Earlier this year, I hit some
pretty interesting climbing goals. Much of the progress stemmed from long term
plans I had laid out for my climbing, so it was super interesting to experience
these accomplishments and reflect on them over the summer.
As for difficulty, I climbed my
first two V10 boulders. The first boulder actually went hand in hand (or
hand-foot matched) with another accomplishment, my longest completed project to
date. I spent just a couple weeks short of two years working on Dean's Journey,
in Hueco Tanks. For me, this boulder was one of those problems that just
absorbed my being. I fell in love with the line the moment I saw it, I didn't
even know its name or grade or anything. Not only was its appearance aesthetic,
but I super enjoyed the style of climbing. It reminded me of what I sometimes
call "the good ol' days" of climbing in North Carolina. My teammates
from Underground Climbing and I would spend hours in the gym doing dynamic
moves and going big. This climb made me go big. I returned to this climb
for a total of nine or ten days over the next two years.
This past season, I also
accomplished my longest climbing trip to date. In late March I hit the road for
about three weeks. I realize it isn’t all that long of a trip, even more so
since I didn’t stay put. I actually visited Hueco Tanks, Joe’s Valley and
Flagstaff for a week each. I knew people from Arizona moving back and forth
between each location at the time, so I hit all of them. At the time, I hadn’t
lived in Phoenix for two years and it was so awesome seeing friends again on
these trips. It wouldn’t have been possible without you, Rick, Jeremy, Jason
and Shantelle!
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| Not a great shot, but here is me on Dean's Journey. |
These achievements were great to
reflect upon after the season ended. I spent my summer doing this as I prepared
for some changes in my personal life. It was actually on a climbing trip in
Colorado in June with my friends Ander and Chris that I psyched myself into
some new goals while talking with them.
Chris and Ander were familiar
with my style, goals and personality and it was of great benefit to discuss
what I should focus on next. The big talking points came out and I found myself
constantly approaching three ideas. One, I wanted climbing to be more
consistently focused on. Two, traveling to climb, domestic or international, is
of growing importance as I progress. And three, I want more strength than what
one climb has to offer.
Consistency in my climbing is
something I have often lacked since I moved out of my home state of North
Carolina in 2011. There has never really been any absence of climbing more than
seven to ten days, but the lack of training for extended periods was not only
halting my progress, it actually led to an injury once or twice. Fortunately,
my fingers and elbows have been pain free for over two years now. But what I
really mean in a more consistent focus is to have my training and performance
cycles really nailed down so that there aren’t gaps in between. Train, Perform,
Recover. Too many times I have I let recovery mold into a state of lethargy
where I let a month or two of solid effort turn into a holding stage of just
keeping my strength rather than growing. This is wasted opportunity cost, and
it will delay my next goals if I continue to do it. So it is time to get
organized.
Having a streamlined climbing
cycle goes hand in hand with taking trips. I have never lived in a town where
there is extensive climbing in my backyard, so I travel to climb like many
others. I’ve had some great crags within two hours, but that turns into a day
trip on weekends, not morning sessions before work. I enjoy day trips, but what
I really crave is longer trips on the road. At some point I’d like to do a
month in Hueco, Rocklands or Squamish. These trips are what I will move toward,
although probably infrequently.
The last goal I’m setting for
myself is to climb stronger than what one climb requires. What I mean is I just
want to send more V8 and V9 boulders. Sure, I want projects in the V10/11
range, but I also want to get more mileage under my belt. Several days at the
crag are spent burning a couple moderates in the V4-V7 range, and then
projecting a V10. I want to start racking up more sends because it is a good
training strategy for climbing, and of course it will put me on even more great
problems. Time to do a bit more climbing and a bit less grade chasing!
So the season has begun, it is
mid October now and I have many days of bouldering lying ahead of me. I
actually just returned from a weekend in Joe’s Valley, my first return to the
crag. It was a fun, little trip. I was craving some outdoor camping and Joe’s
never disappoints. This trip was particularly exciting because I finally got to
break in my first pair of Nexxos from Evolv. The shoes kicked ass, I mean I was
so stoked when I tried them on several weeks ago but to finally climb in them!
They performed super well, with a clearly improved last that really molded your
foot to an aggressive position of precise power. Toe hooking had really
improved, too! I also broke in a fresh pair of Bandits. This has been my
technical shoe of choice since I lived in North Carolina, I absolutely love how
comfortable the shoe is and yet the performance it holds from slabs to
overhangs is phenomenal. These shoes will be with me for the season as I tackle
new challenges and old foes, so stoked! A big thanks to Evolv for providing
such a great product to the community at large, it has been awesome climbing
with their shoes for years and years.
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| Taking a lap up Chips in Joe's Valley the other week. |
Speaking of travel and a season
begun, I’m headed to China! This year, Kailas is hosting their annual Yangshuo Climbing Festival at the end of October. Yangshuo is incredibly famous for its
primitive and beautiful landscapes, with steep, mountainous spires all around.
The festival is one of China’s largest climbing celebrations, and will play
host to an extended weekend of dry tooling clinics, highlining, sport climbing
jaunts, and an epic concert. There is also going to be a bouldering competition
and I am so unbelievably excited to announce I accepted an invitation to route
set for it! I have been free-lance route setting for about four years now, and
this will be my first international experience with it. I cannot properly
express my thanks to Kailas for inviting me on their adventures and hosting me
while I take my first trip to China. Look back here in a couple weeks for a
recap of the trip, I leave on October 27th!
