Posts Tagged ‘Boulder’

Alli Rainey Sends Private Halfenheimer (5.14a)

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Alli just touched base with us abut an incredible project she completed! Congratulations to her on the path less travelled…

I can’t even begin to capture yesterday in words, but I will try. The day started out rather inauspiciously. It was steamy hot—like 95 degrees in town—meaning that we’d be lucky to have it be under 85 degrees at the crag in the shade. Still, Lawrence, Alisa, Todd, Nori, and I rendezvoused at the river crossing close to 3 p.m. in hopes that we’d milk a decent day out of the conditions by heading up later. We made our way through the mooing, pooping cows up to the crag, with Alisa helpfully calling out, “Wet one!” as we passed each sloppy splotch they left in their wake on the trail in their effort to get away from us, shrieking and bellowing as they fled. I loved how every one of us humans ended up mooing in reply at some point…it’s just irresistible, really.

Up at the crag, it was hot. So hot that I didn’t even change into pants, and I never, ever climb in shorts. I belayed Lawrence on his warm-up burn on his project, and then gave my warm-up burn on mine, skipping the bottom boulder-problem bit and just climbing the middle hardness to try to get the feeling going. I’d already done three sets of 10 pull-ups at home; I’ve been playing around with this number trying to figure out the optimal amount of pull-ups to get my body warmed up without taking anything away from my power. I still honestly have no idea what the magic number is, so I’ll just keep on trying to sort it out as I go.

Then, I belayed Lawrence again…and he crushed Super Mama, putting up a tremendous fight, reeling it in again and again, and finishing with a couple of brilliant warrior cries before clipping the anchors. I was so psyched for him—this climb had been a true battle, pushing his finger to the point of near-injury and almost coaxing him to give up on it for a time, as he was worried about that finger until he discovered different beta for the move that didn’t stress it as much. And then, he crushed. Fantastic.

Somewhere during this time, the strong Italian guy, Daniele (sp.?), had showed up again, sans his gorgeous wife, Francesca, who had been struck by the puking plague that ran through us all last week. Daniele was trying to redpoint Sky Pilot, and after his first burn, he said it was so hot that he felt like he had to exert extra force on every tiny hold—not what a person wants. However, he styled the route on his second go of the day, crushing it with his exquisite near-static technique. Awesome to watch.

By this point, I’d had three burns on my project, making it through “the move” twice in a row again, only to fall at my high point from previous days. I felt tired and pumped on these go’s, and I’d pretty much decided that I wouldn’t be sending today. I was sitting and watching Lawrence hang draws on his next project, when Daniele suggested that I go again.

“I am safe belayer,” he said in his thick Italian accent, “I promise.”

Despite my issues and reservations with switching belayers midstream—and especially about getting belayed by someone I’ve never climbed with before—somehow, I did trust him, and the energy just felt right: positive, supportive, upbeat and honest. I accepted the offer, tied in, and instantly fell off of the bottom moves that I have pretty dialed—my fingers were screaming in pain, and I knew I didn’t have much left to give…or so I thought. I sat down, popped my shoes off, and talked about how I’d have to come back and send on Monday. And then I put my shoes back on to try again.

Next thing I knew, I was cruising the bottom boulder problem with utter ease, flowing through “the move” like I completely owned it, and arriving at the midway rest feeling stronger than ever. A wave of knowingness washed over me then, a sense of indescribable self-confidence and body-knowledge that told me I could do the route this time, right now. I launched into the cruxy bit that had been tossing me off repeatedly, and totally crushed it without a bobble. I proceeded up the next few still-steep moves, transitioned to the scary ‘n’ sketchy slab, and hiked up to the top anchors, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of climbing it altogether now. I clipped the anchors and whooped with joy.

I don’t know if I’ve ever crushed a really hard project for me with such authority and confidence ever before, but I can almost get teary about it—because that was the point in returning to this bottom sequence yet again. At long last, I can lay this baby to rest, knowing that I DID dominate this move, these moves, these sequences that continued to play with my mind and my being for years now. I know I will never climb these moves again in my life (no more possible link-ups off of this), and it’s a relief, for sure, but I also know that if I had to do it again, I could, on command, instead of waiting for the magical 1 in 50 chance (that’s what it seemed like before, anyhow) of snagging the move on a lucky go. And that’s what I wanted. It had gotten way personal, and now, it’s over, and I can move on knowing that I own that sequence and it doesn’t own me.

Delighted, I returned home and enjoyed an evening of mojito-driven training followed by a homemade chili dinner courtesy of some of my houseguests. We sat on the porch and rapped late into the night, laughing and sharing stories. The Italians drifted in to hang out for awhile, and I thanked Daniele again, telling him that I’d just give him a call the next time I needed to send.

Because that was cool, too—I sent the route with an unknown belayer holding my rope, but the energy and trust was there, and I didn’t think about it for a second once I left the ground, though I did hear his encouragement and it did help me up the route. I also wore shorts. Maybe those are the secret keys to sending…changing it up and letting go of routines. Or maybe not. Who knows? All I know is that I’m really excited to start this process all over again on my next climbing day…on something completely new and different. Yes!

Update: Private Halfenheimer is a link-up between Sky Pilot (original line, 13d; now with an extension called Galactic Emperor, 5.14a, that I climbed last year) and General Litzenheimer (5.14c). I began my battle with the original Sky Pilot back in the summer of 2006, getting repeatedly bouted by “the move” I mention in the post below, and not sending the route that summer. I sent in late in the summer of 2007, doing the route the first time I did “the move” in sequence ~Alli

In summer 2009, Kevin Wilkinson bolted the logical extension to Sky Pilot, which features a wicked boulder problem after the original anchors. I said I’d only do it if the additional climbing was cool enough, given my history of battling with “the move.” Of course, the new climbing was incredible to me, featuring ultra-technical pulls on tiny holds, so I was intrigued and dove in, hoping that I’d be strong enough to put “the move” away quickly. And still, despite my strength gains and serious training since 2007, I found myself stymied by the same move repeatedly yet again, sending Galactic Emperor the first time I did “the move” in sequence.

While working this route, I mentioned to James Litz that I wished I could at least climb the top two-thirds of General Litzenheimer, a route that I bolted. Unfortunately for me, the bottom third’s V12-ish boulder problem featuring huge lock-offs on ridiculously small holds is above my climbing ability. He suggested linking the bottom, closely spaced five bolts of Sky Pilot into the top seven more widely spaced bolts of the Litzenheimer, creating Private Halfenheimer, which he proceeded to climb as well.

In this route, I recognized my final chance to prove to myself that I was stronger than “the move,” and this motivated my training throughout last winter. This year, I felt scared, again, the first time on the bottom of Sky Pilot—until I realized that I could do “the move” statically (before it had always been a desperate thrutch with just a tiny hope of catching the hold), though it still felt quite hard. Then one day, hanging at “the move,” I for some reason tried out a higher, much worse foothold for my right foot—one that had never worked in the other years for me, since I couldn’t pull up and lock off on it. However, this year, it proved to be the way for someone my size with the strength to lock it down—while requiring more arm power initially, it made the rest of “the move” into something I could climb in sequence every time, instead of waiting for that one lucky snag.

This, then, was my goal for this route—to make “the move” mine, to get it out of my head, to climb into it with confidence, knowing that I could do it every time. And this, I accomplished…making sending Private Halfenheimer that much sweeter, since I climbed through “the move” about five times in sequence before I managed to not fall off up higher on the route. For me, this route wasn’t about climbing a grade. It was about defeating a long-term foe and conquering a weakness of my own, about proving something to myself. The day I sent truly was one of the best climbing days of my life—it was so rewarding to feel all of my training pay off.

~Alli

Climbing since 1992, Harvard graduate (’96) Alli Rainey lasted for a single year working a real-world job before she chose to take a different route, becoming a rock climber and freelance writer. As a climber, Alli’s accomplishments include redpoints of 5.14a and 50 5.13’s up to 5.13+ (including many unrepeated first ascents and first female ascents), onsights of more than 200 5.12’s up to 5.12d, bouldering V9, and winning and placing highly in numerous local, regional, and national bouldering competitions. Alli’s climbing sponsors include Acopa, Bonnie’s Balms, Clif Bar, Flashed, Flex-Power, Native Eyewear, Petzl, prAna, and Rocky Mountain Sunscreen. As a writer, to date Alli has completed several full-length book projects, including Wyoming: An Explorer’s Guide, due out in spring 2010. She has also written numerous articles for a variety of magazines and journals, including Rocky Mountain Sports, Men’s Fitness, Rock & Ice, Climbing, Alpinist, Gripped, American Alpine News, and Boulder Magazine, among many others.

Jacinda Hunter: Style, Grace, Power

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Team prAna Welcomes Nina Caprez

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

My passion for climbing started as soon as I stepped into my first real climbing shoes, I knew that this is my sport.

I grew up in the middle of the Swiss mountains in a valley called Prattigau. After finishing high school, finding no solid direction in normal life I decided to leave the “routine” and chose to continue my life as a climber. My desire to practice this sport with all its facets was so strong, that I was able to overcome all the obstacles that I came across to pursue my lifestyle.

Besides rock climbing and mountaineering I also spent time competing. During this time, I learned a lot how I have to train and what I have to do, to become a stronger climber. This made me become an even stronger rock-climber, quickly making it possible for me to red-point
my first 8b route.


After a while, I lost the motivation for competitions and I started to concentrate more and more on what was for me pure rock climbing. I traveled all around the world and climbed on all kinds of  rocks. From big wall climbing in Patagonia and Kirgizstan to boulder trips in Argentina. From deep water soloing in Thailand to sport  climbing all around Europe and America. All these experiences and all these different styles of rock climbing gave so much practice, that it made me the well rounded climber I am now.

Through all these experiences as a rock climber, I found my big challenge: I want to climb the hardest multi-pitch routes in the world. To be able to climb a hard multi-pitch route in one day, that is my goal and what I am searching for.

Routes like Supramonte, 300m 8b, ‘Ultime démence’, 5 pitches 8a+ or ‘la Ramirole’, 5 pitches 8b, are the most beautiful successes in my climbing life.

I love my ‘non-system’ life. To be able to decide myself how I  will earn my money, where I will live, when I will get up in the morning, to do what I need to do to survive and most importantly: to enjoy every single day, with the least amount of seriousness as possible and to climb to my very best!

Welcome Nina and we are sure you will find many more beautiful lines in the years to come! For more information on Nina, check out her website here.




Dean Potter: Falling To Fly (World Premier Video)

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Dean Potter is characterized by creativity, commitment and challenge. He started climbing as a child, with a free solo fall from a stone wall as one of his earliest memories. Since that time, he has speed soloed Half Dome and El Capitan, Cerro Torre, and Fitzroy. He was the first to make a one-day free ascent of El Cap and Half Dome, and a one-day speed linkup of both of those big walls and Mount Watkins, Yosemites third Grade VI wall. He has also established testpiece crack routes in the Utah desert and highball boulder problems in Yosemite.

Dean has walked the longest highlines, often without a safety leash, though he has dedicated over a decade of engineering and testing to create the safest highline systems currently used. Most recently, he has combined BASE jumping skill with highlining and free soloing, using a specially engineered ultralight BASE rig as his backup system.

Dean currently bases out of Yosemite, where he can usually be found on a large piece of granite.

For videos, photos and more information on Dean, visit http://bit.ly/DeanPotterTags.

Alex Puccio Takes Battle In The Bubble & A Cool Grand

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Alex Puccio and Daniel Woods walked away with top honors at last weekends Battle In The Bubble and a $1,000 each in prize money. With Paul Robinson injured and Chris Sharma at the New River Rendezvous, no prAna athletes figured in the mens finals but the women came through like champs! Alex Puccio remains undefeated since she joined the prAna team this year. Angie Payne (2nd), Tiffany Hensley (7th) and Tyler Youngwerth (9th) all looked strong with Angie pushing Puccio the entire way. Congratulations to all the participants as we look forward to another great year of events.

Check out the Highlight Reel from The Spot Gym  HERE

Photos Courtesy of Ben Fullerton

RANK MEN FINALS Semis M6pts M7pts M8pts M9pts M10pts TOTAL
1 Daniel Woods 10 985.00 697.27 985.00 1100.00 818.18 4595.45
2 Julian Batuista 9 1100.00 636.36 985.00 985.00 636.36 4351.73
3 Carlo Traversi 8 1100.00 636.36 700.00 307.69 0.00 2752.06
4 Brian Kim 2 985.00 621.36 600.00 0.00 0.00 2208.36
5 Austin Geiman 3 985.00 591.36 0.00 0.00 0.00 1579.36
6 Kyle Owen 7 970.00 363.64 0.00 0.00 0.00 1340.64
7 Gabor Szekey 6 867.35 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 873.35
8 Ryan Roden 5 632.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 637.06
9 Adam Markert 4 573.24 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 577.24
10 Ian Dory 1 573.24 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 574.24
RANK WOMEN FINALS Semis W6pts W7pts W8pts W9pts W10pts TOTAL
1 Alex Puccio 10 1100.00 1100.00 985.00 1100.00 1000.00 5295.00
2 Angie Payne 7 1100.00 1100.00 1100.00 1100.00 875.00 5282.00
3 Lizzy Asher 9 1100.00 1100.00 666.67 396.76 0.00 3272.43
4 Chaunciena Cox 8 428.57 769.23 318.33 0.00 0.00 1524.14
5 Flannery Shay-Nemirow 4 1100.00 461.54 0.00 0.00 0.00 1565.54
6 Shannon Forsman 3 571.43 461.54 0.00 0.00 0.00 1035.97
7 Tiffany Hensley 6 428.57 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 434.57
8 Gabi Massi 5 428.57 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 433.57
9 Tyler Youngwerth 2 428.57 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 430.57
10 Kristen Felix 1 428.57 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 429.57

Building Around the Rock

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Why move or demolish the boulder when you can incorporate it into your living room?

BoulderHouse

“Since he was a boy, John Carson, a New York City builder and real estate developer, dreamed of building a house around a giant stone. He and his wife, Sharon Slowik, estimate that they looked at 75 properties before finding this one in Margaretville, N.Y. At left, the boulder in its pre-construction surroundings. The 250-ton bluestone boulder, measuring 8 feet high, 15 feet wide, 22 feet deep, dominates the living space in the two-level glass-and-copper house that the couple built around it. When searching for the right boulder, Mr. Carson, at left, said that he told a broker: “I want something massive — I want something the size of a train car. I want something bigger than would ever be appropriate.” A rock ledge stood 20 feet to the side of the boulder, which meant the house would have to be built on two levels. So Mr. Carson designed a home that was essentially two interconnected boxes on two separate foundations. Mr. Carson and Ms. Slowik wanted a home that was not only airy and open, but also was, as Ms. Slowik puts it, a collaboration with nature. They created a glass-walled “light well” — essentially a three-foot-square courtyard open to the sky — between the master bath and a hallway, from which they can watch the snow and rain. New York City subway grating is used as a bridge from the second-level dining room to the living room and an outdoor deck. “There’s just something inviting about being able to rub against nature in your living room,” said Mr. Carson.

BATR6BATR4BATR3BATR2BATR1

Cross Posted from NYT

Chris Sharma FA Beaver’s Backyard Boulder

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

On his recent visit to prAna in San Diego, Chris Sharma put up a first ascent on prAna’s Founder, Beaver’s backyard boulder.

Steep and desperate, it’ll be a long time until the locals repeat this one!

prAna Boulder Free Events August 10-16:

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Click on image below to view calendar of events:

 

I scream for Ice Cream, you scream for AcroYoga

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Who says you can only do yoga in a studio or in a park? Team YogaSlackers bring a little AcroYoga fun inside Ben & Jerry’s …

If you’re headed to Outdoor Retailer, stop by prAna on the first night to do meet and “fly” with the YogaSlackers.

Any travel stories you’d like to share?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Our Boulder store associate Connor has been exploring the trails of Argentina this summer. He shot us a quick note and a shot from the top of peak Cerro Colorado (ie Mt. Colorado) outside of San Martin, Patagonia.

Just got back to Buenos Aires after a massive roadtrip throughout patagonia. 5,000 kilometers over the span of 11 days, thats 50 hours in the car! The weather has been beautiful and the peaks are endless and luckily the only clothes I needed were my Sonora pants, Prevail Tech Ts, Derringer (perfect time of year for that bad boy) and the always comfortable Axiom jeans. Turns out I needed every piece for the constantly changing environment.

We camped in the desert, drove through the Andes and saw breathtaking mountain lakes that seemed to go on forever, went whale watching, bought a lot of handmade crafts and goodies at the local markets, got in a little bouldering near Bariloche, kicked back on the beach for a few days on the East Coast and wrapped it all up with a couple of days in friendly Uruguay. This country is going to be hard to leave as I´m sure anyone who has been here will tell you.

Catch you on the flipside (hemispherically speaking) ~ Connor

Argentinian Sunset

Argentinian Sunset

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Have you had any travel adventures and stories? We’d love to hear them!