Tuesday, September 22

Legend of the White Buffalo

Fall colors at the Wild Iris were out of control!! We had no idea what we were in for, but this past weekend could have very well been peak for the area. On Friday night we immediately got started with the try-hard, as Paige Claassen and I both got inspired by this amazing boulder with bolts right in the camp ground called the 'White Buffalo' 13d. As the setting sun burnt a beautiful red horizon in the background I managed a headlamp assisted ascent of this delicate, incredible route (boulder) - my hardest headlamp ascent yet! Saturday turned out to be a warm day in the Wyoming semi-alpine and I was kicking myself for having forgotten shorts. Paige had one of the most inspiring days of climbing I've ever seen, meanwhile I was steady punting. She hammered out an on-sight on a truly awesome, short and difficult 13- called 'When I Was a Young Girl, I Had Me a Cowboy' and then after an afternoon bronzing she finished off her day with a send of 'White Buffalo'... completely sickening... Sunday I pulled it together and did a really cool one-of-a-kind route called 'Cowboy King' 13c that begins with an impossibly thin no-holds slab and ends with a giant horizontal roof of campus moves and deep pockets. I also fired through a couple easier 13's on the Erratic and the Rodeo Wave to top off a great day. We both left with rather large smiles- the temps and scenery were exceptional.

Back in Boulder now and the temps are frigid!! must be baking season already- I make a hell of a muffin. I'm headed out of town to visit some good buddies and check out a new climbing gym in Brooklyn on Thursday that I will be reporting on.. back to NYC for a few long nights of rump shaking. Maybe by the time I get back to the front range the temps will inspire some fall sending.

October 7! Mark that calender right here and now. Andy Mann and I are putting on a ridiculous slide-show at the Boulder Rock Club titled.. 'Colorado Burl and Beyond'. There will be free beer, a raffle, good times and oh yea KILLER IMAGES. more details to come.
Some people are simply crazy about electronic music. I am one of those 'some people'. If you're not the type then you could probably go without reading the following paragraph.. if you are however, you will surely be aware that DJ MAG's top 100 DJ's poll is almost closed! Voting ends Sept 23rd. This annual poll remains the gold standard upon which fans and enthusiasts can voice their experiences with the world's best DJ's and totally influence the coming years music scene. After hundreds of dollars spent buying and thousands of hours spent listening to this and that electronic I casted my top five votes last week with the groundbreaking Deadmau5 in my top spot, my long time favorite Sasha in second, Dubfire in 3rd- Deadmau5 has definitely had the most influence on my listening preferences over the past year and I am continually blown away by his consistent studio track quality. I've yet to see him in concert- but that's what Nov 4 at the Ogden is for.. While I'm spraying about minimal music I may as well express my sizable stoke level for my fresh set of headphones- I freakin went for it and bought some Audio-Technica ATH-ES7's and I can not seem to take them off (on my head right now). These things blow my Sony V700DJs out of the water, all day.

Okay, enough music spray.. aint this supposed to be a rock climbing web-site?!!?
Keep your eyes peeled for Urban Climber Issue #33 !!!! I'm beyond stoked.. stay tuned.

photos: The Iris... some call it 'toad in the hole' or 'eggie in the basket', I call it- breakfast of champions.