B3bouldering.com

There are some new videos of Mount Evans on the premium page of Momentumvm. Paul Robinson climbing 2 V12s at Mt. Evans, Child Stars and Clear Blue Skies. Check it out if you have the cash.

On Jan 2 Angela and I left for the first leg of our roadtrip, and the sweet sandstone of the South. After a quick stop in Tennessee to check out some old Litz problems we made our way to Horse Pens 40, outside of Steele, Alabama. Horsepens is one of the best bouldering areas in America, and it is also one of the smallest and most concentrated. It is world reknown for the amazing texture of the rock and locally known for its notoriously stiff grades. So called “elite” climbers claim that the South doesn’t have hard problems and that’s why they aren’t interested in going. It’s not that there aren’t hard problems here, they just don’t have big numbers. Genetic, a V10 put up some 10 years ago by James Litz remains unrepeated. Millipede a classic problem that feels full value V7, is a V3 for the locals. I have seen V11 climbers spend half an hour trying to warm up on the classic V4 Bum Boy. And Great Dane, another “V10” put up by Litz, would probably get V12 if it was put up in the Park last summer. However, all of this becomes irrelevant when you realize just how amazingly, incredibly fun it is to climb here.
When you go to Horse Pens 40, the most coveted problem in the area is God Module. This is certainly one of the best V11s (although originally graded V10) in America, and a classic power testpiece. I climbed this several years ago and this trip was just psyched to go back, climb some easier things and just enjoy the Southern experience.

No Tranquility V10, 2004

We woke up to perfect conditions and first on the list was Slider. I gave a good flash go but fell when my foot popped. I worked out the upper moves and then climbed it. This was one of the problems I was psyched to go back and send. Very classic. I rested a bit and then we walked over to Landslide. Landslide has some of the best rock I have ever climbed on. It also looks like a tennis shoe problem until you try and pull on. The difficulty revolves around a gym-like sloper and culminates in an amazing rock over and mantle.

The perfect rock of Alabama

Lee Payne first climbed it and he deserves a lot of respect for having the vision and talent to establish this outstanding problem. I was psyched to have the chance to climb it.
With the weather warming up this week we are heading north to Georgia and Tennessee.

Hopefully more new video and photos will be up soon.

The classic Mushroom Boulder in Hueco Tanks has been closed. A sad day indeed for US bouldering.

http://climbing.com/news/hotflashes/mushroomclosed07/

The Woman with a Hueco in Her Head V10, Hueco Tanks, Mushroom Boulder, 2004