since it's the best boulder problem in the world. Here's some more Haroun and the Sea of Stories action starring Nic and Wills.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Almost

2009-02-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

A tribute to almost finishing your project...

Andrew almost sending Stained Glass (V10)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

He's had his tips over the lip of the jug a couple times now. Only a matter of time...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Charlie almost sending Evilution (V12)

photo - Andrew Stevens

Sometimes there's a happy ending. I almost sent The Buttermilker (V13) a bunch of times before it finally happened.

photo - Andrew Stevens

Me almost trying to finish Zen Flute (V10)

Video - Andrew Stevens

Nate almost committing to the upper moves of The Fall Guy (V9)

Video - Andrew Stevens

Me almost sending Direction (V13)

Video - Eric Lang

Mandala SDS

2009-02-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

Matt crushing the Mandala SDS (V13/14ish).

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Cory (who is gracing the background of a few of the photos) also sent this one a couple days ago! And there's more photos from Matt's trip on his blog and the Bishop Bouldering blog. The posts are a couple weeks old so you'll have to go digging.

The Mystery and Checkerboard

2009-02-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

I'm going to attempt to distract everyone from Eric's embarrassment with a flurry of new pictures.

Alex on The Mystery (V12)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Charlie getting Checkerboard Right (V9) dialed for the 24 hours of Buttermilks

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Kelly and Alex sending Checkerboard (V8)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Poll results and a little payback

2009-02-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago when Alex and Kelly decided to straighten my hair, I thought, "Sure, sounds like fun. I'll look like an idiot for a day, no big deal." Eric, however, was thinking, "Sweet, I'll take pictures and put them on the blog and make people vote for which celebrity Jeff looks like."

Anyway, the results are in: 32 votes total, 22 for Jon Bon Jovi, 10 for Johnny Rzeznik, and apparently I don't look anything like Johnny Depp. Exciting stuff.

Now for the payback...

This summer when I got a my flash and radio remotes, Eric and I were bored to death watching Wes try Happy Hands Club at Way Lake. It was getting dark and we decided to play around with the flash. Here's what happened...

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

2009-01-29T21:28:00.000-08:00

As promised, here's the footage of Jeremy sending Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Video - Jeff Sillcox (shot with Andrew's fancy new camera)

Aren't you impressed that I kept him in the frame while I ran up the slab pointing the camera at him blindly?

Also, check out Wills's's blog for a badass photo of Jeremy running laps on This Side of Paradise at the Bardini's.

What's the point?

2009-01-28T23:41:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a long one...

I've started questioning the purpose of this blog. Eric and I started it almost 18 months ago to share pictures and mini trip reports with our friends so we didn't have to email everyone we know to tell them what we were up to. Almost 17,000 unique hits later, we are definitely speaking to a larger audience.

I'm excited that so many people seem to be interested in what we have to write, but I think it's made me feel like I have to change how I write. It has lost some of it's personal touch. This is partly because I have a lot more climbing friends now than when the blog was started and not everyone knows who I'm talking about when I refer to someone by just their first name. I've decided that is okay though.

For example, most of you probably don't know that Jim is my brother who lives in Hoboken, NJ (see Jim, I told you I'd sneak Hoboken into a post), but it doesn't matter. The post is for him and anyone who knows him. If anyone else is psyched to read it, that's great. Just don't expect all of it to make sense. Another example: Jamie is a good friend who lives in SLC now. Why does the post about her in Joe's say "Biscuit"? Not telling... inside joke that only a few people out there will understand.

Anyway, you get the point. I'm going to continue to write about my friends and put up (hopefully good) photos of the action. So, what's the point? I guess there wasn't one, I just wanted to babble for a while.

One last thing... having a larger audience has made me hesitant to write about my own climbing achievements because it starts to feel like bragging. This is obviously stupid if my intention is to tell my friends what I am up to. So here goes...

I just had the best climbing week of my life. First up was Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Best boulder problem I've ever done. Nic and I sent early in the morning and Lisa did the stand start called Fall Guy. A few days later, after falling off the last move and once after the last move (don't ask), I finally finished the Buttermilker. Definitely the hardest thing I've ever climbed and it felt like I'd broken through a plateau. Then came Zen Flute. Although this one is a little easier than the other two, I had spent several days getting my ass kicked by it last spring and it was a great feeling to finish it off.

That's it for now. Sorry, no pictures in this post. But there will be video of my friend Jeremy sending Haroun, photos and possibly video of the Buttermilker, and there's a few shots of Zen Flute a few posts ago. Lots of other photos to post from the last couple weeks too.

Almost forgot... I'd like to thank some people for sticking it out on the Buttermilker with me. I won't list everyone, but you know who you are. It was great having people to hang out with, try moves with me, and force me to rest between tries.

Joe's: Biscuit

2009-01-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

There are no photos of Jamie climbing in Joe's. That is because I am her designated spotter since I broke her ankles a year and a half ago.

Here she is after eating all of our lemon cookies. Notice the cool reflection of Jim and Eric talking about lemon cookies.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jamie and Jim in a piece of a car.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jamie sitting on top of the Angler (V2). This was her first hard highball since the incident. She also crushed Bad Genes (V3) the previous day and would have won the BM award and the Purple Heart both days had we not been so lazy about handing out awards.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And just to prove that I was actually in Joe's, here's a little still-frame video of me driving the 4runner around on a rest day.

photos - Eric Lang

Joe's: 2015

2009-01-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

In hindsight, having five posts for the Joe's Valley trip was a mistake. It was two months ago and I'm still not done. So I'm going to bang out these last two and get back to slightly more current stuff.

Anyway, here's Jim working on his tan.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Trying Knocking Room (V9).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Chucking laps on the Angler (V2).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jim, Andy, and I took a trip to Joe's back in 2001. Jim got a couple of the biggest flappers I've ever seen... one of these happened on the first move of Big Boy (V7).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Somehow we managed to get Jim on Big Boy this trip when he was either tired or had ridiculous amounts of tape on his fingers. Big Boy won again, but just barely. He fell off the last moves several times.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Look for his return to Joe's in 2015 with many rolls of tape.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Zen Flute

2009-01-22T09:19:00.000-08:00

I'm getting way behind... photos are starting to pile up. Wills came out to Dale's Camp on Sunday wearing his goofy photographer hat and shot me on Zen Flute (V10). Click the giant play button to watch the slideshow or click the photos to go to the gallery with the larger images.

photos - Wills Young

Nate and I on Green Hornet (V4), Dale's Camp

photos - Wills Young

Lots more to come soon. And don't forget to vote for how stupid I look in the previous post.

The Straightening...

2009-01-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

Here's Jeffie! While he's not yet gone crazy and chased anyone through a hedge maze, he did let Kelly have her way with his golden (brown) locks (birds nest)... maybe his new name will be Mr. Brown Birds Nest... Actually we can decide on his new name later.

Anyway, at sometime during the day Kelly and Alex (Nic [sorry if I spelled your shortened name wrong; I was going to go with Gnarly Nixie, but I thought you'd get fussy] was completely against the idea, for obvious reason) got the idea that it would be cool to give Jeff a new style. After some dirty wine, it began like this...

Jeff having the Shitzu scared out of him by the strange hot alligator machine Kelly is holding! Sorry I couldn't resist...
Photo by Eric

He ended up looking vaguely like one of the three men(?) below... you decide...

From left to right: Johnny Depp, Jon Bon Jovi, Johnny Rzeznik (of the Goo Goo Dolls)
Photos from Google Search

Jeff Bon Deppznik Sillcox....
Photo by Eric Lang

You decide! Make sure to vote in the poll...

Jeff reminds you to say no to "product!"
Photo Eric Lang

When you see this post Jeff, remember, "down the street, not across." You want results not attention! I'm joking people!!!!!!!

Gooooooooalllllls!

2009-01-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

Just imagine after every problem you write down on your season ticklist, having a Hispanic sports-caster yelling that in your ear... now wipe it from your head, because it would never happen. Not because there is a lack of Hispanic sports-casters in your life, but because they only do that for soccer and bull-fighting. Don't quote on the latter; or either for that matter...

Everyone is putting up their 2009 ticklist so I decided to work on mine. I also talked to Jeff and he is going to work on his and we will discuss this weekend over hambread and apple fritters, or a candlelit dinner with Maori Tribesmen and Finnish Dwarves... I'm not sure which yet...

We'll update you when we have a better idea of what we will be flailing on this year but for me, I have strength goals as well. I'm sure Jeff has them as well (such as doing a pull up, or doing something other than crimping...) but my goals are way more import... observe...

That is the hold that I want to deadhang with each hand in isolation within the next six weeks... I know most of the readers of this blog can already deadhang this hold (since most of our readers are in kindergarten or are morbidly overweight), but I don't care if you people can do it... I suck at deadhanging holds and have relatively terrible crimp strength.

Now normally I put absolutely no stock in party tricks on feats of strength but I figure if I can deadhang that hold, I should be able to at least hold jugs with double heel toe cams... at least by my math...

Joe's: Hot Hands

2009-01-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Eric sending Smokin' Joe (V9)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Dark Continent (V8)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Grumpy Eric standing in the snow in the left fork.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric has a circulation problem... too much circulation. It can be 25 degrees and his hands are still hot. Sometimes I'm jealous because my hands go numb pretty easily. Anyway, here's a little slideshow of one of my favorite problems in Joe's, Knocking Room (V9). This is my first try with an embedded slideshow, so feel free to comment if you like/dislike it. You can pause it, turn on/off captions, and click the photos to go to the Picasa album to see larger shots.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Joe's: The Accountant

2009-01-01T23:07:00.000-08:00

No frills in this post. Ben is an accountant... that's boring. Here are a few pictures of him crushing Joe's Valley.

Running a lap on The Wind Below (V8).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Almost sending Nerve Extension (V10). He will finish it next Thanksgiving.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Flashing Dark Continent (V8).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Ben also did Eden (V10) and the super scary Lumberjack (V7). Sorry no pictures because we all had to spot him so he wouldn't die.

Happy X-max!

2008-12-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

I went through my pictures that I had uploaded into my "i-should-really-blog-or-people-will-think-i'm-lazy-(even-lazier-than-not-capitalizing)-folder" and I decided I would blog before Jeff killed me in my sleep...

Here are a couple from Tram over the summer and fall 2008

Abbie trying to get the FA of The Heist, V5
Photo - Eric Lang

The next two photos are of Power Windows, V6 at the Tram. Here is Shaun crushing it. On this short day at Tram, Shaun managed to climb 2 V7s in a total of 3 tries... you do the math... well actually I'll do it for you (he flashed Swingdance and did Crouching Tiger second go!). Oh and he had only previously climb V6 (he also did one of those...)! Shaun had been nursing a finger injury and has been avoiding crimps, but is now back to crushing rocks and grabbing whatever holds he damn well pleases!

Shaun on Power Windows, V6
Photo - Eric Lang

Shaun on Power Windows, V6
Photo - Eric Lang

Time for a throwback... to the summer!

Here are some pictures from Way Lake.

All in all, it was a pretty successful season. A lot of problems got sent, some projects got done, and a lot of new people were introduced to the awesome climbing this place has to offer!

Eric is cuckoo for Kook's crimps... that was just lame... i'm sorry.
Kook V8
Photo - Jeff Sillcox

Wes trying to make a decision like Mark Wahlberg about to leave the Funky Bunch on the V6 on the 1-6-9 boulder.
Photo - Eric Lang

Eric eliminating all the moves on Avada Kedavra, V10? There are no moves, There are no moves...
Photo - Wes Dodson

And now it is Bishop season...

In this picture, Eric is demonstrating that he can take cool pictures of the sun too... Oh yea, that's Charlie on Evilution, V12...
Photo - Eric Lang

And here is a picture from the east rim of the sads... I think there are mountains and maybe even the Buttermilks over there... this is bulls*@#!!!!!!!!!

Photo - Eric Lang

And on a completely unrelated note... I appreciate this guys honesty; maybe he should be president for the next couple of weeks!

This place is the truth!
Photo - Eric Lang

Joe's: Return of the Peach

2008-12-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I give up. I can't condense the photos from Joe's Valley down to a reasonable number. So the new plan is to do one post per climber. I have to apologize to much of the Colorado crew since I didn't get any pictures of them and to Cory, who I got one crappy picture of. However, you can watch a video of him crushing Beyond Life (V10) on Jamie Emerson's blog. Also a big thanks to Isaac for showing me a bunch of boulder problems and to his dog Sage for bringing me a bunch of sticks.

The lineup: (maybe in this order, maybe not)
Nate (yes, he's first)
Ben
Eric
The 4runner
Jamie
Jim

Nate

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Driving to Joe's one year ago (or more accurately, one year before this Joe's Valley trip), Nate flipped his car 35 times avoiding a monster truck (driven by a drunk bear) and some ice dancers. Read last year's version of the story just in case I forgot anything important. Long story short: broken neck, surgery, a neck brace for a really long time, and no climbing for six months. On Nate's first day climbing after the accident, he sent The Marble (V10) in tennis shoes. (Nate, you should have written this one up yourself so the details were slightly more accurate.) Obviously he is back to full strength and crushing again. It would be a pretty inspirational story if we didn't make fun of it so much.

Nate is not afraid of the ground below Michelangelo (V3/4). It can't drive down the wrong side of the highway.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

The Wind Below (V8)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Flashing the classic Wills a Fire (V6)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nate trying Dark Continent (V8). (Insert joke about his lack of endurance).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nate putting up a new classic on more perfect sandstone in the Rocklands, South Africa.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Cabin fever from a week of rain in South Africa...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Procrastination

2008-12-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

I'm having a hard time sorting through the 350 pictures from Joe's Valley right now, so here's a little filler post until I get my act together.

Andrew sending Brian's Project (V9), Buttermilks

photos - Jeff Sillcox

The amazing sunset at the Buttermilks Sunday evening. What could be better than that?

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Maybe a silhouette of Charlie sticking the first move of Evilution (V12) with the sunset in the background?

photo - Jeff Sillcox

How about one of him at the lip staring down the upper crux?

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Or maybe his feet would cut and he would be perfectly lined up between Basin Mountain and Mt. Tom? Yeah, that would be perfect...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Buy a Pad

2008-12-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

Josh over at Organic Bouldering Mats is offering full size pads for only $150-$160! That's cheap for any bouldering pad, let alone the best foam out there. Here's the catch: You have to order by tomorrow (12/5). Also, solid colors only which isn't really a big deal. Mine is practically a solid color or you could get creative and paint something on yours like this:

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Okay, that's enough marketing... Joe's Valley post coming soon...

Keeping the Fans Happy

2008-11-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's a bunch of random crap before I leave for Joe's since Andrew and Jeff keep complaining about lack of new stuff...

Eduardo trying Chumscrubber (V12) at Way Lake. This one is still waiting for a 2nd ascent despite several people (including me) falling off the end.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric teaching Wes how to kneebar on Sunshine Daydream aka Yo Picasso (V5), Tram.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Wes not kneebaring on same...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric sticking the lip and sending Soul Caliber (V9), Tram.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric almost flashing Vanishing Point (V9), Tram... he came back from Greece weak and fat and still sent this thing.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric trying Ubiquitous (V9), Black Mountain. Conditions were not good. Quote from Eric's scorecard from that day: "baaaaaadddd conditions... water is supposed to make you buoyant..."

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric showing off his fancy new shoes on Cosmos (V9), Black Mountain.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeff H. modeling for my flash at Rock Creek.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Andrew trying Life Ain't Easy (V10), Rock Creek.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

These next few are a little dark... they looked great on my computer though. Turn up your brightness if you can't see them.

Cory crushing the Campground Arete (V10), Rock Creek.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jen Atkin trying Soulslinger (V9), Buttermilks.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Christian Griffith trying Soulslinger (V9), Buttermilks.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Somewhere between Red Rocks and the East Side.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

It's amazing how something so good (like a drive with rainbows everywhere) can turn bad so quickly...

Very flat tire somewhere between Red Rocks and the East Side.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Unlike the last time this happened, I did have to dump everything out on the side of the road to get to the spare.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And finally, last Saturday I put up this new line at the Boneyard. It's tall and scary with a weird landing and the hard moves are at the top. It's called Falling Star because I saw a huge shooting star that night. Probably around V7.

photo - Andrew Stevens

Red River Gorge

2008-10-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from the...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

This is our little hobo village in the corner of Miguel's.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

The rest of Miguel's. The pizza lives in the yellow building. Click it for a larger version.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

My tent doesn't have a floor and Kentucky has a lot of animals living in the woods. I had lots of insect visitors, including a crazy looking green bug that looked like a leaf. A couple spiders stopped by... lots of daddy long legs and a scary looking furry one. A toad hopped across my sleeping bag in the middle of the night and several inchworms tried to make the long journey through the tent, but they're too slow so they only made it about halfway across during my 10 day trip.

This was my favorite creature.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Kentucky

photo - Jeff Sillcox

It's kind of like a rain forest down there... fortunately, we got away with very little precipitation.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Carl on some 5.10 at the Roadside Crag.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Andy on To Defy the Laws of Tradition (5.10a).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Carl sending Wild, Yet Tasty (5.12a).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Me sending Stunning the Hog (5.12d). It was hot... I don't normally climb in shorts.

photo - Carl Hertzog

Andy warming up on Buff the Wood (5.12b).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

The gold streak on the right is Golden Touch (5.13b). I fell off pretty close to the end a couple times on the last day of the trip... I will be back.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Utah

2008-10-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

After squeezing in the FA of Paralyzed (V9) at Way Lake in the morning a few weeks ago (check out the video here), I hit the road for Utah. First up: Joe's Valley. Jamie sent her first V3, the beautiful Buoux Problem and came pretty close to doing another, Bad Genes pictured here:

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Chris sticking a really fun eliminate dyno in The Closet area.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Next up was the HERA Climb4Life in Salt Lake City. This was a pretty cool event that raised over $100,000 this year to help fight ovarian cancer; thanks to everyone who donated! I accidentally spent both climbing days in American Fork, but got rained out the second day...

Clouds building over the Wasatch range and the HERA tent in the morning.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

American Fork

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Toproping in the rain

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Also got to check out Little Cottonwood Canyon for the first time. After a quick warmup on the first day, Isaac sprayed me down with the beta for Copperhead (V9 or 10) and I almost pulled off the flash. I got on for a second try and quickly realized that I didn't have enough skin to pull on the nasty crimp again in those temps so it will have to wait until next time. That's okay though since there are lots of amazing looking problems to go back for.

Jamie trying The Ramp (V2) in LCC.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Stay tuned for the Red River Gorge report soon.

Stop Breeding...

2008-09-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

The subject of this blog was inspired by a truck that I saw on my way home for lunch... (please click the picture to observe the writing in the window)

Photo - Eric Lang

Just in case you are as near-sighted (read: short sighted) as the owner of this vehicle is, the back window reads: start drilling. As if the slightly lifted, F250 with king cab and cap, Idaho tags, and an EPA estimated 12 MPG wasn't enough to clue you in... I would like you all to know that I found this truck so intriguing (or mind numbing... I haven't recovered yet) I actually brought my camera back to work after lunch.

I really don't want to get into this since I have yet to make up my mind about further oil exploration, but I am sure I have spent more time thinking about this subject, than this guy has spent thinking about... well... anything in his life.

I don't mean to be so judgmental (actually I do) but I just wish people would think of long term effects of their actions instead of trying to get cheaper gas at the pump (for about a week)... idiot...

sorry and back to climbing... later

Oh and by the way Jeff, you can't get mad since you posted about the price of gas a while back!

New Problem update 6 of 6

2008-09-18T21:47:00.000-07:00

For the next couple of weeks, I'll be driving this thing. But don't expect me to makes too many stops... since I am incredibly lazy...

Photo and Lighting - Eric Lang

It was a busy weekend on the Talladega Nights boulder, with "I'm Too Drunk to Taste This Chicken" seeing approximately 400 sends (slight over exaggeration) over the course of two days, and the "Paralyzed Project" seeing its first and second ascents. Due to a combination of Wes' unwillingness to crimp harder and my unwillingness to do Drunk Chicken on my first go and Jeff's unwillingness to tie Randy's hand behind his back, I missed the second ascent of Drunk Chicken by mere minutes... Kudos to Randy for the flash!

Shannon eyeing up the crux of "Drunk Chicken (for short)", V6
Photo - Eric Lang

In good style, Jeff sent his project that he had been "too busy" (aka too lazy to move pads down the hill) to send, on his second attempt of the day (I believe). The following day (under a false name and shrouded in secrecy) Wills sent as well.

Jeff on "Paralyzed", V9?
Photo - Eric Lang

Jeff on "Paralyzed", V9?
Photo - Eric Lang

I also climbed with Wes and Way Lake newcomer, Mike T. aka Big Dumb Animal... Mike had a great day flashing Crimp Ladder V7 and sending Meadow Roof stand V8! Meanwhile, Wes was working his nicknames such as Mr. Inviso, Pigpen, or Capt. Chalk Dust... You can decide based on several of the pictures in the slideshow... CLICK ME!

...and as you can see below, we had a blast at Jeff's place without him! Have fun in Joe's and SLC and the RRG... we won't use the oven!

Photo - Eric Lang

Oh and if anyone is interested, I have re-FA'd Hosemonster (now V8?) due to a very important hold "disappearing"... thanks Wes, stop drinking porkchop milkshakes...

Still to come... bugs, Tram, etc...

Breaking News

2008-09-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

Isaac sent the project on the Meadow Roof boulder today. He called it Chumscrubber and gave it the big V12. (See Wills, I told you it wasn't V9.) Wills is close also and I'm hoping to get it done before I go sportclimbing and lose all my power. And Lisa continues to plow her way through the hard lines at Way Lake with a quick send of Prune Candy (V9).

Isaac Caldiero working out the moves on his Chumscrubber (V12).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Lots of rock climbing happened this weekend also, but I didn't take very many photos. Here's one of Lyn sending One Dragon. This is a tough one to grade for some reason and the votes range from V5-V8 right now.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And a couple new problems went up: Justin added Sacrificial Sherpa (V8) which is pretty scary (I'm the Sherpa). And I added a link up of Green Mamba and Penis Envy called Green Penis (duh).

Almost forgot about Beth's linkup of Donkey Kong into the start of Donkey Kong Jr. dubbed Princess Peach. No idea how hard this one is, but probably V5 or 6ish. Picture on Justin's blog.

(Old) New Problem Update #5 of 5

2008-09-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

I must first apologize for accidentally double posting. I thought I fixed the problem by deleting the post, but I realized that all of the people who have a subscription to the blog have gotten the update and saw three pictures with no words... I so dum...

Here is a problem Abbie put up a few weeks ago called "S is for Shame." Its in the V3 - V4 range. Here are some pictures of her resending the problem this weekend.

photo - Eric Lang

photo - Eric Lang

photo - Eric Lang

More blogs to follow but you'll have to wait

Girls Crushing Way Lake

2008-09-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

Lots of problems getting repeated lately, and since the current rage is all about FFA's (First Female Ascents), here are a few female firsts at Way Lake.

Lisa sending Meadow Roof SDS (V9).

photos - Jeff Sillcox

I squeaked out the FA of the compression line to the right last Thursday and Wills and Lisa got the 2nd and 3rd ascents on their next tries. It's V8ish and I called it Black Buddha.

Lisa also did Meadow Face (V9), Karate Kid (V8/9), and Two Dragons (V9); all of which might be harder since I can't grade anything accurately.

Some new friends came over from the west side this weekend and climbed way too much stuff for me to keep track of. And since I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures, this is all you get. Beth and Lyn sending the scary Knife Dance (V7).

photos - Jeff Sillcox

I'll try to post a link to more pictures from this weekend if they end up on the internet somewhere.

Other non-female happenings:

Eric had an amazing day on Saturday sending Meadow Face (V9), Karate Kid (V8/9), and Ugly Duckling (V9).

Wills did two link-ups on the Dragon boulder. Ass Backwards (V9ish) climbs from the start of Morpheus into the end of Two Dragons and Dragon Ass (V10) climbs most of Two Dragons and then traverses left into the second half of Morpheus. Confused yet?

Wills, Isaac, and I worked on a really cool project for a while today. It has several V10ish moves in a row and Wills thinks it will be V9. He's not very good at math.

The Flash

2008-08-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

No, not the weird guy in the red spandex.

Here's the first round of experimentation with my new flash...

Eric on Meadow Face (V8 or 9)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Eric almost sending Ugly Duckling (V9). He will send this weekend.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Wes sending Happy Hands Club (V5) just before dark.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Donkey Kong

2008-08-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

Eric and I put up this 30 foot V4 last Sunday. It follows the slope up so you're never more than about 10 feet off the ground although falling off the first half might not be the best idea since you would end up at the bottom of the pit. It's called Donkey Kong and there's also a shorter, maybe harder version from a direct sit start that's obviously called Donkey Kong Jr.

Eric on the second ascent.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Meadow Roof

2008-08-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

I have way too many pictures from last weekend to fit into one post without Eric yelling at me so I'm going to split them up a bit. First up: Meadow Roof

Eric sticking the first move of the sit start which goes around V8/9ish.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

First move of the stand start (V7/8ish) that Tim Steele put up a while ago.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Andrew on the crux.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And Eric on the easy-to-fall-off-of move at the end. He didn't fall off and instead sent the problem from the sit start for his first hard problem since taking two months off. Hopefully this means he won't complain about being weak anymore.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

New Problem Update #4 of 4

2008-08-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, last post with a boring title... that's a lie. I can't promise something like that.

Only one problem in this one and it doesn't even have a name which is a shame since the rock is so good and the moves are really fun. We just call it The Seam and it's V4 or V5 depending on how fat we're feeling that day. Abbie trying it...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Wes sending...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And Eric doing some unnecessary, but cool looking jumping.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Don't miss the other new junk below...

Books, Boulders, and ... (wait for next post)

2008-08-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

First off, let me just say, "Read this book!"
(...am I allowed to use quotes when quoting myself? Oh well...)

photo - Eric Lang

... and here is the proof (without the pudding...)

a page from the book... and this one is not even funny...
photo - Eric Lang

...And now to climbing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abbie, Wes and myself went to Tram like 3 weeks or so ago and we spent the day climbing some moderate stuff. Abbie sent one of her projects (Don's Dyno v5) and another that was supposed to be a project (Methane Direct v4), in a handful of tries... Also Wes learned (sort of!) how to mantle. It was sort of a remedial class in mantling which will lead up to the class that Jeff is going to teach to prepare us to climb with Andy!

Abbie literally about to stick the first move and send Don's Dyno v5 (yay, no posed shots!)
photo - Eric Lang

Wes also sending Don's Dyno v5... not posing!
photo - Eric Lang

And after I did Emerald City v0 (i didn't flash by the way... stupid smear) several times, i decided to get Abbie to get on it. And she did it, and liked it, first go! Next time, Wes, next time...

Abbie not scared at all on Emerald City v0... sorry for the crappy overexposed skyline...
photo - Wes Dodson

Can you pick out the climbers in the pictures? We're like Waldo only creepier...
photo - set up by Eric Lang, taken by Organic Crashpad!

I also have some bugs and other pictures but i'll save them for their own post just for Andrew! I hope this post doesn't get lost in the pool of Jeff's flurry of posts!

New Problem Update #3

2008-08-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

This problem is another one that I've been trying to get Eric on for a while. Mike and Johnny had tried it a while ago and were referring to it as the "Hurtful" project. Maybe the name had something to do with his lack of enthusiasm. It turned out to be easier than we expected and a lot less painful too. Eric called it Hosemonster and it's roughly V7.

Here's one of the painful moves... yarding off the left hand knife hold to the perfect sloper.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

It took Eric about 30 seconds to figure out the key bicycle beta and only three tries to nab the FA. He may look casual on the move here, but got a little cocky last weekend playing around on it and ended up headfirst in a hole in the ground below the pads.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Ten feet to the right is Hose Cover (V8ish). Me on the FA.

photo - Eric Lang

There's another hose-related problem on the adjacent boulder (Golf Balls and Garden Hoses (V6)), but no pictures because it looks stupid. One more post and I'm caught up for the weekend!

New Problem Update #2

2008-08-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Jeff Honeywell and I hiked up to Way Lake in the rain last week to check out the arete on the giant wave boulder. It's scary. The rock is a little suspect and there's a not-quite-easy-enough topout above a horrible landing. He sent a couple days later and I repeated it after throwing up from spotting him. It's somewhere in the V4/5 range and needs a name and a third ascent... any takers?

photo - Jeff Sillcox

This one was probably done back around 2000 when development first started at Way Lake. Jeff H. runs a lap on Twin Cracks (V0).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

I think this V5 roof is a new one. Andrew on the probable 4th ascent.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

I put up Right El Plopper (V8) in the fall and it's still awaiting a 2nd ascent. (Probably because no one has tried it). Eric works the moves in the dark.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

I've been wanting to do this problem for a long time and Eric kept saying "No, I'm too scared". Finally got him on it and now he's done it several times. I've done it at least ten times now because it's just that good. Excitebike (V1)

photos - Eric Lang

This is my new flash and my very inconsistent off-camera triggering system (Eric). The radio triggers finally showed up today so we'll have some new lighting options this weekend.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Okay, only one or two more posts and I'm caught up. Up next... Hosemonster (V7) and some other crap.

Boulder Hunting

2008-08-13T22:20:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to sneak a post with no climbing pictures by Andrew without him noticing. I spent about eight hours one day hiking around near Way Lake trying to find boulders that Google Earth told me were there. I found them, but there wasn't much worth going back for. Anyway, it pretty much turned into me taking a bunch of pictures. Enjoy.

Some kind of purple dandelion looking thing.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Talus field with a bunch of tiny boulders. If I were ten inches tall, this place would be sick.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Flowers shaped like a bell... not sure what they're called.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

This one's actually right by Wills' crazy hard seam problem that he still hasn't named. If he doesn't name it soon, Eric and I will come up with something stupid.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Depth of field practice...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Some pink flowers above Hammil Lake and more tiny boulders.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And a couple from the Sherwin Fire a few miles from Mammoth.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

New Problem Update #1 of ?

2008-08-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

Eric and I have been pretty lazy with the blog recently so I'm going to do a few quickies to catch up. So in no particular order, here's the first round.

This little six move problem turned out to be way cooler than it looked at first. Eric sticking the last move of Wingaling (V5).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Me on the FA of Serpentine (V8ish). There are two more amazing lines to the right of this one: Green Mamba (V7) and Penis Envy (V3/4ish)

photo - Abbie Mood

Clouds over the Mammoth crest. Yes, we got rained on.

photo - Eric Lang

This one's not new, but since we have a picture of it... me on Happy Hands Club (V5).

photo - Eric Lang

Okay, I'm going to stop there before this mini-post gets out of control. Lots more to come soon...

Triathlon

2008-07-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

Eric and Abbie did the June Lake Tri a couple weekends ago. Abbie blogged about it here. I did my variation yesterday. So which is better? Swim, bike, run or climb, climb, climb?

Leg 1: Scary slab climbing
The race started at 6:30am when I had to get out of bed. Tom Gibbings and I went to check out Hair Raiser Buttress (5.9 R (V0-)). It's about 400' of perfect slab climbing with the occasional 30ft runout. It's three pitches up the left side of the formation.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

So, swimming vs. slab climbing?
Jeff's tri variation - 1
Conventional tri - 0

Leg 2: Deep Water Soloing
Jeff Honeywell and I stole a canoe and paddled our way across South Lake in search of the next Mallorca. We're headed to the cove just right of Jeff's shoulder where he swears there is a sick 35ft cliff with 15ft of water under it.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Apparently the water level is really high right now so we pioneered a new sport: Deep Water Traversing.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Since that it possibly the most boring type of climbing, we quickly switched to cliff jumping and trundling for the rest of the afternoon.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Anyone else know how to tie a taut line hitch? I didn't think so...

photo - Jeff Honeywell

Biking vs. canoeing, deep water traversing, cliff jumping, and trundling? DWT is retarded, but still cooler than biking.
Jeff's tri variation - 2
Conventional tri - 0

Leg 3: Rattlesnake wrestling
Jeff H. had to go cook some corn dogs, so I went up to the Buttermilks for the last leg by myself. I had to stop and tell this rattlesnake that the road is a bad place to take a nap. (Yes Eric, the white balance is all wrong; bite me.)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

It was hot. I did some moves on The Buttermilker and ran up a few classics: The Hunk, Green Wall, Go Granny Go. I didn't take any pictures of myself so here's one from the spring of me about to eat shit off Zen Flute (V10) with the Buttermilks in the background.

photo - Wills Young
(disclaimer: Wills is a badass photographer. Don't blame this piece of crap image on him. It's the sun's fault.)

Running vs. climbing at the Buttermilks when it's way too hot? Running sucks.
Final score:
Jeff's tri variation - 3
Conventional tri - 0

It's a shutout!!! Surprised? I didn't think so. To be fair, the conventional triathlon was pretty cool. Eric almost had me convinced to try one until I realized I would need to buy a wetsuit, a bike, and some running shoes. Plus, Eric and Abbie finished their tri in an hour or so. Mine took 16 hours. Bunch of sissies...

Golf

2008-07-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

and Jeff

No flowers this time Andrew...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

photo - Eric Lang

Our newest sponsor

photo - Eric Lang

This one was shot later in the studio with a backdrop

photo - Jeff Sillcox

photo - Eric Lang

Yeah, that's right, golf.

More Highballin'

2008-07-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

Kevin Daniels, Jeff H. and I went up to Way Lake yesterday afternoon to do battle with the mosquitoes. They're still winning, but we took out another couple hundred. Only 10 million to go...

After a quick warmup, Kevin got psyched on my new problem Who's Retarded Now? (V4). He quickly flashed it while I scrambled to get a couple pictures.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Just around the corner, we all flashed this V2/3ish highball that probably has a name, but I don't know it. Jeff posed a very unconvincing swing on the last move and then gracefully topped it out.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Then we headed up the hill and did Morpheus (V5), another tall problem with a less-than-perfect landing. Here's a shot of Eric on it last summer.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

We finished our session on Secret Pinches (V5) and I added a fun V3 next to it.

And from last Friday...
Abbie sending an unknown V3 on more perfect rock.

photo - Eric Lang

Me working on a project with some really bad lighting.

photo - Eric Lang

New Way Lake Highball

2008-06-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

*** Video added below ***

Quick update from Way Lake yesterday. Andrew sent Crimp Ladder (V7) after fine-tuning his beta by falling off the last move a few times.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeff Honeywell finished off the burly Karate Kid (V8) after the hold breakage (by him).

photos - Jeff Sillcox

And I did one of my highball projects without dying. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It's about 25 ft to the top of the face (roughly V4) and if you fall off the last move, you might get lucky and land on the pads or you might take the 30+ ft fall into the pit (don't do it). Andrew shot some video of it so we'll get that up soon. Maybe I'll have a name for it by then too.

Andrew trying the line

photo - Jeff Sillcox

The highball video... still no name yet

video - Andrew Stevens

I wandered around for a while after Jeff and Andrew took off and put up a very nice 15 ft V2 face on perfect rock. Took a few more pictures also. (Andrew, this is where the climbing ends, so look away and go upload the highball video.)

This is where the mosquitoes live

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Mammoth Mountain from the backside of Emerald Lake at sunset

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Another Man vs Cat?

2008-06-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

No, it's not another National Geographic post. It's a battle of potential boulder problem names. (You can figure it out for yourself.) I went to check out the project that Andrew and Jeff H. had been working on up near South Lake (Bishop, not Tahoe). It's a really cool offset seam that will probably go in the V7-10 range. Conditions were not very good even at 9000ft. We had a some rain and the mosquitoes were insane. Jeff killed nine with one slap.

There's a couple different ways to do the opening sequence...
The pussyfoot method involves a big move with the left hand and some technical footwork. Andrew demonstrates:

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Uh... yeah, so the other method is the manfoot. Same big move but with the right hand and a giant foothold. I decided that this way was a little harder but sets me up better for the rest of the problem.
Jeff "Full Moon" Honeywell demonstrates:

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Either way it's still not the hard part. I think bringing my feet up by my face on this move will be the crux and as soon as my finger bones recover from the fingerlock, I'll be back for it wearing my full mosquito suit.

photo - Jeff Honeywell

And a little Way Lake action... Jeff "Fat Ass" Honeywell broke the right hand undercling on Karate Kid (V8) with his giant (fat) biceps. I repeated it with a much worse undercling and it's probably hard V8 or easy 9 now. Here Jeff almost sends with the new hold...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Should be more from Way Lake this weekend.

National Geographic or Climber vs Everything Inferior???

2008-06-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

We all know that climbers cannot be hurt and can easily escape any dangerous situation with ease and style... but why? To answer this age old question, I going to start a series of blogs (or at least one) listing the strengths and weaknesses of two (or more) mortal enemies: climber vs some sort of natural beastie...

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this pressing global issue, I must ask the reader: what should I call this series (post)? First (and last rule): you can only pick one of the two titles of this post. Although I may give consideration to very creative titles, I wanted to start a National Geographic post for a while now, and I am very partial (narcissism) to my own ideas...

Today, we have me vs Timmy the Bobcat.

Eric (Climber) on Saturday Night Live, v4 Joshua Tree

Photo by Abbie Mood

Reasons I am superior:

1. As you can see from the picture, Eric has a vertical leap of at least 3 or more inches. This extraordinary feat is exceptionally useful in any situation in which escape would only be possible by jumping over a 3 inch object.
2. Opposable thumbs... yea, yea I know...
3. Rock Climber (get used to that one).
4. Cats suck

Possible Inferiorities (or opponent's luck as I like to say)

1. I have terrible camouflage. My German and Native American heritage has prevented me from being able to hide in the desert, casinos, or in any place where the smell of sour cabbage is unusual.
2. Heavy cocaine use... by the cat.

Bobcat (we'll call him Timmy since I'm pretty sure I could take most Timmy's. Oh and he is in the catergory of Everything Inferior). Joshua Tree

Photo by Eric

Reasons the cat may stay in the fight longer

1. The cat can jump waaaaaaayyyy higher than me. Enabling him to run away from me and hide in high places
2. Good camouflage, except for that whole being out in broad daylight while I stand 30 feet away...
3. Pointy ears that may or may not be sharp, but let's be serious; would you ask the guy mugging you if his gun had bullets???
4. Claws...

Reasons the cat will always be inferior

1. uhhh... he was friggin' dozing off while I was taking pictures of him... maybe he was faking but I doubt it.
2. NOT A CLIMBER
3. I would not make a cool hat... timmy would and will... someday
4. Understands capitalism and investing in mutual funds less than I do. I hear he isn't maxing out his 401k either... we'll see in 30 years...

Verdict: I win

Climbers - 1
Everything Inferior - 0

Big Pimpin'

2008-06-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

So after playing Guitar Hero until 3am (see Eric's Holga post), we made our way over to Palm Springs and the Tramway for a few days. We stayed at this top secret location with Drew Rollins and spent our days up at the Tram and nights in the pool.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Eric performing the "happy baby" pose on the bottom of the pool. By the way, I can hold my breath waaaaay longer than him.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

It was 110 degree in Palm Springs and a much more bearable 75 at the top of the mountain. Still pretty warm for the slopers on Flight of Osirus (V6). Drew gives it a go...

photo - Eric Lang

This one might be a new problem. It's on the boulder just uphill from Vanishing Point. I did it from a sit start at some underclings at around V6 or 7 and the stand is V3ish. If it is a new problem, we called it Fromundacling.

photo - Eric Lang

I tried The Elf (V9 from the sit) at the end of the day and got shutdown. I came back to it a couple days later and did the stand (V8) and the sit will be high on my list for next time.

photos - Eric Lang

We checked out Shades of the Old School (V2) and were a little disappointed. It's a proud line, but was pretty dirty and fairly boring climbing.
Drew pretending to be scared...

photo - Eric Lang

I thought White Flight (V3) (pictured below) and Emerald City (V0) were much better highballs.

photo - Drew Rollins

Can't wait to get back when the temps are better and check out Black Mountain.

That's a huge bitch!

2008-06-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Yea, that's right... big body, clunky, low maintenance... red... made in china?!? Her name is... (see picture below)

Jeff, meet Holga. Holga, this is Jeff
Photo by Eric (not with Holga)

So for my birthday this year, Abbie got me a large, plastic Chinese camera with a German name... jzreyupHOLGAyunmi (all of the letters are silent except h,o,l,g, and a... I believe it may be Sanskrit). Before I get to the pictures, I will show you her modeling shoot...

The many facets of Holga
Photo by Eric

Let's go through the basics (and by "basics" I mean the "every-details")...

The Holga has 2 shooting modes normal (normal) and bulb (where the shutter stays open as long as you have the patience). The normal shutter speed is roughly 1/100 sec (at least until the spring wears out, or until Jeff cuts it). So setting my camera's shutter priority is a little simplistically problematic...

The Holga has 2 aperature settings designated by symbols: a sun (f/11) and a cloudy (f/8)... no confusion there...

There are four distance to which you can set the Holga to focus (designated by symbol of course): a person (1m), 3 people (2m), 6 people (6m), and a mountain (10m - infinity inches)... the last conversion baffles me as I have no idea how many meters that is...

It shoots medium format film (it can also shoot 35mm but needs some help) in one of 2 orientations: 12 shots of 6cm by 6cm or 15 shots of 6cm by 4.5cm (in the shots below, I opted for the latter). The lense is made of plastic, and my flash (not standard on all Holgas) has 4 different color settings: Red, blue, yellow, and white (and a few combinations in between). The camera has no automatic wind and no mechanism for preventing multiple exposures (awesome), and most (not mine so much with the color film, we'll see how it affects B/W) leak light like a sieve... but enough of that, let's see some art... or at least some pictures...

Abbie better get to "da choppa," b/c someone's got her in his sights...
Photo by Eric "Predator" Lang

Daisy was all like, "Look where, you ass?! How am I supposed to see anything in this pitch dark roo.... owwww! my eyes!!!!!"
Photo by Eric

Jeff getting his first dose (3.5 hrs worth) of Guitar Hero III... i'll friggin hit YOU with my best shot... ass
Photo by Grumpy Eric

Jeff did a fantastic job keeping my head relatively level on this double exposure
Photo by Jeff

At the club with Glowstick Lang aka, Mr.E... This was taken with Jeff's D40, and the Holga's blue flash as a "manual" off camera right flash... my reactions are sick when I'm all E'ed out, look at those pupils!
Photo and flash by Eric

By the way, I didn't edit any of the pictures except for some very simple cropping... I wanted to post the raw images for everyone viewing pleasure! Please click on the link below to see the other pictures!!!!!!!!!

Check out the slide show of all the pics!!!!

Tahoe

2008-06-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

Quick catch-up post from last weekend at Tahoe before the pimp post (it will make sense later).

Eric celebrated his birthday and return to climbing after two long months off with the extremely technical, invisible skateboard handplant over Emerald Bay.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Abbie running a couple laps on a V1ish arete at Bliss State Park.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric eased his way back into climbing by doing a jump start to a small left hand crimp (his bad hand) on this V3 at Bliss.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Drive-by-shooting of some tourists taking a picture of trees or something. Aren't they beautiful?

photo - Jeff Sillcox

While I'm Complaining...

2008-06-06T18:32:00.001-07:00

Pain in the Neck

2008-05-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

I've fallen off the last hard move of The Buttermilker (V13) three times now. I did the stand start variation last February and for some reason, those extra two moves are killing me. And I keep hurting myself. My neck is constantly sore from the ridiculous head-undercling/headbar that I use for the first move and I managed to tweak something in my wrist about two months ago when I fell off near the end four times in one day (probably some kind of overuse injury, duh). Anyway, I left it alone for a couple months and tried it again on Monday with no expectations. I fell off the last move on my first try that day. So why haven't I sent it? Must be fear of success. So here I am, three weeks from the official start of summer with a forecast for upper 80's and low 90's for the next week. Might have to start trying it in the middle of the night. Has it ever been done in June? Maybe I'll wait a few weeks and go for the FSA (First Summer Ascent).

Me not sending a year ago...

photo - Eric or Jamie or Jim (can't remember)

Boneyard Action

2008-05-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Welcome to the Boneyard. This place may have had other names in the past, but with all the bones and animal parts I've seen out there, there's no better name. I feel like I'm being hunted by a mountain lion when it starts to get dark and I just have to squeeze in one more new problem.

I could go on and on about how beautiful this area is, but I'll let the photos do the talking. Let's get the artsy photos out of the way though so we can get to the climbing...

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Eric and I spent an afternoon putting up a few problems back in October. Check out the post here. But the full potential of this place has only just started to be realized in the past few weeks. Andrew Stevens, Jeff Honeywell, Wills Young, and a handful of others have ventured out with me and the current problem total stands around 47 with some very nice lines still unfinished.

If you still think Iron Man is the best V4 on the East Side, you're wrong. You were wrong even before this beauty went up, but now you're very wrong. Jeff H. nabbed the 4th ascent (pictured below) about ten minutes after Wills cleaned it ground up on the FA.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eight feet to the left is another 20ft perfect patina face that goes somewhere in the V7-V9 range depending where you start. Here Wills cruises the easier ground above the hard moves on the FA.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Andrew on the 2nd ascent of nice V2 wave/arete problem that will probably end up with a dumb name like The Wave, La Arete, La Angle, or La Balance.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nathan Stevens working a project that he found and cleaned.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Wills trying to find some holds on the FA of another hard, balancy line. I finally completed the line just to the left of this in the perfect orange patina yesterday. I used a pretty ridiculous sequence that is probably V10/11 and then Wills flashed it with the good beta that might be a grade or two easier. More pictures of that line in the previous Boneyard post.

photo - Jeff Honeywell

One of the few named problems... Twin Dongs (somewhere in the V3-V7 range). Jeff H. works out the moves into the dongs...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

...and Wills flashes it for the FA.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Lots more to come... Wills and I were getting pretty close on another nice project yesterday and I failed miserably last weekend in the heat on another line that has good holds, but all face the wrong way.

Tribute to Double D's (not those)

2008-05-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

I think it seems fitting that Tenacious D would sing these lyrics about our friend:

"This is not The Greatest climber in the World, no.
This is just a tribute.
Couldn't remember The Greatest climber in the World, no, no.
This is a tribute, oh, to The Greatest climber in the World,
All right! It was The Greatest climber in the World,
All right! It was the best muthafuckin' climber the greatest climber in the world"

Well maybe I interpreted the lyrics a little differently, but I am sure they meant to talk about Drew Davis... I mean really, who wouldn't... (real song here)

As our readers may or may not know, today (or yesterday depending on the time of this post) is/was Drew's birthday. To show my appreciation for Drew's futile yet unwaivering pursuit of climbing stardom, I offer this humiliation...errrrr... blog as a tribute to his many abilities!

Drew can be pensive and thought invoking as he stares at Resident Evil at Joe's Valley

Drew can be strong or fuerte (did you know that Drew is multi-lingual???) as he looks calm yet determined on Big Joe V7 at Joe's Valley

Drew can get himself (and your overnight shipments) out of most uncomfortable situations (and by uncomfortable, i mean uncomfortable for me and everyone around) so that makes him practical and thoughtful. Here he is in his UPS outfit on Michaelangelo V4 Joe's Valley.

If you get out of line Drew can demonstrate his ninja-blur-foot skills to remind you "Who's the Boss?" Drew on Worst Case Scenario V9 Joe's Valley

And if that doesn't work, he can show you his muscly arm, that is if he's not using it on Highbrow V7, Happy Boulders - Bishop

Drew is probably the most caring person I know. Here he demonstrates by spotting me as if his life depended on it. (You really thought i could blog without a picture of me... pssh!) Big Joe V7, Joe's Valley.

Drew also has the power to make even the camera drunk... oh and that's a taser, not a cell phone. Even when he is smiling, he never lets his guard down.

Well it seems Drew has many beneficial powers at his disposal but I did leave one out... Drew also has the power to be...

Retarded...

Happy birthday Drew!

Tramtastic

2008-04-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon rolled around and I made a very last minute decision to head down to the Tramway to escape the heat in Bishop. Eric is taking two months off to let his hand heal so I thought it would be fun to make him watch me climb all weekend. Despite my best efforts to get him to climb "easy stuff", the only thing he climbed was a tree to take pictures. Don't tell his doctor.

Day one: green shirts

Abbie sending Spirit of the Forest (V4) without bending her arms at all.

photo - Eric Lang

I might have flashed Gluttony (V8) if Eric hadn't given me the leprechaun beta. Instead, it went down third try with my giant beta. (I'm still only one inch taller than him)

photo - Abbie Mood

Abbie working on Green Hornet (V5)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Me flashing Red Spark (V6)...

photo - Eric Lang

...and Blue Flame (V7)

photo - Eric Lang

Day two: blue shirts

Warming up on Center Crack (V0)

photo - Eric Lang

I flashed these next few and then posed some pictures on them since they were such cool problems. It was fun repeating the moves and it gave Eric some more practice with the camera. Click the photos for the larger version.

Vanishing Point (V9)

photos - Eric Lang

Byron's Roof (V9/10)

photos - Eric Lang

The Wave (V5)

photo - Eric Lang

Man, it is hot today!

2008-04-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ooh, it's hot out here, man. It is hot today!
You know, it's hot out.
Yeah, I just said that. I said it's hot out here, man.
Yeah, you know, it's hot too.
Yeah, that's why I said it, man! It is hot out here!
I know. I'm just saying it's hot too.

I've had this conversation several times with various people (including myself) over the past few days. 80+ degrees in Bishop over the weekend was a little warm for me so I decided to check out some higher areas. But before it got crazy hot, Jeff Honeywell and I spent an afternoon over at Dale's Camp.

Jeff on the full value Green Hornet (V4)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Saturday was spent up at Rock Creek with Andrew Stevens. There's still snow up there, but I cleaned off the last bit from the top of the Campground Boulder. Every problem I saw was dry and climbable. We put up a few new problems including my really scary Ham to Ham Combat (V6 or 7). It's probably not that scary with a bunch of pads and some real cleaning. There's a lot of lichen on the high slab moves which made the footholds worse than they really are.

Andrew managed to finish off Overzealous (V9) on the Talus Boulder before we headed up the talus field. (Note his amazing style: a tucked in shirt and makeshift manpris)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Next on the list was Large Talons (V9). Andrew got close, but didn't send. I put this one up a while ago and Wills repeated it shortly after. He said something about it only being V8, but it's probably closer to V10 and definitely harder than Overzealous.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

I've got a bunch more pictures of the newer stuff at Rock Creek... I'll post more if I get motivated.

The Standoff

2008-04-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Happy Boulders

After wrecking ourselves at the Buttermilks on Friday, our skin needed a break from granite. Unfortunately, volcanic at the Happies in April isn't much better. The rock was warm to the touch even in the shade. I started to warm up and quickly decided to save it for another day and take pictures instead.

Derek warming up in the shade on Donkey Boy (V0+)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Derek was pretty beat from the previous day, but Eric and I (the slave drivers) made him keep climbing. Hopefully we didn't hurt him too bad. Here he is sending Action Figure (V6)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Eric didn't climb enough the day before. He still had energy to screw around on the Happy Boulder. The Hulk (V6)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

And Disco Diva (V8)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And the moment you've all been waiting for: Eric sent Rio's Secret Arete (V3) in a couple tries after complaining about being short (he's 5' 10" if anyone who's actually short wants to punch him). He then spent the next hour or so (I might be exaggerating slightly) trying to get psyched up to jump the gap back to the rim. I jumped back and forth a few times and fell into a pushup position across the gap trying to help him (I don't think it helped). And in the end, he opted for the sketchy chimney downclimb over the pit of death and the shame of being a wuss.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Nate will probably chime in here and defend Eric for not giving in to peer pressure on this jump. But that is only because he too lives in shame from not doing this jump. I think we need to arrange some sort of death match between Nate and Eric on top of this boulder. Or maybe they can hold hands and jump together...

65+100+116=281

2008-04-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

Friday at the Buttermilks started out innocently enough; Eric, Andrew, and our friend Derek (who was on his first trip west of some big river) were cruising around doing classics when I showed up after work around 1:00. Eric casually mentioned that he had 35 points already (one V-grade = one point). Big mistake... six hours and a lot of skin later, we had climbed a lot of boulder problems. Here are the stats:

Eric: 100 points, 30 problems (Essential Peabody, North Face Direct, West Corner, Go Granny Go, Go Granny Right, Cave Problem, unnamed V2, Rubber Tester, Soul Slinger, Shelter from the Storm, Cave Route, Dyno Problem, Milk the Milks, Funky Tut, Egypt No Crack, unnamed V4, unnamed V2, Lulalator, King Tut, V1 Slab, Hobb's Problem, Buttermilk Stem, unnamed V2, unnamed V5, The Hunk, Change of Heart, Slip Stream, Roadside Highball, Ruckus, Ta Kill Ya Corner)

Eric earning points 89, 90, and 91 on the Roadside Highball (V3), our new favorite end-of-the-day problem.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Derek: 65 points, 19 problems (Essential Peabody, North Face Direct, West Corner, Cave Problem, Shelter from the Storm, Cave Route, Dyno Problem, Milk the Milks, Egypt No Crack, unnamed V4, unnamed V2, King Tut, V1 Slab, Buttermilk Stem, unnamed V2, unnamed V5, The Hunk, Roadside Highball, Ruckus)

Derek sending Milk the Milks (V6), one of his four V6's.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Andrew: He might have had somewhere between 30 and 50 points, but he didn't turn in his scorecard so we'll never know.

Had Andrew stuck it out to the end of the day, he might have sent Ruckus (V6) AKA Seven Spanish Angels like Eric.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Jeff: 116 points, 27 problems (Inner Sanctum, Shelter from the Storm, Dyno Problem, Cave Route, One Mule Wonder, Soulslinger, Moonraker, Milk the Milks, Funky Tut, Egypt No Crack, unnamed V4, unnamed V2, Lulalator, King Tut, V1 Slab, Hobb's Problem, Buttermilk Stem, unnamed V2, unnamed V5, The Hunk, Change of Heart, High Plains Drifter, Essential Peabody, Roadside Highball, Ruckus, Ta Kill Ya Corner, Get Carter)

There are no pictures of me from this day (single tear) since I was taking the pictures. So I will use this space to complain about the speck of dust in my camera hovering above Derek on Buttermilk Stem (V1).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

A few more images from the madness...

Derek on Change of Heart (V6)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Derek on Milk the Milks (V6)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric flashing Hobb's Problem (V2)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Derek sending West Corner (V4)

photo - Eric Lang

Derek sticking the crux on the Cave Route (V6)

photo - Eric Lang

Check back soon for day two at the Happies. I think our point total was around 24. Not very exciting, but there will be pictures of Eric's standoff with a downclimb.

School's cancelled... for the Tram-ulites

2008-03-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Words fail me at this point...

Watch my icy hot super slide!
Photo by Abbie Mood

Although it may appear that the Tram looks like a rockin' good time, it is really only fun if you enjoy throngs of screaming children that have likely never seen snow before. Most of the very limited amount of Tram we saw was snow covered or wet. Temps were nice and the snow will probably be at a more managable level in a month or so. I am finally starting to get pysched for the spring and summer seasons (since the winter has been so whacky). Here are 2 videos recapping the days events... Abbie was more successful...

After much searching there actually was some sending to be done, but not by me... all I did was cry...

Abbie trying to capture the dream...
Photo by Eric

Abbie on "Unknown" V3/4
Photo by Eric

Photo by Eric

Just another layer to the legend... Abbie is a human onion...
Photo by Eric

Viva la Tram!!!

Meat Bump

2008-03-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Somehow we returned from Hueco with only one problem on video. And since we're lazy, it comes to you unedited with no music.

Eric sending Speed Bump (V7) AKA Meat Bump

Back on the east side, Wills, Jeff H., and I had a quick night session on Brian's Project (V8 or 9) last week. It's a fun, squeezy problem on the west side of the Buttermilk Stem boulder. Wills put the problem up a couple seasons ago and quickly repeated it several times after we refined our beta.

Wills on his third lap

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeff would have sent it if I hadn't been firing my flash off while he was trying to climb. (And the four giant holes in his fingers didn't help either.)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

5 second exposure of Jeff trying to find footholds in the dark.

$Texas

2008-03-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

Hueco is far away. We packed the car in 20 minutes and spent minimal time on this photo shoot of Eric and his chocolate. So why didn't we leave Anaheim until 11:00? I blame the Care Bears musical toothbrush that Eric had to buy and stupid kids from Orange that sniff Sharpies.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

This is where pictures from the Rock Rodeo would be if I'd taken any. It was all we could do to climb six boulder problems after rolling into the Ranch at 1:00am.

We spent most of our trip on North Mountain since we had reservations and couldn't rationalize spending a bunch of money on tours when it was so hot. So we chased shade, caves, and friendly holds.

Eric sending Stegasaur (V8) with the V6 beta: butt first

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric dislocating his spine to reach the pocket on Mousie Adame (V7). This problem will be closed when the park decides that this is Native American rock art. Until then, it's just graffiti.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

We only did one backcountry tour and spent the first part of the day getting beat up by small holds and warm temps.
Focus (V10)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

We gave up on Focus pretty fast after Eric got attacked by bad technique (not his) and moved on to some easier classics such as Slim Pickins (V5)

photos - Jeff Sillcox

and Jingus Bells (V5)

photos - Eric Lang & Jeff Sillcox

The highlight of the first half of the week was definitely the pickle incident. Eric and I ate a whole jar of pickles in a couple hours and then Eric decided that drinking all the pickle juice was a good idea. It was not.

photos - Jeff Sillcox

Sunset segway to second half of trip...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jamie came down from Salt Lake for a few days and cleaned up her project from the previous trip, Memento (V0+).

photo - Jeff Sillcox

And apparently learned how to use her arms, flashing Orifice Office (V1) and coming really close on some other steep problems.

photos - Eric Lang

Eric almost pulled out a last day send of Schwerer Gustov (V11), but instead succumbed to heat exhaustion and pickle juice poisoning.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jamie trying to remember how to slab climb on La Delicate (V3) after a winter in the gym.

photo - Eric Lang

This is what it looks like driving through Arizona in the middle of the night after eating three packages of Pop Tarts.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Random Junk

2008-02-15T15:09:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting for a big send and some accompanying video or photos to post, but it's just not happening. Wills did manage to do Direction (V13) a couple weeks ago and since he won't spray about it, I will. It was his first V13 and at age unknown shows that, "Hey, I guess they're right. Senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose."

So, since there's nothing big to report other than Wills making everything look easy, here's a bunch of random pictures from the last couple weeks:

Andrew sending Crispin Waddy (V6), Happy Boulders in a couple tries

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeff Honeywell on a five star V5 at some boulders

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Some boulders, mountains with white snow, and clouds

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Part of a dead animal

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Wills almost repeating Plain High Drifter (V11ish)

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Noah on Carrot Top (V3), Happy Boulders. There might be some video of Nathan sending this one somewhere... Andrew???

photo - Jeff Sillcox

A snow dealie at the Buttermilks

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Jeff H. psyching up for a nighttime send of Integration (V8). I sort of got pictures of him on it but they're really blurry since I'm retarded and left a piece of my tripod at home.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

This was going to be a sweet silhouette shot of Eric on Go Granny Go (V5), but he's not quite fat enough to block out the whole sun. Need Space Moths...

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Eric on Thunderbird (V11). This is the move I keep falling off of on Direction.

photo - Jeff Sillcox

Me getting hit in the butt with a snowball

photo - Jamie Kulju

Sunset with a tiny moon from the Buttermilks

photo - Jeff Sillcox