To Infinity and Beyond

Monday, January 14th, 2013

To infinity and beyond! – Buzz Light Year-toy story

Over the holidays I watched Toy Story with family. Pretty inspiring little dude!

 

For the month or so after returning from Argentina, I went on a whirlwind trip through the Southeast.  It started in the New River Gorge, and was followed by Chattanooga, TN and many of its great climbing spots.  I had a great time climbing with Jimmy Webb, Ben Spannuth, Mike Williams, and many other good people along the way.

Sunset over Summersville Lake, WV. Photo taken by Ben Spannuth

 

Enjoying the evening light in the New River Gorge

 

Overhanging! The concave in Little River Canyon.

In a dizziness of visiting so many areas that were new to me, I figured I would try to send as many classic lines as possible.  I managed to send 20+ routes at 5.13 and above, and had a good day out bouldering at one point during which I flashed a V10/11 and sent 3 other V10s.  I was pretty darn surprised to be able to send any boulders since all I had been doing for months was climbing on a rope.  It was eye opening to see that according to the math, I could attempt to send 50 new 5.13s and above in a month if I make a good plan and everything comes together.  So that is one of my goals for 2013.  It fits in nicely for training for my project as well.

Taking a seat at the anchors with my new haircut my friend gave me in the patagonian wind just before leaving Argentina.  Total hack job! But whatever it grows back :) Thanks for the Great photos Ben Spannuth

 

Sending Reflections V10, Little Rock City at sunset

 

Fuzzy hat needed on a cold day out bouldering.  Sending Instinct sit start V10

I figure as long as I squeeze in some bouldering, tons of routes of all different styles, plus some other regular cross-training, I might just have a chance of realizing my goals in the mountains.  I now find myself looking toward the future with the same dreams I imagined as a young child.  Having been challenged in so many ways in my life, I now realize it is my life’s work to continuously meet new challenges, overcome them and quest for the next.  I still see those pictures I drew of myself as a kid – envisioning myself as a professional athlete, and I am amazed at the power of settings goals. The thought of turning my body into that of a world class athlete seemed more than nearly impossible as a weak and frail boy.  The powers of determination, belief, and a strong heart have carried me to my dreams.  I now look back to that little boy drawing those pictures in a simple class assignment of what you would like to be when you grow up, and I smile.

Little River Canyon Waterfall

 

On that note, I have a little request for anyone who has ever climbed in the Red River Gorge, eaten delicious food at Miguel’s Pizza, or anyone who is interested in supporting some wonderful fellow climbers.

Cedar!

Here is my little buddy Cedar Ventura.  She is my friends’ Dario and Emily Ventura’s daughter.  Cedar must undergo a pretty big time surgery, as she was born with an incredibly rare (like 1 of less than 200 cases ever) liver disorder.  It is a very expensive procedure that will allow Cedar to explore life and live out her own dreams.

If you are interested in helping, here is the link to make a donation towards her surgery.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/Cedars-Medical-Fundraiser-/37653

Thank you so much!

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part 2 of the 3-part megablog

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Next on the list at the New River Gorge was Proper Soul!   This line was named proper soul because the guys who equipped it thought it was super hard and that it would take the proper soul to manage a send of this rad line. The day I went to first try it, it was a soaking wet mess up top so after swimming to the top, I decided to check out the dry branch-off line, Lord Voldemort. Figuring it would stay dry I shifted gears and figured out all the beta including the committing move at the top. The next morning I woke up early, rallied Edgardo and was at the cliff by 7:30am.   Warmed up and fired Lord Voldemort off on my first attempt! This thing is a blast and I recommend to anybody who can climb proper soul to add this on to the list! It is a tad harder but not too much.

While taking in the morning view of the Gorge from the anchors, I peered over at the top of Proper Soul…still a mess.  Anxiously, I hoped the top would dry off.   My buddy Keller showed up to try Trebuchet and volunteered to go tick up the top of Proper Soul if it dried up.   By late afternoon it seemed to do just that.  I gave Keller beta all the way to the top but had no idea what to do for the top section and told him he had to figure it out.  He put some ticks, lowered down and away I went.  It was super hot out but somehow I managed to make it to the anchors and clipped the chains of 2 badass lines in one day!

That left one more to do before I headed back home to Colorado.  The weather took a turn for the worse.   It got hot and humid.  Which meant bad conditions for Still Life. Sasha Digulian had showed up to put Still Life down and I got to climb with her on it.   It was super cool to see her crushing on Still Life, which has a V11 crux up top guarding the anchors.  After trying to play the conditions game I just decided to ignore the fact that the conditions sucked.   With the goal in mind of finishing it, I went into all-out war with Still Life on a 96 degree day out at Sommersville Lake.   I went at it all day, falling at the last hold over and over again.   I managed to climb up that soaking wet piece of stone in the worst conditions I have ever delt with 8 times before finally I decided to leave when it was getting dark.   The day was not lost, however, because I had some good times swimming and was convinced it was going down.

I took the next day off only to come back and see the line with water still dribbling down it.   It was just too wet to climb.  I still tried and went up it two times.  The next morning we showed up at 7:00 am, I warmed up and then gave it a go, falling on the last move again!  I blew a fuse!  A slew of vernacular statements about the conditions and the climb flew from my mouth as open and freely as is America!  I calmed down and changed my beta for the last move.  BOOM!   I took some time to enjoy the morning mist rolling around on the lake surface, then went and put it down!   Yes the holds were still fairly wet but I would not take no for an answer and made that climb say yes to me passing.   As for the grade in wet conditions….NOT EASY!  It felt like V8 to V12!  Thanks to Edgardo for all the belays!   It is a sick line and is probably way more fun in the fall.

Finally, I wanted to check out this line Mike kept raving about called Mango Tango.  I headed out there the next morning after sending Still Life.   Sure enough everything Mike had said about this line was true.   It is for sure the finest piece of rock that I have seen on the Eastern United States!!   I went up it all psyched and did all the super techincal moves.  After taking a rest I went for it.  Fizzle….pop!  I was done!!  All the gas in the tank was gone.  I added up all the pitches of climbing I had done and it added up to 32 pitches of 5.14 or harder in 10 days.  Not counting 5.13′s or anything else.

It was time to head home as I was beginning to think about Grand Ol Opry, and The Bleeding!   Within a couple hours we had decided to head west.   First stop was Kentucky to grab up what stuff we had left behind and then blast it all the way back to Fort Collins, CO.  We drove like maniacs all through the night and rolled in at about noon.   I dropped Edgardo off with his friends and met up with Katherine for a quick lunch before her afternoon shift back up in Estes.

Needing a break from the driving, I spent the afternoon in Fort Collins hanging out before heading over to my good friend Charlie’s for an awesome pizza dinner.  I was beginning to realize I was home :)   I then headed up the mountain to be at home with Katherine and Piggy in our summer mountain home.  Whew!

Thanks so much to Mike and Elissa, Adam and Rachel, and Dario and Emily for being so damn hospitable!

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