Friday, August 21, 2009

Learnin' to Crawl: Episode V: Squeal Like a Pig

Yesterday I was able to spend yet another great day at the Pipe Dream Cave in Maple Canyon. I climbed a really cool route called 'Squeal Like a Pig 5.13c'. I am very psyched about this and all of the other great routes I have been able to climb. I am finding Sport Climbing to be a great and totally different challenge than the boulders and I am brimming with psyche to be discovering a great new facet to the sport I love so much. Psyched!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A quick hit to Joes Valley

My Girl-Friend Diesel. And she even dresses like me
'Worm Turns'



Right after sending 'Sprout 5.13?' I rallied over the mountains the seperate Maple Canyon from Joes Valley, two of Utah's climbing meccas, to meet up with friends Rocco, Mary, and Brandon. I was pretty tired and the grueling drive through the dark exhausted me further. In the morning we headed out and warmed up on a great block on the river and climbed an interesting problem called 'Kelly's Arete V5'. My sport climbing buddy Brent rolled up and we went to a great problem that has hiding in plain sight called 'Bring the Heatwohl V8' of the Eden sector. I climbed this block on my second try and was pleased because I was feeling tired. Rocco toured us around some other great blocks that he has been finding and establishing.
I was able to try 'Worm Turns V11' and came pretty close despite the extreme summer heat which was exciting. Although it was an exhausting day from the beginning it was a pleasure to pebble wrestle again.

Learnin' to Crawl: Episode IV-Cobble Tugging

Portrait of Wal-MArt Parking Lot Life
A neato bug that was waiting for me when I giot back from the Pipe Dream
Since leaving SLC and before going back home in Alaska I have been exploring some more sport-climbing, this time in Maple Canyon, UT. It has a completely unique style due to the conglomerate nature of the rock. After two weeks in in SLC with no route climbing I have found that endurance can escape you quite quickly, but it return a little faster the second time.
After two days of retrieving my newly found endurance I was able to send 'Super Spunk 5.13a' and 'Sprout 5.13a/b?' quite quickly. I am having a blast with sport climbing. More to come.