B3bouldering.com

Goals

Posted on 13. Jan, 2009 by B3 in Articles

I just got an email from my father, who noted that while I often talk about the things I can do, perhaps I should discuss what I can’t do. Agreed. I am looking forward to a relatively free spring and I have set several goals.

I am not planning any major trips, just short jaunts here and there. First up, I will be headed back to Hueco to try and finish Nagual. The longer I climb, I find myself still interested in improvement, but more interested in trying to repeat specific problems that are of the highest quality. Nagual seems very doable, however, other objectives seem farther away.

Nagual, East Spur

It is also interesting to me personally to try to climb at a certain level on every style I can. Black Lung has long been on my lifetime list. It is a beautiful piece of rock that for me is very difficult, very slopey. It climbs a medium (Joe’s sandstone) that I have not excelled on. I have tried Black Lung at least 5 days and have felt shut down.

Black Lung, a classic 8B on perfect Utah sandstone.

I am also thinking about a possible trip to Yosemite to try Midnight Lightening, the Yabo Roof, and most importantly, The Dominator. I tried The Dominator 4 years ago and had some good success and have often thought about going back. I also tried the Yabo Roof on that trip when Tommy Caldwell took me there- it was still a project at the time. Midnight Lightening I have yet to try, but would love to do it, as it is one of the most, if not the most, classic boulders in America.

The Dominator V12, Camp 4

I was very psyched on the Shield V12 when I was in Tennessee this winter and to be honest it totally shut me down. I am not sure when I’ll have the chance to go back.

Here in Colorado there isn’t a whole lot I have put a lot of effort into and haven’t done. That’s not to say there aren’t hard problems for me to go do. Freshly Squeezed, Jade, Ode to the Modern Man will all be great summertime projects, and I have put a few days in on all three. This winter I am most interested in Suspension of Disbelief, which, based on the number of repeats, is the hardest problem in Colorado. I was lucky enough to see Dave do the FA.

Suspension of Disbelief, the day Dave Graham made the FA photo Steve Woods

Jade would be the ultimate goal, but I haven’t done THE move and it seems a little beyond me. It takes a lot of sacrifice to put more than 10 or 15 days in on a problem, and with my busy work schedule over the past two summers, that just wasn’t practical. (I tried Nuthin But Sunshine about 90 days before I climbed that problem) Having the motivation to keep going back in light of repeated failure is a difficult thing and I am not surprised that climbers like Paul Robinson and Daniel Woods haven’t spent more time trying to do something really hard. Lately, I have found it a lot more enjoyable to climb on things I can do in 1-3 days. I climb a lot more problems, motivation stays high and it’s simply a lot more fun. For any climber to truly reach their limit, a massive effort is necessary and this now seems to be the real challenge.

Thanks, Dad, for reminding me that bouldering is really about what you haven’t done, and not what you have.