On another note, I know you’re on your V10 quest, and Northwest Branch in Silver Springs, MD has a few (Curtain Call, Ultimate Doom, and Ultimate Doom Direct) that I’m pretty sure you’d dispatch quickly. Gabor’s Ultimate Doom problems are nothing spectacular (still fun, though, if you’re forced to live in DC for an extended period of time). I never did see James O’ Connor’s Curtain Call, which I heard was pretty good. Either way, they’re worth a tick if you’re in the neighborhood, and you can take rest breaks at a Starbucks which is a 2 minute walk from the little park.

Two other problems of interest are Gabor’s ‘The Black Sun Rises’ V12/13, which is about a ten minute drive from the Sportrock Alexandria, VA location, and more importantly ‘Pick a Side and Commit’ (V9??).

Pick a side and commit has perhaps seen only one ascent and that was by my friend Ben Gerhardstein. Gabor or James may have done it, but they never logged it or mentioned it. Also, the problem is actually in Rock Creek Park, which is in Washington, DC itself (not Maryland or Virginia). Ben is a very strong climber having done ‘The Shield’ in 3 days, and a quick one day ascent of God Module. Point being his problem in Rock Creek Park could be V10. If so, you could add DC to your V10 project list giving you a total of 50 states and the Capital District itself to do a V10 in.

If you have anytime and want to check out these problems, I can give you any directions or beta you need to know on how to find them (Pick a side and Commit is relatively easy to locate via Google Maps). James and Gabor can definitively also tell you anything you need to know about their problems.

Hope you have fun setting at the nationals, and say hello to Jeremy Hardin and Lillian Choa-Quilan (Sportrock president) for me. Also, while you’re there, try and imagine what it was like for me to have lived there for 3 full years with nothing, but indoor climbing near by after having lived in the Fort for 8. Painful to say the least. Very painful.

-T