Monkey Life

mountain beaver segments

2012-02-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

Brad Perry got some video segments out from our favorite area of the 2011 Summer. The Mountain Beavers was found by Jarrad Wycoff last Spring. After a lot of hard work by Jarrad, Brad Perry and myself, the area turned out to be quite the South shore spot for people who didn't mind a little hiking. We estimated that a total of 70 problems were established that summer. Here are Brad's videos of some of the gems that got done.

Hueco Tanks

2012-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

It's nice to be back at Hueco Tanks. This place is special indeed. It has many cons such as waiting in line, limited access, highly restricted bouldering; the one pro is that the bouldering here is unbelieveable. The area lends itself to steep, powerfull climbing. It is the perfect recipe for hard boulder problems. I've spent my first 7 days here climbing as much as I can trying to get into Hueco shape. After only a week I feel like I am getting back into the flow. Yesterday, however, I kinda started to get sick. Recently progress came to a hault as I am trying to get over this cold. I have my fingers crossed for a quick recovery but time will tell.
     As in the past year or two I wish I could fill this blog with news of super hard sends, but I'm still actually waiting to get back on the wave. I guess that's how it goes. The climbing I have been doing is fun as hell though. Most of the climbs I've done have been repeats of things that I did in years past. There have been a couple of exceptions. There is a 50 foot long overhanging traverse here called Mop Boys. I spent my first couple of days epicing on this really long problem that has about 5 tricky crux sequences. I went from having it in 10 parts to chucking laps on it for endurance. This problem is given 3 stars in Matt Wilder's Hueco guidebook. Despite many naysayers who complain about it being low, dabby and stupid, I will have to agree with the three stars. Not everything has to be deadly tall and reachy to get stars. Some things are cool based just on the challenge. I love long rock climbs and this one was bad ass. I had never done this line before and it was bad ass.
     There was another line I did the other day called Shower Cap. In previous years, I always had an epic on this one and thought that maybe it was a bit to reachy for someone 5 ft tall. It is a roof with an opening move that is full extention from an undercling with no footholds, none that I could reach anyway. I watched my buddy Matt Arnold do it rather easily using his long arms and legs. Matt assured me that I could send using his beta. Well, he was right and wrong but mostly right. I had to improvise a little for the first bit by having both hands and feet in the same zone. This seemingly silly-looking tactic payed off and I stuck the big move. Even though I hadn't been able to do a single move on the problem after an hour of work, somehow after sticking the first part I screamed my way through about 7 more moves that I hadn't done. Sometimes when you get lucky, you stay lucky I suppose.
      On a bit of a different note, I have to give a little info about a new Metolius pad I've been using called the Recon. This pad is my new favorite from Metolius. My favorite feature is the size. It is a little bit smaller than it's bigger brother the Colossus. When this pad is folded on the back it is very narrow at 22 inches wide, which is really usefull in Hueco where you have to constantly squeeze between tight corridors. I am also a big fan of how quickly it packs and unpacks. It only has one buckle that holds the tri fold together. My saddle bag of bouldering gears easily wraps around the outside. By doing this I avoid stuffing all my gear inside the pad, thus increasing the life of the foam. I've noticed that I'm always the first one to have my stuff packed up or unpacked. This saves more time for climbing, if only about 15 seconds per stop. Basically it is one of the most unique and efficient designs I've seen in a crash pad. At a price of $249 it is not the cheapest but it is not the most expensive either. Seems like a fair deal to me. Props to Metolius for thinking outside the box and finding new ways to make crash pads better.

I have 2 months left here in the Tanks. This should give me ample time to work out some of the classic hard lines that I've always wanted to do. In the meantime, I hope all the folks out in Tahoe continue to get their boulder on. Sounds like I picked the wrong season for a winter trip. But I will have plenty of time there soon enough.

Southern Stone is Here!!

2011-12-27T20:53:00.000-08:00

Rockwarrior Films has just uploaded the Southern Stone video. This video features many of the best lines in the Southeast. The footage is energetic and exciting to watch. Anyone who wants to see a sample of the country's best sandstone should check it out. I got to help do some filming and climbing in this video. Ian, the brain behind RockWarrior Films, is a good friend of mine. Ian works hard traveling around and getting good footage so that he can edit climbing videos. The videos are entertaining and will get you psyched. You can help support Rockwarrior Films by going to this website www.rockwarriorfilms.com and purchasing this video for $10 via internet download. So when you're sitting around on the couch, scratching your ass on a rainy day, GET MOTIVATED ! Check out some serious action packed sending.

Southeast recap

2011-12-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

Well my stint in the South is over. As expected I had a great time. As with most trips I met a lot of cool people and new friends. There was lots of beer, great food, and country living in the house in Mentone. Props to my parents for hooking us up with a place to stay. It was easy on this trip to remember that bouldering is all about staying psyched and enjoying yourself with good friends. As a roof climber my favorite place was Dayton, Tenn. That roof was sick. I left a problem behind too. The Crazy Craver v11 was in the bag...or so I thought. My last day on it was day 3 and the conditions were perfect. Every try got me closer and closer to the finish line. In the end I fell at the move to the jug 3 times that day and had to walk away empty handed. I was really excited about finishing this line but sometimes that's the way it goes. I took the failure pretty hard but in the end I had to say fuck it. It is what it is. I will return one day and send.
In case anyone was curious, here's my southeast ticklist:

The Snail v6

Little Rock City, TN             Castaway v7
                                 Tennessee Thong v7(flash)
                                 The Pinch v7
                                 Robbin the Toothfairy v9 (2nd try)
                                 The Wave v6

HP40, AL                         Short Long v7/8
                                 Five -0 v9
                                 Soopa Coola v6

Rocktown, GA                     Tractor Trailer v9
                                 The Dao v7

Zahnd, GA                        Prey Lika Mantis v10
                                 Harvest Moon v8

Citadel, AL                      Breadloaf Factory v10
                                 Ninja Camp v9
                                 The Snail v6
                                 Earl the Squirrel v6

Little River, AL                 The Engagement v7(flash)
                                 Diego Problem v8 (flash)
                                 Diego Problem left v8

Dayton, TN                       The Honeycomb v10
                                 River Dance v9 ( 3rd go)

Matt Arnold working a hard project in Mentone

Maybe not my best performance but whatev's . Currently I'm in Baton Rouge, LA hanging with my parents. Tomorrow we head to Austin, Texas to hang out with my brother, Glen, for the holidays. I may check out some of the Austin climbing areas if it works out but will most definately check out the Austin Rock Gym which is supposed to be the bomb. By January 5th I plan to land in Hueco Tanks. I'm excited about revisiting this area as it is one of my favorite bouldering spots in the country. This will be a great place to hang with the homies and climb. Can't wait.

Southeast first half

2011-12-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

Isaac on the Shield v12, Little Rock City

the fridge stocked with the bare essentials

Ian Cotter Brown on the Golden Harvest v10

Haley Waldrop quickly sends the Big Poppa v8

I've been on the road now for about 6 weeks. So far it has been as expected, awesome. The crew and I have been climbing at lots of great areas. We've gone to Little Rock City, Desoto State Park, Rocktown, Zahnd, Horse Pens 40 and the Citadel. There's only about 15 days left here for me, which is not nearly enough time. In the Southeast half of your trip can likely be taken out by rainy weather and poor conditions. In the 20 days I've been here I've had 8 climbing days. Maybe 4 with good conditions. These kind of odds make sending hard boulders really difficult. I wish I had tales of how I'm crushin' this and sending that. But I've really just been doing whatever I can. Perhaps I'm out of shape since it's the beginning of the trip, or maybe the grades here are more solid. I don't know. When you're used to climbing hard you feel a bit deflated when you've traveled so far to do your best only to find that you're bumbling around on moderates. Five years ago I would have been a mopey bitch about this. Now, I have a little less expectations for performance and more expectation for fun. So that has been the theme..fun. And there's lots of fun to be had out here in the south. As usual I wish that I had more time here so maybe I could do a hard boulder or two. But since I don't, good times will do.
      My friends and I have been mostly staying in Mentone, Alabama. This town holds the southern most ski area in the states. The Cloudmont Ski Resort in Alabama has one chairlift that gives skiers access to a single ski run that is 150 ft long...holy shit. Get Jeremy Jones down here now! I know ...not very impressive. But it's still cool to be staying in an Alabama ski town. This place has a great central location to all the best boulderfields in the south. We have even found great potential right in town that hopefully we'll have time to get to.
    I have been climbing with lots of great people on the trip too. We are hanging with Isaac who demonstrates every hard boulder he tries quickly and with style. We also got an opportunity to meet an Evolv athlete named Ronnie from Florida. Ronnie has a prosthetic leg. But that didn't stop him from crushing the Zahnd classic Harvest Moon v8. That was inspiring to see. We've also been climbing with Haley Waldrop. Despite being short she still crushes all the power lines in the south. It's always fun for me to climb with another short person that , ya know, feels my pain. The list of great people and good climbers goes on and on around here. I'm super psyched that I've got to hang out with all these people.
    On the video front I've been helping Ian Cotter-Brown of Rockwarrior Films get footage for his next video featuring the Southeast. There's been lots of sending going on an the video is piling up. I've been watching the editing process and the film is coming together really well so far. Keep your eye out for this one if you want to see some Southern classics.
     After all this planning I'm halfway through the Southeast part of my roadtrip. I have high hopes for better weather and more great times for the second half. As of the 20th I leave for New Orleans, Louisiana to visit my parents and go partying with old high school buds. From there I head down to Austin, Texas to chill with my brother. Eventually I'll land at the next big destination in Hueco Tanks, Texas. I am very excited for Hueco. I used to go there a lot but have not been in 5 or 6 years. It will be fun going back to all my old projects. Maybe they'll still kick my ass...but maybe not. In the meantime, the weather today is shit in the south. Heavy rain is forcasted for the next 2 days. Just in time for a much needed rest day. My psyche is being renewed as we speak.

2011-11-11T07:14:00.000-08:00

boulders in Kansas City! yeah right. photo: Frank Lucido

I left for the road two weeks ago. I've been taking my time so much that I'm actually still about a 15 hour drive from my first destination. It feels relaxing to just go with the flow of the trip for a bit. My first stop was Hartley Springs in June Lake. I got out of the car for about 2 hours of climbing. It was just enough time to warm up and bust out some speed sending. From there I trickled through the Happy Boulders, then went to sleep in Moe's Valley, Utah. Then, thankfully, I got talked into a mini detour to Joe's Valley. I was psyched because I hadn't been there in about 3 years. While there I hung out with some cool people. They totally converted me into a butterfinger donut addict. Thanks Food Ranch. I got to see many boulders that I hadn't seen before. I managed to do 5 v9s and a v11 but the send of the trip was definately a problem called Wills of Fire v6. I had to dig pretty deep to send that one. There is a scary move in which you have to jump to an incut gaston at the lip from a fingerlock. I hate fingerlocks. It looks like most people can just stand up static to the move at the lip. As you guessed, I can not and must jump into a barndoor swing to stick that move. It was awesome though. Probably one of the coolest walls ever.
After that, I swung over to Carbondale, Colorado to hang out with some more cool friends. It ended up snowing just about everyday I was there. That didn't stop us from partying it up every night and taking a trip to the White House pizza joint. If in the area I recommend this pizza. A break in the weather opened an invitation for a bit more driving, so I tested the limits of my bordem tolerance and went through the state of Kansas. I must say that the police in Kansas are very suspicious of any cars that have California plates. After the gauntlet, I ended up at the next leg which is where I am now; which is Kansas City, Missouri. I've been hanging out with Frank Lucido getting the KC tour. This has included sampling some really good mid western food. One of the places we went was the famous KC BBQ place called Rosedales. All I can say is Holy Shit! It is cheap, fast, and really damn tasty. I was impressed. If I lived here I'd go everyday. Also, believe it or not, there is some bouldering right in Kansas City. We've been messing around the areas of Swope Park. The rock is limestone that seems to vary in quality. Some is bullet, some is dried mud. None the less, we've been psyched to do some climbing. From here, I think Arkansas' Horseshoe Canyon Ranch could be the next stop. I all depends on the weather. We shall see.

Tahoe Classics vid

2011-10-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

Before I peace out I had to share this teaser from Alton Richardson. This is another video to keep your eye out for.

On the Road Again

2011-10-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

I leave tomorrow for the road after being a working man for a while. I'm psyched to be back to full time rock climbing. I spent my last 10 days here really busy trying to get the last bit of bouldering in here at home. Between that, packing and planning it's not yet started to feel like vacation. I'm headed through the country in my truck and stopping along the way to see old friends. My first stop is the southeast. I'm psyched to do some bouldering at Horse Pens 40. It is the place where I learned to boulder when I was 18. I just remember being a gumby beginner and going there in the dead of summer to flail on slopers at 95 degrees. Even now I think its cool because back then I could care less about getting good temps. I couldn't stop myself from going on a 12 hour round trip in the car to pull off the ground on some of the coolest sandstone ever. It will be neat to go there again after many years and see if I've acquired any new skills from my time here in California. We'll see.
I also hope to check out Dayton since I love long roof climbing. That one looks really cool. All the boulders in the Chattanooga area look really awesome as well. I plan to be there from November through January. From there Arkansas and then Hueco Tanks for a while. Hueco is another area that I've been ready to revisit. I spent time there during 4 seasons in a row but haven't been back for about 6 years now. Hopefully it will feel as fun as it used to parking outside the gate for 6 hours because I'm too lazy to get reservations. From there...well I figure I'll see where the trip takes me. I definately have South Africa in mind for next summer. Time will tell.
I'll spend the last day packing, organizing and saying good bye to my peeps. I want to recaps some things that went down but I don't have time to type it all gracefully. So the short version CLIF notes of what went down in the past two weeks is as follows:
No more work. Photos. Video. Phone calls. Texts. Seishuku Samarai v10 ! yee haw. Sushi after climbing. Return of Frank Lucido. Packing. Cleaning. More photos. Mountain Beaver 4 day backpack trip. Awesome dinners. First ascents. New Boulders. More First Ascents. Motta Tiempo v6 (half lowball, half scary). Hiking pads. Hiking more pads. Dry firing off the top of river project. Sweaty tips. Packing. D Sky. More photos. More packing. Procrastinating. Road trip jitters. Packing. Emailing. Blogging....

A new project goes down

2011-10-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

The crew and I have been doing a lot of work here in Tahoe. The new boulders being found are producing many must do classics. You have to be willing to hike far and steep to get to them but they are very worthy. Most of the problems have been working out to be v5. All of them are turning out to be really quality.
This weekend was a last hurahh for me as I start a new job this week. I went to the upper area at the Mountain Beavers to try my hand at my latest long term epic. The problem sit starts under a steep prow. There are no easy moves on it. Right away you launch into powerfull compression climbing. You just keep slapping fat glassy slopers with the right, while opposing on small crimpy sidepulls with the left. After negociating the steep prow you get to a top out crux that forces you to move right over a peculiar landing. The finishing moves are powerfull and insecure and lead to a technical top out. I spent 9 days figuring this beast out. On day 9 I managed to finally scream my way up this new climb. I called it Dark Passenger. This new climb was quickly repeated by Eric Sanchez. It was impressive to watch Eric make this problem look very easy. It took him about an hour total to send. Eric and I had a discussion on the possible grade of this thing. As usual, there is no right answer to this question, only a best guess. We decided that this thing is probably v11/12, so we went with v11. Either way, it is a very worthy endeaver and is possibly the hardest line at the area so far.
The next day I headed to the middle zone to try Jarrad Wycoff's mega line Integrity Low. I thought that I'd never see the day when I could do a problem that was as reachy as this one. It was one of those dry windy days though and shit worked out. I managed to do this thing, which I believe is the 4th ascent. I am a big fan of compression climbing. This climb is one of the best in its style that I've ever done. It is beautiful, proud, and very hard. For me, this problem was probably solid v11/12, but I am short and am at a major disadvantage on the giant spans, so I feel v10 is a good rounded out grade for this climb. That being said, it is one of the best boulder problems in South Lake Tahoe. After that I went down to the river roof and finished the left side project next to Primitive Fire. We named it Refried Rasberry v8. A very cool roof that I recommend trying when it's colder.
On the video front, I've been working with Brad Perry to help get the new Mountain Beavers movie out. We've been going out getting lots of footage of the classic there. The video will basically be an entertaining take on the full experience of developing this new area. The filming pretty much started at day one back in early May and has continued through the booming of this new zone. Brad has been doing a great job on the editing of this video. I've included his teaser of the video so you can check it out.

Tuolumne Meadows trip

2011-09-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a week long trip to Tuolumne Meadows. While I was there I visited and climbed with my friend Matt Arnold. Matt has been doing lots of bouldering developement in the Yosemite, Tuolumne, and Bishop areas over the past years. I hung out with Matt at the High Sierra camp that he works at. I got to meet many cool people and eat lots of great food. One of the main boulders there is called the Battletanks. There was an awesome roof on great rock that I became obsessed with. I climbed there 6 days in a row. While there I repeated a few of Matt's problems including Big Guns v9, Belly of the Beast v11, and Heavy Artilery v9. I also established two new lines out the roof, the Hand Grenade v8 and The Art of War v12. The Art of War starts at Heavy Artilery and climbs out that line past the crux, but then takes a rightward path which doubles the size of the roof climb. From there a few easy but pumpy moves lead to a 2nd crux to match on a slopey gaston/undercling. After fighting to stay in control for a while to establish on this undercling you find yourself at the start of another v9 problem called Big Guns. It then finishes out the climb with compression moves. This link up is one of my favorite long roof climbs. I felt lucky to actually get this one before I had to return home. In between I got to go look around at a few other areas in Tuolumne that also looked really awesome. That place has a lot of great bouldering potential. I look forward to revisiting one day.
On another note, I hope all are psyched for Meyers Climbing Festival this Saturday September 17. Registration starts at 9am at the parking lot by Divided Sky. Check the website for the comp at http://www.tahoebouldering.com/. The festival should be really fun. If anyone's wondering, I will not be competing. Most of the areas are my backyard zones. Some of the hard problems are really familiar to me and I felt it would be better if I helped instead. I'll be millin' around at the comp with Brad Perry and company. I'll be taking pictures, heckling people, and drinking heavily. This is the first comp/festival for climbers in Meyers/south lake tahoe area. It would be rad to see lots of people participate so as to make this a yearly event.
In this entry I've included a couple of short videos from the trip. I would have made them a bit more fancy, but I have a cheap computer at the moment and this is all that it could muster at one time.

Belly of the Beast from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

The Art of War from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

The Far Country

2011-08-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

I've been doing lots of climbing lately.There's too much to blog about all of it. But since I have some time.... This weekend I went to visit an area established by Frank Lucido and Jarrad Wycoff called The Far Country. From what I can tell it's called that because even though it looks close on a map it seems to take a while to get there. This area is an impressive looking talus field that could hold a lot of hidden potential. I went there to try a Steve Francis line I've heard about for years now called Over the Hills and Far Away. It was every bit as cool as I'd heard. It is a steep line on great rock with rad holds...a typical classic. It was great to go out there with my friends and just explore and boulder. In addition we put up a few lines that were in a sort of underworld below the talus. Jarrad put up a cool problem that reminded me of bouldering at the sads in Bishop. Even in the hottest part of the day this place offered underground shade with a cool steady breeze blowing through the whole time. Very decent for summer weather.
Another upside was that I was psyched that my car did not get stuck when I drove downhill on a gnarly rutted out part of the road. However, when Sunday came the S 10 cruised out without a hitch. It is the weekday now, and I'm back at work. Soon work will end again for me and I'll be fully dedicated to climbing again. Until that day comes I have to stay motivated. Speaking of motivated, here is video from my trip to the Far Country that will hopefully get you psyched when you're feeling lazy.

PCI video

2011-08-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a video about the PCI. This new organization is going to make professional climbing possible. At the same time it will help benefit sponsors and climbing companies and give back to the climbing community.

2011-08-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick video of Jarrad Wycoff and Brad Perry getting some laps in on some great South Lake Tahoe moderates. I'm off to Toulumne Meadows to hook up with Matt Arnold and see some awesome stuff he's been doing in the park.

Summertime

2011-07-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

Swiss Chocolate v5, photo Jason Hogan

Smoothe Boy Slim v9, photo Brad Perry

my new home

                                                        chillin' by the fire

August is here once again. The temps have been warm and the mosquitoes have been plentiful. As usual there have been massive developements all over Tahoe. Sugar Pine continues to keep producing dope line, North Shore has turned up a great area near Boreal that is supposed to be really good too. I have been stuck in massive work mode. Typical full time work can be draining on the motivation and the body. Thus, I've not had too many opportunities for travel lately. It's all a sacrafice for my next road trip in November. I plan to tour the U.s. for 5 months and then head back to South Africa.
    In the meantime I've been trying to stay in shape during the week with quick training sessions after work. In one of these sessions at the Toltek boulder I did the 3 classics and then sent the Golden Eagle project. Then almost did the Flying Silver project( climbing Flyan Mayan into Silver Bullet). I've also been doing some lines at Jarrad's area. We've been getting lots of footage of the new problems. I'm working on a video edit that showcases the classic FA's done at this place. Being that I don't have much time to venture too far from my house, this area has become my new favorite. Special thanks goes to Jarrad for wondering in the middle of nowhere and finding some new stuff. In the meantime, I've finished a short edit of Jarrad Wycoff and Brad Perry doing some random mega classics at different South Lake Tahoe areas. The video will be uploaded soon.
    Despite the long hours of work I've been putting in, it is awesome that I still get to climb when I can. Staying fit is all about staying psyched. I'm staying psyched!

a few pics

2011-07-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

Mike Njoten on Sacred Heart

David O getting freaky

4 th of July @ Stateline

The Tahoe Fireworks Show

Is the Rain finally Over?

2011-06-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here in Tahoe it has been cold but a bit rainy for the last 3 weeks. I've been spending most of my time training indoors, going on adventurous hikes in the rain, and working my ass of to earn my finances for the next roadtrip. For me personally it has been a pretty uneventful month. However, others have been going out and making it happen despite the rain. I have heard of new bouldering developments at zones such as Doyle, South Bliss, and the Ronin. Bliss especially has been seeing lots of attention this month from the Gardnerville/West Shore climbers. I have not yet been but I've heard good things. From what I hear these new zones are definitely worth checking out.
I'm spending most of my time training at the High Altitude Fitness center. Frequent visits to this place do great things for your bouldering power and endurance. So, due to the amount of heavy rain, I'm using this as an opportunity to prepare for my season climbing goals. High on the list is the direct sit start project into Smooth Boy Slim at Burnside; the full Freak Show link up at the Freaks;and Charlie Barret's stellar roof The End of the Road at Hartley Springs; More currently,I sent Noah Kaufman's awesome gymnastic classic Avoid the Wart at the Beavers. This is an amazing line. A first mellow move to a decent sidepull leads to a big jump move/deadpoint to a sloper that has to be stuck with the serious accuracy and commitment. This line is especially hard if you're short like me. I welcomed my disadvantage on this line as sticking the move felt equivalent to moving an object with my mind. I was very stoked. In addition, I recently repeated my lines Welcome to the Future and Freak Show. Repeating these lines felt like doing them the first time. I am stoked to stay in shape to try my three main projects near the fall when the weather becomes prime. I'm sure I'll get a bit distracted by the great new stuff that is sure to turn up this year as well.
I have been continuing to get footage around here. I'm planning to do a longer video part by the end of the summer here documenting the new developments in South Lake Tahoe this season. I'm sure the great classics are going to reveal themselves pretty soon. I will most likely do a few short segments throughout the season and eventually put out the longer video some time in fall.
For those of you interested in some current local news, here are some bullet points worth mentioning for early season.

* David Outcalt sent Secret Weapon at the Ronin after putting in an estimated 10+ days of effort. Great job to David on his vast progression this year.

* Dave Hatchett and Noah Kaufman are hard at work on a comprehensive Tahoe bouldering guide. The guide will feature tahoe's best, previously undocumented areas such as Barb Wire, Hate Handles, Sugar Pine, South Bliss, The Ronin, Erratica, Camoflage Forest, Lake Audraine, The Beavers, Prison Hill , Job's Peak and probably many many more.

* A Meyer's Climber Festival/ bouldering comp may be in the works for Sept.

Yes sir, another exciting year for Tahoe bouldering. Now that the rain appears to have taken a break, maybe I can actually start to work my way back into the rocks. I think I'll start tomorrow.

It has begun

2011-05-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

In between training and working 40 hrs a week, I managed to get out and do a little filming with some friends. Luckily I was able to capture some really cool sends on video. For those of you wondering, the season in Tahoe is on. We've broken in most of the early season area and this weekend we are headed to the higher country. Kirkwood saw a lot of snow this season. On Saturday we are headed up to Erratica to find out just how much. Tarps, snowshoes, shovels, crash pads, and hot drinks will be in our arsenal for this bouldering weekend. I am excited as usual. I have some new projects that are high on the list for this season and I can't wait to try them. But anyways the season is ON!!! So get psyched. And if you're not perhaps this will get you on your feet.

Video by Jason Hogan

2011-04-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

My friend Jason Hogan posted this rad video of me climbing in Tahoe. The footage is from last winter and has some problems from Erratica and Pie Shop Area. It is a really great edit with good problems. Enjoy.

Bishop: Great Times

2011-04-03T10:39:00.001-07:00

Bishop!!!! Despite the fact that the conditions here are all over the board, I've been extremely focused on having a blast. This trip the partying seems to be just as enjoyable as the climbing. I've been going to a lot of different areas. Zack and I even went alpine style on the hottest day. We climbed and shoveled out the Hartley Springs area. I was really impressed with the climbing here. It was fully quality over quantity. The problems were really fun and not very sharp. I'm looking forward to going here a few more times. I am really excited to try Charlie Barrett's line called The End of the Road. This climb is exactly the perfect problems I look for. I have yet to try it but it has already sucked me in. I can't wait. Other than that, I've been doing lots of moderates and trying lots of things that don't fit me very well. I did do a cool 2nd ascent of another brilliant Matt Arnold problem in the Tablelands. A hard roof called Glass Slipper v10. I had to fight for this one. My beta is kind of wacked because of my lack of reach but it was fun anyways. Great rock and steep. Other than climbing, I've been really excited about filming and taking pictures. I got footage of Thomasina Pidgeon doing the FFA of Beautiful Gecko v12 which was awesome to witness. When I return to the civilized world I'll probably do an edit of this. One interesting rest day, we awoke to find that it was cold, raining hard, and very windy. We were hudled under a small overhang trying to stay warm and dry. Then Matt found this crazy cave above our site that had a dwelling like set up for a fire. We then turned misery into bliss. The cave was a warm, dry sanctuary on one of the worst days for camping I've seen. We spent seven hours warm, listening to music, and getting completely blitzed. It was perhaps the coolest rest day I've ever had in Bishop. The experience of being out here and constantly hanging out with cool people is unforgettable. I'm really going to enjoy these last two weeks here on the road. Then I'll return home for some work. It will be nice to spend a full season in Tahoe once again. The rock climbing never stops there. And, I'm sure this year will be no different. Thomasina on Beautiful Gecko v12

Shadow on the FA of THX 1138 v7

Nick and Matt staying warm in our "dwelling"

2011-03-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Buttermilks 10:30 pm
Eduardo and Charlie on Ironman Traverse

I've been here in Bishop climbing for about a week now. I've done some really good new things here in the Tableland. In some of the lesser known areas mega developement is being done. I've been climbing a lot of these new things and they are awesome. I did the 2nd ascents of James Thick Pie v11 and Subzero v11. James Thick Pie came easier because of my height but the other one was quite a feat. Relentless upside down climbing from one crux to another. I feels good to start getting back in shape a little. It is so fun to be here again for a while to climb in these cool areas with all of my friends. There are a lot of problems that I still want to try here. My trip here continues for 3 weeks. I plan on trying a lot of problems. It would be nice to do them all. But we'll see.

2011-02-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

I just got back from my trip to Moe's Valley, Utah. Once again, it was nice to travel somewhere and meet new people. The area is really cool. The rock can be a bit sandy but the climbing style is ultimately fun. In the past 40 days I've had a lot of great times with my friends. There were definately lots of laughs. Despite having decent conditions and ample rest days, I did not send anything really hard. It's all good though. I feel my experience kick in on shut-downs like this. Sometimes that's the way it goes. Failure can often times give me the extra motivation I need to train harder. After trying a project for multiple days I developed a slight tweak in my finger. Definately not a bad injury but just enough to warrant a week or so of rest and cross training. I am back in Tahoe for some snowboarding, some working, and recovery. After that I plan to take some more time to go back to Bishop and possibly a return to Utah to give my project another go. Here's my ticklist from my trip:
Bishop
March of the Pigs v11 (2nd ascent)
Nine Inch Nails v9 (FA)
Snakebite v6
Solaris v8
Space Queen v6

Moe's Valley
The Fin v7
Unnamed v8 ( really good line around from linder's roof)
Unknown v8/9 (faces device ignitor)
The Beast v8
Gription v9
Bazooka Tooth v10
Show of Hands v11
Linder's Roof v9 (repeat)

Here's a video by Ian Cotter-Brown which has some of our Moe's Valley trip

2010-12-31T04:57:00.000-08:00

sunset in Hadan area of Busan
training at Hadan wall

Got back from Korea on Tuesday. Can't seem to get my sleep schedule back on track. I'm all over the place. My trip turned out to be really fun and productive. I met a lot of great new friends which is my favorite part of traveling abroad. The crew in Korea is very psyched and truly a pleasure to climb with. The video First Ascents in Korea got a good reaction when played at the Reel Rock Tour event in Seoul. Local Koreans were excited by the development being done in the Busan area.
Before I left I got to help develop some brand new boulders in the Hadan Area. Thanks to Aaron Hefty and Robin Kimmerling for opening the door for me. This area was a short walk from Brenna and Christoph's houses. The rock quality was amazing and it seemed like that mountain could hold more potential. I managed to put up a few good first ascents there which include The Hadan Shuffle v2, Thorn Killer v5, Thorn Killer Traverse v7?, Fruit of the Vine v3, and Vine and Dine v3. These problems were all awesome additions to Busan. I left behind a few open projects for the locals to send. One around the corner from Thorn Killer is on the highball boulder and goes up a tall face via hard moves on sharp crimps; wouldn't be surprised if it's about v7. The other is my obvious dyno project on the Vine boulder uphill near the crag. Last I saw Matt Palmer was getting very close to sending.
I feel like all in all, I did not really touch the surface of the amount of bouldering that could be in Korea. I have a feeling that Seoul may have more developed areas that are bigger. Busan, however, is the new place with lots of potential to be discovered. The area I was most impressed with was Yangsan. Yangsan has perfect rock in an amazing asianesque setting. With Hangul characters etched into the boulders, temples on the approach, this was definitely my favorite. My favorite line there was Listo el Pollo v9. I got the second ascent after Christoph Lindenberger. The line was very unique movement, uncontrived, and on perfect river stone.
Truthfully most of my time in Korea was spent training on plastic. Something I've fallen behind in the past few years. It was nice to make an effort to get better and to feel the ability to pull through holds using pure power. The gyms I went to were just what I needed for good training. I found it hard to keep up with local talent, but they are kind of machine like in their abilities to just crush plastic climbing rather quickly. I was inspired by their raw power. Thanks a lot to Young Wha Kim of Family center for helping me train on a bunch of climbs I could never do. And thanks to the other Mr. Kim of Hadan Industrial Wall for letting me train at his facility.
Now I am back in the Sierras trying to get my bearings for the next 6 months. I am leaving for Bishop tomorrow for New Years and plan on hanging down there for a bit before going on to Moe's Valley, UT and going to check out all the awesome bouldering around Las Vegas. If things work out I may go a bit further than that. So many problems that I want to do this winter. I am very excited to see if all of my hard work training will pay off. In the least I am going to have a great time. I hope everyone has a great New Year's.

South Korea First Ascents

2010-12-05T22:49:00.000-08:00

First Ascents in South Korea from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Here's the first video of South Korea bouldering. The other day I went with the group to the Nabi Bawi area of Busan and saw the famous Kim Lee Project. Supposedly Kim Lee only tried this one day but several others have put in quite a bit of effort from what I hear. I have to say that this thing looked impossible upon first glance. But after figuring out all the tricks it was surprisingly doable. I did the first ascent and named it, after Matt's suggestion, Sandpaper Handjob. I do not know what the grade of this would be. It, like every problem in the world, will feel different for everyone. My best guess is v9 or maybe 10. But who gives a shit. It's a great line with high friction on bad ass slopers, finishing with a tough mantle. Taller people may find this mantle a bit bunchy but there is another method to topping it out after working through the power crux. Props to Kim Lee for envisioning this thing. And thanks so much to the Busan crew for showing it to me. I hope everyone enjoys the video and that it gives a good visual on what the bouldering in Korea is like.

South Korea

2010-11-28T20:43:00.000-08:00

working the FA of War of the Worlds v11, photo: Andy McKilliam

I've been here in Busan, South Korea for a little over a week now. It has been a real change from the lifestyle that I'm use to. I've been staying with Brenna in the red light district of this city. I have to say that personally this is the biggest city I've ever seen. Although supposedly it is not really that big with only 3.8 million people. It's been really nice hanging out with Brenna again and meeting all of her friends here. They are really cool people and fun to hang out with. I love seeing new cultures and trying new foods. Here the food is very interesting to say the least. They love their kim chi here. They put it on the table with every meal, they put it on pizza and even burgers. Generally I'd say that I'm enjoying the Korean food.
What's more interesting is the fact that 4 days after I got here this country became on the brink of rekindling a war that never officially ended with its neighbor, North Korea. It feels a bit on edge here now as the shit could hit the fan any moment. I'm not worried yet but I hope I don't start seeing explosions in the near future. Hopefully these two can work it out and keep the peace.
I've spent most of my time here training. There are a lot of indoor gyms around here that are really fun training spots. I've been to a few of the better ones and plan on regularly training indoors as much as I can. The Koreans are strong indoors and it will surely be a challenge for me to try and keep up with them. As for the climbing outdoors I have only been to two areas. The Cable Car area is right in town close to the university. This area is ok but does have a real Busan classic called A Language Older Than Words v5 which is an excellent sloper problem on granite with a ton of friction. This area however pales in comparison to the new hotspot the locals have been kind enough to share with me. Yangsan, about an hours drive away, is a park with many temples with a beautiful setting. The rock has no friction and is almost bullet proof. The bouldering is set in a riverbed with pools of moving water surrounded by awesome stone. It is a new area with a lot of potential. I've repeated some area testpieces such as Solid Snake v4, Starkissed v5, and the One Legged Frog v9. This weekend I was lucky to get the first ascent of what might be Busan's hardest line to date. I did a roof link up that climbs a v9, does two hard transition moves, and finishes on a fuckerish v8 with a really sharp crimp at the end. In honor of the turmoil in the country I named the new line War of the Worlds and think it's about v11. The line took me three days to do and I had to dig really deep for the send. There are many more lines that can go in this area, all with excellent quality rock. I am very thankful to the locals for showing me around. Next they are taking me to Nabi Bawi to see Busan's most famous undone line dubbed The Kim Lee Project. This line is supposedly a serverly overhanging compression problem with a tough top out. I can't wait to check it out and see how it goes. Until then I intend to keep training as hard as I can in preparation for a possible winter road trip that will start in Bishop. I have been taking video of Yangsan but need more footage before I have a full movie post. Here are some pictures for a visual.
Hadan Area, city of Busan

The "Amazing Burger" at Breeze Burns
Local powerhouse Christoph on the Spider Project, Yangsan

Off to Asia

2010-11-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

I'm on my way to visit Brenna and hang out in Busan, South Korea. I've heard about a lot of great bouldering here and I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself. I also plan on checking out some climbing gyms and doing a bit of training before the winter season. On my last weekend in Tahoe I took my friend Alex Savage out climbing while he was in route to Yosemite. We did a warm up day at the Ronin Boulder where we repeated some of the awesome lines there. I did the first ascent of the sit start to Hidden Dragon v7. It basically climbs Secret Weapon but finishes sooner with a equally desperate exit. I called it Double Dragon and is maybe v11. Another great addition to this area. The next day Alex won the prize when I took him to Noah's rad Tahoe classic Ground Control v11. Alex did the second ascent in about 6 tries. It was really awesome to watch it get done in person. Check out the video to watch Alex do this rad climb.

Ground Control V11 from Savage Climbing on Vimeo.

More Activity

2010-11-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

Fall is my favorite time of year. Colors everywhere and crisp air. All these things set a perfect arena for great bouldering.The Ground Control area has been getting a lot of local attention these past few weeks. Other problems are being found up the hill that are turning out to be pretty damn cool. The lower problems are settling in with consensus grades and getting a lot cleaner from all the traffic. Still no repeats on Ground Control yet. A few of us are close but it's kind of a mofo. Everyone gets only so many tries on the crux deadpoint before the crimp slices your finger. Up the hill from Ground Control we put up three new lines with a bunch more in the area. This awesome orange patina face overhangs a downhill gully of kitty litter and provides good shade and killer holds. This problem is super good! The three new lines are Gullible v2 *** Fa Dan Draeger, Choose Your Adventure v2 ** FA Adam Young, and Short Stack v4* FA Dan Draeger. Pretty bad ass. I managed to do the low sit start to Gullible which has two really hard moves. Getting off the ground and deadpointing a small crimp from a finicky heel hook seems to be the crux. Next is either a throw or a hand/foot match lock off to a good hold that puts you into the v2. For grade probably somewhere around v10/v11. We have come up with a name for this new spot with Ground Control. We are calling the area Outer Space, due to the fact that it is just outside the Space Invaders crag. So far this place has about 13 established lines with lots more to come.
Another new area being developed is the Beavers. A few years ago I put up a problem called the Beatdown v12 and developed some problems near it with Jason Hogan and Brenna Fischer. The other lines were a good v4/5, a v0 arete and a crimpy dumb v3. We attempted to search the area for more boulders ,but as it was spring , we were shut down by a raging creek filled with downed trees and debris. Our walking ended there. After the Beatdown I wrote the area off as probably done. One year later Frank Lucido wondered on the other side of the creek and found everything I missed which was only 40 more yards. You never know what could be waiting around the next set of trees. This area is very pleasant. Lots of shade in a dense forest with a creek near by giving this place a kind of swiss feel. Very nice bouldering being developed here with a few classics already established to make the first trip worth it. A few of the problems are One eye Willie v7,Spice of Life v6, Race Against Time v6, Avoid the Wart v9, and Wild Pack of Family Dogs v6. All of these are really cool. When this area is fully established it will have one of the raddest circuits in town. Get psyched. Props to Frank Lucido and Jarrad Wycoff for finding and doing all these awesome lines.
Lastly, at the Ronin boulder new problems have taken place. I did the sit project to Jarrad Wycoff's classic v6 My Shit's Custom. I called the low start My Sit's Custom and think it's about v9 but really fun steep climbing.I also added a new problem next to Secret Weapon. It starts on a flat undercling left and decent pinch edge for right and does a hard move to a sloper with a pocket in it and heads leftward towards jugs. I called this one Year of the Rat v7ish. Noah Kaufman also added a couple of problems with cool big moves. Hidden Dragon v7 and Last Samurai v7 are great new additions to this awesome boulder.
It's more fun to put these climbs into perspective with visual aids so I've made a new video to go with some of these new problems. The video features Gullible(from a v8ish start skipping one move on the harder sit start), Dude Where's My Pipe v5 which is a classic at the Freaks; Beaver classics, One Eye Willie and Race Against Time and ends at the Ronin.
I have been doing a lot of bouldering and training. I'm getting ready for my next trip to South Korea where I'm going to visit Brenna and check out the climbing in her new town. I'm very excited as I leave on November 16 and it will be my first trip to Asia. New experiences are rad.

More Activity from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Tahoe Activity

2010-09-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I've been busy in Tahoe. Working full time construction during the week and getting all the climbing I can in after work and on weekends. The fall temps have started to creep in and the climbing is feeling pretty nice here. I've been visiting a lot of different Tahoe areas recently. Around the Sugar Pine area I got to see some really good lines on the west shore go down. Flight Risk v5, Black Torpedo v4, and Prime Directive v4 are all must do classics. I even manages to add a couple new ones to SP 5 with the Squeeze G v7, and another v7 near Flight Risk. Props to the West shore crew for opening up all these instant classics. This is definately one of the raddest areas at the lake.
Likewise there is still much bouldering developement going on in the south shore area as well. It seems like every weekend about 10 good first ascents go down no matter what. A notable send worth mentioning is that of Ground Control v11. Noah Kaufman bagged this gem the other day, check out Noah's site for the video and blog entry in his own words http://tryhardclimbers.blogspot.com/. This send is another big one for the south shore. Complete with bomber rock, rad moves and holds, and a high finish to cap it off. I'm pretty psyched to start giving this thing some serious tries real soon. Nice job to Noah.
Lastly, this past weekend I got to do a really cool first ascent that was showed to me by Frank Lucido. The boulder was rad and had this one line on it that Frank thought I would like. Sure enough, it instantly made its way to the top of my list. It was a long process hitting all the moves the first day and I feel like I got a bit lucky nabbing the full FA on day 2 some 2 weeks later. The name we gave the problem is Secret Weapon and I'm suggesting a grade of v11. There are some really cool moves in it. One in particular crux has a deadpoint to a pinch off a mono and then a crazy cut loose swing off these 2 holds. From there bunchy lock offs lead to this hard crossover at the finish. The problem is steep and seems to be about power endurance. I thought it was really cool. TO accompany this blog entry I have included a video that I threw together rather quickly of just a taste of the recent action going on around the tahoe area. I hope you enjoy it.

Tahoe Activity from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Here it Comes

2010-09-01T13:52:00.001-07:00

I've been going as many places as possible the past few weeks and honestly there is just too many places to talk about all of them. I recently visited the Burnside area for the weekend and did a few noteworthy ascents. I did a rare repeat of Frank Lucido's hard line Feldsparring v10. This problem was a true challenge. Bad holds and bad feet to a techy, insecure finish. A remarkable endeavor by Frank. Next he took me to the Lucid Dream wall which was amazing. Totally on par with the Whale Shark boulder. Two of the lines, Bela Cula v6 and Lucid Dream v9 were amazing. I managed to pull the first ascent of the sit start to Lucid Dream which weighs in at around v10/11. I recommend any one who hasn't seen this wall go check it out.
David O and I also did a day at Sugar Pine. Dave Hatchet took us to Sugar Pine 4 where I got a good spanking on the technical rock climbing. The moderates there are really hard for short fellas like me. At the end of the day I did manage to do the second ascent of Joel Zerr's line Free Loader which was awesome. Hard compression up perfect stone to an insane top out. Really cool. Props to Joel on the FA.
In Between I've done a few things that were pretty awesome as well. David O's line at the Fox and Hound, Foxy Lady v8 is an awesome afternoon mission. With beers and burgers just 40 yds from the problem you can't beat this one for a drunken night sesh. The line is really fun and truly challenging for the shorter people. The sit start proj into this line is very futuristic. Probably v13/14 I'm guessing. I was also shown a semi-secret area on the East side of the lake which hosts many great moderates in a tight consolidation. Jay Sell, along with Brock, Don, Larry, Joe Bob and others have been hard at work all summer preparing this area for the masses. It will be a moderate climbers' mecca. Along with the great moderates here I added a harder option when I did the sit start proj to the Bear Cave. This new line was v11 with my beta, that's the official grade I'm proposing but it is highly likely (though not for sure) that taller people may find a solution that is a bit easier than mind. But only time will tell. With Fall just around the cornor, Lake Tahoe bouldering is once again about to go ape shit. Don't miss out on the action when the cold windy temps start becoming the norm. Here are some pics to wet your appetites.

Derailed and Black Shadow

2010-08-27T17:48:00.001-07:00

Ian Cotter Brown's video is on the prowl and wheels are in motion. In the meantime here's a few sections from the video.

the Rocklands File

2010-08-23T20:45:00.001-07:00

I'm back bouldering in tahoe and it's great to be home. New stuff everywhere. Met a climber named Vitaly the other day at Erratica who found a new amazing line. In Erratica, down and behind the Hoedown, Vitaly did the first ascent yesterday of WereBird v10. I did not get pictures but this line is an instant erratica classic. I look forward to trying to repeat this great addition.

I know you guys want to see some Rocklands action from this trip so I've included a short video I made during the first two weeks of our trip. Ian Cotter-Brown's video is in limbo as he searches for sponsors but I'll keep you updated but for now check this out.

The Rocklands File from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Return from Rocklands

2010-08-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Rocklands trip was a great experience. Like all big trips it had its ups and downs. It was complete with strange characters, hard sends, hilarious antics, and even a bit of cabin fever. When you live in the middle of nowhere for a long time you start to go a little bananas, but in a good way. This is an amazing place. The rock is really good and there are so many good problems that it's hard to tell where you want to begin. There are many FA's to develop if you look around enough. The established problems are incredible as well. The hard things here are some of the best and most fun lines I've ever seen. I feel like even just the famous hard problems are enough to keep me busy for quite a while. I can't wait to come back again. I'm already thinking about the next trip out here. To be honest I did not feel like I sent that many problems out here considering how much time I spent. The climbing here is really powerful, and as a result, you rest a lot more than you'd like to. This, however, seems very neccessary for me. Especially if you want to avoid injuries. Despite this the climbing that I did do I was really happy about. I did several problems here that I was really stoked about. One was Leopard Cave, which I've always wanted to do. This is an amazing roof climb that has a very unique crux move. After the second session, I pulled out a hail mary send on my last go and just barely pulled it off at the end of the day. Next was Black Shadow. This is one of the raddest power endurance boulder problems in the Rocklands. It has big, friendly holds and seems to get progressively harder as it goes which makes for an epic link up. The second day I fell at the last move about 2 times. I ended up falling there every single try for a few more days. It got kind of mental but in the end I snagged on day 4. This climb is one of the best I've ever done. Totally worth the epic.
The big one for me of the trip was Derailed. Daniel Woods put up this climb a few years ago when the Americans were first developing the 8 Day Rain Sector. It is a compression problem with slick edges, a crazy swing and a heart-breaking last move. All in all, it climbs this slick, overhanging belly in about 6 moves. It is rated 8B+ (v14) and it was a lifetime goal of mine to reach this level of difficulty in bouldering so I was really pleased. It fit my style really well. No crimping, just squeezing, swinging, and lerping. I'll never forget the feeling I had when I topped that thing out in the dark. I usually don't get too vocal, but I kind of lost it. It was probably pretty funny to watch.
Near the end of the trip I got really commited to sending Steakhouse v12. I love this roof. It has some crazy horizontal moves on good holds and ends with a crux throw off of two rad pinches. The last move alone felt about v10. I dedicated the last 3 weeks of my trip to sending this thing. However, the weather was really hot. After trying it for about 8 days in total over a few weeks and falling at the last move 26 times, I never completed the climb. I guess we all have to leave something behind. This climb will haunt me until I return. I really wanted to do it before I left but sometimes you have to accept defeat. So bravo Steakhouse, you totally kicked my ass.
All in all there is just too many stories and characters to tell about. But I love this place and cant wait to go back. At the same time I am really happy to be home in Tahoe. I missed this place a lot. I am stoked to explore for some new boulders and maybe try some things that I never did last season. There is really just too much to do. Unfortunately I did not get many pictures of this trip. However, Ian Cotter-Brown has made a bad ass video of our climbing there. I'll keep you updated on what he's going to do with it. It is complete with a lot of hard sends, nature shots that are laugh out loud funny, and all the goofy things that come with a good bouldering trip. For now, we'll have to wait but I'll keep everyone posted on the video. I could keep writing forever but I am severly jetlagged and have to sleep. In case anyone's curious. Here is my ticklist for the trip.

White Mazda Clan v10
Lisa's Arete v10
Rasta Roof v11
Cry Baby v10
Tromboli v10
Umbuli v11
Leopard Cave v12
Stretched and Pressed v10
Green Mamba stand start v11
An Amal v9
Question of Balance v7
The Rhino v8
Spider in the Roof v11
Black Shadow v13
In the Middle of the Ass v12 ( 2nd try)
Derailed v14
Day of the Jackal v10 (2nd ascent)

2010-06-23T05:38:00.001-07:00

My trip to Rocklands is going amazing so far. I'm only half way through and already I've had the time of my life. This place is really incredible. There's as much rock as your eyes can see and most of it is excellent quality. All the lines are straight forward power problems. I've been living in a cottage in the Cederberg Mountains with 4 amazing people. We are all having the best time so far. Between the five of us we've been sending almost everything. I came here with only six problems in mind for sending. These are things that I've known to be some of the best hard lines in the Rocklands. I've already done two and have hit all the moves on the other four. There will be a lot of video uploaded after we all return to the states where internet communication is a bit more advanced.
The lifestyle out here is to be dreamed of. Rustic, simple, cheap, great food, and all the climbing you could ever want. I am currently taking a prolonged rest to properly recover from the severe beating my body's been taking from constantly climbing on steep, powerful lines. I have about 6 weeks left here to complete my other projects. It seems like plenty of time but with all the rest days it doesn't equal too many climbing days. I'm not too worried though because I intend to come back to this place where these projects and many others will always be waiting. It appears the World Cup in South Africa has scared many others away. It is not very crowded this year at all. This trip it feels like we just about have the whole place to ourselves. The weather has been very good as well. We've had about 4 days of rain total in the last month. The temps couldn't be better. I'm excited to end my days of rest and get back to climbing again. At the same time, I'm really enjoying these rest days. It feels like I am really on vacation when I'm just waking up on a beautiful day with the intention of doing nothing in particular. I spend my rest days hacky sacking, chopping fire wood, reading, stretching and editing climbing footage. It is always fun to follow around the group to watch your friends get psyched to send there projects. I'll give a more detailed update on the climbs I've been doing while here after I get back to the states. Tomorrow is a town day. We're going into Clanwilliam to use internet, eat lunch at Koffe Cafe, and going shopping at our favorite store, the Super Spar. It will no doubt be a productive rest day. In the meantime, everyone have fun in Tahoe and I'll be in touch as soon as I get back.

2010-05-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

Ian Cotter Brown and I just arrived in Rocklands. We're now in a hotel in central Cape Town waiting for our third amigo, Kenyan Smith. We are staying at a hotel called the Savoy Lodge. Upon first glance this place kind of seems like a dive, with a locked gate, small rooms, and not too much going on around the vicinity. However, after about 15 minutes our attitude changed when we experienced a sense of customer service and hospitality that just does not happen in the U.S. The owner of the hotel realized that we arrived here tired and hungry with no food and actually drove us to go get food and beer in his own car. The three of us went to eat at a cheap burger place and got to know each other. South Africans are really kind, down-to-earth people. I've never seen that sort of generosity at any other hotel. It was really nice. The place is small, but safe and has a very cozy feel. Like your crashing at a buddy's house. I would have to for sure recommend this place if you need to get your bearings after the hellacious ride getting here.
The airplane travel getting here is brutal. Fifteen hour plane rides, sleeping on cold, airport floors surrounded by loud noise, over-priced food, and the service of Delta airlines are all things that make this approach totally suck. But, once you're here you are here, and you know that soon you'll be in the solitude of the Rocklands area with nothing to do but boulder hard all day and drink hard all night. It is for sure worth the hassel. We're going to chill for the night and then head out early in the morning for the last leg of the trip which is the 3 hour drive from Capetown to Rocklands. We are super psyched and ready for our first day of climbing tomorrow. The weather forcast looks pretty decent for the next week and we plan on taking full advantage of it.

Africa

2010-05-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

I am chilling at Noah Kaufman's enjoying great hospitality and the world's coolest woody. Ian and I have been hard at work training our skills for the Rocklands. Preparing to leave has proved to be a bit of work, but, having been there already, it is totally worth it. In the past couple of weeks, a lot of visitors have been coming up to the Tahoe area and climbing a bunch of the hard classics. Here's a list of impressive feats that have been going down:
- King Kong v8 FA Noah Kaufman ( White Kong area )
- Moses (from the Bay) flashed Pimpjuice v9 and PJ Tight v10 back to back, also did the second ascent of Downtown Brown v12
- Charlie Barrett did 2nd ascents of The Mofo v11 and Hellamental v12
- Ian Cotter Brown and Walker Emerson did 2nd and 3rd ascent of Higher Ground v10 and The Repossesion v11

The list goes on much longer but these are the most noteworthy happenings. I also did a link up at the Basement that does a v5/6 roof problem into Downtown Brown. I called this new link Brown Sugar v12. The pump factor made the finish harder but not enough to warrant a new grade. Thanks to Walker Emerson and Frank Lucido for doing a lot of work to make this new link possible.
So after training and working and being a weekend warrior for the past 8 months it feels really good to finally get back to my real life. Personally I only feel like my life is being lived properly when I am just climbing and not working at all. Rocklands is the best place I've found for me to set these wheels in motion. I am excited to do a lot of projects while there and mostly have a good time. In the meantime here's a little entertainment for while I'm away. Everyone have a great summer and enjoy the new video. P.S. White Kong....go there!

Winter Visitors from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Balls To the Wall

2010-05-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

For the past 8 weeks I've been back in Tahoe, trying to work through my hardest projects. One in particular has finally gone down. The first time I took Noah Kaufman to see the Shade Grove boulder in Erratica, one line caught his eye right away. I had looked in the section of the boulder he was checking out many times and never saw a line there. But when he showed me this line of holds it was crazy how awesome it was. This project fit my style but did not fit my body. It is full extention for me from the low footholds to stick a sharp crimp sidepull. This move, which is really hard for me but maybe easier if you're tall, is followed by some hellacious footwork to do the crux move. This involves a long deadpoint off the sharp crimp to stick an open handed ledge. After this the upper move is an odd core-dependent deadpoint to crimp. Unfortunately avoiding a dab on this move is a
big part of the crux. A definate heart-breaker in the full link up. This line has spit many good climbers over the years and was always thought of as Erratica's step up in difficulty.I managed to do this line on Saturday. I have been trying this line a long time, probably three or four seasons. Until this year I've never been able to stick the first two moves. It was really a good feeling to put this line to rest finally. This coveted project has been referred to as Balls of Steel. I've renamed the full sit start Balls to the Wall and I'm thinking that this climb is a v13. Only time will tell, but for me it is surely one of the hardest climbs I've ever done. In the meantime I am preparing to leave Tahoe for the summer to go back to South Africa. I'll be going to Rocklands for the season to climb some of the coolest sandstone I've ever seen. Besides training, and working, getting my affairssin order before I leave is taking up some mental energy. Between then and now I plan on climbing as much as I can in the area before I leave. There's a problem at Pie Shop to the left of Diamonds Are Forever that caught our eye the other day. Walker Emerson got the first ascent on Friday with me soon following. He named the line Live and Let Pie and suggested v8. It was really fun. A rad dyno move from two bad slopes, really classic. I'm really psyched to be leaving ultimately. Rocklands is truely an awesome experience for any person that is obsessed with bouldering. I have many climbs there that have been burned in my mind since my last visit there. I'm psyched to go there with some great friends and have a vacation from constantly working full time and climbing full time. I'm only 2 weeks away from departing for this adventure. It is going to be sick. My main focus before I leave will be visiting the Basement to get some power endurance. Walker and I opened up a possibility to extend all the lines to make for some more pumpy link ups. You should check it out. Very rad. In the meantime, check out Ian Cotter-Brown's video of the latest sending going down in Tahoe.

Erratica Video and new climbs

2010-04-10T20:52:00.001-07:00

After spending this past month bouldering at Erratica, I realize that this is the season for the hard climbing here. I managed to do a few new lines this weekend. If anyone has heard of Element of Surprise v11, it was an old FA of mine from last year that never got repeated. One day last summer Fernando Motta broke a key hold off the beginning crux section making it seem impossible. The other day I pulled off the new FA and redubbed the line Hellamental v12; it is definately harder than it was. The first move is a really long windmill up a steep wall to deadpoint a pinch. From there a short v9ish finish awaits.
The next day I went out with Jason Hogan to do some filming for more FAs. I did the first ascent of the sit start to Global Warming. This new start takes it up to solid v10 probably. Crimpy and powerful in the start to its classic technical finish. We finally have our warm up problem Noah. After that I hiked up the steep trudge to the Shade Grove Boulder where I did the second ascent of Josh Neuman's line Balls of Steel v12. This line was hard for me and I've been working on it for quite a while. The sit start is still a major coveted project which I came really close to sending. After multiple attemps the razor blade hold started to destroy my skin and I had to save it for another day. I can't wait to go back for this one. It is truely a hard classic.
Most of these FAs were caught on film. Jason Hogan filmed the latest lines and they will most likely end up on either vimeo or in the Mikey Weir film, Green Rush. I got some of the early FAs on tape and have made a video showcasing winter bouldering in Erratica. I hope everyone enjoys it. Despite new snow falling soon. I plan on spending a lot of time out at Erratica trying the sit start to Balls of Steel. This climb will be a big send for me if I ever do it.

Winter in Erratica from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Upcoming vids and Prison Hill repeats

2010-03-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Here in Tahoe the weather has been great for hard bouldering. If you can get around the snow in the mountains or the constant hight winds in the desert, you're good to go. Since doing the Mofo in Erratica I've been out repeating some of the old lines at Prison Hill. I repeated 25 Minutes To Go v6, a Noah Kaufman line from last year that is a classic pumpy traverse with a gymnastic crux at the end. A really fun problem for anyone interested.
Next, I stopped over at the Marble Boulder and climbed an FA of mine from last year called Diamond Thief v11. It is hard to figure the grade of this climb. It is only three moves but feels very desperate. It is steep with bullet-proof rock, one good start hold for the right hand and a series of three left hand moves in a row to horrible glassy slopers with bad feet. This line is not very tall, but the quality is very high and the climb is steep and burly. This boulder also has a cool v3 and a really hard project.
When I went back alone today it was windy as usual. My goal was to repeat Death Sentence v10. When you look uphill above The Prisoner, Electric Chair, and Firing Squad Boulders, it is the shiny gray line with a green line diagonaling all the way up the middle of it. Death Sentence starts with the good flat right hand sidepull edge and the left hand on a low shallow pinch about 2 and half feet off the ground. Hard moves on glassy slopers lead to an odd top out around the right side of the bulge.This climb is very high quality. Prison Hill still has a few gems lurking around I think, but the developed ones seem to be where it's at.
I plan on spending the weekend at Erratica, the Meiss Boulder, and Twin Peaks. Many more problems await. I am getting excited as well to go on my second trip to the Rocklands in South Africa. Last summer Ian Cotter-Brown and I spent 5 and half weeks there and loved it. This year we are going for 2 and half months. Hopefully that'll be enough time to send everything, but I highly doubt it. haha. The place is kind of shit-stacked with the goods. After that I plan on doing some climbing/working in Tahoe before going to South Korea to visit Brenna and check out a new place. After that who knows. One of the great things about the bouldering lifestyle isthat I find myself always going in new directions to do my thing. I don't really know what the point of bouldering is or why I love it so much. I do know that I'm always excited about it and it has landed me in some of the most beautiful places and led to friendships with the coolest people ever. I'm psyched to keep going forever.
Last, there will be another video online in the next week or two. David Outcalt and I got footage of the Mofo on the day of the first ascent. I'm waiting until we all go climbing this weekend to get more footage. It will be all Tahoe winter bouldering. I'll post it on the next blog when it's done.

New Videos and New Climbs

2010-03-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

My three week stay in Bishop, CA was awesome. I got to see a lot of friends, and watch many rad climbs go down. I managed to send the Happy's classic Kill On Sight v12. This climb was hard for me. I found some tricky beta that was good but very stretchy for me. After three days on the stand and 3 more days on the sit I finally got the bastard on the seventh day of work. I projected this line with my good friends Ian Cotter-Brown and Ryan Held. It was fun to finally have a project to share with some friends. Other than that I finally got myself to do the Hulk v6, a problem I've meticulously avoided for years do to it looking super reachy. It was, but not too bad. All in all a great time.

I also took a ride with my friend Zack West on a quick weekend trip to Moe's Valley, UT. The quality was mixed but everything v6 and up is spectacular. I was really impressed with this area. It had a lot of great hard problems. I did not send anything hard but did some cool moderates and had some good times. I would have to strongly recommend this spot to anyone that hasn't been here yet. It is a really fun place with a good vibe.
This weekend back in Tahoe, I went to Erratica to revisit a project of mine from late Summer. The Mofo finally went down. This problem is on the Painter Boulder in Erratica near Kirkwood, CA. This project is to the left of Element of Surprise v9 ( the old v11 sit start broke and is now a much harder project waiting to go). Originally I thought this project would end up being a v12/13 but upon finding better beta I was able to unlock a sequence which made it go slightly easier. I gave it v11 and let it keep its alias as The Mofo. A great new classic at Erratica, one of the harder ones too.
Lastly, I recently uploaded some new videos of my friends climbing in Bishop. I took a lot of restdays while working my project. On those rest days I tried to make the most of it by filming. I caught a lot of great things on camera and edited some videos for all to enjoy.

Bishop part one from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Bishop Part two from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

2010-03-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

I've been here in Bishop, CA for about a week now. It's been really fun hanging with the crew out here and having some good times. I've been working on my big goals for the rest of the season. Trying to do Scanner Darkly in the Buttermilks, and Kill On Sight in the Happy Boulders. Both lines are really good in their own ways. I've got both the lines in two parts but putting them together seems to be the hard part. I'm having a lot of fun working on them. Zack West and I took a break from Bishop this weekend and went on a quick 3 day trip of the Moe's Valley boulders in Utah.
The climbing in Moes was very fun. Not everything with chalk on it is solid so you have to be very selective when choosing your lines. Some lines caked in chalk were absolute death traps. Lots of loose, big hollow holds ready to kill. Mixed in however are some really awesome problems on great sandstone. We got a great sample of what the climbing was like out here. The problems that are good are really good. The layout of the area and conveinence were a plus. Everything is easy to get to and town is not very far away if you feel like getting frisky at night. St. George seemed to have everything you could want for food or entertainment all a short drive from the bouldering and camping. I'd recommend a trip to anyone who wanted some different climbing not too far away. It took us 5.5 hrs to drive there from Bishop. Not too bad.
On a side note, I put together another climbing video for anyone interested in a new one. I have a video of Ryan Held, Ian Cotter-Brown, and Kenyon Smith bouldering in the tablelands. Footage of 2 classic v11s and the establishing of a new worthy area in the tablelands called the Pink Cliffs. One rest day I went to film a highly motivated crew who got lots of classic new first ascents, mostly highball and proud , at this new small gem. It was a blast watching my friends put up these awesome problems that may one day go down as mega lines. The video will be posted on the blog and/ or vimeo shortly.

2010-01-31T22:52:00.000-08:00

After a long period of crappy weather and lots of indoor training, I was happy to get back on real rock. I started the weekend off by visiting a project at Prison Hill that is just to the right of Prisoner on the Roof v9. This problem shares the start hold of that line with the left hand and the right hand is on the other side of the feature on a bad sidepull. From here a series of short slaps to bad slopers and pinches lead to a heinous move to a slick, slopey crimper. From there the top out is a fun headwall that is probably v5 or 6. I named this new line Juvenile Delinquent and gave it v12. This problem is slightly an eliminate as it does not use the juggy underclings on Prisoner on the Roof or the top out holds of Prisoner on the Roof. Using these holds to do this line would reduce the difficulty by a couple grades. However, in the interest of making this line feel unique I did not use these holds. All in all, the new problem is cool and climbs very well.
The next day was full of adventure as we tried to climb at an area at high elevation that is typically saved for the hot summer months. With massive amount of fresh snow everywhere, we began the uneasy hike into the backcountry. The walk itself was filled with excitement. At every turn there seemed to be a deep, snowy gully or rushing creek bed that had to be crossed. Navigating our way to the area also took a lot of time. Everything looks different when it's covered in 10 feet of snow. Sure enough though, we found the boulders and hiked up to the Basement. Here my goal was to repeat one of my problems from this summer, Downtown Brown, for the camera. With snow surrounding the cave there was the best dry, cold temps possible. I was able to link up this hard climb in 2 goes, having remembered all the beta from the summer season. All in all, it was another awesome weekend bouldering in the Tahoe area. It felt fun to realize that snow can't due much to stop the determined.

Snow or No from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

2010-01-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

The following weekend at Prison Hill was much sunnier than the previous. Frank Lucido, Jarrad Wycoff, David Outcalt and I did many ascents on the areas classics. The send of the day was the Electric Chair v6. Jarrad was the first to cap off the 2nd ascent of this tall classic. Then David and myself followed.This problem is the super shiny arete uphill from The gully near Solitary Confinement. I has a tricy beginning, solid rock, and a heady topout. In addition to David's third ascent of this line, we also got footage of some of the other area classics from the north side of Prison Hill. The footage came out a bit washed out and the lens needed a good cleaning. Just for fun though I decided to add this to vimeo for anyone to enjoy. There will be more to follow but now the snow is heavy. Climbing in the Tahoe area for the next week or two may be kind of spotty. I have a lot of possible winter projects in the area as well as things I need to go do in the Buttermilks in Bishop. Looks like the next few days will have to be dedicated to either intense resting or intense training, hopefully a good mix of both.

Prison Hill, part 2 from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Prisoners in the Fog

2010-01-10T23:22:00.000-08:00

When I woke up Saturday morning in South Lake Tahoe, I didn't think bouldering was going to be a possibility. The entire town was engulfed in a thick, wet fog. But I thought, what the hell! So David Outcalt and I spent the weekend at Prisoner Hill. Both days that I drove down I passed through the inversion coming down Spooner. It was foggy at the top, foggy at the bottom, and sunny as hell in the middle. It was a neat moment passing through there each morning. When we arrived the whole area was in a very thick fog. There was a spooky vibe with the mist. The boulders just appeared out of it throughout the entire trecherous hike. The first day we climbed on the north side and did all the moderate classics with Jason Hogan joining us. We did Reno 911 v0 , Cocaine Blues v3, Congical Visit v3, and 15 Minutes to Go v5. Then we hiked all the way over to the south side of the big hill over to the Watchtower Boulder, home to Noah Kaufman's awesome power-fest Alcatraz v10. I worked on repeating the sit-start and David worked the gem. At first we were both flailing pretty hard, but then we got psyched and they both went down. David Outcalt caught the likely 6th ascent of Alcatraz v10, a proud moment for this was his first of the grade. I managed to unluck the beta that made the sit-start doable and sent just after David.

The second Day we spent the morning warming up on top of the south side. In this spot the rock is mostly crappy at the top and good at the bottom. So we spent a little time riding the choss wave. But the gripped factor did us well as we warmed up. Next , we went over to Alcatraz to do some filming then went straight over to a possible project wall that was killer. Sitting only about 50 yards from the Watchtower this awesome face had two plum lines on each side. It looked like they've never been done but you never know around here. David caught the likely FA of the right line which he dubbed What Are You In Here For? v6ish. I did this line just afterwards and it was killer. Next I got the left line and it was about v7. But then David broke a hold in the middle that may have made this climb slightly easier. He pretty much ran laps on the crux to the heady top out. But it was at the end of a long weekend and we both ran out of juice for any more lines. But it was a great time and we look forward to going back next weekend if the weather is good...or if it's fog. We made a short 5 min. video of some of the coolest lines. I hope you enjoy the video.

Prisoners in the Fog from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Old Footage

2010-01-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

I had some old video footage on my computer of a few climbs. Bordem set in last night and I decided to put together a random video just for fun. Making short climbing films seems to be the thing in the industry right now. This is awesome for me because I love surfing the internet and watching the new bouldering videos that come out on a daily basis. Perhaps this is the climber's version of watching Monday night football. I've really been enjoying all the good short videos that have been coming out this season. DeadPoint magazine appears to have it on lock down. My short video does not compare to most of the good ones but I figured I'd put it on for people to enjoy. The video mainly features the Geode. This unrepeated v11 has pure moves up a slopey prow on high quality rock. The FA took me a while but in the end it all came down to perfect conditions. At the time of the ascent it was about 20 degrees out in early winter. I hope you enjoy the short movie. Unfortunately this problem is definately out of commission until late spring, so you might not get to try it for a while.

The Geode from Jesse Bonin on Vimeo.

Bishop

2010-01-03T22:22:00.000-08:00

My Bishop trip over the holidays was a sucess. I hung out with my good friends there, ate good food, drank beer and climbed a lot of great stuff. I managed to finally do the Rorschach Test v11 on Christmas Day. Felt more like a 12 to me but ?? I also made a quick send of Bubba Butt Buster v11, Acid Wash v10, Bubba Gets Committed v10 and the Iron Fly v9. The Iron Fly was an interesting send. I've tried this thing before with the dyno method and had no luck. One cold day I tried the other way hitting the sloper and hit it in a few goes. I was pleasantly surprised. Ian and I made a short video on youtube.com of Rorschach Test and the Aquarium. The other good memory of the trip was bouldering campfire-side at this secret location in Bishop and doing a bunch of easy highballs in the dark. It was a great time indeed. I'm looking forward to a possible short trip to Utah coming up soon which will hopefully pan out. Now I'm back in Tahoe for more training and, possibly, digging some great local projects out of the snow for sending.

Zack West on Hit the High Hard One v9

Fallen Sodas

2009-12-20T18:26:00.000-08:00

This weekend Brenna and I went up to Twin Peaks and the Quality Boulder for some great winter conditions. I made it a personal mission to repeat Steve Francis' highball testpiece PJ Tight v10. This problems climbs a tall arete with an odd landing. It has a shouldery crux in the middle followed by commiting climbing up high. After much mental preparation and practice on a top rope I was able to push past the fear and make the second ascent of this 5 star line. It was truely a crystalizing experience, as well as a personal breakthrough for me in highballing. Just afterwards I decided to go for the FA of the link of Pimpjuice Low into PJ Tight. Since I had all the moves of both parts wired , I managed to do the link first go dubbing the new start Pepsi Clear. The problems on this boulder are all named after energy drinks that never really went the distance. One year ago I talked with Steve about this and we agreed that the next line/link up on the boulder should be Pepsi Clear in honor of this fallen soda. So the new link up is named after this and feels about v11 to me. Jason Hogan was out once again and caught these two awesome sends on film. It was an awesome weekend; white scenery, cold temps and high winds made this weekend a full value experience. It feels so good to be climbing again. Next week I go on my second trip to Bishop for this season to hopefully put to rest some of my epic projects.

Videos from Rocklands

2009-12-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Ian Cotter-Brown posted some videos of our Rocklands trip. Here is one of me sending my first 8B Fragile Steps. The other is Ian, Walker, and I having some good times.

Pictures from Bishop Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T21:26:00.000-08:00

Rorsarach Test v11, sad boulders

Ian on the Mystery v12, buttermilks

Ian on Fall Guy v9, buttermilks

The first trip to Bishop this season was sick. I mostly just ate good food and partied with lots of good friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I managed to climb for two days. I did Twin Cracks v9 which was cool because it was very hard for me. I almost sent Rorsach Test a bunch of times but ended up just chucking laps on 95 % of the line. Pretty good work out. Most likely I'll be going back to Bishop around Christmas time to start trying some harder things that I've had on my mind. Until then work and bumming around tahoe will be taking up my time. There are still some projects here that I can work on.

Party Animal Video

2009-11-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

The Party Animal video is back. I had to take the link off for a while because the video was kind of in limbo for a bit. They are considering putting it on Dead Point Magazine but we won't know for a little while. Jason Hogan made this video of me sending Master Blaster v8, the FA of the Party Animal stand v11, and the FA of the Party Animal sit start v13. Click on this link to watch it : www.vimeo.com/7526072 . Good job to Jason on making another excellent Tahoe bouldering video. Don't forget to check out his other snowskate videos. Props dude.

Rest and Recovery

2009-11-19T21:40:00.000-08:00

David flashing Taco Time v8 at Erratica

I've been resting to heal from some minor injuries that I've had lately. In the meantime I've been working, hiking , and taking pictures. On a recent hike in Erratica I've discovered some more possibilities for the future of the area. If you follow the creek at the "rad campsite", boulders follow it all the way down to a deep canyon. At the bottom of that canyon lies many more boulders. The walk, however, is a bit intense. The temps in the Kirkwood area were perfect. Unfortunately, the snow storm on Friday might put an end to another great season in south lake tahoe. It may be time to start taking trips to Bishop and some of the Nevada areas that are lower in elevation. Winter is just about here, and I'm feeling better so it might be time to start climbing again soon. I'm really excited to start the new winter season.

Halloween In Yosemite

2009-11-04T19:17:00.000-08:00

Classic Cotter-Brown

Ian Cotter-Brown sending Heart Attack v6

Mike Wickwire drops the hammer on Flatline v8

Noah Kaufman ridin' dirty

David Outcalt on King Cobra v8

Yosemite was a great trip. A bunch of us stayed with Noah Kaufman in the valley and had great times climbing and hanging out. It was Halloween so lots of climbers were out bouldering in clever costumes. At night we played poker, drank beer, and talked beta. It was a sweet scene. I am currently injured at the moment so I spent most of my time taking pictures and relaxing.
Enjoy the pictures I took of some cool people on cool problems.

Brazilian Attack

2009-10-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

I got to climb at Erratica again this weekend. Some friends from Bishop and the Bay Area came up to do some sending. Fernando sent Welcome to the Future v12 for the third ascent. He also did a bunch of v9s including Brushstroke Progression and Mistaken Identity. Eduardo sent the middle start to Party Animal, and he was very close on the sit start. Induo also got some when he made quick work of the short power problem Master Blaster. It was fun climbing with these guys. They were strong and very motivated.
I haven't sent anything too hard in quite a while. I've been trying this really cool hard project on the Painter Boulder. I've fallen from the lip a few times in the link. The lower moves are very low percentage. All the compression bouldering must have caught up to me because my bicep got pretty tweaked this weekend. I decided that I may take a week or two off to let my body regroup. In the meantime, I'll be working and getting extra psyched to make a come back. Hopefully, that will happen before it starts dumping snow on the sierra's.

Fernando does a lap on Brushstroke Progression v9

Eduardo working the opening moves of Party Animal v13

Tahoe Sugar

2009-10-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

Nate on Stimson Manuver

Nate on the classic Squeeze Between the Trees v3

David Outcalt sending Krull v9

Dave Hatchet sending Tower of Power v6

A lot of new developments are going on in Tahoe. The west shore location is producing many choice lines. Dave Hatchet and Noah Kaufman continue to pick plumbs throughout this huge zone. So many FA's are going down that there are just too many to report. The Bishop crew paid another visit to Erratica and The Freaks. We had a fun weekend camping and bouldering on all the classics. I put up a new link up at the Basement. I climbed Mistaken Identity v9 into David's extention of Subterranean v8. I called this new link up Burning Down The House v10. This line is very good work out. It has 17 horizontal moves. Other than that I've been doing the same as everyone else, hiding from the rain. Hopefully there will be a windy day after the rain so that the rock can dry out.

2009-10-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

Another set of impressive sessions went down this weekend as usual. I got to show a couple of friends from the Bay Area around Erratica. Ben Snead did some awesome sends of some of Erratica's most scary highballs. Ben sent Meyer's Pride 5.8, Jackie's Sister v3, Adrenaline Hoedown v3, and did the long awaited 2nd ascent of Five Dollar Happy Ending v3. Ben also did the first flash ascent of Global Warming v9, and made quick work of Master Blaster v8/9. Josh Newman had some great sends as well. He made the 2nd ascent of the stand start to Balls of Steel v9/10. We all got in on some FA action as well at the Decoy Boulder near Krull. This boulder that has been walked by 100's of times finally saw a little bit of love. David Outcalt made the possible first ascent of the obvious arete and named it Quack Quack v3/4 and then Ben added 3 more highball slab lines that were just to the side. Duck Blind , The Dabbler, and Surf Scoater all turned out to be killer slabbin. We were all unsure if these lines had been done before but they were dirty and did not look very traveled. It was another fun and productive weekend in Kirkwood. For me, I just deepend the epic I am having with Hyperian, Scott Chandlers v11. This thing is so reachy but I have no doubt that I will send it soon. It will be a personal breakthrough for me in regards to just how far a little person can stretch. I can't wait. But, with the bad weather starting to loom over Tahoe, only time will tell just how much longer we can have our fun here before it's time to break out the snowboards. When that day comes it's time to start going to Bishop.
Ben big ballin' on Five Dollar Happy Ending v3

David O on The Yeti v9

Feats of Strength

2009-10-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went out to watch Fernando and Brian Hedrick at the Barb-Wire Area. It was rad to see Brian flash Future Present v11 and then do Welcome to the Future v12 a short time later. It is really cool for me to watch other strong climbers enjoy this perfect line the same way that I did. Very impressive send by Brian. Fernando was once again really close to the 12 but he will have to come back another day.
Earlier in the week I got to see Sugar Pine Point bouldering. I was in awe at the amount of good rock and all the work the north shore crew put into this place. The approach is a bit involved. I messed up and took a bmx bike out there and ended up whinning the whole time. But once I got there it was well worth it. Next time I'll be taking a mountain bike. The climbing was really good there. Lots of good granite with plenty of features. I managed to put up a new line called Skull Fucker v9. Very good sustained crimping problem up a somewhat tall face. Though, not nearly as tall as would have been if not for some tricky landing work. Thanks Dave. Noah Kaufman also put up a awesome new highball v5 that he named Bmx in my honor. Really bad ass tall face with gripping moves between crimps. This place was awesome, and I look forward to going there again before the snow starts falling. This weekend the crew and I are going to start the session at Erratica and then just go with the flow. I just know that some cool stuff will be going down.

Cold Weather

2009-10-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

Tahoe climbing conditions were excellent this weekend. The cold weather came in and we took advantage by doing or trying a lot of friction dependent lines. The first stop was the Barb-Wire Area where we did some of Jay Sell's classics Peinese v3 and Wild Rose Arete v4/5. Everyone was impressed with the quality of these climbs. Fernando and Ian were on a mission to get the second ascent of Welcome To The Future v12. Both climbers put up a good fight and got really close once again. But, in the end this ballbuster just didn't give it up. Fernando and Ian each fell at the last hard move in the link. They are going to send next day on it for sure.

Fernando about to grind up some bunnies. Bunny Grinder v10

Next the party moved over to Erratica where some business had to be taken care of. Zack West came down from the eastside to take down some old projects. Zack sent Master Blaster v9(v8?) and The Pervert v8. Fernando was back for vengeance as well. He sent Global Warming v9 and Bunny Grinder v9/10. Ian Cotter Brown also managed to pull off the third ascent of Noah Kaufman's problem The Vicious Poodle v10. I mostly lolly gagged around. I did send Global Warming which is surprising because of how reachy the crux move is. Fernando had some good beta for the move and the conditions were perfect. Other than that I ended up getting shut down as usual on some of my megamegas. The Balls of Steele project and Hyperian v11 are at the top of my list right now. Both are pretty much at my limit. I can't wait to send.

Fernando finding key beta on Global Warming v9

At the Bear Valley Boulder Bash this year, the conditions were finally good. Noah Kaufman took first place in the difficulty comp when he quickly repeated his own problem Gladiator v10. Siemay Kaufman also won first prize in the women's category. The Dynamic Duo have struck again. David Outcalt also had a great run when he tied for first in the moderate category. Good Job you guys . way to Represent!

Cory Cotter Brown on Adrenaline Hoedown v3 (scary)

The weekend abruptly ended when the group and I woke up Sunday to about 7 inches of snow and near white out conditions. With everything went we decided to go home and get some rest for the next big session. The weather is getting colder and the psyche is getting stronger.

2009-10-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

We heard that Caples was good again so Ian and I went to check it out. Turns out most of the good stuff that was on the beach was still underwater. The problems close to the shore were primed though. We climbed the Pearl v6 and then ended up finding new granite boulders in the trees behind Excalibur. Ian and I put up three new problems . Everyday Something v9 follows a super cool and pure slopey lip traverse. The holds are cool and skin friendly. It is pumpy. Maybe 15 moves. Right around the cornor we found another overhang with neat sloping features and a knee bar for the sit start moves. It starts matched in a sloping undercling and goes out a tricky sloper finish. That problem is called Practical Demonkeeping v9. Really good line. Next to it was a short wall with a v5 we put up called DavesMom. Big moves with a hard sit start.
In a day at Erratica Ian Cotter Brown did the first flash of Master Blaster v9 and then ended the day by sending Krull v9 rather quickly. The temps are good and this weekend is going to be another smasher. The movie is tomorrow. I'm psyched to see the new footage from this year.

Ian checking out beta on Practical Demonkeeping v9

Ian on Everyday Something v9

Off Road

2009-09-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

Most of the bouldering that gets me psyched is usually a 40 minute drive away in Kirkwood. However, yesterday Frank Lucido took me to one of his old stomping grounds, the Off Road Area. This area was about a 2 minute drive from my front door. Although the hike to the top was uphill there was good bouldering along the way. I repeated the gem of the area, Gobstopper v9 for its second ascent. This problem was really cool. It follows a series of blob-like features, each having its own series of intricate holds. The line is also north facing so it gets lots of shade. I did some other lines on the way. The Tree Problem v4 is half way up the hill. This is a really good line on a cool tallish boulder. The Sunset Crack v6 is a must do on your way back down. This seemingly easy looking problem follows a good crack, but then turns a cornor and becomes very insecure. It has a very classic feel to it. The area had a lot more to offer than these. This place, like most spots in Tahoe, had a lot of good rock and bad rock. There was no doubt this area had more problems to do. Props go to Frank for giving me the tour and authoring these rad lines.

Way Lake

2009-09-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a big crew down towards the eastside at Way Lake. This place is awesome with lots of good , steep rock. The weather was warm but nicer than tahoe. Fernando and I both sent Chumscrubber v12. Josh Vale was very close and will likely do it very soon. On his 2nd day on the climb Fernando sliced his pinky vertically down the middle on his 1st attempt. Apparantly blood was everywhere. But he stayed psyched, taped up and did it a few goes later. This is Fernando's first v12 in the United States. David Outcalt also busted out his project Meadow Roof v8 on his first go of the weekend. Proud. It was a good time. We went to the wild willey's hot spring the first night and ate at "Burgers" on the second night. The fall colors are starting to change out there and it is getting very scenic.
My first day there I was watching Josh Vale try Chumscrubber when he fell off the first move. Then, in a fit of rage , Josh harpooned his ball cap towards my face and the brim struck me really hard in my nose. I started to pool blood out of my nose and it left a "brim shaped" welt across my face. This was a totally funny accident. By the time Josh let the hat go and realized I was there it was too late. At first I was pissed, and then I thought it was pretty funny that I was sitting there with a bloody nose that was caused by frustration towards a boulder problem. What a great moment in bouldering. Next time no hats while bouldering. It's a safety hazzard.

Fernando on Wills Seam v11

Josh Vale sticking the crux of Chumscrubber v12

Video links and Visiting Crushers

2009-09-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Camping with the crew at Erratica, good times

Noah Kaufman floating through Future Present

Fernando coming close to sending Welcome to the Future

Fernando working the moves on Milk Money

Some cool new videos got loaded on the internet recently so here's the links for anyone who needs some entertainment. David Outcalt has a video of Ian Cotter-Brown sending Fat Guy in a Little Coat v9 at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcOqRAkDXj4. David has a video as well of me doing Lactose Intolerance this weekend at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMQ-_yvcQG0. Thanks to David for the good footage. Noah has also put up a video of me sending Wolf Pack at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDLzRaIFVa0. If anyone needs to see some high quality sending to boost motivation and/or cure the bordem check out these awesome videos. Note: Jason Hogan is currently editing a really high quality short video of the Hoedown Boulder at Erratica. It will have the first ascent of Party Animal v13, and there will be a link to this video on the blog probably before the end of the week. Keep your eyes out.

This weekend South Lake Tahoe saw a couple of strong visitors from the Sacramento area. Mike Wickwire and Fernando came out to see some of the really good boulders that we had to offer and they cleaned house. Mike and Fernando both quickly sent Lactose Intolerance v10 and Barnyard Massacre v9 at Crater Lake. Fernando actually did Lactose Intolerace about 3 times, topping it out differently everytime. Later on we took the session down to the Barb-Wire Boulders. Fernando did the 3rd ascent of Future Present v11 in about an hour. He was really psyched as this is his first send of this grade in the United States. He also came really close on Welcome to the Future v12, linking through the extention and making it to the v11. Noah and Mike both got really close to the jump start. After a night of camping we took the next day at Erratica where it was all about the classics. It was a big group and the vibe was really good. Long Distance Girl saw its first set of repeats after a whole year. Fernando, Noah, Frank, and Jarrad all sent this classic former v9. The consensus put the grade everywhere between v5 and v9. ??? Haha. So funny. We agreed to call it v8. Dave Nunley got the FA of a new line just to the right and named it Gotta Think About It v3/4. And last, Fernando got very close to doing the long awaited 2nd ascent of Bunny Grinder v9. In the link he fell at the last move about 10 times. It seems like this Noah Kaufman testpiece may get the upgrade. This problem seems like it deserves it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6BGB7IERms this is the link to the video of the FA. This weekend is a Way Lake trip. We hope to link up with Ian and he crew to get caught up with what's going on down there.

More From the Hoedown

2009-09-15T22:46:00.001-07:00

On Sunday Scott Chandler came up from the Bay area and climbed the undone left variation project to the Hoedown project. Scott said that this new line goes at v10 and is a great new addition to this boulder. It sit starts in the same undercling as Party Animal and does the first couple of moves and then goes by wide spans out left into a leftward top out into the slab. Party Animal climbs through the same opening moves and then climbs direct to the sloper into a rightward top out to a big ledge. Seems like the same line but consensus so far agrees that these lines are independent variations. It might be that these are just two betas. Even so, if you can climb this thing any which way you will have to try very hard. I am looking forward to trying to repeat this line and I will have to try just as hard and suck up the sandbagged grade. I can't wait. Good job to Scott on the send.

Best of Erratica

2009-09-14T15:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went out to the main ridge of Erratica and the conditions were good. Cold, cloudy, and windy. At the Shady Grove Area our minds were opened to the vastness of this area. After frequenting the Yeti Area it was cool to be reminded that Erratica has a whole lot more to offer in every direction. I managed to put up a new line on the Easy Boulder, near Golden Wall. This new problem is a v7 called Smoke Em If you Got Em. Short but cool. I also managed to hit the previously undone crux move on the Balls of Steel project on Shade Grove Boulder. I'm going to hone my sights in on this great undone line which will probably climb solid 12 from the start. It's going to take cold temps, steel tendons and of course, balls of steel. Props to Noah for having the vision to see this line.

Brenna Fischer sending Sweet Tooth v4

I have included for fun a list of the best problems at Erratica by grade with stars and first ascentists as well as the general sector to which it is located. Any Erratica climber who wants to do the best at a certain grade should seek out these awesome gems.

Erratica's Best Problems

The Arc v0- **** F.A. Damian Estrada @ Golden Wall

Scream v0 **** F.A. Jesse @ The Scream

The Crack v0 *** F.A. Elena O. @Boob Wall

Beautiful Breasts v1 **** F.A. Jesse @ Boob Wall

Scream Right v1 **** F.A. ? @ Scream Area

Black and Green v2 *** @ Golden Wall

The Shady Lane v2*** F.A jesse @ Trophy Area

Squeeze Between the Trees v3 **** F.A Dave Nunley @ Shade Grove

Jackie's Sister v3 **** F.A. Damian Estrada @ Shade Grove

Sidepulls in Paradise v3**** F.A. Dave Nunley @ Shade Grove

Five Dollar Happy Ending v3 *** F.A. Dave Nunley @ Simply Asia

Sunset Bulge v3*** F.A. Taylor Zentner @ Boob Wall

Broken China v4 *** F.A. Jesse @ Scream Area

Adrenaline Hoedown v4 **** F.A Jay Sell @ The Hoedown

Guns and Ammo v4*** F.A. Jesse @ Swimming Hole

Eye Of The Tiger v4*** F.A. Dave Nunley @ Boob Wall

Fugiyama v5 /7 **** F.A. Noah Kaufman @ Fugiyama Area

Sweet Dreams v5** F.A. Jesse @ Shade Grove Area

Smoked Out Jumper v5*** F.A. Jesse @ Shade Grove Area

Twenty-Four Ouncer v5*** F.A. Noah Kaufman @ The Painter Area

The Geek v5*** F.A. Jay Sell @ The Geeks

As Gold As the Sky v6 **** F.A. Noah Kaufman and Brian Arnold @ Golden Wall/Shade Grove

The Trophy v6*** F.A. Jesse @ Trophy Boulder

Mind Bully v6 **** F. A. Chip @ The Nerds

Vision Quest v7 ** F.A. Jesse @ The Black Boulder

Father's Day v7 *** F.A. Don @ The Erratics

Taco Time v8 *** F.A. Noah Kaufman @ The Geeks

The Pervert v8 ** F.A Jesse @ Shade Grove

The Yeti v9 **** F.A. Noah Kaufman @ The Nerds

Global Warming v9**** F.A. Noah Kaufman @ The Painter

Bunny Grinder v9*** F.A. Noah Kaufman @ Shade Grove

Krull v9**** F.A. Brian Arnold@ Fugiyama Area

Master Blaster v9*** F.A. Jesse @ The Hoedown

Fountain of Youth v10 *** F.A Jesse @ Swimming Hole

Robot Wars v10** F.A. Jesse @ Swimming Hole

Quest For Power v10 ** F.A. Jesse @ The Black Boulder

Vicious Poodle v10 ** F..A. Noah Kaufman @ The Geeks

Element of Surpise v11 **** F.A. Jesse @ The Painter

Party Animal v13 *** F.A Jesse @ the Hoedown Boulder

Use this list as you would a guide for the best established lines at the area. If you don't feel like scrubbing go seek out one of these classics and have yourself some fun.

Party Animal

2009-09-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went down to the Hoedown project at Erratica with Jason Hogan and Mike Njoten. After a pitifull first round on the project. I surprised myself by sticking the dyno from a stand start and finishing the line. This move to the finish was probably hard v11. From the sit the series of crimpy moves that lead up to this dyno are powerful and fingery. Then I surprised myself again when I linked the entire line in the dark while Jason Hogan was rolling the camera. I was so psyched as this feels like the hardest moves I've ever done. Tahoe now has a v13 named Party Animal. So sick. Thanks to Hogan for inspiring me to bust it out.

A Grand Weekend

2009-09-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a grand weekend indeed. Lots and lots of great stuff was happening from every direction in life. Aside from the climbing scene, most of us got to witness a very special occasion with two great people. Noah Kaufman and Siemay Lee got married in Genoa, Nevada on Sunday. The ceremony was awesome and very memorable. The vows were to the heart and yet fun-loving and truthful from each person. I was personally touched. The reception to follow was epic; two great and funny families put forth their feelings of each of the newly wedded. To top off a great meal of surf and turf , the climbers were all at a few different tables where a lot of "grape throwing " was going on. I'm not going to mention any names but the Bay Area table and a certain very strong mom from B.C. was quite aggressive with their ammo. You know who you are. Haha. But it was an awesome night where I got to talk with a lot of people that I have only seen in brief, but memorable instances in my life. Yet another day I'll never forget that oddly had nothing to do with climbing. Awesome. Congratulations to Noah and Siemay. Like Matt said " Either of you are a force to be dealt with but together you are unstoppable".
So, for those of you who checked this blog because you were thinking of climbing, this entry will be nothing short of the raddest weekend South Tahoe climbing has ever seen. It all started Friday when Charlie Barret went on a tear through some of south shore's best areas with an impressive streak to follow. Charlie did the 2nd ascent of Freak Show v12 as well as the 2nd ascent of Lactose Intolerance v10 and sent the classic dyno move Hate Handles v10 on his 3rd try. Holy Shit Charlie, awesome job on the pull downs. On Sunday Erratica saw the most traffic it has ever seen in one session. The Yeti was repeated by Matt Wilder (2nd try), Scott Chandler, Brian Capps (2nd try), Paul Berazza, and possibly others. Courtney Hemphill also did an impressive 3rd ascent of Krull v9 while it was baking in the sun. Fugiyama v5/7 saw a slew of repeats as well. It was nice to see Erratica appreciated by people with unparalleled tastes in good rock.
There was one more strong visitor to South Lake Tahoe this weekend. Bishop's own Ian Cotter-Brown paid three days to tahoe and saw a lot of the new classic areas and left in a short time with a good tick list of hard problems. Ian sent Fat Guy in a Little Coat v9 at Burnside, the 2nd ascent of Lock Down Robotic v8 and the long awaited 2nd ascent of Future Present v11 at the Barb-Wire Area. Ian also got really close on the hard roof Freak Show Original v11. Next trip from Cotter-Brown will no doubt end in destruction. David Outcult also had an awesome send of Fat Guy in a Little Coat v9 by dynoing all out to the sloper at the lip. Nice one David. Another local on a rampage. The upcoming weeks will bring cooler and cooler temps and really soon we will all be in that special climbing season that typically produces our most memorable bouldering moments: Fall. I can't wait to see the sights. Me finally sending Smooth Boy Slim v9, so good

Ian Cotter Brown on Future Present v11, the day before it went down

Frank Lucido closing in on Krull v9

Charlie Barret sticking the crux move on Freak Show v12, the actual 2nd ascent go

Back To The Future

2009-08-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

an earlier picture of Future Present ; photo: Joe Debaun

Tonight I put up one of my best fa's ever. At the Barb-Wire area in Hope Valley I sent one of my long term goals, the extention stand start into Future Present v11. The extention added a hard cross over move to a slopey crimp with a powerfull jump into the arete. All in all the line was very hard but more noteably very good. I was really psyched to climb this thing as it is one of south lake tahoe's best hard feature climbs. I named it Welcome To The Future v12. a five star line. Go check it out.I originally named it back to the future but then I found out there is already a classic v9 called this in north tahoe, so I decided to change the name to avoid confusion. The Barb-Wire Area features other classics such as Wild Rose v5, Peinese v3, Marmot Slab v0, Little Mantle On The Praire v4, and Lock Down Robotic v8. Much thanks go to Jay Sell, Joe Bob , and Brock for showing me this area last year. This is perhaps one of my best first ascents.

Camoflage Forest

2009-08-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from a short day at Camoflage Forest in the Bog Area. I was resting and taking pictures trying to recover from a week of working nothing but hard projects. Brian Arnold and I did a session on the Hoedown project and made a lot of progress. This project seems to be morphing into two different lines but either one will be very hard and very good. I've also been working the extention into Future Present. This line will link v8/9 into v11 and will likely be the hardest line in South Lake Tahoe. Noah took a big crew to see Sierra Buttes for the first time and it will be cool to here the news when they get back tomorrow. With more visiting strong climbers coming into town for Noah and Siemay's wedding, this week will probably be filled with lots of news on hard bouldering going down.

Brenna Fischer working on Shock the Monkey v4

Frank Lucido climbing the classic Bruce Cambell v5

Crater Lake News and Breaking New Grades

2009-08-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

We hiked all the way out to the Hidden Draw area in Woodfords yesterday in the hottest conditions ever. The exposed 45 minutes walk in the 90 degree heat felt like a little slice of hell as Brenna Fischer marched out on a mission to send her first v5 boulder problem. Despite bad conditions and a tweaked ankle Brenna was confident that the send would be imminant. And after warming up on the finishing moves she sent the problem rather quickly and we bolted right back out to escape the intense heat. While some people may feel this is not a ground-breaking event, we all know what it feels like when you hit a new high point in your climbing. Each step is more exciting and intense than the last. We can only really get that feeling a maximum of 15 times before we die, so each and every one is rather special to us. Congratulations to Brenna on breaking a new personal barrier. She will probably want to do a lot more v5s now and v6 is not that far off. Good Job.

Brenna Fischer sending her first v5 Earth Day @ the Hidden Draw

Yesterday Noah Kaufman, Brian Arnold, and many others did a session at Crater Lake where old problems became more clarified and new first ascents and repeats went down. Noah Kaufman sent the F.A. of Lactose Intolerance v10. This new climb is awesome and is a must do for anyone who is sick enough to pull it off. Brian and Noah also pulled off the 2nd and 3rd ascent of Dangerously Cheesy v11 which actually goes up the right arete from a sit-start. There feelings were that this is likely soft for the grade but keep in mind that both these monsters regularly crush problems of this grade so maybe they just don't know there own strength. But either way this thing saw some more sends. I thought I was doing this line's 2nd ascent the other day but it turns out that I was actually doing a new F.A. on the boulder that is probably the hardest line done so far. I named it Milk Money and I'm calling it v12 . Other notable ascents were David Oltcult doing the right line v7 and Frank Lucido sent the right arete v6/7. The continued traffic on this boulder is confirmation to its quality and for all who haven't seen or heard you need to go get some.

Afternoon Delight

2009-08-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

This week Tahoe's heat got turned up in more ways than one when climbers focused on new areas and new climbs. Jay and Frank have been hard at work developing the Ghosts while Noah and I have paid a few visits to Dave Goodwin's Crater Lake boulder. The Crater Lake boulder is incredible. This lone boulder sits in a beautiful meadow and comes complete with excellent rock and many 5 star lines of all grades.
At the Ghosts I got to see some new highballs go down. Many repeats were done on Lucido's awesome photo-op climb called Spectre(aka ghost shark). Jay Sell added a line next to it called Shark Bite, also very good. Noah did the F.A. of a line that hasn't been named yet that is very good vertical climb that probably goes at v6/7. I even got some action when I added the no star anti-gem dubbed Don't Wake Your Neighbors v?. This is now the safest and lamest line on the Moby Dick Boulder....sorry about that ..haha. More fun was had during sunset when Noah and I repeated Jay Sell's problem Ghost Dreamer. This is an awesome line that will one day top out as a world class ultra-highball. The consensus on this grade has settled at v6. It is easier if you are tall and harder if you're short but doable for everyone. A new project was opened to the left of this line that will likely be pretty hard but very awesome. The Ghosts are slowly shaping up to be a great area with lots of potential.
There was no shortage of action at Crater Lake as a bunch of us when to check it out and were blown away at how cool this rock is. Very smooth and inspiring with plenty of slopey top outs, rad holds, and great problems. I managed to get the possible first ascent Milk Money, a really stout v11/v12. This line was really cool and hard and is probably one of the best hard problems in south lake tahoe. But it didn't stop there because Noah did a likely first ascent of a super good line up the middle of the face with big moves on cool holds which is being called Lactose Intolerant v8. More news will probably come later because Noah almost linked this climb from a full sit-start which may end up being another great v10/11 on this boulder. Noah fought hard every move, getting narrowly shut-down at the very last hard move on the problem, but I assure he will be back for victory later on. To anyone who hasn't seen this rock, make calls, get beta , and go get some; it is really cool. Thanks to Dave Goodwin and company for authoring this picturesque masterpiece.

working Milk Money on day 1
photo: Brenna Fischer

Noah making the 2nd ascent of Ghost Dreamer look easy

Frank Lucido running a lap on the beautiful Spectre

Noah on F.A. of Lactose Intolerant

David O. getting some at Crater Lake
photo: Brenna Fischer

The Ghosts

2009-08-14T08:35:00.001-07:00

South Lake Tahoe just got a new area in the game. Tired of climbing so much volcanic climbing I went out with Frank Lucido and Jay Sell to a new area that I can't disclose the location of just yet called the Ghost. It has looks of good quality granite block that are typically highball and climbable. The rock can have lots of diagonal slashes, good patina and even slopey top outs. I can't tell how big this area is just yet..but it looks big. There are already some great problems that are top value for the region. Jay Sell put up one of his hardest to date, Ghost Dreamers v?7ish is an awesome line up an overhanging bullet crack feature. The holds, the view, and the climbing position are all rad. Frank Lucido and myself have both been bouted on this thing. It is super awesome worth a try. There is also an excellent corridor full of awesome slab climbs with major highballing potential. The climb called Bodie v3 is full value. Intimidating yet safe. Frank put up a cool problem called Spectre that I haven't seen yet but supposedly is 4stars. I got to put up a neat one as well yesterday when I did the new line Ghost Story v6. Gentle overhang with cool slots and fun move for the top. This area has major potential for great bouldering. All the problems done so far are great and it seems like there's much more. By the way, if you go , don't skip the oportunity to do the problem called Is It Over Yet? v? classic. Brock trying a cool new project

Jay Sell climbing Bodie v3

Freaking Out

2009-08-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

Noah Kaufman sent the 2 highball roof projects to the left of Jay and Don's. The prouder one has been dubbed Atomic Confusion v6. Very scary and reachy. He also did one just left of that one that is slightly less serious called Afternoon Wood v4. These are some excellent additions to the area. Noah also had an impressive session on the steep Dazed Boulder when he started out by doing the first flash ascent of Twizzler v8 and then made short work of the 3rd ascent of Morning Wood. Later he also had one more good flash in him when he dispatched Subterranean v7/8 on his first go. Noah had a great day after not getting out for the past few weeks because of work. He says that's he's found more new great projects at Erratica , which is not surprising as this is the most shit-stacked area in south shore. It's going to be an exciting fall.
Also Ben Broche has posted the link to his video on youtube of the first ascent of Freak Show. View the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf2kir4Tb7k

Downtown Brown

2009-08-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

Jay and Don working on the new project

Jay Sell chucking a lap on his gem Too Many Words v3

Frank Lucido on Morning Wood v7

First move of Freak Show/ Downtown Brown

Cold temps graced the tahoe area today with excellent climbing conditions. We all went to the new hot spot where a few lines got done and new projects opened up. Jay Sell and Don opened an incredibly intimidating roof highball. This looks like it will be a great new ballsy line. I did some of Jay and Frank's highballs on the Confused Boulder. Too Many Words v3 was amazing. Tall and really good. This has to be a must do for the area. Frank also added some fun tennis shoe climbs on the new 7 up boulder. I added a traverse into Twizzler that I called Red Vines v9*** . Excellent pumpy line with many steep moves and a cool problem to finish on. Also in the Basement another sick roof line went down out of nowhere. I worked the moves on this harder finish from the start holds of Freak Show. I could barely hit the hard moves one at a time and then out of nowhere , when trying from the start one random time, I got psyched and linked the whole climb together for the F.A. of Downtown Brown v12***. Another excellent roof climb. Many hard moves into Subterranean v7 made this line feel very hard. It's always a guess with the grade but for me this felt a little harder than Freak Show but not enough to warrant a crazy grade. Tomorrow I am going back to the Freaks where Noah Kaufman will be visiting for the first time since all the major developments. It will be neat to see what goes down.

New Freak Show

2009-08-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

The Freaks are going off. Cleaning and climbing seems to be the theme. This area is already an instant classic. On Monday night I did the FA of the project that was a lower start to Freak Show and decided to make these the new start holds instead of calling it 2 different lines. Now Freak Show is v12 and more full value. This is a 20ft roof and is super bad ass. The project going right will likely be just as hard or maybe harder. Ben Broche came out and got awesome footage of the FA which will be on youtube in a few days. I'll update with the link soon. We all have Frank to thank for this awesome gift. This area is a true find, especially for people hunting for power climbing. Here is a list of many of the problems that you will find here.

Pocket Change v3 **
Black and White v1 *
Morning Wood v7 **
Twizzler v8 ***
One Hitter v5 *
Wake and Bake v1**
Freaky Not Creaky v1*
Munchies v0 *
Chubby Chaser v1*
Bong Water v6 **
Subterranean v7 **
Smoke and a Pancake v2*
Freak Show v12 ***
Lost for Words v2 **
Too Many Words v3***
and many more to come

Freak Show

2009-07-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today I put up a new hard line at the Freaks. The Freaks is an area near Erratica with good steep, volcanic rock. Many good lines have already been done by Frank Lucido, Noah Kaufman, and Jay Sell. Some of the classic problems include Twizzler v8, Wake and Bake v2, and Smoke and a Pancake v6. Among these lines the newest boulder is a 20ft horizontal roof on excellent quality volcanic rock which is abundantly featured. This roof is called the Basement. I did a great line going right through the middle of the roof on good holds really far apart. I called the line Freak Show v11. Very hard I thought. It will have a lower start that will likely add a couple of hard moves. There is also another project starting this line or lower that will go rightward through intense shouldery moves. It will be cool to see what else will come from this unique area. Usually volcanic is rather chossy but this place is an exception. I'd recommend a visit, though it is still semi-secret so good luck on finding an open door. Tahoe feels like it is cooling off a little for the weekend so I'm excited to see some more good climbing.

F.A. of Freak Show v11

Can't Beat the Heat

2009-07-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here in Tahoe it has been very hot. Not compared to the areas in the valley but pretty hot for us locals. However, developement is still going on at a crazy pace as new areas keep being found and the list of projects waiting to go keeps getting longer. The Burnside area is very concentrated with good rock and problems of all grades. A new area very close to Erratica has been found with good volcanic rock and steep problems, one of which is a 20 ft horizontal roof called the Basement. Recently I also went back to one of my biggest aspirations, the angora project, this 40 ft steep highball over deep water is one of the best climbs on a hot day. The project is a 10 move undercling traverse to a steep prow with thrutchy moves that lead to a big dyno to a rail , followed by a hard top out into a sparsely featured slab. When this goes it will be one of tahoe's hardest and most unique lines around. It is so hard to concentrate on one thing though when there's so much new stuff being found constantly.

the angora project

Return from the Dark Continent

2009-07-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Good times with my peeps
Me, Ian and Simon chasing each other on Up the Spout v4

Fragile Steps v13

My new favorite problem in the world The Amphitheatre v12

I just got back from the Rocklands in South Africa. What an amazing place. So much good rock everywhere.. There's too much to tell. The water tastes like dirt, our rental car was a piece of shit, food and wine is very cheap, and people drive like they're on speed. It was awesome. I met a lot of really cool people that I will never forget. We pretty much climbed all day and got drunk all night. Such a fun routine. My 5 and half weeks there flew by in a flash. It rained more than I thought it would and my last week there I sprained my ankle really bad falling from the top of The Hatchling. I could not walk for like 2 days and it swelled up like a baloon. It was totally worth it though. What an amazing problem. I almost sent which is rad b/c it will be first on the list when I go back. I did do a lot of problems before that though. All of which were amazingly good. Here's my ticklist from the trip.

Girl On My Mind v5 ( incredibly fun)

Poison Dwarf v7

I'm Julie v7 (flash)

John Denver v7 (flash)

Secret To Olive's Preserve Cupboard v7 (2nd try)

Minkie v8 ( 2nd try)

Petite Hueco v8 (flash)

Maniac v8 (flash)

Dirty Lies v8 (2nd try)

Sunset Arete v9 ( 4th try)

Last Day in Paradise v10 ( 4th try)

No Late Tenders v10 ( 2nd try)

Shadows of Ourselves v10

Stargate v10

Caroline v10

Nutsa v12 ( 4th try)

The Amphitheatre v12

Fragile Steps v13 ( my first 8b; so psyched)

These were all the best lines that I did. I left a lot of lines behind but that's good b/c it left me itching to go back. I was very psyched to do my first v13. It was epic but fit my body and climbing style really well. Nice one Daniel; such rad holds. Other than the climbing it was cool to make so many new awesome friends and experience a new country that is very different from the US. I loved South Africa but it did make me realize how good we have it here in the states. I think though that I am now hooked on road tripping globally. I'm already making plans for another trip in Spring. Probably Europe most likely. Now I'm psyched to be home, heal my ankle, make a little money, and see some of the great new stuff that Noah and Frank are developing in the Burnside Lake area. Also I'm psyched to check out Way Lake again in Mammoth and get back on Chumscrubber. I'm glad that Nick and Jeff got the 2nd and 3rd ascent cause now all the pressure will be off. haaha I can just take my time and try to send.

Lastly I'd like to give a shout out to all my new friends and housemates: The Germans: Tom, Stephan and Axel keep on rocking. John and Amy you guys are awesome. The Housemates: Colin, Andy, Jarrad, Petra, Jesse Brown, Simon, Walker, Kevin, Yen, Iyunde, Ian, Ryan, and Eric. You guys kick ass, you are all great climber and great people. It was a pleasure hanging with you guys for 5 weeks and I look forward to see you all again at random somewhere by a bunch of rocks.

Bon Voyage!!

2009-05-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I am off to the Rocklands in South Africa. Supposedly the best bouldering in the world. I've been wondering what it's like for years and I'll finally get to see for myself. As you can tell from the picture I've made sure to pack the bare essentials. I've heard that in addition to great bouldering there are cobras, leopards, and thieving baboons. This sounds like it will be a truely unique stage for climbing. I'm going to try this one last project here at home before I leave. I will be travelling for a couple of days just getting there and I don't like sitting still for that long. So hopefully I will get all this energy out of my system before total jetlag sets in. I wanted to say thanks to Brooke and Buck for all the hook ups and also thanks to Noah for getting me to sack up and go to the best bouldering on earth. If I get internet I'll keep up on my emails and this blog but if not I'll see you in 6 weeks ....unless I become lion food...keep your fingers crossed.

Invasion of the Bishop Crew

2009-05-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Ian cruising the 6th ascent of Hate Handles v10

Hacky sack central. Good Times

Kenyan Smith going full throttle on Maple Cabin Syrup v8

Cotter Brown doing the 3rd ascent of American Gladiator v8

This past 3 day weekend the Bishop crew came to pay the south shore boulders a visit and kicked some serious ass. A lot of hard problems saw multiple ascents. At the Hate Handles area the mega classic dyno itself saw three ascents. Zack West was the first, busting out the 4th ascent in just about a half hour. Record time for this problem. Gaining momentum from Zack, Nate was next to get the fifth ascent and, noteably, his first v10. Nate was so excited he decide to even chuck a 2nd lap on this classic move. Two days later Ian Cotter Brown came back for revenge and out of nowhere unlocked the ninja move with ease. The rest of the crew came really close. Josh Vale and Kenyan Smith will be back for vengence when the temps get better. The classic v7 CryBaby saw 2 flashes from Zack and Josh. Josh Vale and Frank Lucido also got the 3rd and 4th ascent of Touch Your Toes v6/7.

The next day we went to the Twin Peaks area where the heat was just too much for this good but very exposed winter spot. This did not stop Ian from crushing the 3rd ascent of American Gladiator v8 even though it was in the sun. The heat soon squashed the group's enthusiasm, but not for long. For once the hacky sack came out it was on like donkey kong. Several hacks were done in this 7 person circle. The energy was similar to that of drunken football fans watching there home team in the super bowl. I must say that this was the funnest part of the weekend. Positive energy and fun vibes were rife in the air.

The last day was hot and so we went to the very shady Cabin Fever Boulder where Ian did the 2nd ascent of Maple Cabin Syrup v8 and 3rd ascent of Log Cabin Syrup v7/8. Kenyan Smith hit all the moves quick on Maple. However, the heart-breaking finishing mantle stopped Kenyan a few times in the link and he had to settle for saving it for the next trip, but the send is definately imminant. Kenyan and the whole crew will return later on to rack up more points and continue their streak of making tahoe's hardest problems look like warm ups. Awesome job crew.

Land of the Lost

2009-05-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

David O on Lost Horizon

David on Atomic Wedgie

Crux move of Tai Chi's link up project

This weekend we got a first rate tour of the new Nevada area Land of the Lost. Pretty neat spot. Very remote with lots of rock. The quality is very mixed. Anywhere from bullet rock to dried mud and everywhere in between. Frank Lucido, David O, Brenna and I were the crew. We had lots of pads which is good because most of the climbs are tall and adventurous with bad landings. The standout lines were Lost Horizon v3, Shangri La v3, Atomic Wedgie v7, Tai Chi v7, and the "project" which looked incredible. Tall, steep, and solid. Unfortunately the 2nd day a heat wave came in and climbing past 11 am was impossible. But the first day and 2nd morning we got our fill of good, steep climbing. I almost sent a project that was a lower extention into Tai Chi that had a rediculous cross through move into the start of TC. Very hard but I fell inches from the jug about 8 times and then decided to save it for later. Now I am back home working, training and getting ready for the next session this weekend.

Return of the sunshine

2009-05-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

Hate Handles, mega classic.
Future Present v11 @ Barb-Wire Area
Today was the first nice day in the last 5. My friend and I camped out in a meadow in Hope Valley last night. The view was good even at night because of the fullish moon. Went bouldering today at the Barb Wire area. We did a bunch on the Future Present Boulder but it was a bit warm for climbing hard. My buddy left for Jackson so I moved on to the Hate Handles area for a quick circuit. I tried the sharp project but it was a no go. The snow level at Hate Handles and Barb Wire area is down to zero. I'm psyched to see some of the newer areas in Nevada ; particularly the Lost World and Job Peak Boulder. I hear that these spots are pretty rad. I can't wait to find out.

No Means No

2009-05-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Noah on Cry Baby v7

Noah Kaufman on 2nd ascent of Hate Handles v10

On Wednesday my friend Jason and I went to the Hate Handles boulder before rain came for the weekend. We did some of the usual warm-ups and put the first sprinkles of chalk on the holds for this season. I managed to do a new link up that took over as the hardest line on the wall. A traverse into Dr. No. I named this new line No Means No v12. This does 5 or 6 campus style power moves into v11. It was pretty hard and really good. There are still 2 really hard project to go on this wall. One is a link up with a sick opening crux that would lead into v11. The other is a pure line up the middle of the wall on nasty little edges and a crux deadpoint into a slopey pocket followed by a tough looking top out. My friends from Bishop are coming down next weekend to visit this area as well as the Twin Peaks area. Some crazy repeats and first ascents will no doubt go down.

First post

2009-05-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

I am posting this blog as a way to keep my friends, family, and fellow climbers updated on what's going on in my life and what's going on in the tahoe bouldering scene. Tahoe has so many boulders it is kind of nice having them all to myself but I figure it is time to start sharing what's going on around here. Enjoy my blog.