It has come to the point that I'm actually deriving greater enjoyment writing Matlab codes than climbing. As I continue to recover from my finger injury, I suppose typing on the keyboard can be considered some kind of therapy.
The summer heat continues. Strangely, Linus finally yielded today. Wasn't expecting to send in 90F weather. Moreover, I was all but ready to try out new beta in the event of another failed attempt. Oh...and I also want to mention that I started from the ground as opposed to a cheater stone or stump. Anyway, decided to call it 13D instead of the printed grade of 13C. This is done with mindful consideration on how hard the sum of its parts are, the difficulty in comparison to the other 13Ds on El Diablo wall (ie. Dead Souls, Cop Killer, Body Count), and time spent projecting it. There you have it, you're a sandbagger Mike!
This season has been quite a struggle, constantly shut down on moderates as opposed to previous seasons. On the one hand, it may be a prep for harder projects. On the other hand, I've pretty much been picking sandbagged routes this whole time, which may explain my predicament stalling on the "moderates" like Linus and Hammerhead. Anyway, just relieved that I can move on to the biz-nizz for the season...Cannibals Direct, originally graded 14a but now a 14b since James Litz broke a crux hold off a couple of seasons back. Hangdogged the climb today and concluded that it feels relentless right off the ground. And as if things couldn't get any worse, one's gotta pull the "bats out of hell" crux to clip the chains. This thing's gonna take a while.
Meantime, we're headed back to the Compound at Maple for Ling to send 9/11. It's great the fire's 100% contained and they've opened up the canyon again...otherwise, "death by turd" will be the worst send-off Maple can ever get.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The Heat is ON!!!
There's been a recent spate of wild fires here in Utah, Colorado and Arizona. Conditions are ripe for fires with the recipe of high winds, scorching temps, low humidity and absence of rainfall. Some of these fires, especially those in Colorado, are devastating. An example is the Wood Hollow fire in Sanpete county that burnt approximately 46, 000 acres. If you're reading this post, please note that a fire has broken out in Maple Canyon just this afternoon. Utah fire officials has labelled it the Dizzy Rock fire. Right now the canyon has been evacuated with no access to any climbing area. Updates can be found on http://www.utahfireinfo.gov/
Though the cause of the fire is still under investigation, friends on facebook has began speculating the cause as human...poor potty etiquette and negligent disposal of toilet paper. Anyway, super bummer for us cos I was psyched on returning to the Compound and Tanleng's super close on sending 9/11. Looks like it's back to AF this weekend.
Though the cause of the fire is still under investigation, friends on facebook has began speculating the cause as human...poor potty etiquette and negligent disposal of toilet paper. Anyway, super bummer for us cos I was psyched on returning to the Compound and Tanleng's super close on sending 9/11. Looks like it's back to AF this weekend.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Love...a Subaru
We've finally gotten ourselves a car more suited for our lifestyle...a Subaru Forester. Gotta love a Subaru, especially a scooby nut like me..total cost...$3900.
Our first weekend going off-roading out to the Compound, Maple Canyon. Terrain was pretty harsh unless you have a real truck platform...still much better than our Acura Integra.
There's always been a special place for a Subaru in my heart. Here's the Bugeye I had when we were still living in Spore...which cost $37000.
It's a shame we're broke now cos I'll love to doll up the Forester and pimp it up like these ones...
On a separate note, my 2012 climbing season has taken an unfortunate start with a ruptured A1 pulley on my right ring finger. Contrary to popular accounts of "popping", it kinda sounded like a carrot breaking when it happened. It's been 3 months since the rupture and I've been careful in nursing it. Been on the rope more than bouldering so the prognosis looks optimistic though it's not back to full strength yet. Having said that, I'm not banking on any super hard sends in American Fork this season. Meantime, we've been heading out to the Compound more than the Hell Cave...can't say it's been a joy cos I'm getting my ass handed to me...like I needed any kind of reminder that I suck at cobble pulling.
There's always been a special place for a Subaru in my heart. Here's the Bugeye I had when we were still living in Spore...which cost $37000.
It's a shame we're broke now cos I'll love to doll up the Forester and pimp it up like these ones...
On a separate note, my 2012 climbing season has taken an unfortunate start with a ruptured A1 pulley on my right ring finger. Contrary to popular accounts of "popping", it kinda sounded like a carrot breaking when it happened. It's been 3 months since the rupture and I've been careful in nursing it. Been on the rope more than bouldering so the prognosis looks optimistic though it's not back to full strength yet. Having said that, I'm not banking on any super hard sends in American Fork this season. Meantime, we've been heading out to the Compound more than the Hell Cave...can't say it's been a joy cos I'm getting my ass handed to me...like I needed any kind of reminder that I suck at cobble pulling.
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