Outdoor climbing -- What's that?

I've been cooped up climbing mostly in the gym due to bad weather and lots of work. In fact, I don't think I got outside once in the month of February! The weather is changing though and I have some fun climbing coming up in the near future.

Last weekend the weather finally was nice and I got out to Clear Creek Canyon for a day of climbing at the Wall of the 90s. I wasn't feeling super energized, but threw myself at one of the classics of the wall "Interstellar Overdrive" 5.13d. It took a bit to figure out the moves on the first go but after a while I had a sequence figured out. I lowered down to the midway rest and then TRed to the top clean. After some lunch and a long rest, I gave it a redpoint burn. I was somewhat pumped in the middle and not very optimistic, still I kept climbing through the crux moves. My fingers went numb, but I kept going move to move and I found myself at the end of the crux on a decent hold. Unfortunately, I was completely pumped and I couldn't feel my fingers. I had finished all the hard moves, but I couldn't hold on any longer and fell after my feet cut right before trying the last move. Couldn't have been closer. It was a bit of a bummer to fall so high. Still I was psyched that I got that far because I wasn't expecting much. Hopefully I'll get out soon to wrap up that project.

The big news is that spring break is in a week and a half. This means that I've got a good solid 10 days of outdoor climbing ahead of me. I've been training a bit in the gym and feel pretty strong. The plan is to go to Joe's Valley, but I've heard that the left fork is covered in snow. If it looks unclimbable there, I'll probably hit up Moe's Valley instead. Either way, I'll find some place to crank. Joe's would be the best because there are lots of new problems there I'm psyched to try. I especially want to try Masterpiece V13. This problem looks cool, hard, and a bit scary. Lots of others too. Can't wait, but I have to because I've got lots of work to do between now and then... work that I should be doing instead of writing this blog post.

Check out this site that has a lot of motivating photos and info about Joe's:

http://www.atxarteclimbing.com/

Here's a video of Masterpiece. This looks like the beta I'll use though I may see if a heel hook is possible:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGwdAjqbzI

Also, I got my first round of new threads from Mountain Hardware and am really psyched on them so far. Lots of nice stuff.

Coming soon to a theater near you

So it sounds like Chuck Fryberger is finished editing his new film "Core". I worked with him a lot for this film and it should have some good clips of me including footage of Cheating Reality and the Bandersnatch. I'm really excited for the premiere of the film which will be on April 7th at the Boulder Theater. I have a trailer here for you to watch. I'm sure you'll recognize right away that the quality is top level and that the whole film is going to be a visual feast. Check this out:



In other news, you may have noticed that the logos have changed a bit in my blog title bar. As of today, I'll be part of the Mountain Hardwear climbing team. I'm really excited to be partnering with this company that makes very high quality gear and clothing. I enjoyed working with the North Face over the past 3 years and will continue to think highly of their great line of products. I chose to make the switch primarily because I believe the goals and aspirations of Mountain Hardwear are more closely aligned with my personal climbing goals. I know my climbing will benefit from Mountain Hardwear's support and I'm sure that the company will find value in my promotion of their product. I'm very enthusiastic about this new opportunity and am confident that this will be a great relationship that extends far into the future.

You my have also noticed that the Clif logo is missing from my title bar. I am no longer sponsored by the company. I suppose they dropped me though communication was not very clear. It seems that Clif's primary focus is on endurance sports and as a consequence places less emphasis on marketing to the climbing community. They are a great company that makes excellent and tasty energy bars and I will continue to use their product though now I will have to pay for it. I'm open to developing a relationship with other companies that make energy products if they think it will benefit their product.

Daniel Woods got the Solution

Joe Kinder put together this short on Daniel. He asked me to put it on the blog, so here it is.

Daniel Woods Loves the Solution from La Sportiva on Vimeo.

Stefan on Mangum

As promised, in short order, here's a video of one of the ABC kids, Stefan. He's climbing crimpy V9 Mangum.

Stefan Lavender on Mangum from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

The Bandersnatch

I've been back in Boulder for a few days and have been lagging in summing up my Hueco trip. It's always the same, I get back into town and have tons of things I need to get done and always school work or research to do. Anyway, the short news is that I sent the project I was working on.

I named the route The Bandersnatch after a character in in Jabberwocky poem in Lewis Carroll's "Through the looking glass." This is also the name of my dad's sail boat and so this name is a bit of an homage to him. It's not really clear what a bandersnatch is, but they're presumably tough characters that deserve respect and a bit of fear.

This new problem is a good candidate for the list of hueco classics with its varied movement, length, ground level location, and striking feature. Like the mythical bandersnatch, this problem warrants some fear mainly because an unplanned fall from one of the several heel hook moves could result in an unpleasant tumble down the slab behind the climb. Mostly, though, the climbing is safe.

Chuck Fryberger got some great footage of the problem for his new film "Core" which will be out sometime this spring. Here's one video still that I pulled from his blog.


This is the move that takes you into the crux part. From a wide span, you heel hook next to your right hand and reach far up the arete to an edge (the one I'm grabbing in the photo). Then you have to bring your left hand into a little two-finger pocket, move the right hand to a small crimp, and then readjust the feet without losing tension. All that sets you up for a delicate dynamic move to a good hueco. From there you have to do a 6 move boulder problem that is about V8 and then an easy, classic topout.

Andy Mann got some cool photos too but might be saving them for print somewhere. If I can get his go ahead, I post some of the b shots here.

Difficulty: I'm thinking that V12 is probably a good grade for this problem but it's a bit hard because I haven't been bouldering other graded stuff recently. The problem took me 4 or 5 days to complete. Based on how long it has taken me to do other problems, that could suggest that the problem is more in the V13 range. Still I think V12 might be more accurate. I'm psyched to hear what other people think. It may be the case that the problem fit my style of climbing as well.

Here's another view of the line shot while I was brushing the holds on the first day.


For anyone intersted in finding the problem, it is on west mountain at ground level right near the wall of the rumbling rabbits which is in the guide. It's hard to miss if you walk around that area a bit. It's on the upside of a ground level boulder.

The other news from my Hueco trip is that I got to climb a bunch with the ABC kids team from the Boulder Rock Club. I also got some cool footage of their amazing accomplishments and hopefully will be posting some videos here soon.

Hueco

I'm down in Hueco right now and taking a rest day while the 2 inches of snow that fell last night melts. Yesterday I took a tour out with some of the kids from the ABC group at the Boulder Rock Club. It was inspiring to climb with those kids. They are so positive, super strong and confident, and have tons of fun. The highlight was watching Sean Rabatou climb a problem called Mangum -- V9 at age 11 and height probably just over 4 ft is super impressive.

Since I've been down here, I've been mostly just going on tours in the backcountry. My main goal is to find some new lines that are really cool. On other trips, especially last year, I was more focused on repeating established lines. This year, I'm psyched for new things. It's lots of fun to explore here. I found one line that I'm especially psyched on and have tried a bit. It's a 25ft arete with a slab that behind it at just the right distance so you can step off onto it but it doesn't get in your way when climbing. I've figured out all but one move on the problem and it has some crazy beta. I think it'll be a classic if it goes down. Here's one picture that doesn't really do it justice. If it goes, I'll probably try to get some better photos and perhaps some video.

Cheating Reality Video Shoot

Yesterday I went back up to Cheating Reality with Chuck Fryberger to capture some video of my new route. I'm really psyched because I think we killed it. It's so beautiful up there and the climbing moves are so interesting that we couldn't go wrong. Still, judging from the few stills I've seen and Chuck's impression, we got some amazing stuff. I can't wait to see the whole footage.

This footage will go into a new film Chuck is making and planning to release this coming Spring (2010). It sounds like he's got lots of other sick footage so I'm sure the video will be great. He also has an amazing camera that is movie studio quality. He and I are planning to do more shooting over the next month and a half to put together a section that profiles me as a climber and as an individual. I'm psyched to be working with him. Check out his blog to see some of the other filming he's been up to: http://www.chuckfryberger.blogspot.com/

For now you'll have to do with a few single frames from the video that will come out in the Spring. It'll be worth the wait for the real deal though, I'm sure. Just check out this amazing perspective!!!