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...
