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Showing posts from June, 2017

Lander life, or how to mono and feel good about it

I've made it to the Lander area, and have been pushing through pretty warm conditions to do some rock climbing. For my first three days I sampled the (badass) bouldering here, sending an awesome V8 called "Snakebite Traverse", and also its V9 fingercrack neighbor "Snake Charmer". Yesterday was my first at Wild Iris, and it's absolutely incredible. Everything I imagined and trained for, with mono pockets everywhere. I feel like I'm in heaven. Today I rest and try to heal, but tomorrow it's time to hit some projects hard, and start making a dent in my to-do list!  I figured, for my virtual audience, I should make a list of the positives and negatives of this trip so far. Sitting here and feeling my body ache, it's easy to think of the latter category, but I guess that's how it always is. Judge for yourself, I suppose? The bad- -I, in a moment of compete stupidity, did not bring sunscreen. As a result, currently my shoulders and back

Split Tips, steep hikes, and other Black Hills shenanigans

I just took a shower. Some may not grasp the significance of this, but I'm almost amazed all the grease  that flowed off me didn't clog the truck stop's drain. It's amazing how it builds up. Although, despite my low expectations, truck stop showers are truly amazing. This one, for instance, plays bad country music when you turn off the water, so one can dry their naked body while reminiscing about booze, trucks, and Jesus. What could be better? But, as for climbing, I've just finished off a little two-day stint at Victoria Canyon, in the Black Hills (plus a half day of getting lost around Mt. Baldy). The conditions have been poor. At least that's what I tell myself, as my climbing has been even worse. Baldy had my fingertips stripped by the third dry fire, and Thin Red Line (13b) felt gross. I mean, the right hand crimp just about always feels like a rusty dull razor soaked in pig lard, and with this humidity, just thinking about grabbing the thing split my righ