DH^3

Photos By: GKWAN

Another Brick in the Wall

Footage from early in 2013 on the FA of Nicodemus, Ivy Mill Rd, MD

Which came first, Russian or Vodka?

Vasya, Finals #2. Photo Gkwan

“Nope” my text response came as quickly as the google machine answered my question “how far is Newburyport MA from MD?” It popped back a comical 8hrs.  I love climbing and competitions are fun but a weekend trip, which includes 16rs in a car, did not seem to be the best use of my time.  “Well, you need to make it up for one of the Dark Horse comps”, Vasya’s text reply read clearly as I finished up a run and realized that it was a warm 60 degrees in November.  I wasn’t going to be able to skip out on the entire series this year.  Dark Horse is in its 5th season and I have managed to fill all my time during those parts of the year with outdoor adventure.  “I don’t really want to spend 8rhs each way in the car”, I felt this response best summed it up and left me open for a potential future bail if I found other plans closer.  “Its only 5.5 from DE” Vasya said.  “Damnit”, Ok I am in!  An understanding of why my teachers always scratched the box on every report card informing my parents I was completely incapable of using my time wisely… Oh well.  10hrs round trip seemed to be top value when compared to 16hrs…  Plus it was a trip to the northeast with good friends.

Nic Pic, Finals #3. Photo Gkwan

In the matter of a few hours I went from spending a few lazy days over the weekend spotting friends outside while they tried their projects to making a trip to Newburyport to compete in what was sure to be a very hard bouldering competition.  Friday night came quick and before I knew it Nic, Julian, Vasya and I were on our way from our rendezvous point in DE to NH.  5.5hrs seemed like nothing, we reached our destination around 12:30am.  To my surprise Vasya’s parents were up and had prepared an absolute feast for us upon arrival.  Traditional Russian soup and second course… pancakes!  I felt like baby Jesus arriving on earth to the warm reception of the three Wisemen, Marry and Joseph.  It was nothing less than the most hospitable greeting I have ever received at 12:30 in the morning.  After we managed to eat ourselves to sickness we decided it would be a formidable but necessary idea to turn in for the evening.  With our stomachs full and our psyche high we forced ourselves to bed.  I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, my thoughts began to run wild just as my eyelids grew heavy and I slowly drifted into darkness.

Finals #2. Photo Gkwan

The next morning we made an early start.  An hour drive separated us from Newburyport so we didn’t stick around long before our departure.   The gym was packed and the music was bumping when we arrived.  I don’t have much to say about the comp itself other than you should have been there.  If you like great boulder problems, trying hard and having fun the Dark Horse is no brainer.  Josh Larson and Dave Wetmore put up amazing boulders for us in finals, and a HUGE THANK YOU for everyone’s hard work putting on an event like this.  I am really looking forward to the next one in December.

Mike O'Rourke, Finals #1.  Photo Vince Schaefer

What about Sunday??… After an amazing victory by Nic Pic and a great performance by Vasya placing them in 1st and 2nd respectively over all, we had another feast to celebrate of course!!  We celebrated with wine, authentic Russian cuisine, various cheeses, liquors, breads and desserts.  Before we knew it, it was 6am.  We had been up all night drinking and telling stories.  Vas and I had talked about hiking a mountain before leaving the area but with the comp taking priority it was better to leave it for another trip…  this is about the time when you have been up all night and perhaps have over indulged in several libations that nonsense begins to seem more sensible.  So we decided after being up for 48hrs, driving almost 6 hours and competing all day on saturday to go hike/run a mountain.  That’s what we did.  Nic and Julian reluctantly obliged to accompany us on our journey into the wilderness and they did awesome!!  Sure it was raining, we didn’t have warm jackets, we encountered ice and the wind was nonstop, none of us came prepared. “It’s good training” we said. To which Julian reminded us that he wasn’t training for anything and if he were, he would have come prepared and carried an 80lb backpack…  “We are half way, we cant turn around now.” my response was not greeted with enthusiasm.  Vasya turns around and says “vell, maybe not half…  two third.” When we summited I think the temperature was probably 20 degrees and 50mph winds made it difficult to stand.   “This will make great story nic” Vas said as we turned around and made our way back to the car.

Remember the time we almost got struck by lighting?

I prefer my coffee black, an unfiltered cigarette, a revolver, a shot of whiskey, a motorcycle, chewing tobacco and I'll wash it down with a steak and a side of shut up.  My Liberties over security and further more my freedom over idealism.  Two elk skulls sit outside our cabin..

We were at the mouth of the forest.  The service road that we had hiked went on but the forest came to an abrupt halt at the edge of a large reservoir.  Rain fell in white sheets obscuring our vision tracing a path in our wake as we sped across the open expanse.  The sky was ashen brown; lightning illuminated the darkness and a cacophony of discordant thunder rung in our ears.  Visibility was going from poor to naught quickly.  “We are completely exposed out here,” I said panting.  The only thing that stood between us and the car was a half mile jaunt across the top of a dam and a cascading deluge of water that covered our descent down the other side.  No trees, no buildings, no shelter, the car was tantamount to being in another state.   Lightning flashed again, closer.  Along with it came a crippling explosion of thunder.  It was a ground strike to our right. The hair on my arm rose and fell with the undulating charge filling the air; a thought manifested itself and a growing concern that we might be felled by lighting.  I broke out in a sprint. Another lightning strike, I could feel its discharge as it arced into the ground.  My eyes struggled to regain focus; I had lost contrast from over exposure to the searing white light; it seemed to be permanent.   My pace quickened and my mouth filled with the familiar taste of copper as my lungs struggled to maintain pace with the blood forcing its way outwards and the cool air forcing its way in.  I was not going to slow down.  Like the rain, I intensified my pursuit to the car.  My stride widened, I rounded the bottom of the hill forcing myself to take large gasps of air.  The silver car sat amongst the darkening evergreens and barely stood out in the dimming evening light obscured by the storm.  It was only a hundred yards ahead.  The headlights flashed, the car unlocked. I swung the passenger door open as the sky flashed and my surroundings were again thrown in stark relief.

That was day three of a four-day trip to the Quehanna wild area in NW PA, the area known as Elk.  The trip started off quite differently.  A balmy 75 degrees and sun greeted us as we pulled off the road and into the parking area for the cabin we would be residing at for the trip.  “It is perfect” we all exclaimed.  “Who would have guessed prior to this trip that we would go from struggling to find camping in this area to having a cabin to stay at within 5 minutes of climbing?” the rhetorical question came from Travis first.  It is amazing how things change in the matter of a few months.  We unpacked and made our way out to a climbing area to enjoy the last bit of daylight.  Unseasonable temperatures don’t lend themselves to great climbing conditions.  This is especially true when you are talking about heat and humidity on gritstone.  Grit can be very technical and require perfect conditions in order to hold “non holds” on predominantly gently overhanging, vertical and slabby terrain.  Conditions aside, we did have fun and we put up a new problem the first day.  Psyche was high.  The psyche got even higher when a friend of ours hiked up later that day, just before dark to meet us at the top of the mountain we were climbing and asked “Did y’all see that giant boulder in the gulley over there?”. Trevor pointed to his right to an area that we had never hiked up.  “No” we all said.  “Well, I figure it’s a pretty good looking boulder, maybe we should hike down over there on our way out?”  We all nodded in agreement feeling the energy of a new discovery come over us.  On our hike out at the end of the night, we made our way to the area that Trevor had pointed to and sure as shit he was spot on, a giant boulder sat amongst trees in a valley we had never explored.  Trevor’s genius idea to walk up the “less steep” section of the daunting hill we had been climbing led to one of the most enchanting, amazing looking boulders I had ever seen.  It’s absolutely breath taking.  Roughly 25ft at its apex it hosts a number of hard boulder problems on pristine rock.  The main attraction being a line up the belly of an overhanging double arête feature.  Pictures do not do it justice this boulder is king.  It was dark when we reached the car.  Day one felt great and according to the forecast prior to our arrival the rest of the trip was going to go one of two ways either perfect or rainy..  We had no cellphone reception or Internet access in the wilderness so it was impossible to see which way the weather was trending but we headed home with our hopes high banking on a rain free trip.

J and Gault looking happy despite the rain

The next morning we woke with the all too familiar sound of rain plinking off the tin roof.  We decided early that it would not stop us from at least exploring.  The rest of the day was spent hiking around looking for new boulders, only to return to the cabin later that evening soaked, head to toe.  It was a rewarding day.  We found a few new boulders and we were able to spend most of the day in the woods which is where I feel most at home.

The next day was much of the same, rain.  Mist floated down gently coating any surface exposed.  The morning progressed and the cool mist began to dissipate leaving behind a damp feeling but at last we would be able to enjoy a precipitation free trip into the woods.  We made a decision to head back to the Blush boulder and spend time cleaning and scrubbing obvious lines.  I spent roughly an hour working on a line that will trend up a blunt overhanging double arête feature right about the same time I finished cleaning we were stymied by a gentle rain that began to fall.   The rain began to fall faster and we made the obvious decision to head back to the car.  On our short walk back we discussed using the rest of our day to investigate some boulders that sat on top of a hill not far north from where we were.  It seemed like it would be the best use of our time seeing as by this time the rain had fully saturated the earth all hopes for climbing would have to wait until the next day.  This diversion into the unknown lasted the rest of the day and included a nearly class 5 ascent of a steep muddy slope.  Brian and I pushed forward as the path we hiked in on became a small strip of unclaimed earth barely bigger than a hair and almost invisible from our vantage on the hillside.  We found a few things but the hike wasn’t sure to bring us back anytime soon.  Our hike out on this uncharted terrain was just as challenging and the rain continued to fall.  This is where my story picked up, when we reached the opening of the forest.

Brian about to get FA of "Red Riding Hood"

Finally the last day we were greeted by sunshine in the morning.  The plan was to make the 3.5 mile hike to the upper golden sector of the golden boulders.  The walk is easy you follow a gold blazed trail to a beautiful stream, go across a wooden bridge then head upstream.  This area reminds me more of southern sandstone than any of the gritstone areas.  Typically grit is plagued with the common problem of being too clean with no holds.  This area is a contrast in the sense that you can find steep over hanging boulders that have amazing pinches, pockets, slopers and crimps.  They all exist at upper golden!  It was a great day of developing.  We all scrubbed boulders we were psyched on and managed to add a few new things to the field.  The last time I was at the golden boulders I put up a line called pressure drop that goes up a nearly vertical/ slightly slabby face that turned out to be pretty hard.  Not sure exactly on the grade but felt tough..  I did a similar problem on a slab this trip.  The problem looked so easy and straightforward but managed to thwart an ascent until I committed roughly 45min and a bit of skin.  It’s a few big moves on bad holds with no feet.  I called it martial law. felt hard to me.

Overhaning pinch problem at Upper Golden.

Although the trip was soggy and I managed to bitch up Travis’s car getting hit by a deer…  I had a great time.  Looking forward to my return and better conditions.

Rocktoberfest Wrap Up

8 am ..  #planB #1/36th irish

Have you ever traveled to Slade Kentucky?  An endless expanse of corroding steel pipes and smoke stacks protrude from the hillside as we crossed the bridge joining Kentucky to West Virginia.  Cool air washed over my face as the window droned and came to a close.   4 hours separate the town of Fayetteville WV and Slade KY, I closed my eyes and rubbed my face.  The mounting fatigue from our early departure was beginning to catch up with me.  The Cumberland region of the United States is steeped in history and is now the sarcophagus of a once thriving export driven economy.  At one point the area that stretches from KY up to WV and parts of PA contained the world’s largest coal and natural gas operations.   Remnants of this life still lie decaying along roads and in towns across the Mid-Atlantic.  It’s easy to forget where we came from with luxuries like smartphones and iPads, this thought occurred to me as I aimlessly browsed the interwebs on my iPhone.   We made a left at the next exit and sunlight bounced off the review mirror, temporarily blinding me.  I could tell from our previous vantage that our destination was not much farther.

Doves

Our first stop of many on the trip was Miguel’s, the always-active pizza and gear shop positioned not far from the interstate in the Red River Gorge.  Our stay was brief and we made our rounds introducing ourselves, shaking hands with new and old friends.  The aroma of fresh cooking filled the air, the indistinguishable smells of fresh vegetables, bread and pizza hung on every breath.  Cooking is the universal language of hospitality…  It’s easy to feel at home here.  As enticing as it was to post up and forget about the day, drifting into stories of adventure, our stay at Miguel’s needed to be brief. We had work to do.  After a run down on new 5.10 products for 2014 we packed up, only to return 4 days later for the RRG Rocktoberfest.

5.10 Demo, Urban Krag. Dayton OH

In the 4 days that followed we managed a tremendous amount of Demoing, Clinic-ing, talking, eating and driving.  The weather was warm as we made our way from Slade to Lexington and north to Cincinnati/Dayton OH where we Demoed shoes at Urban Krag and Quest climbing gyms among others.  A shout out to Kris and Annalissa, you guys are awesome!  They cooked us an amazing meal and put us up while we worked in the area.  Thursday evening rolled around and we headed south to Louisville and then back to Slade for the Rocktoberfest.

The Red is one of many spots in the region with amazing sandstone bluffs and caves intertwined with memories of industry.  It has a quiet beauty.  When you stand under a swooping overhang that’s 110 feet tall, it’s easy to see why the Red is one of the premiere climbing destinations in the country.

B. Dorough showing off...  new 2014 product

The RRGCC’s annual Rocktoberfest is geared at raising funds for climbing access and preservation in the gorge.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, as this was my first Rocktoberfest.  From the minute we set up shop on Friday Five Ten’s booth was rolling.  It was great to see all of the people show up for such a cool event that supports a great cause.  7am came early Saturday morning.  Demos kicked off on the bright and the day proved to be warm but great for climbing.  I was under a common misconception prior to Saturday, that you wouldn’t have much opportunity to climb with so many people at the event; I thought the cliff might be “crap” show.  I was wrong.  The Red is so vast that you can easily escape any crowd, no matter how large it is or if you are looking for a scene you could find that easily too.  We managed to get a little climbing in over the weekend and I was blown away by the generosity and hospitality of our hosts the RRGCC.   Thank you guys for putting on such an awesome event and doing what it takes to preserve climbing for future generations.


If you are unfamiliar with the RRGCC or the Rocktoberfest, I encourage you to check out their website. http://rrgcc.org

(TAKEN FROM RRGCC.ORG WEBSITE)
We value rock climbing as a form of recreation that is good for both individuals and local communities. We also value the world class rock climbing opportunities found in and around Red River Gorge, Kentucky as a national treasure that are deserving of our best efforts to preserve for all Americans and for all climbers to enjoy, experience, and appreciate.

Our vision is to build an organization that provides the public service of securing and preserving the highest quality climbing opportunities and inspires climbers to become “Citizen Trustees of Climbing”—empowering ourselves through “ownership” (taking responsibility) and direct participation.

Our mission is to ensure open, public access to ample, quality outdoor rock climbing opportunities to meet the needs of current and future climbers and to encourage the conservation of the natural environment, on publicly managed and privately owned land by protecting, promoting, and ensuring responsible climbing.

Our strategy is to first responsibly secure the opportunity to climb, whether on public or private land, and then make climbing sustainable for climbers and the environment, and finally to make all climbing exemplary.

Back in the Hood

"If its worth doing, its worth doing right." - any mom that has ever given advise.

 Perfect conditions prefaced my rainy arrival in the New River Gorge.  Plink...  Plink.....  Plink... rain danced down the tin roof and onto an empty porch that otherwise would have been occupied by the fold that had taken refuge inside.  Many a day has been spent watching the weather slowly melt down the slopes of the gorge and saturate every exposed surface.  "Yup" I yawned and stretched.  "No hurry to get out today", steam fogged my glasses as I took another sip of coffee.  And thats about how it went  for the first 3 days I was in WV.  Luckily for me I had company and we managed to kill time with stories of adventure, food and catching up on lost time.  After day two of said rain, I could feel my sanity slowly regressing into the tell tale and familiar signs of cabin fever..  What would I do if I was trapped in a tent for weeks in the alpine??  As I think about that now, typing this post I am a little disconcerted.  I have never thought of that mental challenge before...  Anyway, I couldn't take it anymore so Nick and I snuck out to climb on a roof that stayed somewhat dry in the dreary fog that drifted in with the rain.  I managed a relatively quick ascent of Fayetteville's Finest a crimpy v10 out a nearly horizontal roof.  This holiday from the walls of the house was short lived but kept my brain occupied and satisfied the addiction for at least the rest of the rainy spell..


The purpose for said trip was to participate in the American Alpine Club's second annual Craggin' Classic at the New River Gorge to be held September 20th - 22nd.  The event kicked off Friday evening with a pig roast and an amazing slide show.  By this time I was ready to climb again, my mind wandered to the next day as I sat in front of amazing imagery captured in the mountains of Patagonia.  The presenters voice slowly drifted to a subtle hum in the background of the growing questions that had taken hold of my thoughts.  I have A.D.D.  I said to myself.  What if it rained?  Where would we go climbing? What about the clinic? questions, questions, questions..  I formulated a plan just as the events of the evening came to a close.  Sure as the sun will shine Saturday the rain did fall..  and I mean fall.  I am talking a real frog strangler.  We got so much rain between 10 and 3pm I thought I started to see animals gathering in pairs.  As quickly as the rain came it seemed like it let up and by evening we were all stoked for Freddie Wilkinson's slide show. The imagery in his slide show was profound, it was one of the ill'est things I have seen in a long time.


The Tooth Traverse from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

The evening ended with the traditional dance party and I fell asleep at the crack of 3am.

The rubber is so sticky we drove across that crick 

To polish off an already amazing trip I stayed a few extra days with the intentions of climbing as many classic 4 star routes in the gorge and surrounding areas.   I have spent many many years climbing at the NRG, Meadow River and the Lake but with so much rock climbed and unclimbed I have barely seen anything.  So  I managed to do somewhere around 20 - 25 new (to me) routes between 12.b and 13.c..  Pretty psyched..  Here are some notable climbs that stood out to me either aesthetically or had some amazing movement...  Welcome to Conditioning, Just Send It, Depth Charge, Skinny Legs, Fall Line, Pud's Pretty Dress, B52, Strike a Scowl, Gift of Grace, My Stinking Brain, Ride the Lightning..  and the list goes on and on and on.  I was really lucky to have great conditions following the Classic and lucky to have awesome friends that were either psyched to get out and climb or psyched to give me a ride on these rigs.  Looking forward to my next trip.

Peek Event

Mid-Atlantic friends, If you are free tomorrow evening October 2nd 2013 come join us at the AAC Peek event.  

Pockets, Pinches, Crimpers, Slopes

If you are like me sitting in a pool of your own sweat, wondering if hell is more or less humid?? you probably count yourselves the lucky regional members of the east coast.  It is certainly not climbing weather in these parts.  Last weekend offered a taste of cooler temps and low humidity, the dichotomy of today.  Why is it so hard to leave the east??  Just go west...  To start, when the weather is good around here its great and if you enjoy exploring, finding new routes, adventure and are passionate about climbing the east coast has a lot to offer.  Its not as obvious as Colorado, Wyoming, California or Utah which are stacked with rock.  Any non-climber or non-anything can tell you that!  In fact when I propose the concept that I rock climb, most people immediately think of mountaineering or those places I just mentioned.  Rookies.  The east coast is subtle, quiet, haunting, less forgiving,  most of all its home.  Even when I am traveling or when life takes me to another part of the world, it will always be home.  So it was great to be back in familiar territory on new boulders this past weekend.  I got to see some new stuff that I haven't tried before and I was reminded of the stark contrast in my personality at the same time.  It's interesting how much you can love something so simple and curse the one-dimensionality of the same thing all at once.  I go up, I come down, I go up, I come down, on and on.  As insightful as this sport can be, I have the ever present realization that its a really silly sport..  as most sports are.  And alas I come full circle back to just really enjoying what it is I am doing...  and I suppose that is what life is all about.  If you can look at yourself in the mirror on a daily basis and enjoy what you are doing then its worth it.  So concludes the lesson for today, I learned yet again that I really love rock climbing, pushing myself to new places and in new directions. FIN

Sports Med and Rehab Baltimore/D.C./PA

If you live in the Baltimore/D.C./South Central PA region and you're looking for Sports Med, Sports Rehab or Chiropractics check out Blake Kalkstein in Towson, MD.


Blake E. Kalkstein, D.C., M.S.
26 W. Pennsylvania Ave, Towson, MD 21204
410-296-7700         bkalksteindc@gmail.com

I saw Blake for an assessment and treatment regarding a nagging injury and I was very impressed with his knowledge, treatment and follow up.  

Craggin Classic '13

We are ramping up preparations for The American Alpine Club’s second annual Craggin’ Classic in the New River Gorge September 20-22!

This weekend-long climbing celebration will have clinics, conservation, a painfully slow-roasted pig, a live auction to benefit the AAC’s Live Your Dream Grant, Old Time music, slide show with Mountain Hardware Athlete Freddie Wilkinson, a screening of “Keeper of the Mountains”, full-moon dance party, great food, and as always great company-the usual suspects included. 

We are psyched to keep the annual tradition of the Craggin’ Classic alive, in keeping with the spirit of The American Alpine Club mission—to provide knowledge and inspiration, conservation and advocacy, and logistical support for the climbing community. 

The Craggin’ Classic will begin Friday, September 20-22 at the AAC’s New River Gorge Campground; now equipped with 76 tent platforms and 53 picnic tables.  Friday evening, we will kick-off the weekend with a pig pickin’, sides, and libations, old time music from the Soundfront Ramblers, and a screening of the documentary about Elizabeth Hawley, “Keeper of the Mountains.”  Saturday morning, Five Ten will be sponsoring a breakfast for Craggin’ participants before folks head out to climb and take their clinics.  Saturday evening we will have another group dinner and drinks, catered by Gourmet on the Gorge, and then Freddie Wilkinson will present his slide show.  After the slide show, we will break into our live auction and bring it all home with a full-moon dance party.  Sunday we will wrap up with another group breakfast, and a conservation project.

Rendezvous X

 Ah, the New River Gorge...   Thank God I forgot my rain jacket, I would have had no use for the porch roof I snapped this photo from.  I finished a 6mile trail run just before the heavens dumped their day ending contents. Classic weather for the Rendezvous, or that is what I was told.  This was the first year that I attended.  What a show! I have never really been to anything like the Rendezvous.  In its 10th year now, the NRR is a hybrid comp, fundraiser, festival style event that raises money for NRAC.  This year was capped at 600ish participants or something and spaces filled up fast.
I got into town tuesday prior to the event and managed to do a little boulder climbing before dark.  Man was it hot but still climbable.  I didnt really climb much after that.  I wanted to be fresh for the event on saturday. My personal goal was to compete in the Sport and Boulder comp.  It turned out that most of the boulders were wet when saturday rolled around and I managed to squander all morning away by looking for dry boulders.  Everywhere I went was wet except two lines at Fayetstation and the Hawks nest boulders. sooooo, I ended up climbing at the nest for the afternoon and didnt have a chance to compete in the sport comp.  Logistical failure but I had a lot of fun.  I apologize for not having all the results for mens and woman but here is what I know went down in the Mens open categories, Matt Wilder won the Open Trad category, Nick Duttle won the Open Sport category and I won Open Boulder category..  Later at the Petzl and Five Ten booths we managed to have a strong showing for the Shake weight comp which combined skill and prowess to determine who would walk away with a new grigri or pair of shoes..  In the end two victors arose managing to take their spoils but not before chugging two full beers.

photo: Greg Kerzhner, The Crouch

After the event was over Sunday, I decided to stay for an additional week to do a little sport climbing as the first week of my trip was spent working or bouldering.  The weather went from bad to great over a two day period with jacket weather dominating the weekend after the Vous.  My main objective was volume and to fire the Crouch.  The Crouch (seen on the cover of Mikey's Guide) was an old Doug Reed project that Chris Linder did a few years ago.  The route revolves around two huge dynos.  The first dyno to a bad sloper and the second, a giant dyno to a jug...  Well if you are short its a dyno.  I was told by a disproportionately oversized Mikey Williams that he can just stand up..  Gross!  I am glad I am not that tall. Anyways, It hasn't seen many ascents..  maybe less than 5?? for good reason.  Its really low percentage moves make it a mental challenge more than anything else.  I spent a few short sessions on it before it went.  Its for sure one of the best, really fun dynamic climbing.  Beyond that one line I really just wanted to see more, so thats what I did.  The New has so much rock its hard to see every area and try all the classics.  I plan on changing that this fall / winter.
So, I am back in MD for a minute getting ready to head west for the summer.  Psyched to get fit in CO!!

The Mandrill

Wikipedia

The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a primate of the Old World monkey (Cercopithecidae) family,[4] closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the drill. It is found in southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo. Mandrills mostly live in tropical rainforests and forest-savanna mosaics. They live in groups called hordes.













Goodman hooked up a few photos of Wilder and I trying the Beauty Mtn. project.  The route got done a few days after these photos where taken and I named it the Mandrill.

photo: Pat Goodman

photo: Pat Goodman

photo: Pat Goodman

Elk Vid

Golden Boulders from Tim Rose on Vimeo.
Thought I would share this vid I put together quick.  Its from our trip to Elk last week.  Rabi throwing down on some sandstone.  Not sure of grades on these, Theme for a Jackal v9? Short leash v6/7??  No idea... anyways enjoi!

Golden Boulders

Travis Gault, FA: Theme for a Jackal, Short Leash sector Golden Boulders

Aaaaah, sleeping in a bed.  It's hard to describe the sleepy feeling that consumes you, your eye lids droop, growing heavy driving home at 1:30 in the morning.  This quandary, that I have avoided for some time now brings a sense of satisfaction that I really cant explain.  "I am utterly spent" I said out loud speaking to myself on the long deserted stretch of highway.  I went on to pronounce "Pennsylvania roads are lame!"  as I rumbled over the state line and on to the glassy smooth stretch of Maryland highway.  Just a little further.  My 5 hr trip from the desolate reaches of the Pennsylvania wilderness was coming to an end.  Pennsylvania is a pretty interesting state I thought to myself.  There are some areas of northeast PA around the Allegheny plateau that are more remote than the back woods of WV or CO.  No roads, no reception, no human structures... you're completely removed.  Now I am cruising over the state line to one of the most developed areas of the east coast, hmm I thought.

Elk has been the topic of many of my blog posts over the previous 3 - 5 years.  I cant explain the area very well as its larger than one or two areas its larger than the NRG, RRG or Chattanooga.  I think its safe to say without getting off topic too far, PA has as much rock as any place I have seen.  I have drawn some curious looks from climber friends when I try to explain that PA has climbing and damn if it doesn't have a ton.  "No way!" they don't say it but I can see the disbelief and I don't blame them.  I grew up in PA and I sometimes forget just how much rock is there.  Gault and I talked a few months back after I returned from a trip the Chatty about hiking out to an area he found on the interwebs one day while combing over a stream.  The area looked huge on the arial map.  So thats kinda where this story starts, we had talked about it but I never made it up until a few days ago.  To start the area is close to the established areas known as Cliffside and Boulder Garden.  For this post, I am referring to the large multi sector area we visited on this trip as the (Au) Boulders. Two reasons for that...   Firstly, Au stands for astronomical unit which is defined as the length of the semi-major axis of the Earth's elliptical orbit around the Sun... roughly 1.496 x 10^6 km. sooo, thats a pretty long distance and the old approach for lack of delving into specifics was long too.  I stepped in countless marshy pits and got tangled in thorns and trees..  on top of that its around 1hr 30min approach.  sheesh...  Secondly, you run into a smaller area on the way which has been named the Fools Gold area, aptly so.. When you arrive at Fools Gold boulders you can get sucked in only to later realize that the huge concentration of boulders is still 45min further away.  So if you didn't catch that, Au is also the chemical symbol for gold.   Anyways, This area was really, really, really big.  I don't know an exact quantity but its hundreds of boulders spread out over two ridges separated by a stream.  Very pretty setting.  The culmination of our trip after our first day hiking the "old" approach was to re-evaluate the hike and discover a new approach to the boulders that was much easier.  It took the hike down to 45min which is still a v5 approach and not practical for most climbers looking for a short weekend trip.  I say that but if you are in the mood for some adventure and don't mind hiking, its worth a visit.

Loads of rock await you.  I wont guide you down the wrong path, this area does have some B-grade rock unlike the cliff side areas.  It also has some really good rock!!  By B-grade I don't mean terrible rock that will break apart... its just composed differently.  I don't know the geology specifically, to give you an idea some of the rock has larger grains of silica making it hard to walk up to something and just climb it.  You need to spend a lot of time scrubbing it and then scrub it again and then triple check to make sure you got the loose crystals off.  Some of the stuff is tall and you don't want crystals breaking when you're 25ft off the deck.  You're 45min away from your car and another hour away from anything after you get to your car.  Thats serious stuff to think about before you make any attempts at trying something dangerous, it could cost you more than you think if you get hurt out there.  To wrap up this lengthy post I will give a brief rundown of the work we did.  Probably the largest contribution to the area was finding the new approach.  I described it as a v7/8 approach before and now its roughly v4/5, hahaha...  We added a number of boulder problems Travis put up Anthem a really cool arete problem.  He also added a roof problem to the short leash boulder, I have vid of that.  He called the roof problem Theme for a Jackal and it

goes at v9 but he will tell you its somewhere around v6/7..  I added a tall arete called Tall Dark and Handsome maybe v6 range and a face climb that starts on two large huecos.  I called that one Pressure Drop and it could be 7 or maybe a little harder.. I am not sure.  Jessica added a new arete too plus she put up with Travis and I for the trip so I think she probably did the most work out of us all.  To top it off we saw some giant Elk on our way home, great trip.

ode to training

I came across this video on the inter webs, it shows a bit of Alex Megos's training...  Who is Alex Megos??  If you have been living in a cave, under a rock or in Utah for the past year, Alex Megos is a young gun crushing machine that has been killing it.  Super inspiring to see where the sport is trending. All these kids making things look easy.  Check it out!  Warning: You may get so psyched you'll punch the next person you see in the face.


Schweiß ist Schwäche die den Körper verläßt from cafekraft on Vimeo.

Footage from the Gorge

I just got back from a 2 week trip to the New.  It started with a little bouldering and filming for the "Rocks for Research" fundraiser supporting Diabetes research.  We had a fun two days of climbing and Matt managed to do some of the classics around short & fern creeks.  I had the GoPro rolling fo a bit of it.

Bosley n' da Gorge from Tim Rose on Vimeo.

NRG - Beauty Mtn.

Mikey was at Beauty Mtn. and got this footage of the chunky monkey project.

Weapon of Choice

Yesterday was pretty much perfect in Fayetteville WV.  The sun was out and a cool breeze kept the temperatures from getting hot.  A crew was headed to Micah Klinger's masterpiece F5 to film for a charity event.  It took some effort to get everyone up the mountain and set up to film, in the end it all came together pretty well.  Matt and Dave both managed sends of F5 and afterwards we hiked around a bit looking for some new boulders.  We came across a short line that turned out to be really fun.  Its pretty much a dyno to a jug off of a bad crimp.  I didn't realize that my lens was scratched so the send footage is really not that great but who gives a crap, thought it was funny...  If you can make out my face I was turned around spotting my landing..  completely anticipating a fall off the jump move but it never came.  Not sure exactly how hard it was but felt like it was in the v10 range.

Weapon of Choice from Tim Rose on Vimeo.

Nicodemus

FA - Nicodemus 8a+

Finished my project at Ivy Mill this morning.  Super psyched! 

In Plain Sight

Packed up the ride Tuesday to check out a boulder in MD that could potentially have a hard project on it.  The boulder is 100 yards off the road near a small neighborhood in the suburbs of B'more.  All the moves are good and require a ton of tension. It's certainly not a stand out among the best boulders in the world but it sure is close to home and fun as hell! Steep 60 degree climbing on bad crimps takes you to a jug and an easy top out.  The boulder problem is not long, maybe 4 or 5 really hard moves.  Digger for sure ha ha ha..  3 of the moves are done off one foot and a bad toe scum.  The boulder is off kilter, which adds to the crux as you have no feet in the right place.  Came super close to the send on Tuesday, dry fired off a crimp and got sliced open.  Did I mention that it was on really bad holds? Pointless attempts after, the holds are too small and the climbing is too steep for tape on the tips.  I continued to bleed for awhile before I packed it up subscribing to the law of diminishing returns.  Decided to save it for another day....

My buddy Fernando went out yesterday and added a right start to the boulder and called it Right Hand of the Leper.  Didn't try it when I was there the other day, psyched to do that rig and finish up the left project.  Travis Gault said it best, PA (and MD for this post) Keeps on giving.
Speaking of PA, I was intending on climbing in western PA at Cole's Cove yesterday.  For those who are not familiar its a gritstone/sandstone area near Dunbar PA (south east).. Its a solid 4hr trip for me.. due to my skin situation after the massacre on tuesday I opted out of the long journey and will hopefully make it out this Thursday.  If all goes well, NRG from there.

Good and Local

I hooked up with J Smitty at Rocks for an afternoon session.  Smitty is back in the PA/MD area for a few weeks until he moves his residence to the NRG and decided to capitalize on conditions.   The weather was perfect today, no humidity, high of 50, don't get any better.  Early spring is amazing in the east when its not raining.
Smitty is close on this rig.  One of the best of its grade Moby climbs the left arete of a steep boulder near the King and Queen Seat at Rocks State Park.

A Look Back, Moving Forward

Go Bot v11/8a RMNP

I was looking around at some older photos, reassessing what I have done over the past year and half. I found some photos that reminded me how much fun I had and how much work I put in.  Go Bot in Lower Chaos is terrifying.  It climbs out a steep wall with a terrible landing.  In the early part of the season when the snow is 6+ feet deep in Chaos canyon its not as intimidating.  Snow fills up the terrible landing and you can rest easy knowing that the fall is still a fall but isnt as bad as the middle of the summer..  which is exactly when I decided to climb that mother.

European Human v12/8a+ 

European Human...  I tried this one with Zach Lerner in the rain and we didn't finish it.  It was an end of the session climb and it felt hard with small sharp holds.  So we made a bet...  Next session, whoever sent first the other person had to jump into the lake.. which is possibly the second coldest water that I have been in.  The deal was made.  Zach did it first try.  My turn, I pulled on did a move grabbed an edge, dry fired and split a tip.  I was going for a swim.  Awesome day, super cold, never did make it back to that problem after my swim.

Gorilla Warfare v10 FA

I went back to PA after my jaunt in CO.  The weather in the east was still warm.  It was late september / early october and we decided to head to western PA for some sandstone.  Brian, Miley, Cramer and I checked out a project all by itself at Johnstown. Super crimpy short overhang.  I managed to do it and called it Gorilla Warfare v10.  I don't know if its been tried again after that day, but its worthy if you find yourself in the area looking to pull on some small, sharp holds.

Mikey Fitz mantles while Med School Brian watches intently 

 This picture is from Lincoln Lake.  Wow, super cool place but the hike is brutal.  It was our first time to this area and I wasnt sure what to expect as far as approach time was concerned.  I had been told many stories.  The hike down wasn't so bad and then it started to snow.  We only got to climb for about three hours then had to leave due to weather and lack of light.  The hike out...  was pretty nar.  This is another area I never made it back to.

Trying out Tmblr.

I just started a Tumblr account.  Follow it http://tim-a-rose.tumblr.com.  I will be updating both sites with content.

Pic From Armistice

Thursday was cold, rainy and snowy.  Conditions being less than ideal I didn't really expect much.  I drove almost 2hrs to get to Gretna so I wasn't going to leave without trying to do the Cut Tree project.  Gault and I fell off the top of this boulder a combined 300 times.  Thankfully it went down.

Armistice

Cut tree project @Gretna went down today, not without a fight. Gault and I suffered... well not that bad

Armistice from Tim Rose on Vimeo.

NRG trip footage

New River Sampler from Tim Rose on Vimeo.

A few of the problems from our trip to the NRG.

NRG trip - Coming and Going

NRG Super Project

I just returned to MD from a short but sweet trip to the New River Gorge.  I had five days to climb with one rest day.  Short trips like that are tough.. Sometimes the weather can suck, you could split a tip or the weather could be good but the conditions might be terrible.  Luckily for us we had some ok weather, no new injuries to account for and to top it off the best bouldering conditions I have had at the New..  Cold was the motif. When the sun was shining it was great then it snowed 2 inches.  Jah Bless. Good thing mother nature crapped on my rest day so Micah Klinger and I hiked around that day.  He showed me some of the local projects on the dries one in particular that ranks high, one the best things I have seen in the country.  It reminds me of the shield at Stone Fort.  One line of holds, perfect white sandstone, no hodge-podge.  Why has this not been done?? might be the question floating in your mind.  Logically, the answer must be that its really not as cool as I am saying it is.  Something like that would be well known.  Objection!  Perhaps the 25min + steep down hill approach to the rivers bowels could lend an explanation as to why its not been climbed.  Climbers have a tendency to be lazy creatures. I cannot blame them, I love being a fat kid.  Why drag loads of pads down a hill covered in poison ivy and its cronies when the New hosts so many amazing routes and boulder problems that require only the motivation to push the larger of two peddles to the ground on the floor of your car.??? Ah yes, lets not forget the hike up the steep hill to get home.  At least the new isn't located at the top of a volcano...  but in some minds it should be. They will never venture and therefore never reap the rewards.
The trip started well, I managed to repeat a bunch of lines that have gone up recently.  (bouldering, this trip was primarily a bouldering trip).  After a day of cleaning up outstanding problems I started to look for projects.  It was supposed to snow the following day so the idea was to get a game plan together for the rest of the trip.  We saw some really good lines but the one that stood out to me was the F5 project.  F5 being the name of a really great boulder problem that Micah put up last year. F5 for any meteorological aficionados that are reading is also the rating they use to describe a tornados ferocity based on wind speed and cone size.  Pretty much the boulder looks like a tornado is what I am saying.  Anyway, up the hill from that boulder is another boulder and another boulder and another boulder.....  but the one I was interested in is suspended in the air. Its super steep and has/had an amazing project out some crimps to a good right hand finger bucket then enter crux town to undercling pinch, wind mill to bad bad sloper move feet jump to finish jug and you're doneski.  Two session on this beast.  The first was a lack of preparation.  I was not informed that the boulder had a super nar landing and at the same time I forgot all those years of boy scout training that would have told me to be prepared with an additional pad.  We hiked for 25min with two and a half pads to a boulder problem that required at least 7 pads.  Oh well.  I tried the moves and managed a two piece with no intentions of trying a red point.  Too dangerous.. So we left and I would return on the next nice day to send.

Our next stop was Fayettstation, a well known bouldering area right on the river.  I was there to see a super project that may or may not go.  Really steep boulder with small holds to a blank section.  It looked amazing.  I tried it a little but it too requires some pads.  After a few attempts at the project I scooted over to the classic Octagon Control and banged that out.
I am tired of writing so I will say that the rest of our trip went like this.  Great climbing, first v12 in the gorge and a ton of fun with our good friends at the New.  I got some footage from our trip that I will put up soon.

Vid from ULK

Footage from Under Lock and Key


Under Lock and Key from Tim Rose on Vimeo.

Stop and smell the Roses

FA: Under Lock and Key, v13

Everything, all of the details, down to the subtlety of how your fingers land on a hold, what angle your foot is turned, where your hips should be, how much energy you should have to do the crux, all of those variables have to align perfectly.  That's hard bouldering.  Sometimes climbs feel easy and sometimes they feel hard.  I wonder why that is?  Did I get weaker?  Perhaps I didn't rest long enough between attempts?  Climbing perplexes me and I think that's what keeps me loving it.  It's not as simple as train harder or be the strongest.  If it were that easy we would have people straight out of Golds Fitness or Brick Bodies onsighting our projects.  It's in the details.  I call them illusions "tricks are for kids and what hookers do for money" but illusions are the details that make climbing work.  Sometimes I like to think that I can just go into the gym and start cranking out sets to be a better climber.  That actually works sometimes but its probably a coincidence.  The best I have been able to come up with over all the years is to stay healthy, stay motivated and keep pushing it, whether it's harder problems, harder routes, technique or power.  Firstly stay healthy!!
If you have read my humble and horribly written blog in the past few weeks you will already be aware that I have been trying some projects at a local area in PA.  I say local but it's a good 2hr drive.  Yesterday I made that trip on a busted knee with hopes to send the Key Hole Project.  I had put three sessions into it prior failing to snag an ascent.  Two sessions the weather got the best of me but I tried to send anyway.  2hrs one way is a long drive and I was psyched..  Thats old Tim talking, new Tim knows better.  It's not worth getting injured which is exactly what I managed to do.  Nothing serious mind you,  I tweaked my hammy heel hooking and it resolved itself in a few days.  None the less feeling tweaked can put mental stress on any situation.  So, I started my session off yesterday as I had previously.  Warmed up in an area close to the project fully knowing that today may or may not be my day to send.  Failing has become just as important to me as succeeding.  Maybe more so know than before.  My parents were right this entire time??  Its not about getting there it's about the journey?  I think I understand now...  Or is that just me being trapped into the state of mind, the perception, the vantage or my current time?  Whatever, anyway I was feeling good and warmed up as best as I could in 30 degree temps and set up for my red point attempts.  After two attempts I was feeling confident and sent on my third.  Finally!!!!  I had managed to link it up.  I barely stuck the slot move which is "the" move.  It's always a little manky and the hold is not exactly in a great spot.  Its just big enough for my fat fingers to get some bite but it bites back.  That's it.  That's the end of my story.  I sent.  Awesome!  I am really psyched to put another line up.  So continues my love of the sport.  Off to try something new.

The Projects

It has been rumored for many many years that Central PA has some very hard projects.  The list goes on and on, each area has its lines.  Some of the hard problems have even topped a few lists for "hardest in the country"...  Recently, I have visited some of said projects, in fact they are hard and doable.  The Keyhole project at mt. Gretna is first on my list of stuff and things.  I have done every move many times, two pieced it and it took my hamstring, we have some business, keyhole and I.  Next session for sure on that one, super cool line.  After Keyhole Mt. Gretna has another project called the Cut Tree. Cut tree is hard, hard, hard..  All the moves have been done tho.  It will probably be in the 13 realm when it goes and will be another hard diabase "condition dependent" climb.  Last and perhaps the most well known, unknown, line is the fabled v14 project on PA sandstone.  Emerson had contacted some people about it way back, early 2000's I believe..  Rumors surround local areas like fly's on crap and its all across the country.  Picking through whats possible and whats not can be a matter of a climbers vision or simply a question of if there are holds or not?? It can be tough to see beyond yourself, to see what the future could bring. Thats where the Mordor project story starts.  This thing is killer, literally..  It ended one climbing career and created some controversy in the PA scene back in the day.  Whats really cool is it could be one of the hardest climbs in the country just sitting in PA at an area with bad access issues.  "Hardest in the country"...??? Bold statement.  For sure this line will clock in at high double digits, not falling short of the v14 mark.  Its unclear as to exactly how hard.

I visited the Mordor project a few weeks ago and managed to do all but one move.  I even managed to link a few moves together.  The crux is 4 moves long starting with the first move..  You move off a bad crimp to a bad pinch..  pause on a non hold crimper and do a move to a terrible undercling.  move your feet, pull the undercling to your chest and fire for a jug pinch on the lip.  Beautiful, just beautiful...

I was told that someone had maybe done the climb years and years ago, which means it could potentially be the first of its grade.  Here is the controversy part, when the climber was asked to repeat, he was unable to do half the moves making a repeat impossible.  After trying it myself the other week, I could see that situation being a possibility.  Its a very unique crux that requires an infinite amount of undercling and wrist strength.  I am not sure either way, If you are nerd you'll get this, "the truth is out there."..  personally I don't care, its just a badass line.  The whole story is really interesting and maybe I will write it up if I send.. It might make a cool article, that is if magazines still exist when that happens.  Anyways, Its kept my attention and here is some bad footage.

Pa Projects from Tim Rose on Vimeo.

Weather or Not

Keyhole project mt. gretna, pa

Sunday was supposed to be sunny, 48, blue bird and it was at 8am.  I left MD early to blue skies, 50-degree temperatures and only grabbed my jacket to be safe. Our plan was to make the 4hr drive west to check out Coles cove.   The temperature gauge in Brian’s car doesn’t work exactly, but it does measure some form of temperature, even if it’s not the temperature outside.  The closer we got to our destination the lower the temperature was dropping.  30, 20, 18, 13, and finally stopped somewhere around 8.  We were pretty sure the car was using some non linear algebra to calculate the temperature; it definitely wasn’t 8 outside…  as to what the temperature really was outside?  I put the window down and we quickly concluded it was really, really cold.  I pulled out my handy phone, Sunny and 35 is what the screen said…  I looked outside, snow and well below freezing... Back to the phone, refresh, refresh.. no luck, we had been had by weather.com and I was almost completely unprepared, praise the lord I grabbed my jacket.  Basically my trip to Coles Cove became walking around in 2 inches of snow while being snowed on.  The western PA boys were psyched though, and I was really psyched to see all the rock at Coles.  As with many western PA areas, Coles hosts gritstone boulders ranging in size and difficulty.  The stuff that’s good there would be considered good anywhere.  The plan is to make another trip out this weekend pending the weather.  I saw some stuff that got me very motivated to get back sooner than later.

Last crux move Keyhole

Yesterday, I made a trip to Mt. Gretna to see if I could snag a project that I put a few tries into many years ago and again last week spent a few minutes there.  Really good line that adds 5 moves to an established line called Keyhole.  The crux revolves around a left hand micro crimp, right heel hook and quite possibly one of the coolest little pinches I have ever been on.  You do two more hard moves to a left hand crimp with a thumb catch and cross to a good quarter pad crimp then jump to a jug pinch, so good and so close on this one.  We got into Gretna warmed up and I headed right to the proj, I was fully focused, nothing else seemed to even interest me at Gretna.  When I turned the corner to scope it out I was let down..  The boulder was soaking wet.  The only boulder in the field that had ice and water on it was the keyhole boulder.  I tried to dry off the water and get rid of the ice but nothing was working.  It was soaked.  I stayed and tried it a little beside the fact it was soaking wet I felt like I made one giant step forward with beta.  I started using a smaller worse hold than I was attempting to use before and managed to unlock the sequence that was shutting me down before.  No send but I am banking on my next session for sure.  I can’t really be certain how hard it will be exactly but it feels somewhere in the 12/13 range.  I think easier than some of the things I have done recently in the 13 range but it’s hard to say…  Beta and conditions make a huge difference and who even knows..  It could feel one way for me and totally different for someone else.