Return from the Red River Gorge

Yesterday night, I returned from a 4-day trip to the illustrious Red River Gorge in Slade, KY.  The climbing was excellent, big, and paradisimo!

 They had tags for a bunch of the routes with the name and grade!

Bryan. That is all.

Me me me me meeee.

I woke up with this guy on my chest. Flicked him on Bryan. Hakakakaka...

Getting away from climbing, but I was starting a colony of stray cats at our campsite.

10c or 10d, I think. I climbed a few of those.

For the full story, I will post it later (unless Get Out Magazine picks it up).

When I Lead, I Never Fall

OK, it has been too long! I have been training and living well, and it has kept me busy!

To begin, I turned 22 on the 17th, and to celebrate, I went climbing with a friend of mine, Dylan Brownell.

"Just stretching...whatever, you know..."

That day, I sent a project of mine, a sweet-looking overhanging problem involving gastoning both hands to start it!

Push to the left...

Push to the right...

Grab that thing...

And there you go!

Yesterday was another interesting day as it involved sport climbing at LEDA with a couple friends of mine!

Here's Will J. warming up on this number.

Sport climbing is not the newest interest of mine, but I do not have all the necessary gear for the sport, making me dependent on others. I also have not led much, but I had no trouble yesterday. 

View from the awesome top-out of one route.

Selfie from the anchors...say what you will.

Well, that's about all for the the being. I will try to update more often, but it's not like I have an obligation to anyone but myself, and even that's a bit flaky.

Tearing Down, Climbing at Night with Lizards, and Shooting the Moon

I meant to update this blog more promptly, but life has been happening (and I put it off, anyway).  I've been training as usual and have been wondering how to optimize diet, training and rest.

I will be trying a weight-lifting approach of building muscle: climbing to exhaustion then intaking protein and doing some light-climbing to develop rebuilt muscle fiber.  I'm still trying to devise something more optimal for my lifestyle, which currently has a good amount of free time.  My weight has been low this summer, around 145 pounds. (I was getting close to 160 early this year!)

Now here's something we hope you'll really enjoy! Bryan and I got out the head-lamps to hit the dumpster boulders last Wednesday night!

Swatting bugs away in this one.

Bryan showed me better beta.

This one's backwards. Beautiful rock.

Hidden crimps...

Not too bad...

Happy arms...

And we begin. Yes, that toe feels awesome.

Here's Bryan.

I guess he's just doing whatever here...

And here's Bryan if he were a lizard! Yay!

Now, to conclude, here's video of a problem I set called "Shoot the Moon." Hint: it comes from a movie from the late '70s.

Campusing in the Rain

Today, I'd planned on doing a little night bouldering with a couple friends, but then this happened:

Rain is not to be trusted.

So, instead of crying like the clouds, I headed straight for the gym.  I did my best to project harder problems, and I enjoyed the results.  Afterwards, I hit the campus board for the first time in awhile with the literal formal advice of Giddy Ambassador Michael Durenleau.  (He told me about proper form, if that wasn't obvious.)

Not that hard...

Keeping my elbows in...

Even though my plans to climb on real rocks fell through (and after I'd spent the time renting out a pair of shoes for one friend), the day ended beneficially.  I'm now more psyched for training and climbing in general, and I left the gym wishing my mind got tired as quickly as my body and fingers.

Also, at the tender age of 21, I found out today how useful a blender can be!

The gnats were all over this (that's spinach flecks you see, though).

When I got home, I also realized that my ring-finger on my right hand hurt a bit whenever I used it, but Metolius's marvelous crimp oil (It is essential!) alleviated the soreness immediately!  Of course, it needs rest more than anything, which I plan on giving the little one.

And now, to work my core before I go to bed.

5 Days in a Row...No Mercy

Not much to say this time, but I've consistently climbed and trained for the past 5 days, either outside on Tuesday, the ARC setting or at TBA.  Unfortunately, I've been restricted on time overall which is why I feel comfortable being so many days in a row on.

Here are two problems I set, a V5 and maybe a V6: The Krusty Krab Pizza! and Objects in space, respectively.

And for no reason,here's a naughty boulder. 

Mountain Brook Apartments Climbing

Today (and by today, I mean yesterday because I got too busy yesterday) was a special day as it was the first day in many that I found time and friend to climb outside! Sure, the temperature was in the 80s during the 3-6 bouldering session at the Mountain Brook Apartments (which I refer to as "The Dumpster Boulders"), but I am so grateful I got to get out at all and have a good friend along with me.  Now, I'll try to not get too sappy from now on.

Though it was already warm outside, it seemed common procedure to warm up.
Now heeeeere's Bryan!

Brayn being.a neeeerd!

Mmff...

Yeah!

And here I am crushing in my Cookie Monster shirt.

This place is only between the V0-6 range, but it's great for a couple of dumb kids in the summer! And, it's one of the closest places to downtown!

I was considering losing the pants, too.

I'm flexin'.

Traverse this, son.

We got a few sends and ended on this one overhanging motha. 

Good juggy pockets...yes sir.

I'm so into myself.

With the heel hook.

I make my own beta.

Calf powers...activate!

Donezo!

At the end of the day, I only had to swat one tick off of Brayn, and I give him respect for going with me and taking pictures.  I now have to decide whether to sweat my clothes off again tomorrow or hit the gym (in which I will also sweat a ton).

Until next time!

The Cost of Doing Projects

Since the last post, two game-changing things have happened to improve my climbing strength: I bought a membership to TBA (Tennessee Bouldering Authority, Chattanooga's bouldering-concentrated gym, and I got a Metolius Simulator hangboard, as seen below.

Mmm, greeeen.

There is already a hangboard in my room that a friend of mine, Nate Draughn, gave me, but it doesn't cut it for developing the contact strength I crave.

Thoughtful but limited.

The advantage to the Simulator is that it has 18 different holds present which multiplies when they are mixed, such as in doing offsets. With this, another benefit is that Metolius has hangboard workouts designed for this particular hangboard on their website. These 10-minute exercises are no joke! 

Now, for TBA. A membership there is around $40 monthly, and it also included a few perks, such as a guest pass each month and reduced prices on swag and consumables. I could go into the gym's history, but I'll save that for another time. 

The gym through the eyes of the Wave Wall.

There are a few different levels of overhang with the different walls, ranging from around 30 degrees to past 60! Problems can go past the V10 range here.

You'll tell your grandkids about this one.

Do the wave!

TBA offers other training equipment and services, such as yoga classes, weights, multiple campus boards and anything else you would need to send your next project (unless you need the power to levitate).

I hope these people are weirded out if they see this...

Also, to touch on the last post...

It rained SO much when I meant to climb Friday, so now Brayn and I are hoping for Tuesday.