Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Hueco Video on Momentum VM

After my February trip to Hueco I edited together a video piece on my trip. It's taken a while, but it's finally up on Momentum Video Magazine. Check it out. It is my first major editing project and I was pretty psyched with how it turned out. In it I climb Diabolic and Terre de Sienne. I also show footage of Andre DiFelice climbing Algerita. Last night's showing of Rocky Mountain Highball was awesome - you should all pick up the DVD when it comes out.

Monday, April 27, 2009

RMHB Premiere Today!

Hey Front Rangers. Don't forget to hit up the Boulder Theater tonight for the premiere of Rocky Mountain Highball. Doors open at 7pm. Click here for more info.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Cache la Poudre

Yesterday I finally made my first venture to Poudre Canyon. I have been intrigued by the bouldering there since I moved to Colorado but never made the trip because of the long drive and the relative lack of information. It was nice to finally see some of the boulder problems I had heard about.

I was most psyched on Circadian Rhythm V13 and spent most of my time trying it. At first the moves seemed desperate and the holds were way more slopey than I was imagining when I saw video footage of the problem. Things started going better after I felt more warmed up. Eventually, I figured out all the moves and had one or two good links. The challenge in this problem definitely seems to be linking all the moves together because each one requires lots of tension and power - and these things will drain quickly. I never managed to stick the second move from the start, but I think I'll have a decent chance of doing the problem once I can manage that. I'm definitely psyched to get back on it again soon. Here are two picture of me trying this problem. Below is a picture of I took of my girlfriend Sandy on Scarface V6. (Sandy took the two pics of me).




Thursday, April 23, 2009

Rocky Mountain Highball

This coming Monday (the 27th) is the premier of Rocky Mountain Highball at the Boulder Theater. It's going to be a great film so I highly recommend going if you're in or around Boulder. I'm in the film too. There should be a clip of me climbing Firstborn - the V11 arete I put up in the Flatirons this winter.


Here's the relevant info:

Yama Studio and The American Alpine Club present ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHBALL.

“Rocky Mountain Highball” is a new climbing film that presents an in depth look into why some climbers push themselves to boulder at the vertical limit. The film documents the many facets of bouldering by interweaving numerous classic climbs in Colorado with interview footage from the leading figures of the climbing world.

Director/Filmmaker Scott Neel, and Yama Studio have brought in a huge cast of world renowned climbers, like Paul Robinson, Mark Wilford, Kevin Jorgeson, Lynn Hill, Daniel Woods, John Sherman, John Gill, Steve Mammen, and Jason Kehl. Having filmed more than 70 climbs with more than 35 athletes, this film proves to be an exciting journey through the world of highball bouldering.

Pre-sale tickets are on sale now at The Boulder Rock Club and The Spot Bouldering Gym for $12. Tickets are $14 at the door and also available at www.BoulderTheater.com. Here is a direct link to the page - http://bouldertheater.com/event_detail.php?id=1067

Please visit www.RockyMountainHighball.com for more info, the official trailer, and interactive cast line-up.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Ads on my blog

I thought I'd add google ads to my blog to see if I can generate any worthwhile income. Hopefully they don't bother you too much. Support a poor climber / grad student and check out an ad link if it looks interesting.



Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Black Lung Video

Here's a video of my attempts and send of Black Lung in Joe's Valley. This is really a great problem, hopefully the video does it justice and gets some psych to everyone.

I forgot to mention it, but La Sportiva has a little article that I wrote about my trip to Joe's on their LIVE website. Check it out at this site under the "Crown Jewel" section:

http://www.sportiva.com/live/


Black Lung Main from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Iron Monkey Update

Well I've been on Iron Monkey three days since my last post. The first day like many days before was pretty pathetic. I wasn't able to do the dyno move and generally felt pretty weak on those holds.

I spent most of the second day trying crazy different beta for the crux move trying to avoid the dyno. I do this every so often when I'm really frustrated with trying the dyno beta. I had a few sequences that could be possible but probably V14 or harder. Towards the end of the day I put on a new pair of Testarosas and tried the move again with my hand slightly higher on the pinch. For some reason the slight hand change made the body position feel much better and I stuck the move. I rested for a sec and pulled back on and stuck the move again. I tried a third time and nearly missed scraping my hand on the way. It was awesome to stick the move again after so many failed attempts. It felt totally different too - I was all of a sudden way more confident when going for the move because my body was in a better position.

Yesterday I got on the route again and felt even better. I stuck the move 4 times once starting a few moves down. I also climbed from the bottom and hit the hold when I went for the jump. The gear beta involves a tricky nut placement so I spent some time working the placing sequence (which is the trickiest sequence on the whole climb). I think I know what to do now so I just have to get it done. I'm psyched to start giving it serious redpoint attempts though I'm going to make sure I do the move several times each day I go up there so it stays fresh in my memory. Last year I stuck the move a few times and then started going for the redpoint and never stuck the move again till three days ago.

Also, I'm working on a video of my Black Lung ascent and hopefully will post it here soon.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Another Joe's Video

Here's a video of my friend Siemay Lee trying Wills Afire, one of the best tall V6s in Joe's. Unfortunately I had put my camera away by the time she sent the problem, but here is an edit of some of her attempts.

Today I'm heading out to Iron Monkey and will hopefully have some better luck on it.


Siemay Wills Afire Attempt from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Another trip concluded

8 hours of driving later, I'm back in Boulder once again making the context shift between climbing and school. And of course catching up on the other random things that need to be done but are never done during a climbing trip.

The trip to Joe's was amazing. I couldn't have really asked for more success. The weather was a bit on the cold side but I managed to climb most of the problems I wanted to climb. It was so great to do all of these classics - the rock in Joe's is very unique and creates near perfect problems.

Two days ago was my last full day. After warming up, I did a fun highball called Baraka V9 on my first try. Then I hung out and watched my girlfriend Sandy climb a cool V6 she had tried previously. Next it was Noah's time to send and he came super close to doing Beyond Life. He fell going for the lip. He's still got another week of climbing there so I'm sure he'll do it.

Baraka V9

At the end of the day I went to try a problem I had seen at the new 8-mile area. It didn't look like it had been done, but you never can be sure. It's near the top of the hill just right of a striking arete that had just been climbed or chalked up on rappel at least. The problem starts in two crimpy pockets and moves up to two worse holds. Then you have you make a big move to a decent edge. From there you climb a 4 star V0 to the high top out. It was super cold when I was trying it and I had to run up and down the hill to stay warm. I did the problem after a few attempts from the start. I'm thinking it's probably V11. I haven't decided on a name yet but two possibilities are Freestyle and White Rabbit following the 8-mile theme. You all should suggest some names and then maybe I'll set up a voting gadget. If anyone knows if this problem has already been done, definitely let me know. Here's a photo of me sticking the crux move.


Yesterday I climbed a bit but didn't feel great and stopped early to get going on the drive. Here's some video of my flash of Beyond Life a few days ago. I have a few more videos that I'll try to upload in the next few days.


Beyond Life from Matt Wilder on Vimeo.