Daniel Woods has made the first one day ascent of New Base Line V14 in Magicwood in Switzerland. Well done young lad. Maybe next up for young Daniel would be Bernd Zangerl’s Anam Cara. Once again, the Americans have proven themselves to be climbing at the highest level overseas. Here is a link to an old article from Climbing.com when Dave Graham made a very quick ascent of the New Base Line (see Dave Graham sends New Base Line).
There are so many amazing projects down here. Today I went and rapped and cleaned one of the best lines I have ever seen. I found it a few days ago near Dayton. Here are some pics from todays events.
Perfect sandstone edges on a riverside boulder V12-V13?
Amazing hard project in the V15 range on the same river boulder
Gorgeous vertical face
Incredible 20ft face, probably V10-V13
A King Line?
With the end of our southern tour approaching we headed back down to Horse Pens for another day on perfect sandstone. I was happy climbing on more moderate things just running around enjoying the day. The high yesterday was around 35 and dry, perfect conditions. Ang. and I warmed up on the classic problems Bum Boy V4 and Millipede V6.
Classic moves
Perfect rock
Millipede
We then walked over and Ang did the classic problem Landslide V9. After falling off the very easy last move, she did it twice in a row. Very well done.
Landslide
I was psyched on a very nice Randy Puro problem called HotnTot V10. I had tried it on a previous trip and fallen off the top several times. I think this problem should get more attention than it does and I was psyched to finish it off. Video is off to momentumvm.com, but here is a picture of me cleaning off the top, and more importantly the boulder itself.
HotnTot climbs the green bulge
We finished up the day on a bunch of great problems, Ang falling off the top of Slider V9 and me topping out the amazing Skywalker V9, and Bradiation a fun V9 campus problem. We also played on Mortal Combat V3, an amazing tall arete and some other fun problems.
Bradiation
Mortal Combat
It was a great day and I am going to be sad to leave the South.
Richland Creek
Yesterday we made our way back to Dayton, and I finished off Matt Bosley’s Vapor Lock V11. The problem climbs straight out a very steep roof on amazing sandstone pinches and pockets. It is a classic problem. It was originally graded V13 but the Chattanooga locals have suggested otherwise.
Vapor Lock
I also did another nice line, The Honeycomb Roof V9/10. When I asked our tour guide Ronnie Jenkins, how hard this line was he replied “Traylor says its as hard as The Receptionist (a classic V10 in Flagstaff, AZ)” “So what do you guys call it?” “V9″ Classic. I can’t emphasis how much fun we have been having with Ronnie in Chattanooga. He has shown us some great local areas and his never ending motivation is contagious.
Angela has been climbing well with a quick send of Bedwetters V10 at LRC.
Lisa Rands has made the first female ascent of The Mandala in Bishop California. Well done!
www.bishopbouldering.com
Jason Kehl has made the 2nd ascent of The Shield in LRC.
www.cryptochild.com
Thursday was a rest day after three days on and Friday we made our way back to LRC. The last couple of days there I had been trying to send this extension to Biggie Shorty, a V10 I had done last week. The extension, which was put up by Matt Bosley, adds quite a bit of difficulty to the original, which I had climbed in a couple of tries. It was much warmer today but conditions were still good. The sun was out and it may have hit 50. Local strongmen Jimmy Webb and Matt Segal were also there trying the problem with me.
Jimmy Webb
The crux revolves around a hard match, followed by a huge lock off to a slopey sidepull. From there, the climber still has to burl through the hard, crimpy move of Biggy Shorty. We each had our own different beta, and were all close to getting the send. I was gave myself no more than 5 tries from the start, to minimize skin loss, and on the fourth burn I fired it. There was much talk about the grade, and all I can do is give my opinion. I would say it is in the low end V12 range. For me, it was similar in style and difficulty to Wildcat in Upper Chaos. Matt and Jimmy both couldn’t be much closer and I am sure they will send in the next few days. Angela finished up a couple of things as well, I Think I Can V7/9 and The Cinderalla-Cleopatra Travere V9. She also climbed well on some harder things.
Bedwetters
I am resting tomorrow and Ang. is climbing. Sunday the weather looks great and I will either head back to Dayton to finish off Vapor Lock (the best hard problem out of the massive roof) or head out to try another hard problem in Alabama.
The gorgeous rock of the South
Wednesday we decided to head out to a newer area known as Dayton. It is in central Tennessee. Most of the hard problems here were put up in the past two years and it sounded like there was potential for more. Just outside of town a dirt road heads up into the hills . In a matter of minutes, the rural countryside falls away, and the road drops into a beautiful river valley and a large parking area. A wide path parallels a gorgeous green river. There are boulders everywhere.
We made our way up the side of a steep hill to a large overhang.
The cave has hundreds of sculpted holds. Our tour guide, Ronnie Jenkins, shows us the best lines. It is peaceful at the cave and for the next few hours we have a great session with our small crew pulling down in the woods
Afterwords we head up the trail to check out a bunch of great new boulders.
I found several projects to go back to if we have time.
All in all, a great day, another great area to go check out, and more amazing problems to go try. Video of the cave shall appear shortly.
This post is a couple of days old, from Friday at LRC.
We finally made our way to Little Rock City north of Chattanooga. This unique bouldering area is located on the edge of a golf course surrounded by million dollar homes. The rock is exquisite sandstone, more featured than Horse Pens but nearly perfect in texture. This area holds the highest concentration of hard problems in the South, with classics like The White Face V11, The Law V11, Flyin’ High V11, Dragonslayer V12 and the amazing Shield V12/13. I, of course, am interested in all of these, as well as the slew of more moderate but equally amazing boulders.
Today we met up with Matt Segal who showed us around a bit. I got warmed up on some classic easier lines including a really cool dyno called Spyro Gyro. Check out the video.
We then went up to the Shield and I tried this a bit. It was warm but it felt good in the heat and I am ready to return when things cool off. The rest of the day was spent spotting Ang. and climbing some of the great moderates there. Finally, I decided to try something harder. The White Face V11 is a nice crimping testpiece. Temps had cooled off a bit. It took me a few tries to trust the slopey crux foot, but I topped out just as the sun was setting. That footage is headed to momentumvm. Today we went to check out a newer area near Dayton, TN on a rest day. Great new area in a gorgeous river valley. Tomorrow, we head back to LRC.
After visiting the three main sandstone areas in the South (LRC, Rocktown, and HP40) one of the next places we decided to check out is Zahnd. Zahnd is only a 20 min drive from Rocktown, and it lies in the heart of rural Georgia.
A short hike through a nice forest leads to a small cluster of excellent sandstone boulders. The rock here forms some amazing and fantastic shapes.
The best boulder there has one of the best problems in the Southeast, Harvest Moon V8. The problem begins on an obvious jug and some long moves to a perfect sloping edge. From there a three foot blank section is surmounted by a hard throw to an absolutely perfect rounded finishing hold.
Harvest Moon
Scott Gross gettin’ it done
The sit start goes at V10 and is a nice addition for those looking for a greater challenge. It’s obscure and classic problems like these that really make for lasting memories on the trip. I am very psyched to have climbed this problem.
Today we went back to Zahnd and I did The Mantis SDS which is a right finish to Harvest Moon. I also checked out some really nice projects. Tomorrow is a rest day. The camera is back in action so there will be many more pics to come.
The past week has been great and we have been climbing at Rocktown and Zahnd, getting back some fitness. I have been without my photo camera but it is coming soon. We have also been shooting footage for our friend MC at www.momentumvm.com. The best stuff will be on his site for your enjoyment. I have been just cleaning up on some classic Georgia boulders, and I stumbled upon an amazing crimping project at Rocktown, the sit could be V14.
Here is a short video of some nice problems from Rocktown. Angie provides perfect beta on the last problem.
Also check out www.scottygross.blogspot.com, for some more Rocktown sending.
