Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Browse Boulders from Shibidaang on Vimeo.

Here is a video my friend Isaac posted of an area I briefly visited in Utah. All problems shown are really awesome.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Home Sweet Home

                                                  It's great to be back home.


     After 5 and a half months on the road I've finally returned home to relax for a bit. Traveling and living in a car for that long really takes it out of you. Some recovery time is going to be nice. My last month in Utah was interesting to say the least. Joe's Valley gave us some good weather. I spent most of my time just having fun and sending moderates. I did manage to get a couple hard ones before I came back home. I also did some cool newer ascents in the St. George area. I helped my friend Isaac establish some awesome new granite lines at a little known area north of the town. After cleaning this steep thuggy project, we figured out the beta and put down a hard new gem. Isaac named it the Velvet Glove and we thought about v10ish. I also repeated some of his other classics that were really good. The climbing was very gymnastic for granite which was awesome.
     Next I hit up Bishop for a few days to hang with some buddies. One day at the Sads, Matt Arnold showed me an old project of his right between Cowskull and Enter the Choss. We started trying it and realized the difficulty, which revolved around this desperate reach back move that has a vicious swing with high dab potential. It started to feel possible but very hard. Eventually, out of nowhere, I sent the problem while doing a crazy one armed catch into a double helicopter, somehow, by a miracle, not dabbing. It was a very memorable move for me. I called the line Catch Me If You Can v8. Matt Arnold repeated this problem a few days after. I was psyched to add another great new line to this awesome area. Now I'm back home chilling out for while. I have to now start getting ready for my trip to South Africa this summer. I plan on doing about 5 weeks of training, while of course trying some of the great outdoor problems Tahoe has to offer. I've been to South Africa for two seasons and this will be my third. I really like that country and the climbing that it has to offer. I'm hoping to spend the last bit of the trip there living and climbing in Cape Town, which will be an awesome, new experience no doubt.