Bon Voyage!!

Well, I am off to the Rocklands in South Africa. Supposedly the best bouldering in the world. I've been wondering what it's like for years and I'll finally get to see for myself. As you can tell from the picture I've made sure to pack the bare essentials. I've heard that in addition to great bouldering there are cobras, leopards, and thieving baboons. This sounds like it will be a truely unique stage for climbing. I'm going to try this one last project here at home before I leave. I will be travelling for a couple of days just getting there and I don't like sitting still for that long. So hopefully I will get all this energy out of my system before total jetlag sets in. I wanted to say thanks to Brooke and Buck for all the hook ups and also thanks to Noah for getting me to sack up and go to the best bouldering on earth. If I get internet I'll keep up on my emails and this blog but if not I'll see you in 6 weeks ....unless I become lion food...keep your fingers crossed.

Invasion of the Bishop Crew

Ian cruising the 6th ascent of Hate Handles v10

Hacky sack central. Good Times

Kenyan Smith going full throttle on Maple Cabin Syrup v8

Cotter Brown doing the 3rd ascent of American Gladiator v8

This past 3 day weekend the Bishop crew came to pay the south shore boulders a visit and kicked some serious ass. A lot of hard problems saw multiple ascents. At the Hate Handles area the mega classic dyno itself saw three ascents. Zack West was the first, busting out the 4th ascent in just about a half hour. Record time for this problem. Gaining momentum from Zack, Nate was next to get the fifth ascent and, noteably, his first v10. Nate was so excited he decide to even chuck a 2nd lap on this classic move. Two days later Ian Cotter Brown came back for revenge and out of nowhere unlocked the ninja move with ease. The rest of the crew came really close. Josh Vale and Kenyan Smith will be back for vengence when the temps get better. The classic v7 CryBaby saw 2 flashes from Zack and Josh. Josh Vale and Frank Lucido also got the 3rd and 4th ascent of Touch Your Toes v6/7.

The next day we went to the Twin Peaks area where the heat was just too much for this good but very exposed winter spot. This did not stop Ian from crushing the 3rd ascent of American Gladiator v8 even though it was in the sun. The heat soon squashed the group's enthusiasm, but not for long. For once the hacky sack came out it was on like donkey kong. Several hacks were done in this 7 person circle. The energy was similar to that of drunken football fans watching there home team in the super bowl. I must say that this was the funnest part of the weekend. Positive energy and fun vibes were rife in the air.

The last day was hot and so we went to the very shady Cabin Fever Boulder where Ian did the 2nd ascent of Maple Cabin Syrup v8 and 3rd ascent of Log Cabin Syrup v7/8. Kenyan Smith hit all the moves quick on Maple. However, the heart-breaking finishing mantle stopped Kenyan a few times in the link and he had to settle for saving it for the next trip, but the send is definately imminant. Kenyan and the whole crew will return later on to rack up more points and continue their streak of making tahoe's hardest problems look like warm ups. Awesome job crew.

Land of the Lost

David O on Lost Horizon

David on Atomic Wedgie

Crux move of Tai Chi's link up project

This weekend we got a first rate tour of the new Nevada area Land of the Lost. Pretty neat spot. Very remote with lots of rock. The quality is very mixed. Anywhere from bullet rock to dried mud and everywhere in between. Frank Lucido, David O, Brenna and I were the crew. We had lots of pads which is good because most of the climbs are tall and adventurous with bad landings. The standout lines were Lost Horizon v3, Shangri La v3, Atomic Wedgie v7, Tai Chi v7, and the "project" which looked incredible. Tall, steep, and solid. Unfortunately the 2nd day a heat wave came in and climbing past 11 am was impossible. But the first day and 2nd morning we got our fill of good, steep climbing. I almost sent a project that was a lower extention into Tai Chi that had a rediculous cross through move into the start of TC. Very hard but I fell inches from the jug about 8 times and then decided to save it for later. Now I am back home working, training and getting ready for the next session this weekend.

Return of the sunshine

Hate Handles, mega classic.
Future Present v11 @ Barb-Wire Area
Today was the first nice day in the last 5. My friend and I camped out in a meadow in Hope Valley last night. The view was good even at night because of the fullish moon. Went bouldering today at the Barb Wire area. We did a bunch on the Future Present Boulder but it was a bit warm for climbing hard. My buddy left for Jackson so I moved on to the Hate Handles area for a quick circuit. I tried the sharp project but it was a no go. The snow level at Hate Handles and Barb Wire area is down to zero. I'm psyched to see some of the newer areas in Nevada ; particularly the Lost World and Job Peak Boulder. I hear that these spots are pretty rad. I can't wait to find out.

No Means No

Noah on Cry Baby v7

Noah Kaufman on 2nd ascent of Hate Handles v10

On Wednesday my friend Jason and I went to the Hate Handles boulder before rain came for the weekend. We did some of the usual warm-ups and put the first sprinkles of chalk on the holds for this season. I managed to do a new link up that took over as the hardest line on the wall. A traverse into Dr. No. I named this new line No Means No v12. This does 5 or 6 campus style power moves into v11. It was pretty hard and really good. There are still 2 really hard project to go on this wall. One is a link up with a sick opening crux that would lead into v11. The other is a pure line up the middle of the wall on nasty little edges and a crux deadpoint into a slopey pocket followed by a tough looking top out. My friends from Bishop are coming down next weekend to visit this area as well as the Twin Peaks area. Some crazy repeats and first ascents will no doubt go down.

First post

I am posting this blog as a way to keep my friends, family, and fellow climbers updated on what's going on in my life and what's going on in the tahoe bouldering scene. Tahoe has so many boulders it is kind of nice having them all to myself but I figure it is time to start sharing what's going on around here. Enjoy my blog.