Wednesday, March 30, 2011

pictures from my phone

Here's a few pictures I'd taken with my phone... they're pretty funny. The little kid is my friend DeMontray, I met him doing laundry in Vegas. He's 5 I think, he wants to skateboard, and he has a whole plethora of things living under his bed including a man eating mouse called a snatrap as well as spiderman. I had a video of him singing Drake to me and I told him I'd make him famous but it got deleted so this is the best I can do. Also he has a mohawk and all you bitches know how much I love mohawks!



Oh and Juno has turned Rasta on us, I try to tell her she's white and from Colorado but life experience and Boulder has taught me they can make better Rastas than actual Jamaicans.



Thursday, March 24, 2011

Happy Boulders

Bad weather in the Buttermilks kept us in the Happy boulders AGAIN today...We are camping for free at a site near the Happy/Sad boulders and have become part of a cultural melting pot of climbers.  There is a Swede, Belgian, a few Canadians, and Americans from all over the country (as well as Steve the dog...She is a female).  We have learned all sorts of crazy "warm-up" exercises including the Swedish air-humping, and the Belgian dancing.  Today we all went to the Happy boulders and were psyched to work on a few highball classics which call for a ton of crashpads.  We went back to "The Hulk" V6 which is one of only two problems in Bishop with the highest rating (4 stars).  Mike and I had already climbed this but it was fun to go back and do it again.  Due to Mikes height, he is able to avoid the "hulk" move which is a crazy lay-back, and just dyno to the lip.  Pretty bad-ass.  Right next to the Hulk is "Disco Diva" V8 which is really fun and involves some gymnastic climbing and knee-bars.

Tall man beta (Mike)

Short man beta (Thomas)




I did an awesome highball called "Mr. Witty" which involves a big dyno to the lip from mono pockets...RAD!!!





Our Belgian sidekick Siebe sent "Highbrow"V8...All I have to say about it is that I am still a little shaken with fear from just watching him.  It is high, hard and really scary.  I would like to go work on it when we have more pads.


Mike and I worked "Acid Wash" V8 stand start/V10 sit start some more today.  I think it is do-able after a rest day and working it first thing in the morning instead of at the end of the day.




Cheers

-Thomas

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Bishop Pics













Bishop, CA






We've been in Bishop for a week now. Climbing hasn't been great because of really really shitty weather but this place definitely has the potential to be an insanely fun destination. There are about half a dozen big places to boulder within 20 minutes from the town of Bishop but the areas we've been and the most famous ones are the Happies, the Sads, and the Buttermilks. The first few days were just me and Tom staying at this campground called the Pit. It was a really ugly and crowded but only cost 2 dollars a night for the both of us.



On Saturday Siebe got here from Vegas and we also met up with Jess Suleiman who's living in Bishop now. So far we've only climbed 4 days due to the weather, 3 days in the Happies and Sads and then a day in the Buttermilks. The Happies and Sads, also known as the Volcanic Tablelands, is made really hard Volcanic Tuff rock with tons of little pockets with a really ugly sharp texture. The climbing isn't bad, it reminds us of a poor man's Hueco with a lot less rock and not quite as unique as Hueco. There's not many memorable lines we've done there either. Me and Tom did a few classics like The Hulk (v6) and Strength in Numbers (v5) and on our second day I was getting really really close to sending a v10 called Acid Wash. I was able to do all the moves except for the crux start which I didn't really try more than once.




Now we're camping in a beautiful free dirtbag camping spot near the Sads. We're on the side of a ridge atop the volcanic tablelands and we're able to look out on all of Bishop and the Sierra Mountains. We're camping next to a really cool group of people from all over (Utah, So. Colorado, Quebec, Sweden, and Cape Cod) and last night we got really drunk together on whiskey and listened to each others stories and had a blast.





Yesterday was the first day climbing at the Buttermilks, what Bishop's really famous for. It was beautiful. The Milks which are about 2000 feet higher than the other areas is made up of massive granite boulders that stand alone on the hillside below the Sierras. The rock is this clean pristine granite that is so gritty and offers the perfect friction for climbing much less featured rock. Almost all the boulders are highballs and it really tests your mental game. I didn't get on much yesterday except for a few warmups and a really cool but hard v6 arete/prow. Tom was working on a classic v7 called High Plains Drifter and Siebe a v10 called Evilution. Its snowing again in the milks today but hopefully we'll get up there again by tomorrow or Friday.






Saturday, March 19, 2011

Done with Vegas

As Mike so kindly mentioned in the last post, I was home visiting my girl friend, friends and family while trying to recover from an injury I received in Red Rocks.  I had a great trip back home full of great food and warm showers.  Kayla and I visited my grandma in Ouray for a few days and had a great time.  It felt really strange knowing that I was a visiter to my own home, and I was even more of a visiter in Ouray.  Thankfully Gammi (grandma) still treated me as family and allowed us to soak in the hot-springs and eat great food.  It as hard having to say goodbye to family and friends again, but I was excited to get back to climbing.

Unfortunately flying into Vegas I did not feel the same level of excitement as I did when Mike and I first arrived.  Vegas is such a dirty city and I was not looking forward to straying in parking lots again.  Mike and Siebe were forced to relocate from Barnes & Nobles to Borders/Lowes parking lot.  Having Barnes & Nobles books, coffee and internet just a few feet from my bed was quite enjoyable, however the owner unfortunately did not share this feeling.  I suppose this is understandable.  Also my heel still felt sore and I knew I would not be climbing at the same level for a few days.  I was relieved to see that Juno was still alive when I flew back into Vegas.  Mike and I spent the next day bouldering in Red Rock and playing frisbee-golf with Siebe (he had never heard of it) on a cool course in Vegas.  After 2 nights of staying in the Lowes parking lot and climbing in warmer weather, Mike and I decided to head to Bishop earlier where the temps are cooler and the camping does not involve parking lot lights, loud music or the constant buzz of Vegas night life.



YUMMMMMMM




We have been here two nights now and have been staying in the big climbing campsite, the Pit.  For only $2 a night this is a great deal and has bathrooms and lots of other climbers.  Bishop is made up of 3 main climbing areas...The Happies, Sads and Buttermilks.  The huge freestanding boulders of the Buttermilks are what Bishop is famous for.  Mike and I climbed two days in the Happies and have decided that it is a poor version of Hueco.  For this reason we are going to camp in the Buttermilks (FREE!!!!) and spend most of our time climbing here as well.  The rock  in the "Milks" is said to be more sharp, so we will climb in the other areas when we need our fingers to recover.  




The Happies


Inside our home



We dont have many pictures since I was gone for a week, but we should have some awesome shots from Bishop in the next post!!!!

Cheers!!

Thomas