Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Mission Accomplished

Yesterday evening I flew back to Boulder. I was very fortunate to have perfect conditions on Monday. Originally I was going to wait till the evening so it was out of the sun, but the weather midday was cloudy and about 55 degrees with a decent breeze. I decided these would probably be the best conditions and so I started warming up around 10am in the boulders. Every so often the sun would poke through and I would get anxious -- worrying that I might miss the perfect conditions, but the weather held through my whole warm up. Once I felt loose and ready to pull on small holds, I headed straight to the Fly. A friend of mine from Boston, AJ, was up at the crag and I was able to get a catch from him after setting up the rope. It was great to pull onto the climb with tough skin that I knew wouldn't slide. I actually messed up the first few moves and even slightly changed my beta on the fly (pardon the pun). Nevertheless, I found myself at my highpoint and this time the toothy gaston actually felt pretty good -- my fingers stayed in place easily instead of sliding down the slope of the hold and I made the cross through move without trouble. I felt strong on the next move and pushed through to the end though slightly nervous about the final moves even though I had done them many times. I was super psyched to do it first try of the day and to have my primary objective for the trip completed. Here is video of the send.

The Fly Send from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.



After doing the Fly, I decided to try Cyberblock 13d because someone else was also trying it. They suggested that I try to flash it and I figured why not. The crux is close to the ground and the whole route is relatively short. I went for it and sent first try even though I was climbing very rigid and not relaxed on the upper section. Next I climbed a cool arete route called But Bongo Fiesta 13a. I was close to doing this climb many years ago when I wasn't really a 5.13 climber but never sent. It was fun to do the route.

After these climbs, my friend Phil showed up and tried the Fly a bit (for his warmup). Then we went down to Supernova 14b and he gave me the beta spray-down. I tried the climb and did all the moves but decided not to try any redpoint burns because I felt that I could hurt my shoulder on the crux move.

So we headed down to the Monsters of the Id crag and Phil did Parallel Universe 14a on his second try. I got back on it and figured out a good sequence for the upper part. I did a link from the end of the first boulder problem to the end of the climb and then called it a day.

Yesterday I went back out to the Id, but I was pretty sore from the previous day. I warmed up and then gave Parallel one redpoint burn and fell on the last move. I knew I could do the route but was unmotivated to try again so I stopped climbing, happy with the success of my trip.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Rumney Update

Today I'm hanging out at the Manchester airport. I got a ride here this morning from some other people staying in the campground and am waiting here till later when I'll rent a car and drive back to Rumney. I'm waiting to avoid an extra day charge on the rental. Plus there is internet here and power.

I tried the Fly two days ago and felt even better. I got the same highpoint but felt more solid getting there. I also did the final move three times. All this was pretty good considering it was a bit warm and humid. Tomorrow is supposed to be cold and dry so I'm hoping to put it all together. My skin should be mostly recovered and hopefully won't slide as much on the holds. I'm psyched. If it goes down, I might try Parallel Universe 14a a bit. I tried it once yesterday and did most of the moves. It's a cool climb that would be fun to do.

Here's a video clip of my best attempt of the Fly on my first day.

The Fly 14d (attempt) from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Rumney Day 1

Yesterday I tried the Fly and it went well. I remembered most of the subtleties of the beta and had a link that was as good as my best attempt in the fall. I have video but it's too slow to upload on this connection. I'll try to post it later. It's raining now and I'm resting. Tomorrow should be good though so I'll get back out on it and hopefully will send.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Off to Rumney

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've got some stuff to put up, but haven't gotten around to it.

I'm heading to Rumney tomorrow and will be there for a week. My main goal is The Fly 14d. I tried it last fall and came very close so I'm hoping it will go down this trip. I probably won't get much internet when there but should have some news and media to post when I get back.