The Rendezvous

FINALLY SOME CLIMBING!
And a whole lot of it...


Last Saturday Kyle, Ben, Spook and I headed out to some place in Western Mass for the WESTERN MASS CLIMBERS COALITION RENDEZVOUS THING (see below). Because no one in our group had never heard of the place all of our expectations were deteremined by two blurry shots on the new england bouldering website and a flier that ensured a bouldering competition.

After two weeks without climbing, this amount of information was enough to keep me psyched for days.

Finally, it was that brisk and beautiful Saturday morning, and off we went to Wendell State Forest. The very first thing we encountered when we arrived must have been foreshadowing to the strange form of climbing we were going to be doing during the rest of the day. We pulled up, and there to great us was a 180 pound Great Dane. This beast came up to my elbows when standing on all fours. and on two feet it was probably taller than me. To sum it up, this animal (more horse than dog) was named bob.

Now you may wonder what was so strange about this day. Why was it not like any other outdoor climbing festival? Well, the answer can be summed up more by a grade than a word or a sentence... V0. That's right, the mother of all moderates.

Let me put this in perspective for you. You set 109 problems for a competition. 80% of those problems are below V2. The only logical way to make a competition work? Quantity over quality my friends. Each problem, regardless of grade, was worth 2 points. Lets get started.

After warming up on several (about 25) moderates from VFun to V3, we reached a very notable problem called B Roof - V5. This sick line came out a low roof (lay down start) and had a wide variety of climbing to a crux top-out. Check the Pics below.

Burl.

You see where his feet are? thats where the problem starts... Yeah...

CRUX TOP-OUT EPICNESS!!!!

We then hit up some more moderates. We met up with a kid named Keagan we had climbed with at comps and he, Ben and I sunk into a unique climbing mindset in which climbing in our hiking shoes and packs without a pad became acceptable. Polishing off moderates left and right, our points climbed higher and higher until we reached another notable problem called Birds Nest - V4. This SICK line climbs out a small roof, through a beastly throw off a crimp to a crux last move. That last move had me shut down for a good ten tries until I sent. Yay.

We moved towards the final area and after doing a few cool slab problems, Ben and I sunk back into our speed climbing mindset. We were litterally sprinting from problem to problem in our climbing shoes (an act that would later leave me unable to touch my beet-red toes the next day), sending everything we could.

There were a few cool climbs along the way, but there was no time to stop and marvel at them, hurry, run to the downclimb and hop on something else! I swear the sun is getting lower.

This mindset carried us all the way till the end of the comp.

The tally?
Ben climbed 68 problems for a total of 136
I climbed 60 problems for a total of 120
The rest of the crew (FOOLS) were more focused on the quality climbing.
Psh... they have no clue.

Ben got pity third behind a ton of uber strong people and the next day I was more sore than I have ever been ever.
-WB

Go to this:

Fall Sucks

What JP!?!
No! Fall doesn't suck, the temps are great, snow hasn't fallen, and those leaves make great extra padding.

Right, they do make great padding, and the temps are great, and fall would be awesome, but, school happens. And lets put it this way, when you have school everyday till 3:00, no gym to climb at and a sun that decides to duck its head at around 7:00, Fall sucks.

Everyday in school I would daydream about where I wanted to go during the weekend... climbing wise, of course... and every night I would dream about climbing. Unfortunately, I am on my second week without climbing currently and I'm starting to see how this sport is like an addiction to some crazy hard drug.

-You try it because you think it's fun or a friend suggests it
-Most likely you may first try it with your friends
-You start doing it more and more
-People think you are crazy when you tell them about it
-Your friends consist mainly of other people who do it
-(In extreme cases)You find yourself sleeping on things that weren't meant to be slept on just to get a power nap in before you head off to find your next fix, eating nothing but cheesepuffs.

Coincidentally, the same symptoms apply to World of Warcraft users.

Yes, this blog post is negative, but that's my life right now. I come home from school and get a daily pump hanging on the molding of door frames. As fellow climbers, I hope you can relate, everyday I am not climbing is directly proportional to how badly I want to climb.

I mean, just look at this post! The only reason I am posting it is because talking about climbing is as close as I can get to climbing at the moment.

It's 10:04 PM on a Saturday and the fact that my non-throbbing fingers don't scream or secrete some strange fluid every time I type a letter is bothering me. Is that sick? Maybe. Am I okay with that? Yeah.

What happens to you guys when you don't climb?
Discuss plz.

In other news this guy Joel who took some pictures of the Boulderwoods Comp has not sent them to us yet... I'm waiting. Uhm... Murph hurt a digit and is out for a little. Last I heard, Ben and Nyle have been crushin' in New Paltz daily. If anyone is headin' out to climb, please, please contact me.

5189441080.
My name is JP, I have a pad, I am a great motivator.
I have an extra pair of shoes (they have holes)
Size 8. Or 7 1/2... I'm too lazy to check.

I guess that's all folks.

If you are Jewish thank you so much for your wonderful holidays.
I get to climb 3 days in a row next weekend.

-WB

Why is he climbing a mountain?

Alright, well, in a change of what we usually post up here on WB. I figured I would put up some media that isn't mine. 'Why we climb' is a big question. And honestly its extremely hard to put to words.

HOWEVER!

If anyone were to provide a generally excepted reason, I would want that person to be william shatner. And I would want him to spray it down over a sick techno beat.

HIT IT!



Why am I climbing the mountain? ...because I'm in love.

Competition at Boulderwoods Saturday

Saturday outdoor comp. at Boulderwoods on Crane Mountain.
Be there.

I don't know if there's prizes, but there are rocks to be climbed. That's good enough for me.


SEE YA THERE!
-WB

60 Boulderers at P-Kill

As we approached the outbreak boulder at Peterskill in the Gunks, we were taken aback by the mass of people climbing. Yes, 60 boulderers had gathered for the great conditions and some good climbing. We started working several different problems, Ben flashed The Classic One - V5. Next we moved up to Village Idiot - V7. Everyone, especially Spook, made great progress on the problem, but moods were slightly damaged after Spooky took a nasty fall.

After a little work on Mad Lion - V7, we moved over to the Mentos Boulder for work on the cool aretes there. Adam and I made great progress on Delicate Soul and Tiger Style, both good V7's.

And then we were burned out.

In other news, I am working with Western Mass. Climbers Coalition to make a guidebook for the Reservoir Rocks in Great Barrington. I'll put up some more details later. If anyone has any information on set names, boulder names, route names, first ascents and such please get in contact with me at weekendbouldering@gmail.com

Also, I seem to have lost my camera... hence the lack of pictures...

-WB

Can't Stop

Perhaps its the lack of me scaling rocks in my life right now or maybe it's just that I have nothing better to do, but I cannot stop bloggin'! Consider this like some sort of little present. This may be the first time I've ever posted new stuff 3 days in a row!
WOO!

Problem is there isn't much to talk about. I was thinking of posting up some more pictures, stuff never seen on the blog. And maybe I will, but, that's sort of boring. Instead I'm going to make my top five favorite problems list.

This is in no particular order.

1. Bromance - V5
I was drawn to the line every time we went to G.B., but we never got on it! And the one night we did I was shocked at how hard it was. I didn't think I could make the crux jump move, but I pulled some strength out of nowhere and got the F.A. of a really cool line.

2. Drop the Clutch - V5
Not sure why I like this one. I just do. I think mainly I like it because rarely on a problem do you have so many consecutive V5 moves without the grade being higher. This problem is incredibly sustained, and very different.

3. Thrust Vault - V3
From a cool beginning section to a committing last move and top-out, this problem has always had a place in my heart.

4. Coitus - V6
This one made the list because of a couple different things. First of all, it's a beautiful line of huecos and crimps. Second, the moves are incredibly fun. And lastly, the day I sent I took a bad fall and was extremely discouraged, but it was nice to know that I could pull myself back together.

5. Green Goddess - V7
Of course this makes my list, it was my first V7 and probably my first real project. Those are most of the reasons its one of my favorites.

Comment and list your top 5 please.
Discuss.
-WB

So much trouble

After so much trouble,
this.
is.
the.
real.
thing.
I Promise.
-WB

Yeah...

So we haven't had a new video in a month...

Call it me being nice, generous or just extremely bored and wanting to do something vaguely climbing related, but later tonight I'm gonna post up a new video from way back during the ADK Bouldering Weekend.

The first ever WeekendBouldering/GoldenCrimp video of Nine Cornered Lake.
Feat. Izzy, Aaron, JP, Ben, Kyle and Adam on Meat and Potatoes, Thorazine and Origin.

You're welcome.
-WB

Bromance

After a couple weeks of non-bouldering (roped climbing), Kyle, Adam and I rolled out to G.B. for some nighttime, late summer sends. Someone was missing from the crew however, that someone was Benjamin Horgen.

That's right, our beloved Ben is off to college in New Paltz, a fitting setting for the young crusher. Although we haven't met up with him yet down there we hear he's doing well... he sent the hardest problem in the gym in two tries.

Anyway, the whole crew had to overcome our feelings for Ben for a sick day of climbing at G.B... I don't know if you remember, but last time we went to G.B. we were attacked by a HORRENDOUS amount of mosquitoes. This time was no better, the little blood suckers were relentless would swarm the forearms and faces of whoever was climbing. Just another obstacle for the E-City crew to overcome.

We started our day at two boulders that Adam and I had found a cleaned a while back. They both have lines that haven't been done yet on them and we were hoping to nab some FA's. We started on a great problem called Closer - V3. Its a very cool problem in that the crux involves soft slopers reminescent of the south and rarely found in Great Barrington. Kyle and I hadn't sent yet, but after a few goes we both got the fun little line.

After a few goes on the ridiculous eliminate project Further - V?, which is on the same boulder as Closer, we headed over to another project that climbs a slightly overhung face out a small pit. From the looks of it I thought the problem would be easy, but it proved me wrong. We started taking goes in the pit only to find we were a little scared of the slightly sketchy fall. We discovered that the best way to protect on the problem was to put a spotter in the pit with you to guide you from falling onto either of the two rocks that form the pit. Needless to say, this made the situation in the pit very... close. Lets just say there was some serious spotter - climber bromance going on.

The route turned out to be a tad tricky. Smaller fingers help on this route due to the small slot you crimp down on. After attaining a nice sidepull via a kneebar or a high foot, you gear up for a very dynamic move to a small ledge. This shut our team down for a while as missing the ledge would definatelycause an interesting fall. But after feeling the move with Adam giving me a little weight, I knew it was very possible. On my last go, I wasn't thinking about the fall, or sending, or anything for that matter besides the move, and that's when I sent.

We named the problem Bromance - V5 after the spotting situation and also for our friend Ben. WE MISS YOU BEN! It's a SICK problem and if you're ever in the area it's up and right of the warm-up boulder infront of a very cool looking roof, to the left of Closer and Further and coming out of a small pit. If you go to The Optimist - V11 you've gone too far.

As the hours ticked away and the sun started to set, we moved up to The Platform Problem - V6. Kyle and Adam had been working this route for quite some time and were hoping to send the cool line today. As golden light splashed over the rock, Adam and Kyle began taking goes. After a little Adam sent using some new top-out beta just as the sun was setting. Nice send man. Kyle got wicked close, but couldn't unlock the feet.

After a few goes on Pistol Grip - V6+ we headed out of the G.B. woods in the dark. A good day... even if Ben wasn't there.
-WB