Arachnophobia

As I move into my final week here in Kentucky, I'm trying to prioritize a few lingering goals and enjoy the company of friends in this amazing place. It's always in the final days of your trip that you realize how much more there is to do.. I feel quite confident that the number of 4 and 5 star routes here in the Red could double with some proper negotiating and an ambitious crew of people, Bosch in hand. The locals are certainly psyched and I'd love to be involved. Unless my travels lure me elsewhere, it would be great to return again next year and specifically seek out new crags - this place is truly incredible!

Paige warms up at the solar collector

Joel makes it count on his final day

Still very much excited about finishing 'Twenty Four Karats', I returned and removed the stray bolts, which has really cleaned up the wall nicely. Now obvious without the grid of bolts, this killer line perfectly mirrors the neighboring 'God's Own Stone'. I'm still super excited about this wicked test-piece, and very interested to see it attempted and repeated!

new route!

One of my lingering goals was to find and bolt a entirely new climb. I had seen a steep, great looking wall on my way between the Bob Marley and Drive By Crag that looked interesting so on my last rest day I decided to rap down it and have a closer look. Turned out that some cool features exist so I went at it and installed some shiny new Metolius hardware. After some cleaning, chalking and climbing a new route has emerged! It's named 'Arachnophobia' after the wolf spider induced terror experienced by all parties involved (belayer and climber) during the cleaning process. We settled with 5.12d for the proposed grade, although it's likely that as it cleans up and new beta emerges it could end up being a touch soft - either way it fills a new grade range at the growingly popular Drive By Crag.. I think it could be a 4 star pump fest classic as it cleans up, please go and check it out!!

Arachnophobia

In between bushwhacking and cleaning the new route I put in some effort on the last remaining climb for me at the Gold Coast - the ultra bouldery '100 Ounces of Gold' 14a, which turned out to be something of a battle. This punchy outing features some nice resistance climbing before a stopper boulder problem just below the chains that involves two heinous pockets and a wild throw. It turned out to be a pretty difficult sequence for me and in the end required more attempts than any of the 14c's at the Red, save Twenty Four Karats. It was a great challenge though, and I'm stoked to have finished it up.

Ladzinski is psyched on big city living

Now we're on rest day and getting ready to head into Lex for some of the typical luxuries the 'big city' has to offer. I'm unfortunately fighting another cold along with many others in the region, but my fingers are crossed that I can take it down and make the best of my few remaining days here.