Tuesday, October 20

un poco bouldering

Just two more weeks to prepare. Also two more weeks to enjoy the US, see friends, family. Two weeks to wander the isles at Whole Foods and 'sample' bulk items. Two weeks to stick to the program and stay motivated to improve. Two weeks until I fly to Catalunya for 3 months.

Most of my time has been indoors, which usually in mid October would be driving me mad, but the cooler temperatures have just recently started to emerge. Thankfully I did take advantage, at least a little. I am so grateful for my experiences bouldering earlier this year - not only did it help me improve as a climber but my motivation for bouldering has opened a whole new world of areas and challenges. There is a lot of good bouldering out there!


'The Heist' V12 is a brilliant line found by Andy Mann and opened by Kevin Jorgeson way back in 09. More like a route, the thing is nearly 25 continuous moves with building difficulty near the finish. I can't believe how relatively unknown this awesome boulder is. On my first try from the start I chickened out over the abyss - it's actually quite scary! Here is some less than perfect Go-Pro footy of the problem.


Later that day I did a cool crimper test-piece on the Gill Boulder called '606' V10. It was a little warm for this sharp boulder but I was so stoked to be outside for one of the first times in a month that I didnt much care. 

A few days back I got another day out. With a great crew we checked out Guanella Pass for the first time. Temps were nearly perfect, overcast, breezy... fall weather. It was super motivating. I climbed 'Mind Matters' V11/12,  'Crimping Matters' V9/10,  'Earth Matters' V10, 'Love Mattress' V12,  'Dark Horse' V10 and 'High Horse Sit' V9. Everything was worth while but for me, Love Mattress was the coolest, most involved problem that I saw on our tour -- nice work Will! One of the best things about this area in my mind is the range of bouldering grades and accessibility for V1 to V12 climbers. There is a rad problem at almost every grade, in a small area. I met many motivated and super cool climbers out there as well. 


Aspen Arete V3


Mind Matters,  Ari Prat Barnadas photo


Love Mattress,  Ari Prat Barnadas photo


Love Mattress,  Ari Prat Barnadas photo