Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Rocket Parties, the Big Chill, and Boulder Scampering

The story starts with the impending doom and gloom of raining hitting the camper shell that I live in. The reports said that this rain would cover the entire western US for a whole week. So if you read this blog with any consistency you have noticed that I have a friend named Zack and he designs rockets, yes, rockets that go to space. Zack gave me a call and tole me that his company had launched a successful rocket and that they were gonna throw a giant party for the occasion, they also decided to couple this with a company wide Christmas party. The party was to be outrageous including the $200K price tag. Zack told me over the phone that he had a ticket for me in, the only problem is that it was in LA and after a budget crushing vehicle maintenance set back I had I could not afford to drive down, so what does that mean...it means a hitchhiking adventure, in the rain no less.ha. This scenario had the making for adventure and as the climbing was off the table regardless I figured, 'might as well party with rocket scientists in the city of angels' and it was off for me. I was able to catch a ride with a good friend Mason Daly out of Bishop and then caught a couple other rides and found how distraught the public transport in LA really is. Plus, even though the city sits on the pacific ocean it has no idea how to deal with rain and thus the whole scene was flooded, just adding to the hilarity of the situation. I also got to walk through Compton in the rain with a soaked puff jacket, that was interesting. But alas I made it to the rocket party and it was MEGA to say the least and I raged face on the scene of highly paid number crunching rocket types.
I will write more about this adventure later because I assume you want to hear about the really fun boulders that I have been climbing recently.
First off bc the Buttermilks have proven to be just epic to climb at this trip I have developed a matured eye for the tablelands, which has led me to enjoy some really amazing movement on everything from bullet hard to marginal rock quality. I have also been climbing at couple of the tablelands areas that are not so well known but contain amazing climbing none the less. The theme of late is been to climb thing fast and not project, just enjoy the climbing and mix in lots of rest days where I have been juggling the soccer ball a lot. I sent 'Standing Kill Order V11' in a couple tries which was really fun and amazing bc the movement is outrageous that same day while supporting a friend on 'Acid Wash' I was able to whip off the 'Acid Wash Right V9' first try. I was also able to flash the most amazing climb, 'The Wave V7', arguably the best 7 in the Bishop area. And yesterday I was able to finish 'March of the Pigs V11' first try of the the third session and its neighbor 'Nine Inch Nails V9' in a couple tries and the movement master piece 'The Rose V8' as it was getting dark. It has been so much fun climbing all these amazing movement based problems. The coffee shop in which I am typing is closing so this will have to wait but there is more to come. Love and enjoy 2011 my friends.
AR