With the summer heat and humidity increasing every weekend at a steady rate, I knew I only had another trip or two to send something hard (for me) before it got too slimy.  I went down solo this past weekend to climb with some friends and have a bro weekend.  Gaelyn was a bit tired and burnt out and wanted to take the weekend off.  We were planning a long day at Endless Wall on Saturday.  A light breeze stayed with us the whole day, which kept the area relatively cool for early June.  Usually you can’t climb at the North facing crags, like Endless, in the summer due to the oppressive heat.

Aesthetica (11c) - My stoke was super high to get back on this route.  I top roped it once last year when I was very tired from the previous climbing day.  I remember this route shutting me down hard and the big moves between some crimps felt very tough.  There aren’t any bolted warm ups in the area so Chris encouraged me to just warm up on Aesthetica, going bolt to bolt if I needed to.  Hang the draws and remember the beta was his advice.  The first burn went surprisingly well.  The movement seemed to flow and the beta was relatively obvious for me.  Two falls later and I was at the top.  After a nice rest, I was ready for a redpoint burn.  The first section up to the start of the crux went very smooth.  I was feeling strong.  A big move to a hueco, a bit of a traverse right, and I was at my next clip near two smaller pockets.  Just enough to squeeze a full pad in.  The crux was up next.  I high stepped into a good pocket, locked off hard, and reached up to a knobby jug.  Got it!  A quick hand foot match and I was at the sloping rail which leads to easier terrain for a bolt or two.  I knew I just had to keep it together for the upper thin bit.  Another nice lock off to a long slot, then some small crimps on slabby terrain takes you to some finishing jugs.  Woohoo!!  I was super psyched to redpoint this classic line in two burns.  I was surprised that it felt quite easy for me.  Now I was going to push it a bit today.

BUST - The rest of the weekend was a total bust for me.  I was quite frustrated.  At times, I couldn’t figure out the beta or body position, while other times I just simply wasn’t strong enough to make a big move.  I spent the rest of the day working out the moves on Bullet in the New Sky (12b), which proved to be quite difficult.  While on lead, I fell continuously at the crux, unable to make it further.  Later that day, I top roped the line, and still had a hell of a time.  I thought that the route would be relatively easy after the crux, but the whole thing seemed hard!  I also attempted NWO (12a), which ended quickly as I couldn’t even get my feet of the ground!  The route starts with a couple campus moves, and for some reason, there was no way I could do it.

Sunday was more of the same.  I warmed up on DD (10a) at The Other Place, which might be one of the best, steep jug hauls of the grade at the New.  I went on to Makes You Tigger (11a), which has for some reason or another shut me down.  It all revolves around one crux move where you have a sidepull with your left hand, a super high step with the left foot, and an aweful crimp with the right hand.  The route was in the full sun, making that beta impossible.  I worked out different beta, which involves avoiding the high step completely.  I step up with the right foot and used a low pinch with the right hand.  A quick pop and I latched the jug up high.  It turns out my beta for the past three attempts of this route was too low percentage.  Next time I will get this stupid route…. next time.

I ended my frustrating day with a top rope attempt of Way of the Beaver (12a).  The climbing is casual until I was shut down at the high crux, which involves a hard lock off with the right hand to latch a high jug.  Couldn’t even do it!  Sunday ended up being a shorter day, which was okay for me, since I wanted to get back home for dinner.

I have these weekends sometimes.  I get very frustrated with my climbing, and it makes me second guess how I climb and train for climbing.  This weekend was full of mixed emotions due to my huge success of a fast redpoint of Aesthetica, but followed by humble pie.  I was working routes that I thought were close to my ability level.  Routes that I should be able to do all the moves.  These are the types of routes I was hoping to redpoint in the Fall, but they seemed impossible this past weekend.

When frustrations like this occur for me, I wonder if what I am doing to prepare and train for climbing is the best use of my time.  Am I wasting my time?  There must be a better more efficient way that would yield better results.  The problem is, I don’t know what those are.  It’s the constant ups and downs that we all encounter as climbers, no matter what grade we climb.  These downer moments might instill more motivation and psych than the upper moments!  They show us how much we have left to accomplish, how much work we need to put in, and demonstrate to us once again that climbing is a lifelong pursuit.

Approaching the Layback

After this past weekend down at the New, I think I can safely say summer is here to stay.  We spent Saturday down at Sandstonia, a popular area part of Bubba City.  Sandstonia has the greatest concentration of high quality, easy rock climbs at the New.  No where else will you find 100 ft. bolted 5.8′s that are good!

The Good Book (10a) - This line, on the far right side of Sandstonia, starts with a bit of choss.  A couple bolts up, the route gets much better with some holds that require a certain body position to take advantage of.  The top third of the route is a large dihedral, that looks like an open book.  It takes a couple harder moves to get established in the book, but once you do, it’s smooth stemming to the top.  Quite a nice line that usually doesn’t have too many people on it… everyone is climbing the easy stuff.

Layback and Enjoy It (10d) - I’ve been on this route a couple years ago, but didn’t send.  It starts out with some bouldery moves, then a big reach.  You can use some very small intermediates if you like, but I prefer to dyno to the lip of the ledge where you can get it all back.  From here, some easy terrain leads you to a layback crack, hence the name.  Unfortunately, the layback section is only about 15 feet long.  Exiting the crack and working left around a bulge proved harder than I remembered and spit me off.  I was mad at my poor beta, so after a brief rest, I got back on and sent without too much effort.  There is an extension to this route that goes at 11a, but there were bees flying around up there, so we decided to forgo that part, ending at the first set of anchors.

We found some shade!

G-String (11a) - Like the previous line, I’ve been on this one before but without a send.  This is by far the best route at Sandstonia.  The stone is that perfect, orange, New River sandstone that is free of any choss.  The crux comes quick around the second to third bolt.  An awesome high step move to a crimp takes you to an undercling and easier terrain to a rest.  A traverse left, moving past some sick, crescent moon sidpulls leads to easier terrain at the top.  Don’t let your guard down until the end, but the harder climbing is definitely behind you.  So good and I was super psyched to send this first go of the day!

Mrs. Field’s Follies (8) - I forgot how fun this route was!  100 feet of easy terrain with a big roof at the end.  Outstanding!  The draws were hung, and everyone was wrapping up the day, so I jumped on this one and sprinted to the top to clean the draws.  The sun was shining, I was feeling really good after two good sends, and I enjoyed every foot of this climb all the way to the top.  The view isn’t too bad either…

Geisha Girl (8) - Mrs. Fields neighbor on the left is just as good.  There is no roof at the top, but there are some very fun crack moves throughout the route.  I was smiling the whole way and I quickly climbed this line, again to clean the draws that were on it.  Who knew you could have so much freaking fun on 5.8!

Psyched to climb!

By this point, it was late, so we made the long hike out, cursing Bubba City the whole way.  The hike is long with many hills, and every time we go, we vow to never return.  Obviously we forget how unpleasant the hike is (especially on a hot summer day) because the routes are quite good.  A little tip:  by mid summer, the trail is laced with black berries.  A couple years ago, it took me a really long time to hike out, because I stopped at every bush and stripped the branches clean!  A lovely reward on those humid summer days.

We’ve had incredible luck with the weather this year, only getting rained out one day (last weekend on day three) which turned out to be a blessing because we were so trashed.  Our luck ran out and the weather man wasn’t lying about the forecast on Sunday.  We woke up to clouds, hoping to head to First Buttress at Upper Meadow.  As soon as we got to the parking lot, the skies opened up.  First Buttress stays dry in the rain, but I didn’t want to be soaked by the time we made the long hike out there.  We stayed for a few minutes in the car to wait it out, but it just rained harder.  We agreed, that our weather luck this year has been exceptional for Spring in WV.  We bailed, and headed home to do our neglected house chores.

All photos in this post from the awesome Jimmy Thigpen.  Check out his website here!

Warming up on Baby Has a Bolt Gun

This past weekend, we spent three beautiful days down at the New River Gorge.  Typically, by this time of the year it’s getting quite warm.  But we were greeted with cool, Fall temperatures and low humidity!  It really didn’t feel like the end of May!  We made the familiar drive down on Saturday morning to meet our friends at Endless Wall.  I had a bit of unfinished business and some new routes that I wanted to try.  Both parking lots were packed by noon, so we weren’t sure if we would be able to get on anything.

The Lake on Sunday…

Strike a Scowl (10b) - As we walked down Honeymooner’s Ladders and past Glass Onion, I figured we would give it a shot and see if Strike a Scowl was open.  Fortunately, no one was around and the place felt deserted.  Where were all the people?  Strike a Scowl might be my favorite warm up in the Gorge.  The setting is one of the best and the route is very nice.  The crux is the first half, then the climbing eases significantly.  I’m not sure if it was the bright sun beating down on the stone, but those crimpers felt smaller than I remembered!

The Dark Side (11b) - I got on this often overlooked route last weekend during the ‘Vous, but was unable to send.  The route is characterized by approximately 5.10+ climbing separated by a boulder problem.  I didn’t make it look pretty, but I was able to squeeze out a redpoint.  The dihedral section down low gave me issues that I didn’t have last weekend, handing out an unexpected pump.  Fortunately, there is a no hands rest ledge half way up, where the start of the boulder problem is located.  I squeezed the crimper hard, and made the move to the slot, clipping the next bolt.  A couple moves to some sloping crimps, then better jugs combined with a high step ends the bouldery section.  Some slab climbing finishes the route.  A nice line worth doing and it definitely climbs better than it looks from the ground.

Chris waving to the crowd

Flash Point (11d) - I’ve walked by this one several times, each time passing I would mumble to myself “one day I’ll do it”.  Well today was the day to give it a burn!  Flash Point is one of the prettiest routes at the Gorge.  100 feet of beautiful orange stone characterized by long reaches and crimps.  Chris had just come down from an easy onsight, so I jumped on next, making my way up about a third of the way, where the route traverses left.  A nice cross over move leads you to a jug rest below a tough crux.  I was getting pumped, and when I grabbed the crimpers above, my hands started to open up.  Oh crap!  I down climbed quickly to the jugs in an attempt to shake out.  I tried the crux move again but no go.  After a brief hang and shake out, I fired the move and made my way around the arete.  A couple casual moves led to a horn shaped hold with nothing above it.  I tried for several minutes to get my body position right.  Finally, I back stepped with my left and cranked hard with my right, reaching as high as a could to a sloping crimp.  A few more casual moves and it was chicken heads and jugs to the anchors.  I got so pumped climbing at the end that I had to rest on the rope at the second to last bolt.  Coming down, a large group came over to try Flash Point, so we departed.  I knew if I would have stayed around and rested for a while, I could have redpointed.  Next time!  Seriously, if you haven’t done this route, do it.

At the boulder problem crux

Bullet in the New Sky (12b) - Chris was looking to get back on this perfect looking arete, so I figured I might as well try it.  I didn’t make it too high though, only climbing to around the 4th bolt until I was shut down at the crux.  I was able to eventually figure out some beta that worked for me, trying to reach around to the good slot on the right side of the arete.  After another fall, my skin was toast, and I didn’t want to blow it all on the first day.  We were all tired and called it a day, making the hike out on this crisp, Spring day.

Sunday we made poor choices and decided on Summersville Lake… on Memorial Day weekend.  Not the best move, let me tell you.  While at the cliff, we were told there was a 20 minute wait to get down the ladders due to climbers lowering their dogs in!  I’ve never seen Orange Oswald so crowded in all my years.  The crag hammocks were actually blocking the trail.  It was like Disney World down there.

Baby Has a Bolt Gun (10c) - I’ve been on this route a couple times before but haven’t actually got the send.  I decided to jump on this one to warm up, hoping for the redpoint.  This route is likely the best of all the routes at Orange Oswald, and many of the moves are reachy.  A bouldery crux comes around the second bolt where you must navigate a block.  A no hands rest allows you to get it all back, then the route is pretty much on from here to the top.  Some small crimps take you to a steeper section with a decent undercling rest.  A quick traverse right, then back left, and the redpoint crux hits you.  Two pockets, a high right foot, and a move to a sloper.  You really have to reach back into the hold because the more your reach, the better it gets.  From here its over, and two more bolts of chicken head jugs takes you to the anchor.

Paul making Apollo look easy

Narcissus (12a) - This super classic, steep line at the left end of a big cave was a project for Chris.  I decided to join him and thrash on two burns.  The first go, I had to go bolt to bolt after the boulder problem at the second bolt.  I was surprised at the huge pump this route dished out!  My second go, I made it up to the heel hook clip and tried to rest.  When I attempted the traverse around the arete, I pitched off.  Unfortunately, Chris didn’t get the send this time, so we’ll be back on this one some time soon I imagine.  It’s a classic line with long moves and good holds.  Nothing individually hard, but putting it together will take quite a bit of fitness.

Tobacco Road (12b) - Continuing with the thrash theme, I jumped on this one.  A friend was warming up on Apollo so he could work Mercy Seat.  Tobacco Road is a pretty neat route.  A juggy traverse starts the pump clock, followed by a tough clip to a long, fixed draw.  Then the undercling boulder problem separates you from casual climbing to the top.  I only gave it one burn and couldn’t even make the tough clip.  I was definitely tired and my skin was sore.  Everyone else was wrapping up too so we made the hike out.

We enjoyed a cookout at Jay’s house for the second night in a row.  Conveniently, Jay lives next to Chris and Spencer, making it easy to run back to the house for extra beer… or fireworks.  We are in West Virginia, no?

Tough clip on Tobacco Road

The rain started early on Monday morning.  We were hesitant to even make the hike in to Lower Meadow, and considered just heading home.  We decided to check it out in hopes of the rain stopping.

Cat Food (11d) - Due to the weather, I skipped a warm up and jumped right on this overhanging, jug fest.  I really like this route and have been on it before, my best performance being a one hang.  After two days of tough climbing, the pump set in early, but I was able to rest before the first crux under the roof.  I barely pulled the move, reached out and over the roof, groping around for the good hold.  When I found it with my left hand, I started to chicken wing, barely clipping the fixed draw.  I had to hang here and shake out for a while.  Super pumped!  From here, its a hard lock off to a jug, then 5.10 climbing to the anchors.  I managed another one hang, on day three, with no warm up… psyched!

As soon as I came down, the rain started again.  We were all tired from the weekend, and the weather was not looking good.  Dark clouds forced us to pack up and head home.  We had some amazing weather on Saturday and Sunday, so we had to pay our New River penance with rain on Monday.  We still have a few more weeks of climbing left before some summer break plans.  Plenty of time to do some damage.

Despite the New being my “home crag”, this was my first Rendezvous.  When I was in school, the ‘Vous always seemed to fall on finals week, and after school, something always came up (insert lame excuse).  Regardless, the ‘Vous this year was a rippin’ good time!  I was blown away by the fun, camaraderie, competition, and spirit that the New River Gorge injects into climbers.  We arrived Friday night, at the tail end of Desertapalooza, a feast of deliciously sweet treats.  After meeting with a few friends and grabbing a cold Bridge Brew Works Lager, I hit the sponsor tents to check out some of the new gear.

Getting my paws on the X4 cams

One highlight for me was checking out the new Black Diamond X4 cams.  I finally got to hold these babies in my hands and they are pretty sweet!  The action is smooth, the cable is flexible, and the design is part art, part engineering.  Beautiful.  I can’t wait to get a set of my own and start plugging them.  What makes it even cooler is that our old climbing buddy Jeremy, who we used to climb with in 2010, designed these cams!

I also stopped by the Petzl booth to see some new lighting options and look at the absurdly light Sirocco helmet.  I rounded out the night chatting with Cragmama over at the Trango booth, checking out some of the Tenaya shoes, which I demoed on Saturday.

There was rain in the forecast for Saturday, so we woke up a bit early and got ourselves together.  We stopped by the ‘Vous to pick up some demo gear and grab a coffee, which Chris was brewing at the booth.  Our buddies Chris and Spencer were volunteering the whole weekend, so we didn’t see a whole lot of them this trip.  Our plan for Saturday was Endless Wall.  I wanted to get on a few “slightly obscure” routes that rarely see a ton of traffic.  I figured there is so much rock out at Endless, I was bound to find something without a crowd.  Funny thing though, we didn’t see anyone when we first arrived, and were able to jump on a moderate warm up.  Very unexpected.

Checking out Tenaya shoes

Glass Onion (10b) - I had some harder slabs on my mind, so this was a perfect warm up to get the head right.  Nice crimps lead you to the top of this route, which we’ve done many times.  I figured Strike a Scowl would be taken, so we jumped at the opportunity to start the day with this one.

The Bonemaster Gear Fling (11c) - This great slab climb is located right next to Honeymooner’s Ladders.  I’ve heard from several friends that this route is quite good, despite the two star rating in the guidebook.  It was on my list of routes to do for the year so I gave it a shot.  The first burn went quite poorly.  I fell twice at the start where there are a couple sloping, “fat rolls”.  The climbing eases for several bolts through a flake system, but then comes the crux, which I read wrong for several attempts.  Finally, I traversed left, made a move up to a high left, then used the perfect undercling with my right to clip the next bolt.  Some fun moves later and I was falling again.  The top two to three bolts are very slabby terrain, but the holds are sloping fat rolls, so you must rely heavily on balance and footwork.  I came down slightly bummed, but knew that I would do better on the second burn now that I knew the beta.  I took just a few minutes rest, watching hoards of people come down the ladders.  The crowds were now rolling in!  I jumped back on the route, and was surprised when I sent!  The beta flowed perfectly, and I actually got a bit pumped at the top because I was linking the moves and not hanging on the rope the whole time!  I was psyched to send this great, but overlooked line.

Tent city

The Dark Side (11b) - This is an obscure bolted line to the right of Leave it to Jesus, the classic 11c trad route.  I thought the quality would be bad, but standing at the base of the route, I was really impressed with the quality of the stone and the lack of lichen.  Climbing up through the first couple bolts you encounter a shallow dihedral, which requires a stem move or two.  Nice crimps on a few iron rails lead you to a no hands rest ledge.  From here, the crux slaps you in the face hard… and I felt it.  I stalled on this ledge for what felt like an eternity.  I couldn’t see the holds and I had no clue where to go.  I knew not to get suckered out right, but I tried left a couple times and it felt super hard.  My skin condition was fading rapidly and the small crimps felt bad.  I ended up going out right and up to clip the next bolt, then had to hang on the rope and move straight up from there.  I scoped out the holds from above so I could send next time.  From here, the climbing eases to the anchors.  The route is quite good and I suggest you give it a try on a busy day!

Vendor row

My skin was shot, so we called it a day.  The forecast was calling for rain soon too… which ended up never coming.  We went to Secrets for lunch then back to the ‘Vous for the night.  More networking with industry reps, sticker collections, and flowing beer kept us occupied until the start of the Evolv Dyno Comp.

The dyno comp was super fun to watch.  Tall, lanky dudes made some of the dynos look really easy, especially when they just had to lock off and not even cut their feet!  Along with the dyno comp, we enjoyed the sumo pad battle, table bouldering, and some slack lining.  I’ve never tried slack lining and it was way harder than I expected.  I caught the tail end of dinner before the real party started in the gazebo area, where the DJ rocked it all night long.  He actually was a great DJ and everyone was partying and dancing hard!

Dyno comp

Our feet eventually gave out, and we downed a lot of Skratch Labs drink mix at their booth, attempting to mitigate the impeding hangover.  Sunday morning was rough.  Gaelyn and I were both feeling pretty beat and the stoke to climb was gone.  We didn’t feel all that bad about not climbing because we’ll be at the New the next four weekends, one of which we plan to make a three day weekend.

The New River Rendezvous X was a huge success.  Thanks to all the sponsors who made the event possible, especially The New River Alliance of Climbers (NRAC), The American Alpine Club, and The National Park Service.  Without these folks, maintenance and continued development of the New River Gorge would not be possible.

After a forced weekend off due to a Spring sinus infection, the psych was high.  The plan for Saturday was Kaymoor.  We wanted to get there early so we broke our pattern and went down on Friday evening, ready to wake up early and hit it.  A long day was ahead of us, hopefully full of successful sends!

The Green Piece (10b) - I’ve done this one before, and it’s not too hard.  I recently re-read 9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes by Dave MacLeod, and what stuck out to me was the fear of falling chapter.  I think a fear of falling may creep into my head when I’m pushing myself, and it holds me back.  MacLeod suggest loads of practice falls, so that’s exactly what Gaelyn and I did on this one.  Gaelyn hasn’t been leading much in the past year due to this fear, so we both took a few whippers.  She made huge progress and the fear seemed to melt away as she took her first few couple falls.  I just took one big one towards the top, and it’s amazing how any gitters you had just go away.  Now I was ready to crank!  Oh yea…about the route.  It’s pretty much dead vertical with a slight crux in the middle.  A bit of a pump builds towards the top, which is also the steepest.  Nice route, and easier in my opinion than its neighbor, Low Voltage.

Chris with the onsight burn of Lost Souls

Chris made an onsight of Sancho Belige look easy, then moved on to Lost Souls (which he almost onsighted!), one of my long term projects.  I didn’t think I had as good a chance to send Lost Souls as I did with some other routes, so I moved on.

Mo’ Betta’ Holds (11c) - The climb is my anti style.  After a technical move at the second bolt, the third fixed draw is the start of a horizontal roof.  A couple jugs enable a clip of the fourth fixed draw, then a sloping ledge, followed by an awesome trash can lid.  Cut the feet, heel hook up right, then you have 3 more bolts of “easier” climbing.  On my first burn, I went for the reach to the trash can lid, but didn’t grab it right.  My core sagged and I fell into space.  I jugged up and finished the route with one more hang towards the top.  After a rest, the second go was feeling wired, but the dang trash can still eluded me.  I got a good right hand, but I let my core drop again and fell off!  Grrr….  The third burn felt great at the start.  I made quick work of the techy crux at the second draw, then moved through the roof successfully.  I grabbed the huge jug around the lip of the roof and had a solid heel hook.  But, I could feel my fingers opening up as I clipped the first draw on the headwall.  Nooo!!!!  The pump was too much as I moved to a sloping dish above the jug.  I made a desperate lunge with bad body position and blasted off.  At this point I was frustrated.  I made it through what I thought would be the hard part, then failed after the roof!  This one was going to be a fight.  Chris wisely offered me a piece of advice to let this one go for the day.  He was right.  If I got back on and fell again, I would have been irate.  Three burns = no send.

Springer (10b) - I did this slab route between burns on Mo’ Betta’.  Gaelyn was so focused on taking awesome falls that she forgot the beta at the top!  This slab is a one move wonder at the last bolt.  I decided to fire it and retrieve the draws.  I’ve done this route many times and it serves as a nice warm up.

High point on Mo’ Betta’ before pitching off

Bimbo Shrine (11b) - We headed over to Seven Eleven Wall to find quite the crowd.  A few people from our large party were climbing this one, but I wanted to wait.  I got on this route about 3 years ago.  I think I climbed it once a year or two ago but hadn’t sent it yet.  The bolts are a bit spaced for my taste, and this route wanders a bit.  I think the line was more of a mental challenge for me than a physical one as there isn’t really one or even a few hard moves.  The difficulty is relatively consistent.  If anything, the hardest moves are in the first two bolts.  Once it was my turn, I made quick work of the first 3 bolts and up to the no hands rest ledge.  I shook out from here, even though the pump was negligible.     From here, it’s on till about the 7th bolt near the top.  The hardest part for me is a clip in the middle, where delicate footwork and body position enable clipping of the bolt.  If you muscle through it, you’ll be way too pumped!  I was climbing well, and made it up to the second to last bolt, where there’s a huge jug rest.  There are two mini roofs to negotiate and then it’s over.  I didn’t want to blow it at the top so I rested for quite a while to scope out my game plan.  The holds ended up being better than I could see, and before I knew it I was clippin’ the chains!  Woohoo!  Bimbo has been in my mind for a long time and I was thrilled to snag the redpoint.

Saturday night dinner was spent at Diogi’s, stuffing ourselves once again with some fantastic, sizzling fajitas.  Man, the salsa was good that night!  Seven other people were staying at Chris and Spencer’s that night, and we all packed the table at Diogi’s!  The rest of the night included frozen margaritas, mandolin playing, lots of laughs, and some “dancing” instruction by one of Chris and Spencer’s friends.

Our original plan for Sunday was The Lake.  But we heard a huge group at Seven Eleven Wall talking about going there.  We thought it may be a popular spot so we changed our plans in favor of Beauty Mountain.  We thought it would be less crowded…

Out of Mind (10a) - A boulder problem characterized by a roof start is what warrants the 10a rating on this route at the Brain Area.  Once you make a few opening moves, the route is 5.7.  Regardless, I need more practice placing gear so this was the perfect route for that.  A few cams, and even the pink tricam led me to the top of this line.  Lesson learned:  extend the first piece always always always!  I placed a red C3 and that sucker walked back and was completely tipped out when I came down.  Fortunately, a red C4 was just a few feet above it.

Brain Teasers (10a) - This one starts out relatively easy with some nice hand jams and comfortable stances to place some gear.  Above that is a wide crack, which I was able to squeeze myself into and rest, while placing more gear of course.  I have mental issues with trad climbing right now, and I like to put a lot of gear in.  I’m pretty new to trad climbing, but not new to placing gear.  I’ve known how to place gear for many years, but would never climb anything over 5.7, which pretty much leaves nothing at the New.  This year, I vowed to get better at trad!  After the wide crack, you move into a dihedral, where I placed a cam, then began a quick traverse right into the neighboring dihedral, clipping a piton along the way.  As I moved up, I had a panic moment as I tried to place a small cam in a crack, which would likely not have held anything.  For some reason, my brain was saying “you’re on a trad climb, place gear you fool!”, instead of “there’s a piton at your hip, and two more for the remaining 15 feet; climb and quit pissing with cams”.  In any case, I was able to keep moving, clipped the two remaining pitons, and make it to the anchors without freaking out too much.

Take me, Take me!!

Mensa (11d) - I got on this awesome line a couple weeks ago.  There were two spots that gave me some trouble, one being the crux at the second bolt.  This route is characterized by crimpy, reachy boulder problems separated by jugs.  I knew if I could just make it to the double pocket jug hold and clip the last bolt, it was in the bag.  At 50 feet, the bolts are spaced out and there is only four of them.  But they are in just the right position to protect the route well.  Some other folks were on the route earlier in the day, and after I came down from the previous gear line and rested, it was my turn.  I didn’t want to lose my spot as it suddenly got really crowded!  The first two bolts were over in a flash.  I even surprised myself how quickly I climbed up and clipped the second bolt.  Maybe that Adam Ondra guy is on to something by climbing quickly.  A quick shake, and I set myself up for the crux.  I’ve seen a couple people make the long move up to the slot crimper with their left hand, then use a two finger pocket with the right.  This beta was crap for me, and I ended up making the move right hand first to the crimp, then matching with the left.  I stuck the move and thought to myself that I had a chance to send!  Next, a long move to another crimp with the left, then a tough match.  I thought I might blow it here as I peeled my left index finger up, making room for my right.  I managed to make another long move to a slot jug with my left hand.  Whew!!  Another move to a big hold and the third clip.  From here, I moved left to more positive holds, which yields 11d.  Going straight up makes Mensa 12a.  A bump to a big horn, then the move to the double pocket jug hold!  I stood up, clipped the last bolt, then made the lock off to the biggest bucket jug of your life.  I hung out here for an eternity, shaking out and making sure I was fresh so I didn’t blow the remaining few moves.  I couldn’t believe I made it this far and it didn’t feel that hard!  After the long rest, raining chalk down on Chris, my belayer, I made the reach across to another jug with a high foot.  A quick foot switch, two more holds and I clipped the chains!  YAHOO!!!!!  My first 11d and it was rad!!

This weekend was a huge advancement for me with a dash of frustration thrown in for good measure.  I felt confident in my movement (on the bolted lines) and my head was on straight (on… the bolted lines….).  I think the reason Mensa felt like such a proud tick was that it didn’t feel all that hard.  I moved fast and accurately.  I came down and was barely pumped.  I’ve never had this feeling before when climbing at my limit.  We walked on down the crag so I could jump on Disturbance, but all the classics had long lines of people waiting.  We called it a day and headed to The Secret Sandwich Society for a burger and victory beer.

After some reflection, some other things in MacLeod’s book rang true.  He wrote something along the lines that many pros said their best climbing years were filled with really good people, who all pushed each other.  Camaraderie can never be overlooked, and I’ve always been one to perform when the psych is high.  The gallery below Mensa cheered me on during the hard bits of my send.  So far this year, I’ve been surrounded by good people, who all push each other regardless of the goal or grade.  The last time this occurred for me was the Fall of 2010.  This year, I will see a breakthrough… I can taste it.

We’ve been on a roll with great weather and conditions at the New River Gorge these past few weeks.  You can’t ask for better!  Usually, Spring is plagued with rain, but we’ve had great luck so far on the weekends (knock on lots of wood).  After a late start, we made our way to Endless Wall this past Saturday.  I had my sights set to get back on S’more Energy and hopefully succeed with a redpoint.  I climbed this route a few weeks back, but thrashed at the high crux.  Today, I felt fresh and ready to crush.

Chris and Joe gettin’ it done.

Modern Primitive (12b) - Some of the other routes in the area that I planned on warming up on were taken, as was S’more Energy.  So after meeting with Chris and Joe, we jumped on this one.  Chris and Joe had been at the crag for a couple hours already, so Chris and I decided to thrash on this one while Joe climbed the trad line, Smooth Operator, the next route over.  I made it up past the third bolt, where I was shut down promptly at the crux.  Similarly, Chris was shut down and we decided not to push it on the small, razor crimps.  We called our rope gun, Joe, over to clean it up!

S’more Energy (11c) - I’m not sure if getting smacked down on some hard slab was a great way to warm up, because I was feeling quite hesitant at the start of my redpoint burn.  Let’s just say, confidence was not on my side.  Regardless, I made my way up to the first hard bit at the second bolt, moved through, and up to the huge rest jug at the bottom of the steepest bit.  Climbing out the steep section, I felt good, moving through, but still hesitant as I topped out onto the large rest ledge.  From here, it’s all business to the top.  There are a few jugs interspersed with some smaller holds on what starts out as steeper terrain, but then transitions into a slab at the top.  Moving quickly, I clipped a couple more bolts and then arrived at the crux:  a deadpoint move on a small crimp to a jug… at least that’s the way I saw it.  Fortunately, I had power in reserve, squeezed the juice out of the small crimper, then stood up to the large jug where you clip the last bolt.  I think I was surprised I hit the move, because the last several feet were difficult for me, trying to regain focus.  I clipped the anchors with success then watched as Chris and Joe casually onsighted the route.  Chris told me I was doing the crux all wrong!  Apparently there was another crimp that enabled both of your hands at the same height.  From there, a small step up and the jug was easily within reach.  What the hell!

I was definitely frustrated with my mental performance on this route.  I think a combination of a strong desire to get better and putting pressure on myself to perform every weekend got to me.  I enjoyed the route, but not like I should have…  I think another blog post about this discovery is in order!

Euro Nation (11c) - It was starting to get a bit late, due to our late start, so Chris and Joe headed out.  I had this line on my mind, so Gaelyn and I hiked over to the Flash Point Area.  Based on the guidebook description, I knew if I could figure out the crux boulder problem right off the ground, I had a good chance at bagging this one.  This route is right around the corner from Flash Point, and starts on top of a big boulder.  I stick clipped the first bolt and sussed out the boulder problem guarding the start.  It was tough!  A balance of footwork, body position, and some finger strength helped me unlock the sequence.  Once I grabbed a few gold holds, I had Gaelyn lower me to the ground so I could send the route properly.  I was able to cruise through the start, then the route eases significantly… probably around 10b.  The route is well protected, and actually has one more bolt than is in the book.  I was cruising up to the last 20 feet, when the route kicked back slightly.  I was a bit pumped from doing the start several times, and there were a few slopers at the top, similar to the Summersville Lake.  Don’t blow it now!  Fortunately, I hung on, and reached a few jugs just where I needed them. After clipping the chains, I was psyched to tick another route on my project list and the view at the top was incredible.

We spent the evening with good friends, pigging out at Diogi’s on fantastic fajitas and enchiladas.  You never leave Diogi’s hungry.  Sunday, our plan was to go to Beauty Mountain, a crag at the end of Endless Wall that is characterized by hard sport and classic trad lines.

Nova, the low impact puppy.

Happy Hands (9) - This hand crack is a great warm up for other trad routes in the area and that was what I was hoping it would serve. Unfortunately, I got very frustrated when I couldn’t figure out how to move my body and stay in balance.  Climbing cracks is a very new thing to me, as is climbing more trad lines.  The previous few lines I completed this year were more face climbs, rather than straight in cracks requiring jamming technique.  I became frustrated and somewhat scared quickly on this route.  I sewed it up with gear to protect it, which is easily accomplished on this route.  For some reason, I felt completely out of my element and made this one ten times harder than it should have.  Regardless, I hung on for the onsight, but it didn’t feel good.  I came down bruised, bloody, and sore.  Time for a banana?

Burning Calves (10b) - After a member of our party decided to come down at the crux of this perfect finger crack, Chris convinced me to give it a burn.  Hell, it wasn’t my gear that I had to retrieve, and I knew it was placed well.  Might as well give it a shot and take a whip!  The first half of the route up to the rest is pretty physical.  The start is slightly steep, and the finger jams are flaring.  I was happy to be “top roping” this section and not having to stop to place gear!  I got up to the rest and inspected the crux.  There were two bomber cams, and the beta seemed to make sense in my head.  I fired the crux and surprised myself!  Oh crap, gotta place gear now!  I fished in a nice nut placement then kept moving up to a section with some perfect finger jams.  Another nut placement, and I was pretty shot and called for a take.  I wasn’t jazzed about the nut I was hanging on, so I placed a .75 Camalot right under it.  From there, I managed to climb the rest of the route clean, however it does ease significantly from there.  A few more pieces of gear and I was clipping the anchors!  Even though I had one take, and the first 30 feet already had gear, I was still psyched to climb this route.  It went much easier for me than Happy Hands, feeling more like a face climb than a burly crack.  A few more trad pitches and I’ll come back to redpoint this one.

Mensa (11d) - Chris had Mensa on his mind.  This route is back at The Brain area of Beauty, and is an awesome face climb with some small crimps and huge jugs.  This line is on my project list, but I wasn’t feeling too spry after the previous few routes.  Regardless, I was down for a burn.  Chris climbed first, kindly clipping the draws for me and showing me all the crucial beta.  However, on my burn, I got stumped hard at the second bolt.  A powerful move off a medium size hold where you match leads you to a letter box crimp.  Chris went up with his left hand, but that just wasn’t working at all for me.  I was falling away from the rock and wasn’t able to cobra stab into the letter box.  I tried going up right and it worked perfect, enabling me to bypass the poor hold to the right.  Some long pulls on crimps leads you past the third bolt to this amazing pocket where you clip the fourth bolt.  From here, another big move to a huge rest jug.  At this point, you traverse right on some jugs and finish it up, but I was stumped again!  I was utilizing lower foot holds and couldn’t reach the good hold with might right hand.  Finally, I tried using a high, large foot and rocked over.  Perfect.  Three more jugs leads you to the anchors.  If I can snag that crux move at the second bolt and keep it together, I think I’ll be able to get this one next time.

So that was our trip in a nutshell.  I had many successes, but they didn’t come easily on the mental side of things.  I was somewhat frustrated this whole trip and I’m not sure exactly why.  We plan on going down to the New again soon.  Here’s to having my mental game show up along side my physical game!

My First Eleven [ 25:57 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My favorite climbing partner and I went down to the New this past weekend and enjoyed the fabulous Spring temperatures.  On Saturday we went to The Other Place and climbed:

Hope Pathology (10a) – done this one before

My First Eleven (11b) – Redpoint finally!!!!!

Makes You Tigger (11a) – 1 fall

On Sunday we headed out to Endless Wall and got on:

The Upheaval (9) – done this one before

Remission (10b) – Redpoint on gear

It was a great weekend even though we didn’t climb too many routes (I’m recovering from a slight muscle strain).  I checked another project off my long list too!  What did you all do??