Posts Tagged ‘Boulder’
With a total of 8 days over a 2 year period, Paul Robinson was finally able to send one of his hardest lines to date, Meadowlark Lemon in Gateway Canyon, Nevada (a subsector of Red Rocks).
This is Paul’s hardest FA to date, besides Lucid Dreaming. The send was caught on film by Chuck Fryberger’s film crew and will be featured in their upcoming moving “The Network.”
Of today’s (11/1/2012) ascent, Paul comments, “I considered it one of the best lines I have ever climbed on in the entire world. The boulder is super physical, yet really technical. The crux revolves around some really crazy heel hooks on the left arete.”
2 years ago, Paul put up Meadowlark Lemon stand and graded it 8B/V13. He considers the moves between the sit and the stand start to be an additional 8B, making the entire line two 8B’s linked together without a rest.
When asked about the name of the boulder problem, Paul said, “Meadowlark Lemon was an American basketball player that played for the Harlem Globetrotters. He was considered to be one of the best players ever and has a sweet name. The last move of my climb is similar to a slam dunk in basketball.”
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I have to pee.
Trying to get back to sleep, I hug the down comforter around my body, pull my beanie over my ears and silently repeat to myself, “Go back to sleep. You can hold it.” After another moment or two, I reach over my husband to check the time. Crap. It’s 3:30am. There’s no way I’m going to make it. I sigh and begin the stealthy process of extricating myself out of bed and to the nearest toilet.
I peel off the blankets and crawl over my husband. My hand grips the edge of the cooler as I cautiously place my feet on the floor. I search in the dark for my shoes. Once they’re on the correct feet, my glasses perched on my nose, I quietly open the door and stare into the bright lights of the parking lot.
I look across the lot longingly toward the darkened Walmart. It’s usually open 24 hours, but this one happens to be temporarily closed tonight due to renovations. I notice the shadows looming from the back of the building. My requisite for bathroom breaks these days is pretty simple: a few dark shadows and a bush or two. I stumble forward, trying to shake the sleep from my brain. I stop abruptly when I see a man walking around the corner. Who’s up at this hour? Then I see another man. Then a few more.
The renovations. These guys are working at the Walmart. There are construction workers everywhere.
Where the hell can I pee? At this point I’m ready to squat under the lights in the middle of the parking lot; I’m that desperate. Then I spot my salvation. There, not 100 yards before me, is a tree surrounded by about 200 shopping carts neatly nested within each other, conveniently arranged in a large rectangle of wheels, metal and bright red plastic Cheezit advertisements on the child’s seat. That tree means there’s grass. I slink down the two-foot wide path toward the tree, keeping my eyes alert for curious construction workers. There I squat and look up at the stars.
Such is the glamorous life on the road. Peeing in the middle of a shopping cart corral. Yep. We’re living large. As it turned out, this kind of experience was far more common than the romantic notions we started with. There weren’t the hours of boredom I’d predicted or time to consume dozens of books. And despite our best intentions, our plans to train for an ultra marathon (me) and 24-hour endurance mountain bike race (my husband) were foiled by injuries brought on by our inability to train consistently.
The Original Plan
When my husband and I began the adVANture last November, we had visions of long days in the great outdoors, putting in hundreds of self-propelled miles on remote trails around the country.
We designed and custom-built our white cargo van, equipping it with a marine cooler in lieu of a refrigerator, a camp stove and small array of pots and pans, plastic plates and wine glasses.
No running water; no heat except for that generated by the motor; and a simple vent fan for hot days. We each got one brightly-hued bag for our daily clothes, a bag to share for our jackets and a bin for toiletries.
Although we sacrificed some space in our living area, we were proud of the “garage” we built—the space we created in the back held our mountain bikes and necessary recreating gear and tools. We stashed our climbing packs under the bed along with extra books and sleeping bags.
This was our home for 22,607 miles, through 25 states, two provinces, over 364 days.
When most people think of life on the road, two main demographics come to mind: single 20-somethings dirt-bagging between climbing crags and 50- and 60-year old retirees equipped with massive RVs touring via campgrounds and national parks.
It didn’t take long for us to realize we fit in neither category. Not only were we a 30- and 40-something couple, we were also working while we traveled (me building a life coaching practice and my husband designing websites).
We spent every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in either a Starbucks or a local coffee shop working from our computers and making phone calls from the van.
At times it did feel less than the romantic ideal we’d set out with.
But despite—or, in my personal opinion, precisely because of—the challenges and revised expectations, we fell absolutely and irrevocably in love with our van and life on the road.
Falling in Love With the Unexpected
Because it’s not about the big picture. Or meeting some pre-determined goal around climbing at a higher grade or number of miles you’ve put in.
It’s about all the moments of being alive and living your dream. Of being immersed in an experience that you’ve dreamt about for so long, you have to pinch yourself and remind each other that you’re doing it. You’re living it. Right then. In that moment.
So pay attention. Peeing outside a Walmart in Bakersfield, CA, in the middle of a shopping corral is part of the dream.
We collected moments as vast and diverse as the open ocean along the California coast, the bright coral seastars clinging to the rocks on the Olympic Peninsula and making fresh tracks in the snow-covered trails of Pisgah National Forest in NC.
They cover the ice-encrusted windshield we woke up to in Columbia, SC, the hurricane and oil-stricken Gulf Coast and the 6-degree high in Houston.
It includes two back-to-back 16-mile days running through snow, ice, mud and sun, up and down the Grand Canyon as well as the last-minute stop in Nevada to hike among the brilliantly vibrant blooms in an otherwise dry and prickly desert.
I love that I can recognize the difference between the rocks at Joshua Tree, Owen’s River Gorge, Red Rocks and Smith Rock. That when I see a photo of the cracks of Squamish I am transported to the dank forest of the Chief and the friendly atmosphere of the Howe Sound Brewery as I savor their Rail Ale Nut Brown brew.
Even when I think about the wavy symmetry of the washbasins in every Walmart bathroom; the interminable hours and mediocre Americanos of every Starbucks between South Carolina and California; and the never-ending decision-making process we went through daily regarding where to eat, where to sleep, where to work, where to run/bike/climb/hike/camp/shower/launder—I treasure them all.
It’s the moments that make up an adventure—and life, really.
The tedious and ordinary create the counterpoint for the extraordinary and sublime.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
~Amy Christensen
Amy is a certified life coach. Her company, Expand Outdoors, works with adventurous women, providing guidance and support as they seek to break out of the norm to live bigger, more authentic lives. She and her husband have parked their van in Boulder, CO and are slowly settling into life-in-one place (for now!).
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12/07 Bozeman Ice Hyalite Canyon, MT; www.bozemanicefestival.com
12/09 Sandstone Ice Festival Robinson Park, Sandstone, MN; www.sandstoneicefest.com
12/10 Dallas Rocks ABS Regional Competition Dallas, TX; www.dallasclimbing.com
12/10 Rock Spot Showdown Boston, MA; www.rockspotclimbing.com
12/11 City Rock Indoor Ice Climbing/Dry Tooling Comp Colorado Springs, CI; www.iceholdz.com
12/16 Western Slope Bouldering Series 2 Glenwood Springs, CO; 970-384-6318
12/17 Climb For Change: Triple Threat Team Comp Toronto, ON; andrew@revesmedia.com
01/05 Ouray Ice Festival Ouray, CO; http://ourayicepark.com/ice-festival/
01/06 Singapore Management University Gravical Singapore; climb@sa.smu.edu.sg
01/06 Kandersteg Ice Climbing Kandersteg, Switzerland; www.kandertal.travel/en/page.cfm/events/topwinter/iceclimbing
01/13 Chicks Sampler Ouray, CO; www.chickswithpicks.net
01/14 BLOC Climbing & Fitness ABS 13 Youth Divisional Tucson, AZ; www.rocksandropes.com/BLOC/site/home.html
01/17 Youngstown State University Boulder Competition Youngstown, OH; www.ysu.edu/reccenter/AdventureRec
01/21 New Zealand Rock Festival Whanguanui Bay, New Zealand; www.wix.com/whanganuibay/nz-rock-festival#!
01/25 Chicks Complete Ouray, CO; www.chickswithpicks.net
01/28 Western Slope Bouldering Series 3 Carbondale, CO; 970-704-4148
02/02 Mt Washington Ice Climbing Festival North Conway, NH; www.ime-usa.com/imcs/ice_fest.html
02/03 Chicks Quickie Ouray, CO; www.chickswithpicks.net
02/03 Chicks Graduate Ouray, CO; www.chickswithpicks.net
02/04 Lakewood Link Rec Center Rock Steady 7 Lakewood, CO; 303-987-5446
02/04 Metro Rock Dark Horse Championship Everett, MA; www.metrorock.com
02/04 Western Slope Bouldering Series 4 Vail, CO; 970-476-7960
02/11 University of Oregon Vertical Circus Climbing Competition Eugene, OR; dbauer2@uoregon.edu
02/11 Climb UP Kilimanjaro Kilimanjaro, Tanzania; www.climbupsokidscangrowup.com/
02/17 South Fork Ice Festival Cody, WY; www.southforkice.com/index.html
02/24 Hueco Rock Rodeo Hueco Tanks, TX; huecorockrodeo@gmail.com
03/02 Western Slope Bouldering Series 5 Carbondale, CO; 970-476-7960
03/04 Adaptive Sports Center 7 Hours of the Banana Crested Butte, CO; 970-349-5075
03/31 Ohio State University Vertical Mile Challenge Columbux, OH; www.osumountaineers.com
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We spent a few weeks in Colorado back in October for the occasion of a prAna meeting in Boulder. It was a short vacation but an inspiring one. We stayed with Chuck Fryberger and his girlfriend Sarah Marvez very good friends as well as both excellent climbers; they showed us many places, most of them new for us. It is always fascinating to spend time in a place with so much background and climbing history as Colorado. It is kind of the birth place of bouldering in the new world. Big personalities like John Gill first, Pat Ament, Bob Williams (and many more)…Followed by Jim Holloway, Jim Michael, Steve Mammen, Jim Karn, Christian Griffith to the actual stars like Dave Graham, Daniel Woods, Paul Robinson, Angie Payne, Carlo Traversi, etc. This is one of the most active scenes around the world and there is a big range of boulder illustrating each period.
One of the nicest climbing moments of this trip was the ascent of one of the famous Holloway problems from 1975: “Trice”. It waited more than 30 years for the first repeat by Carlo Traversi. Since then Chuck told me it got maybe ten ascents. This way the consensus grade was 8a+ or v12. It was still some discussions going on because every repeater used a left foothole (not used by Holloway) that some considered off line and changing the original character and difficulty.
The prAna meeting was very close to Flagstaff, so we spent a few days there and eventually I took the opportunity to try this famous “Trice”. The upper left foot felt really crunchy to me and so I tried what could have been the original way. This means: feet straight below the bulge, the left foot kind of smearing and the right foot low on a small vertical edge, lock your fingers on a shallow pocket and go controlled to a small sloppy edge then jump to the top. The last climbing day just before a snow storm, conditions were perfect and after some warm ups and a few tries, a cold wind came and finally friction was good enough to complete the problem. It felt really satisfying to stick this last move. Retrospectively I would like to tell all my respect to Jim Holloway for his performances in bouldering, which are still great inspiration for all of us.
~Fred Nicole, prAna Ambassador
Here is some classic Fred…
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We recently had our prAna Fall Fashion on Friday October 21st at our Boulder store on Pearl Street. It was a beautiful fall night, and also Homecoming for Colorado University, so there were a lot of people out on the town. During the event we held a raffle to raise money for the non-profit organization Conscious Alliance. This is local group who raises money and food for pantries as well as Native American Reservations and they also focus on general hunger awareness. You can often find them at concerts, trading unique artwork for cans of food. Many artists have volunteered their time and talent to Conscious Alliance over the years to create this idea of “Art that Feeds”. They have already collected and distributed enough food to provide over 1,164,000 meals!
Our raffle prizes consisted of donations from businesses around the Boulder area. We had 4 $24 gift certificates from Bodyworks Bistro, a month worth of unlimited yoga from Om Time, an Intro to Movement class with a month of free membership to Movement Fitness, a gift set from Savory Spice Shop, a $10 gift card and travel mug from Ozo Coffee, an annual membership and insulated water bottle from B-Cycles, several variations of delicious nut butter from Justin’s Nut Butter, several bags of yummy treats from Olomomo Nut Co., a gift basket from 3rd and Vine Design, and a High Altitute Baking book with a cake pan and serving knife from Peppercorn. We also had Izze donate natural soda for the even, Avery Brewing Co. donated a variety of beers, and the Rio Grande donated some mexican nosh.
The models consisted of local climbers, and yogis many who work with movement climbing gym and were styled by Twig salon on Pearl street with fresh hair and makeup. Yuki and her acroyoga troupe gave a spectacular demonstration at intermission and Steve Z. photography made the night memorable forever.
We were able to collect $221 for Conscious Alliance through our raffle and also provide some great advertising for local businesses. Our Fall Fashion show gave the Boulder community a wonderful way to experience our newest line while also getting to know the staff and the friendly environment of the store.
~Alisa Lambert
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BD and prAna ambassador Paul Robinson ventured down to South Africa again this past summer, but this time – rather than revisit Rocklands – decided to devote his energies into developing new problems near Cape Town. Here’s the video he made of some of the sweetest FA’s from the trip…
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The weather in Switzerland right now is terrible, so between some other things, Mary and I started to clean up our flat. Incredible how many things we accumulated during the years! There were some nice surprises, like some great pictures and memories of friends and places from the last twenty years and I was amazed about how many things in life and in climbing we have been lucky to do!
Speaking of climbing: Just looking back at the first half of this year, there is one achievement that stands out for me:
LE BOA: It was one of those longterm projects, which you never know if it will go for sure. I started trying it two years ago. It was just after completing “L`Isola che no c`é”. I enjoy having this kind of projects where you can go back over and over again, and slowly, try after try, you start to visualize the complete picture of it.
It is a sit down start on a big snake like looking structure, which also gives the name to the problem. Some powerful moves on pockets underclings that bring you to a tricky traverse with more pockets and a finish with long moves into a big flake. It ends in another problem called “Mosaik”, rated V11 or 8a. The first four moves are by far the hardest, but the last ten are quite delicate and bring a great dimension to the line. You can see the start of it at the end of the movie by Bernardo Gimenez HERE
For me it was difficult to find the good conditions to do this problem, when I was able do the moves it was to cold or to wet to complete and the dryest season was usualy to warm to even try the moves.
Conditions last March were ideal, dry and mild for the season, even windy with a bit of sun. It was a perfect early spring day. And most important, I was feeling kind of fit. A few days before, I did my best try in the problem falling at the very end, and the close departure for India was one more factor to make me climb more accurate. It was my lucky day and I could finally feel what it was like to chain so many hards and delicates moves.
Most of the time I don’t grade my boulders anymore, but people are still curious what they could be. On this one my feeling lies around 8c boulder, as it felt as the hardest boulder I ever did on pockets. For sure the hardest thing since “L’isola che non c’é” and reckoning the time spent on it anyway an important line for me.
~Fred Nicole, prAna Ambassador
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