Vitamin D

I crushed the drive, stopping only twice on my way from the front range. That solo mission home from Kentucky in-a-day really set the bar for long drives... this one was a breeze. The weather has been predictably nice, albeit quite hot really. I'm all settled in, taking up the spare room at my very good friends and recently engaged (!) Chris and Heather's place. In a prime location; I'm moments from Whole Foods, a short drive from Red Rock Canyon and only 15 minutes from the Strip. As I learned earlier in the year, this city has a lot to offer and hopefully over the next few months I can take it all in. I'm in Las Vegas Baby!

It almost feels as though I never left-- Las Vegas-- I've got some very fond memories of this place. I spent more time here during 2011 than I did anywhere else. I really fell in love with Vegas earlier this year and I'm quickly reminded why; stable weather, incredible landscape, great community, unparalleled nightlife and sunshine. Plenty of vitamin D around here, in-fact, maybe even too much considering that it's December 31. We were forced to chase the shade and cool temps of Gateway Canyon yesterday-- with a high predicted around 70˚F.

sunset on the Kraft boulders

panorama from the summit of Turtlehead Mt

I got out a couple days this week, loving the vibrant sun and checking out some cool boulders. It feels great to finally put some of this bouldering energy that I've worked up to good use. I've been somewhat limited to only the shady problems but regardless I've sampled some of Kraft's raddest climbs.... 'Slice n Dice' V9, 'Potato Chips' V2, 'The Pearl' V4, 'My Tan' V7, 'Monkey Bars Direct' V8, a repeat on 'Scare Tactics' V10, 'Americana Exotica' V9+, I even surprised myself yesterday on 'Lethal Design' V12. There is so much more to do around here and it's really motivating to have such a fun zone right in my backyard. I predict that I'll be doing a lot more bouldering while I'm around and of course my trip to Bishop is right around the corner as well.  

Lethal Design

Americana Exotica

Chris eyes down the gnar on Slice n Dice

I can imagine no better place to celebrate a great year and welcome the next than right here in Dirty Vegas. We have a handful of friends in town and it's likely that we'll be out with the masses on the Blvd when the clock strikes 12. Should be awesome no doubt. We're off to get a few more boulder problems in before a long night out. Hope everyone has a safe and crazy night, see you in 2012!!

xmas

Ahh yes, Christmas Sunday. I'll be packing up, eating well, sneaking into the BRC for a session and hopefully escaping into the Flatirons for one last jaunt through the snow before hitting the road to sunny Las Vegas tomorrow morning. It's been great to spend a few weeks in lovely Boulder, Co and now I feel ready to move on... 

Hopefully everyone is enjoying family and friends this weekend, eating big, drinking big and relaxing right! There's one more week of 2011, make it count! Cheers

flag

Finally got out this past weekend and enjoyed some real stone. It had been a long while since I did my standard circuit on Flagstaff Mountain-- a tour that I've enjoyed on wintry days for years. As junky and 'C' class this area is, I've grown to absolutely love it. The majority of my first few years climbing were spent up here. My first V1-V5, V6, V8, V9 and V12 were all on Flagstaff. The climbing is not 'modern' by any stretch- increasingly small holds and awful feet. It's a nice reprieve from bouldering at the Spot. It always seems to give me an accurate measurement of exactly how well my fingers are doing. 

 Saturday gave the chance to put my brand new Metolius Recon pad to the test. I added a new page to my site for gear reviews that I will be updating regularly. I kicked it off by writing up a little something, with photos, about my thoughts on this awesome pad. Have a look here. 

 Good old Flagstaff 'V3'.... 

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

December

It doesn't take long for me to sink into the standard routine here in Boulder. Many hours training, friends, family, mountain runs, some working, good food and lots of sleep. Sounds amazing right? It is, no doubt-- and yet, I find myself beginning to get antsy. For now Boulder is a great place for me to recharge and visit, but this much familiarity is only desireable in small doses. It's about time to move on... 

first trip to Bishop on the horizon! and my first bouldering trip in 4 years... 

I'm very much excited about returning to Vegas for the winter. I had an exceptional time there earlier this year and I remain convinced that it's one of the best places to be in the winter. There is some route development, classic repeats and a even a hanful of boulder problems in the area that I am stoked to get after. I'm planning a trip to Bishop, CA for a 10 days or more in January-- it'll be my first bouldering trip in four years! I'm finally seeing some gains from all my training, and I'm hoping that by then I'll be fit to tear down some hard (for me) boulders!

I've been steady training, and really taking advantage of the incredible training resources here in Boulder. Between all that the Spot and the BRC have to offer, I can't really imagine needing anything else (tons of bouldering and route climbing terrain, well equiped weight rooms, systems boards, finger boards, campus boards, treadwall, bikes, even a slide). 

I've been battling sickness in some form or another for what seems like a few months, and it's really not giving me much of a break. I saw a doctor earlier in the week and now I'm finally caving into the real meds to try and kill this illness before I leave for any real climbing. I try to stay away from western medicine as much as possible, but sometimes you need a little kick in the pants.... come on Zithromax!

Kentucky Joe, always at home behind the wheel of a Jeep. Little known fact- I actually pulled KY Joe out of a mud hole this year in the Red- that's correct, a Colorado boy driving a Toyota truck saved the day. Likely one of my proudest achievements of 2011... 

I just recently added a short interview with the ever fascinting Kentucky Joe to my Five Questions page, have a look here. 

moonlight on the flatirons

sunny, snowy, pleasant--

enter bouldering

It was a little ambitious, no doubt.. Zachariah, KY to Boulder, CO in a day, solo. Thinking to myself, 'It'll be swift, like ripping off a band-aid! I'll just listen to a few podcasts, make a call or two..' Nothing short of heinous, 19 hours in the truck later, I made my 2am arrival. By the time I finally laid down to rest, passing yellow lines and the occasional reflective marker still played on the dark side of my eye lids. As bad as it was, I'm always first to choose one very long driving day over two shorter ones.

A familiar place, I've spent the majority of the last two decades living here in Boulder. I graduated from Southern Hills Middle School in 1999, Fairview High School in 2003, and Naropa University in 2009. I learned to climb here, I grew up here-- I love this place. I've traveled a lot through out my life, but during the last few years (2011 especially) my life has become increasingly mobile. I absolutely love the experience of traveling, above even my passion for rock climbing, but we all need a little familiarity every now and then.

Dr. Bob home improvement 101

'only 5 degrees out?!' -Mom

The Front Range is a full on winter wonderland. For now, the landscape is snow covered, the temperatures are bitter cold and sunlight is short and weak. I've taken this opportunity to start a new training cycle, get healthy and spend some quality time with my family and friends. If I were planning a long winter in Boulder the conditions would definitely have me bummin (and breaking out my skis!), but with a sunny winter in the Nevada desert on the horizon, I'm actually enjoying the snow.

I was really hoping to take my climbing to the next level in 2011, and although I did have victories and some growth no doubt, it was a plateau year for me in respects to performance. I've taken my strengths in fitness and resistant climbing about as far as I can. I've trained power here and there, making some headway but still relying primarily on endurance. For me, it's clear that my next breakthrough shall be via the realm of bouldering. My longest stint of bouldering in the last few years was in the spring of '09-- I really wanted to boulder v12, so I dropped the rope for 2 weeks and did 'Trice' on Flagstaff Mountain. This time around I'm doubling my efforts by giving myself a full month without a rope, and who knows, maybe it will even roll over into January...!? To make things more interesting I've added an absolutely heinous finger strength / power workout to the end of my bouldering sessions. Utilizing the Moon Board, some weighted assistance and a few recommendations from my friends and trainers Alli Rainey, Chris Wall and Tony Yao. It's been a long time since a work out stayed with me through multiple rest days, and here I am, sore as hell on rest day two!

Tony Yao getting prepared for Hueco

Exciting stuff: New camera arrived. I'm working on doing a series of video shorts, mostly highlighting lifestyle and trying to capture a vibe of the many different areas I get to visit, along with some climbing footage no doubt. I really enjoy photography and this site has been an inspiration for me to shoot as much as I can. Hope you enjoy the photos and the soon to be videos as well.

Speaking of videos, subscribe to Deadpoint Mag's The Stash and check out some footage from this summer in Rifle. Myself, Joey Kinder, Dave Graham, Keller Rinaudo and Dave Pegg are featured.

It's not too early to get over to Mountain Gear and register for the 2012 Red Rock Rendezvous! I'll be teaching clinics on behalf of Metolius at this awesome event outside of Las Vegas.

Come by the Boulder Rock Club this weekend for the fun and informal BCS climbing comp. I'm breaking out the ladder to help my favorite gym set for this rad event.