The Dawning of the Age of Awesome

The nice thing about continuing a blog for so long is the ability it gives me to go back and read old posts from years past. It's a very nostalgic feeling and it's incredible to see how my friends and I have progressed and just how much we really like this strange habit we fell into. Periodically, I like to go back and look at some old posts, read what I said, how psyched I was, etc, etc. But this last time, I realized that maybe I wasn't putting the same effort into the blog as I used to.

The PPM (posts per month) was on a steady decline, and I knew it.

There was a feeling that people weren't reading it anyway, and there was no point in writing it. However, if I let the fact that nobody gives a shit keep me from doing anything, I certainly picked the wrong sport to get involved with. The simple fact is that nobody really does give a shit about climbing, and nobody should, similarly nobody gives a shit about blogging. Climbing is a personal thing, just like this blog, and I'm finally coming to see the value of this diary-esque chronicle.

The epic saga of Weekend Bouldering is far from over.

With the recent snowmelt, my psyche is back, and I even feel stronger. My mental game has made a complete recovery, and with recent visits to Lost City (post on that later) and other Gunks areas, I really can't wait for warmer weather. Dacks season. Oh sweet jesus yes.

So, to bring in the new era of re-awesomed WB, I'm starting a series of posts on my favorite areas, and the lowdown on all of them. AND to get you all psyched like me, I'm starting with areas in the Adirondacks.

Which ADK Bouldering spot do you guys want me to cover first? Comment. It's easy. I'll respect you more if you do it. All the cool kids are. Don't make me sad.

Look for a post on Lost City later this week as well.

-WB

Warmth

ALWAYS as a rule, the wicked, wet, muddy times of March produce for a moment a perfect weekend of beautiful sun and warmth. As a climber, it's basically sacrilege to miss this prime opportunity. Escaping the clutches of Northeast winter, Kyle and I jetted down I-87 to reach the carriage path, perhaps one last time before the Summer months.

Straight Destiny

The air felt crisp like Fall. Of course, we had to pay, but it was worth it to meet up with Luke, and a few new friends. Erick had an impressive first day ever at the Gunks, sending The Buddha - V7 and The Following - V6. Luke also sent the Buddha and made impressive progress on Boxcar.

Luke's hands

At the Following cave, we met up with a guy name Matt that I had met at Yikes over the winter. After sharing a mutual feeling of "it's been too long for me to try anything hard today" we went and tried Yikes - V9. Matt found himself stuck at the same place as before, but felt good to know he was still there. I made more progress, moving to the iconic dyno and even attempting the jump a few times. It's too bad the season here is ending, I'm just beginning to appreciate Yikes as one of the best on the road.

Sending

We ended the day with a few cold attempts at New Pair, and went home satisfied at 5:30. The sun was still out.

I never thought I would say this, but to see Winter leave isn't all that bad...

We'll see how that goes when I start slipping off of grimy holds.

Send goggles

-WB

College

I have recently begun the arduous process of selecting the colleges to visit, apply to and go to, and honestly, it sucks. There are more than too many schools and for someone already stunted in the area of decision making, it's literal hell. One of the only common denominators involved in my selecting of colleges is the distance to and the amount of climbing at colleges.

But even then, there's so much more rock out there than anyone could have imagined, and I still find myself fretting over where exactly I should go.

I don't want to stay in the Northeast. Well... at least not New York. I have nothing against it, I just want to be somewhere new. And given this and my previous requirement of climbing, that leaves the obvious choices: the south and the west.

But that's not the end of it, I've just found out that places like Minnesota have climbing. Minnesota? I thought that place was just a rumor or something.

So where do you think I should go? Or at least look... any and all input is greatly appreciated.

For a long time my heart was set on Boulder, but now, I'm starting to think otherwise...

-WB