Rings

I just worked out on the gymnastic rings with Kevin. It has been waaaay too long since I last did this. Like two years maybe? Needless to say I'm spent and I'm eagerly awaiting the salmon that is being cooked for me as I type this. I think I'm going to try and incorporate rings into my training for South Africa....hmmmm...South Africa.

A Couple Shots From Yesterday

Here I am absorbing Randy Puro's soul. I will steal your climbing powers too if you are not careful.

Kevin is bashful but he climbs well so here he is climbing "Leroy" yesterday.

Regression

Progression is so uplifting. One can easily be overcome with feelings of optimism and bright days ahead. Conversely, regression is possibly one of the biggest downers around. In climbing, it falls second only to serious injury/death as far as downers are concerned. Yesterday I had a serious battle with regression. The night before I'd gone to sleep full of optimism and high expectations of an ascent, but it was not to be. I awoke feeling groggy, my back and neck were tight and those feelings never left. I'll spare you any details of my pathetic climbing (and worse yet, my whining and complaining), but I will share this picture of my thumb.

This wound is courtesy of the amazing thumb catch on the "bone" hold on Dogwood. I loved this just the other day, now I wonder if I'll ever love again?

In other news, my brother just welcomed his second son into the world. Wyatt, I can't wait to meet you! Also, Alan sent a long term proj. yesterday so that's sweet too.

Dogs

I wish I was posting about a new big send but that's not in the cards tonight. Instead I just want to express my sympathies to two good friends who lost a member of their family on Monday. To non dog owners it may seem silly how invested we are in our 'pets,' but to those of us who know better, it is extremely painful to say goodbye to ones' canine companion. Hearing Tim's voice on the phone was enough to make my eyes water and seeing the pain in Patti's eyes made my heart ache. I know from experience that this kind of grieving does not pass easily, nor should it, but I hope the two of you know that your friends love you and are here if you need us.

I Love Rock Climbing!

Some sending today! We had a little gang bang session on "Cindy." Kevin, Wick, Tim D., and myself all sent the rig today. I think this doubles the number of ascents the problem had ever seen in its many years of existence. Mad props to Randy for doing all of the dirty work. This problem used to be referred to as "Sydnie" but that was a mistake apparently. For more on that check Betabase soon.



Kevin made this problem look incredibly easy. He put two laps on it today and did not look like he was trying very hard.

Afterward, we headed over to 'Dogwood' for a late session. It went incredibly well for me because I was able to latch the "bone" hold twice (a first). This was especially exciting because conditions were a bit moist to say the least.

Going to try 'Drive On' tomorrow, hopefully there will be more good climbing news in the evening.

More Projects

So many projects, so little time. It feels good to climb on some new stuff again. I'm sorry Sock hands, I tried to get people over to "Drive On" but I failed to rally anyone. Soon my friend, soon. Until then, enjoy the prospects presented here.

Close, but needs a little cleaning up top

Did the high start yesterday, "Villain," but the sit will add a lot of difficulty.

New Project?

So how long can the ever restless mind of an obsessed climber go without a focus for that obsession? Not long in my case apparently. Monday was supposed to be a chill day of trying stuff I'd never been on before and for the most part it was. At the end of the day, however, I decided to give Dogwood a few tries because I was there to spot Kevin anyway and because it is a remarkably enticing line. I had tried it once before, last winter to be exact, when it was still a project. I remember thinking that it was one of the coolest lines I had ever tried but that there could be a stopper move (at least for me) on it. Well, I gave it three attempts on Monday and on all three I reached the same high point. The best attempt (most controlled) can be seen below.



I think I'll be spending some time here in the near future.