My Mom's arriving in Huntington Beach tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to seeing her again. Miss my Mom and Dad loads cos I haven't had the chance to return home for a visit eversince my move to the US.
Plans are in the works to visit her in the 3rd week of July and also detours to Yosemite and Bishop from our drive from SLC. I've set my sights on Midnight Lightning in Camp 4 and also polish off some old projects in Bishop. Here's an old vid Thomas took of me on Morning Dove White V7 at the Happies. Though it's a great classic, I was clearly pissed about it spitting me off on my flash attempt.
Meantime, the season at LCC is coming to a close...just when I'm falling off hitting the ending hold on Pro-Series V11. Good news, I'm making it to the last move in 70F plus temps...bad news, I've been getting white knuckles greasing off the crimps. There's a price to pay getting out on warm, greasy evenings in my desperate attempts to bag it. The prospects of sending it in summer is looking grim. NEGATIVE!!!!
I'm hoping on getting better luck at AF.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Rifle and the Vail World Cup @ the Teva Mountain Games
The sound of the wind blasting through my window had been going through my brains for hours now driving down the 6. It's ironic that I didn't have the A/C on cos it really is the only thing working on my car right now. Considering all that's broken or held together with duct tape and zip-ties, it's dumb not to enjoy the cool of the A/C in 90F weather. Oh well, all this to save gas cos we're Rifle bound. We were also pretty psyched about checking out the Vail WC happening in conjunction with the Teva Mountain Games.
Our psyche have been pretty high in anticipation of this Rifle trip but personally, I was kinda worried about my route fitness having been holed up all winter bouldering. I'm expecting tons of flailing but seemed pretty assured of doing well having signed up for the Citizen's comp at the Vail WC. Besides, I've kinda set my sights on trying American Prayer. It's apparently a 6 bolt 5.14a with a opening crux section of V9-11 depending on how you climb. It's the post crux section of actual route climbing that I'm worried about. But heck...let's worry about things one at a time. Meanwhile, Tanleng was psyched on sending some 12s.
We finally got to some wild campground called the Corral on our first evening outside Rifle Mountain Park. According to random sources, it's a much warmer place to camp and it honestly didn't look too bad compared to Cedar Pocket at VRG. But I have to admit it looked kinda dodgey with shot out beer cans and tons of dried animal bones around the campground. I was certain the cougar's stalking us.
Rifle turned out to be a really gorgeous place with a little creek running by the crag...and zero hiking.
Day one of climbing was pretty much exploratory. Tanleng sussed out the moves on Cardinal Sin 5.12a and I went and jumped on Amercian Prayer. I had Chad's V7 beta written down but making sense of it was cryptic. I soon resorted to formulating any sensible way of getting up the crux section and by the time I was done, I was completely wasted. I guess I only have myself to blame cos I had only one rest day before Rifle after 3 days on in SLC. Nevertheless, I spent the rest of the session sussing out the moves post crux...just in case I pull the rabbit out the hat for this one. So it was basically a one day sesh on American Prayer on Thu, rest Fri & Sat for the comp on Sun. Tanleng had better luck on Cardinal Sin, falling off post crux from an insane pump on Fri morning. So with nothing much left in our arms, we left for Vail.
We arrived just in time to catch the Men's Qualifiers. Here's Magnus Midtobe on a qualifier problem. Vail Village turned out to be a beautiful ski town. Tons of touristy shops with Euro architecture.
Chill'n.
And there's the Mud Run of course...GO MUD WARRIORS!!!!
Super GRRRLLLS!!!
...Batman!
....and them Sumo wrestlers.
Kayak Freestyle World Championship.
The torrential swirls are insane, lesser men would've drowned!!! These dudes are suicidal...I'll stick to fighting gravity.
The finalists lining up for the BIG showdown!!!
Men's Finals.
Women's Finals.
D Woods put up an amazing climbing spectacle winning it for the home team!!! Hori, who came in 2nd, is a beast too. Props to Killian for coming in 3rd with a broken toe.
Citizen's comp on Sun. My turn to pull down.
I've got to admit that I did feel like I'm hustling, signing up for the Masters' Cat but can't blame me for feeling my age lately. At the end of the day, my score would have placed me 4th in the Open Cat, against kids half my age.
It's been a while since I last stood on podiums. Better a has-been, than a wannabee.
So it was back to Rifle after all the fanfare. This time, we decided to give the Corral campground a miss and headed up to the National Forest free camping area 4 miles past the climbing area. The view is stunning!
I was feeling the aches from Sun's comp, plus an anvil of doubt about being able to pull the moves on American Prayer now that I have to resort to a much harder sequence. So we decided that Tanleng will get back on Cardinal Sin on Mon morning and I'll attempt American Prayer in the afternoon to give me more rest. The weekend rest in Vail did the trick cos she cruised Cardinal Sin on her first try back on it.
I got back on American Prayer to re-work Chad's beta and still couldn't figure it out. Looks like this 14 isn't going down without a fight. I gave it 2 serious attempts before deciding that I only have juice for one last go and calling it a day. Fatigue from Sun's comp was setting in and I was getting a whole lot of regret for signing up for the comp. Plus if I was to get back on to try the climb the next day, it would be 3 days on for me and my body would usually break down by then. So one last try it was...and one was try was all it took to SEND!!! Now I'm thankful for all the time holed up in the Front all winter bouldering!
Day 3 was spent checking out other classics. I called it the TRY HARD day cos we had to dig so deep to climb. Still, I managed to flash Cardinal Sin and Fossil Family. Tanleng also managed to fight her way up Fossil Family on her 2nd try for the send. EPIC!!!
And to reward ourselves for sending....we stopped by Draper on the way back to SLC for a massive double-double....ANIMAL STYLE!!!! YYEEEEYYUUUUHHH!!!
Our psyche have been pretty high in anticipation of this Rifle trip but personally, I was kinda worried about my route fitness having been holed up all winter bouldering. I'm expecting tons of flailing but seemed pretty assured of doing well having signed up for the Citizen's comp at the Vail WC. Besides, I've kinda set my sights on trying American Prayer. It's apparently a 6 bolt 5.14a with a opening crux section of V9-11 depending on how you climb. It's the post crux section of actual route climbing that I'm worried about. But heck...let's worry about things one at a time. Meanwhile, Tanleng was psyched on sending some 12s.
We finally got to some wild campground called the Corral on our first evening outside Rifle Mountain Park. According to random sources, it's a much warmer place to camp and it honestly didn't look too bad compared to Cedar Pocket at VRG. But I have to admit it looked kinda dodgey with shot out beer cans and tons of dried animal bones around the campground. I was certain the cougar's stalking us.
Rifle turned out to be a really gorgeous place with a little creek running by the crag...and zero hiking.
Day one of climbing was pretty much exploratory. Tanleng sussed out the moves on Cardinal Sin 5.12a and I went and jumped on Amercian Prayer. I had Chad's V7 beta written down but making sense of it was cryptic. I soon resorted to formulating any sensible way of getting up the crux section and by the time I was done, I was completely wasted. I guess I only have myself to blame cos I had only one rest day before Rifle after 3 days on in SLC. Nevertheless, I spent the rest of the session sussing out the moves post crux...just in case I pull the rabbit out the hat for this one. So it was basically a one day sesh on American Prayer on Thu, rest Fri & Sat for the comp on Sun. Tanleng had better luck on Cardinal Sin, falling off post crux from an insane pump on Fri morning. So with nothing much left in our arms, we left for Vail.
We arrived just in time to catch the Men's Qualifiers. Here's Magnus Midtobe on a qualifier problem. Vail Village turned out to be a beautiful ski town. Tons of touristy shops with Euro architecture.
Chill'n.
And there's the Mud Run of course...GO MUD WARRIORS!!!!
Super GRRRLLLS!!!
...Batman!
....and them Sumo wrestlers.
Kayak Freestyle World Championship.
The torrential swirls are insane, lesser men would've drowned!!! These dudes are suicidal...I'll stick to fighting gravity.
The finalists lining up for the BIG showdown!!!
Men's Finals.
Bouldering World Cup 2010 • Vail, Colorado • Mens Finals from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.
Women's Finals.
Bouldering World Cup 2010 • Vail, Colorado • Womens Finals from Jon Glassberg on Vimeo.
D Woods put up an amazing climbing spectacle winning it for the home team!!! Hori, who came in 2nd, is a beast too. Props to Killian for coming in 3rd with a broken toe.
Citizen's comp on Sun. My turn to pull down.
I've got to admit that I did feel like I'm hustling, signing up for the Masters' Cat but can't blame me for feeling my age lately. At the end of the day, my score would have placed me 4th in the Open Cat, against kids half my age.
It's been a while since I last stood on podiums. Better a has-been, than a wannabee.
So it was back to Rifle after all the fanfare. This time, we decided to give the Corral campground a miss and headed up to the National Forest free camping area 4 miles past the climbing area. The view is stunning!
I was feeling the aches from Sun's comp, plus an anvil of doubt about being able to pull the moves on American Prayer now that I have to resort to a much harder sequence. So we decided that Tanleng will get back on Cardinal Sin on Mon morning and I'll attempt American Prayer in the afternoon to give me more rest. The weekend rest in Vail did the trick cos she cruised Cardinal Sin on her first try back on it.
I got back on American Prayer to re-work Chad's beta and still couldn't figure it out. Looks like this 14 isn't going down without a fight. I gave it 2 serious attempts before deciding that I only have juice for one last go and calling it a day. Fatigue from Sun's comp was setting in and I was getting a whole lot of regret for signing up for the comp. Plus if I was to get back on to try the climb the next day, it would be 3 days on for me and my body would usually break down by then. So one last try it was...and one was try was all it took to SEND!!! Now I'm thankful for all the time holed up in the Front all winter bouldering!
Day 3 was spent checking out other classics. I called it the TRY HARD day cos we had to dig so deep to climb. Still, I managed to flash Cardinal Sin and Fossil Family. Tanleng also managed to fight her way up Fossil Family on her 2nd try for the send. EPIC!!!
And to reward ourselves for sending....we stopped by Draper on the way back to SLC for a massive double-double....ANIMAL STYLE!!!! YYEEEEYYUUUUHHH!!!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Mad Resole
I'm sure we all had a favorite pair of climbing shoes that worked for us in all situations, especially when it comes to sending. My sending shoes are the Madrock Super Locos. So what happens when the rubber's burnt through as our favorite sending shoes approach the end of their life span? That's when we begin the hateful process of breaking in a new pair and hoping that they conform quick enough for us to send the next project....or at least spare us the agony of excruciatingly painful squished toes.
Well, turns out Madrock found the solution to the problem by offering a professional resole for all brands of climbing shoes with their propriety Science Friction 2.2 rubber at their Santa Fe Springs, CA HQ office. So when the Mad hommies told me that they can give me sending shoes a new lease of life, I was on it! I had my apprehensions at first from all the negative reviews of commercial resoles done at other joints. Common complaints were the delamination of the rubber, having to wait gozillion weeks for the shoes to return, and worse of all, the misfit of the shoes due to the resoling process of fitting it over a last that's not similar. But when I got me Super Locos back...lo and behold...here are the result:
Left: Brand new Super Loco with FX5 rubber.
Center: Beat up Super Loco with FX5 rubber.
Right: Newly resoled Super Loco with Science Friction 2.2 rubber. Custom made cos I didn't want to have the dual density sole.
Workmanship of the uppers was immaculate. Tears on the uppers are notoriously difficult to fix but not a problem for the Mad cobblers.
Custom resoling of the uppers so that they extend higher over the top for more rubber coverage.
So now, me sending shoes have a new lease of life. They climb solid right out of the box and I need not worry about breaking in cos they are my old shoes to begin with. Considering the quality of the resole, the reasonable price, and professionalism of the Mad hommies, this is a serious proposition for anyone looking to get a decent resole done...especially for those of you living in So Cal.
Look up Madrock Resole and you may find that orders are backed up till May 1, 2010. Testimony to the demand, so don't miss out on being part of the next batch.
Well, turns out Madrock found the solution to the problem by offering a professional resole for all brands of climbing shoes with their propriety Science Friction 2.2 rubber at their Santa Fe Springs, CA HQ office. So when the Mad hommies told me that they can give me sending shoes a new lease of life, I was on it! I had my apprehensions at first from all the negative reviews of commercial resoles done at other joints. Common complaints were the delamination of the rubber, having to wait gozillion weeks for the shoes to return, and worse of all, the misfit of the shoes due to the resoling process of fitting it over a last that's not similar. But when I got me Super Locos back...lo and behold...here are the result:
Left: Brand new Super Loco with FX5 rubber.
Center: Beat up Super Loco with FX5 rubber.
Right: Newly resoled Super Loco with Science Friction 2.2 rubber. Custom made cos I didn't want to have the dual density sole.
Workmanship of the uppers was immaculate. Tears on the uppers are notoriously difficult to fix but not a problem for the Mad cobblers.
Custom resoling of the uppers so that they extend higher over the top for more rubber coverage.
So now, me sending shoes have a new lease of life. They climb solid right out of the box and I need not worry about breaking in cos they are my old shoes to begin with. Considering the quality of the resole, the reasonable price, and professionalism of the Mad hommies, this is a serious proposition for anyone looking to get a decent resole done...especially for those of you living in So Cal.
Look up Madrock Resole and you may find that orders are backed up till May 1, 2010. Testimony to the demand, so don't miss out on being part of the next batch.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Little Cottonwood Canyon
With winter giving out its last breath, we were psyched to check out Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC) given that it's just 15 mins from our apartment. Prior to having a personal experience of that place, we've been getting different stories from people about how some loved that place, while the major pretty much just bitched about the lack of footholds and odd features of the granite there. Nevertheless, when you have a place for outdoor bouldering 15 mins from your doorstep, you gotta at least CHECK IT AUS!!!
Sat's our typical climbing day but with the weather dumping 10 inches of snow 2 days before, we weren't sure if we were going to get anything out of LCC. But we went anyway. Place turned out to be pretty decent. Boulders were right off the pullouts. I had set my sights on Shingles V9, Copperhead V10, and possible Bully V11 at the Secret Gardens. I was pretty psyched to try Shingles first of all but the day turned out to be pretty damp with the snowfall, which made the Shingle move feel pretty impossible. I was kinda depressed cos it didn't looked like I could do Copperhead having seen how small the crimps were. But with nothing of interest around, I decided to try it anyway. Turned out I could pull the first move to the right hand crimp within a couple of tries but with the moisture, I was shutdown pretty quickly. Plus my cuticles were starting to tear from all the crimping. This was when a local came over to tell me not to beat myself up and return on a colder, dryer day. Spent the rest of the day checking out the Cabbage Patch and getting on "easier" climbs like the hardest V5 on earth...Fungus. My day pretty much ended when I couldn't get off the ground on a V1. NEGATIVE!!! I was really starting to believe in the curse of LCC.
We got news during the following week that Kim Boon was enroute from Yosemite to pay us a rare visit. And with him wanting to sample the best snow on earth, we headed out the following Sat to Snowbird Ski Resort to checkout the conditions and stopped by LCC again for another sesh.
Setting up the landing zone at the warmup boulder.
It's pretty amazing that with his extensive climbing experience, this was actually Kim Boon's first shot at REAL bouldering.
I take it that he likes it!
Tanleng on some V3 warmup.
I wasn't gonna waste any time getting back on Shingles, so I headed straight back to Copperhead and hoped that the temps were on my side this time.
Pulling the first move on Copperhead.
Copperhead has essentially 2 hard moves, which involves the first move into the right hand crimp off the ground, followed by cranking and getting the left hand on a semi-gaston lefthand crimp before busting the right hand to a decent incut flake. The second move to the semi-gaston wasn't exactly working out for me so I decided to switch my sequence out. I remembered vaguely when sussing out beta on youtube of Aaron Shamy busting right off the right hand crimp all the way up and hitting the decent flake with his left hand. I gave that sequence one go by stopping on the left hand semi-gaston first before moving off for the jump. And when I almost stuck the jump to the flake, the plan was to rest up and SEND!
Busting to the good flake.
SENDING!!!! YEEAAYYUUHHH!!!
Here's a vid of Aaron Shamy getting on a buncha climbs in LCC. There's one of him cruising Copperhead among other hard blocs. He didn't have to stop on the left hand semi-gaston. The bloke pretty much cranked down on the right hand crimp and bust straight out to the flake.
Managed to flash Barfly V9 (which I felt was V8) and Crystal Pinch V6 at the Gate boulders, which made for a pretty sweet day! Flailed on Superfly V8 cos I was so done by then but it made me pretty psyched to get on Pro-Series V11 the next time I'm there.
Here's Tanleng sending a pretty tricky V2 mantle. Rather decent effort considering the fact that she's still recovering from her back injury and didn't want to risk falling.
So the verdict is....LCC really isn't so bad afterall. The features weren't too different from the Tramway up in Palm Springs and Black Mountain, CA. Plus it's literally in my backyard and I don't have to pay for any tramride. Heck, I'm even considering getting a lamp and getting some night sessions in!
Sat's our typical climbing day but with the weather dumping 10 inches of snow 2 days before, we weren't sure if we were going to get anything out of LCC. But we went anyway. Place turned out to be pretty decent. Boulders were right off the pullouts. I had set my sights on Shingles V9, Copperhead V10, and possible Bully V11 at the Secret Gardens. I was pretty psyched to try Shingles first of all but the day turned out to be pretty damp with the snowfall, which made the Shingle move feel pretty impossible. I was kinda depressed cos it didn't looked like I could do Copperhead having seen how small the crimps were. But with nothing of interest around, I decided to try it anyway. Turned out I could pull the first move to the right hand crimp within a couple of tries but with the moisture, I was shutdown pretty quickly. Plus my cuticles were starting to tear from all the crimping. This was when a local came over to tell me not to beat myself up and return on a colder, dryer day. Spent the rest of the day checking out the Cabbage Patch and getting on "easier" climbs like the hardest V5 on earth...Fungus. My day pretty much ended when I couldn't get off the ground on a V1. NEGATIVE!!! I was really starting to believe in the curse of LCC.
We got news during the following week that Kim Boon was enroute from Yosemite to pay us a rare visit. And with him wanting to sample the best snow on earth, we headed out the following Sat to Snowbird Ski Resort to checkout the conditions and stopped by LCC again for another sesh.
Setting up the landing zone at the warmup boulder.
It's pretty amazing that with his extensive climbing experience, this was actually Kim Boon's first shot at REAL bouldering.
I take it that he likes it!
Tanleng on some V3 warmup.
I wasn't gonna waste any time getting back on Shingles, so I headed straight back to Copperhead and hoped that the temps were on my side this time.
Pulling the first move on Copperhead.
Copperhead has essentially 2 hard moves, which involves the first move into the right hand crimp off the ground, followed by cranking and getting the left hand on a semi-gaston lefthand crimp before busting the right hand to a decent incut flake. The second move to the semi-gaston wasn't exactly working out for me so I decided to switch my sequence out. I remembered vaguely when sussing out beta on youtube of Aaron Shamy busting right off the right hand crimp all the way up and hitting the decent flake with his left hand. I gave that sequence one go by stopping on the left hand semi-gaston first before moving off for the jump. And when I almost stuck the jump to the flake, the plan was to rest up and SEND!
Busting to the good flake.
SENDING!!!! YEEAAYYUUHHH!!!
Here's a vid of Aaron Shamy getting on a buncha climbs in LCC. There's one of him cruising Copperhead among other hard blocs. He didn't have to stop on the left hand semi-gaston. The bloke pretty much cranked down on the right hand crimp and bust straight out to the flake.
Managed to flash Barfly V9 (which I felt was V8) and Crystal Pinch V6 at the Gate boulders, which made for a pretty sweet day! Flailed on Superfly V8 cos I was so done by then but it made me pretty psyched to get on Pro-Series V11 the next time I'm there.
Here's Tanleng sending a pretty tricky V2 mantle. Rather decent effort considering the fact that she's still recovering from her back injury and didn't want to risk falling.
So the verdict is....LCC really isn't so bad afterall. The features weren't too different from the Tramway up in Palm Springs and Black Mountain, CA. Plus it's literally in my backyard and I don't have to pay for any tramride. Heck, I'm even considering getting a lamp and getting some night sessions in!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Pine Mountain Pulldown 2009
Pine Mountain's sandstone boulders are nestled in the city of Ojai, California and provides a breath-taking scene for bouldering in the Spring and Fall. The Pine Mountain Pulldown (PMPD) has been going on since 2008, courtesy of a dedicated few lead by Yishai Horowitz and his company All Out Events. Me and Tanleng had a great time last year with our sponsor Madrock and I was pretty sure I wasn't gonna miss it this year with the Mad-hommies! Anyway, just wanted to blog it down here before I forget the good times I had with the crew.
I was pretty psyched in the days prior to the event cos I felt I was in pretty good bouldering shape but it's really strange how life can throw you a curve ball when you least expect it. Here I was in Long Beach living by myself (away from my wife who's in Utah). So what happens when you don't have your wifey around to prepare your meals....leftover pasta...and I mean waaayyyy leftover. Result => diarrhea the day before the comp....nothing better to make you buckle at your knees and letting your love with toilet paper be rekindled. Stomach felt fine the day of the comp but I wasn't so sure I could crush. Anyway, I packed tons of toilet paper along with my crashpad just in case MR.WET FART decided to show up when I do crush.
The day turned out pretty fine and here's some great footage from R. Tyler Gross at www.rtylergross.com from his coverage of the event. These are some of the sending shots he took.
My send of Involuntary Lunge V10. Pretty decent one-day ascent, beta thanks to Garret Gregor.
Here's the blow-by-blow account of the whole sequence.
The OOOHHHHH-YEEAHHH fist pumps from the crew!!!!
My attempts on some V8 that felt harder than V10....NEGATIVE!!!
Here's a example of the great scene you'll find at any boulder. Great company, tons of spraydown and a friendly spot. There's Anthony Tarascio in the background together with Mr. Bishop Bouldering...Wills Young.
And then it was PARTY TIME!
Me and Kaz...CHILL'N@the Mad-booth!
And don't even try keeping up with these grrrrls!
BIG thanks to Madrock for making it all happen. I'm really missing those times now that I'm in Salt Lake City. Then again....there's the Mammut Sendfest in Summer! See y'all hommies then!
I was pretty psyched in the days prior to the event cos I felt I was in pretty good bouldering shape but it's really strange how life can throw you a curve ball when you least expect it. Here I was in Long Beach living by myself (away from my wife who's in Utah). So what happens when you don't have your wifey around to prepare your meals....leftover pasta...and I mean waaayyyy leftover. Result => diarrhea the day before the comp....nothing better to make you buckle at your knees and letting your love with toilet paper be rekindled. Stomach felt fine the day of the comp but I wasn't so sure I could crush. Anyway, I packed tons of toilet paper along with my crashpad just in case MR.WET FART decided to show up when I do crush.
The day turned out pretty fine and here's some great footage from R. Tyler Gross at www.rtylergross.com from his coverage of the event. These are some of the sending shots he took.
My send of Involuntary Lunge V10. Pretty decent one-day ascent, beta thanks to Garret Gregor.
Here's the blow-by-blow account of the whole sequence.
The OOOHHHHH-YEEAHHH fist pumps from the crew!!!!
My attempts on some V8 that felt harder than V10....NEGATIVE!!!
Here's a example of the great scene you'll find at any boulder. Great company, tons of spraydown and a friendly spot. There's Anthony Tarascio in the background together with Mr. Bishop Bouldering...Wills Young.
And then it was PARTY TIME!
Me and Kaz...CHILL'N@the Mad-booth!
And don't even try keeping up with these grrrrls!
BIG thanks to Madrock for making it all happen. I'm really missing those times now that I'm in Salt Lake City. Then again....there's the Mammut Sendfest in Summer! See y'all hommies then!
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