B3bouldering.com

I am back in Boulder and we have begun setting for the 2008 ABS Nationals at the Spot. This looks to be a great year with the strongest women’s field we have had in a while (Alex Johnson, ALex Puccio, Page Classen, Angie, Lisa Rands, Emily Harrington etc etc) and in the men’s a showdown between Paul Robinson, who is the number one boulderer in the world, according to 8a.nu and the legendary Chris Sharma. I will update results as fast as I can. For more info, check out www.rockcomps.com

The last week in Hueco has been incredible. After spending most of my time in the South on easier problems, I decided to put effort into something hard. The obvious choice was Slashface, a classic and historic V13 put up by Fred Nicole in the late 90s. A large jug broke off the end last year and has made the problem a bit harder than before. I used almost the exact same sequence Chris Sharma used to make the second ascent in the film Free Hueco. It took me few days to figure out the moves and yesterday I managed to send it. I can’t begin to describe how psyched I am to climb this beautiful boulder. I am ever motivated to have the opportunity to climb such amazing problems. Here are some pictures.

Afterwards we went over and I climbed Full Service, the first V10 in Hueco, and the standard for the grade. Full Service was put up by Dale Goddard and was originally named Serves You Right. It was probably the first time I had climbed two problems in a day off of my lifetime ticklist, and a good reminder of how hard V10 is supposed to be. It was a great day of climbing with good friends, a gorgeous sunset and a perfect sendoff before we head to Europe. I am ready for Switzerland!

Today is a rest day, and a bunch of us are hanging out at Kristoph’s Coffee. Here is a great video someone dug up of a free solo attempt in Squamish, BC.

http://www.downstreammedia.net/TheRangeLife/Video/mattnet.mov

How time flies. We have moved on to Hueco Tanks and things are happening fast. Today Angie climbed Chblanke V11 on North Mountain. This problem was originally graded V12, but the consensus seems to be one grade less. Ang. had tried the problem a couple of days two years ago and then again last year over a weekend. This time she did it quickly on her second day of this trip. Well done!
Check out the pictures.

Boulder climber Jody Hansen did Chblanke last week in a strong effort.

Our last days in the South were totally amazing. We climbed at LRC, Dayton and HP40. I was trying to finish up a couple harder things at LRC, including the Chattanoogan V12. This time I just couldn’t pull it out. I gave it a few goes from the start and when it didn’t happen I just decided to salvage the day by climbing on a bunch of easier things. Tyrone Biggums V10, Celestial Mechanics V7, Castaway Dyno V7, The Chronic V5, and White Trash V5. It was a great day and I was happy leaving Chattanooga.

The Chattanoogan V12

The next day we headed up to Dayton so Ange. could finish off her project Sandblasting Skin V8. The problem climbs out the right side of the massive roof on big spans and perfectly sculpted sandstone holds. She did the end a couple of times and fired it. I also quickly did the 4th ascent of Matt Bosley’s Crazy Craver V11. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to climb on any of the things I cleaned up, so I leave them, ready to go, for all of my southern friends.

Crazy Craver V11

The Dayton Roof

As we left Dayton, we got word that Ronnie Jenkins had climbed “the whole shebang,” the hardest line out the cave from a sit start. This is at least V12 if not harder and very cool.

Our last day was at HP40. I had nothing pressing to send, but Ange was psyched to finish off Slider V9, which she did in good form.

Slider V9

I just ran around climbing some amazing sandstone boulders, including Chattanoogan Plow V7, Ghetto Superstar V9, Boogie Wonderland V3, Skywalker V9 and Trick or Treat V6. It was such a fun day.

Ghetto Superstar V9

One final word about the sandstone experience. I must emphasize that if you are looking to pad your scorecard with big ticks, the South is not the place to do it. If you care about rock quality, movement, self-improvement, and a humbling experience then I hope you find yourself in the Alabama woods on a crisp winter day, high off the ground and about to fall, before reaching out to the most improbably rounded and sticky hold you have ever grabbed.

w3rd

Momentumvm has the first installment of our footage from the south. Check it out. Psyched to get some of that footage out there finally and I must say the best is yet to come.