Sonora – The Third Rail

It has been a while since the last update.  The regular training has continued, with its motivational ups and downs, and the outdoor trips have been occurring with a little more frequency (which is sooo great!).

Here is a clip of Ryan Moon working hard on his ex-project The Third Rail – V11 – in Sonora, California.  He returned and got the first ascent of this line less than a week later.

I will be posting a couple other clips soon, one of Brian Hedrick on his first ascent of Areola Peninis – V11, also in Sonora, and one of Max Zolotukhin on The Force and Thriller in Yosemite.

Three From Yosemite

And here are three more climbs from the valley – Yosemite!

All three climbs are gorgeous.  Thriller and The Force both have perfect moves and are on one of the most beautiful granite boulders I’ve ever seen.  Heart of Darkness is another perfect line, tall with clear movement, and it is only obscure because it isn’t as easy to get to (though it’s right off the road).

I hear that only a fraction of the valley has been explored…

Enjoy the movie!

Yosemite Bouldering – Video Installment I

So this past week I made my way back to Yosemite National Park.
It just always feels so good to say that!

El Cap – Photo by Natasha Barnes

It is snowing in Yosemite right now, but last weekend the conditions were perfect!  Snow on the ground but clean topouts, cold but sunny.
A lot of sending on this trip.

Atlantis V6 – photo by Natasha Barnes

Natasha, Cole and I arrived on Friday night and began touring the classics the next morning.  Saturday we played on excellent boulders such as Atlantis, Heart of Darkness, and Drive On.  Sunday we went to Blue Suede Shoes, Thriller, The Force and back to Drive On.

 

Drive On – Photo by Natasha Barnes

I divided my time between climbing and filming, not getting as much time on the rock as I would like but capturing some of the moments that make the trips memorable to me.  I have found myself fascinated about filming more and more, having different ideas for projects that I want to explore.

Myself on The Force – Photo by Natasha barnes

Stepping away from the camera I got “me-time” on The Force (upper-end V9).  My motivation on this trip was focused on trying Thriller (upper-end V10) but the pads were all (yes, quite a few) on The Force and, more importantly, something about it really called to me.  I didn’t send but I felt very comfortable right on the first try.  I can clearly see the results of all my training at GWPC and know that, with more trips outdoors to get my head screwed on right, I’ll be ready to enjoy what Yosemite has to offer.

The Force – Photo by Natasha Barnes

Congrats to Cole for sending two V6′s and doing well on a bunch of other climbs on his first real outdoors trip.

I got good footage of Ethan Pringle sending Heart of Darkness (V9/10), Eric Vergne sending The Force (V9), Ryan Moon sending Thriller (V10), and Natasha Barnes sending Drive On (V11).

Here is the first of those videos, Natasha on Drive On:

Enjoy and tune in for the next short clips.

Red Rocks

I took a quick 5-day bouldering trip to Red Rocks at the beginning of this year with Randy, Jeremy, Max and Natasha.  Red Rocks was the place to be since most of the winter bouldering areas got dumped with snow!

It was a short adventure filled with climbing, hot tubs, dubstep, strippers, whole foods, casinos, cold temperatures and clear skies, and lots of driving.  Put those in a blender and you get an epic trip.

Here is a short video I put together.  As video cameras and home-made climbing movies become more common it is more difficult to get others to shoot video when the cameraman is climbing – so I don’t show up even once in this movie!

Enjoy!  Red Rocks is definitely worth a longer visit!

For other recent movies about bouldering at Red Rocks you have Jon Glassberg’s:

and Matt Wilder’s:

Deadpointmagazine Article – Climbing in Southern Portugal

I was at the local climbing gym, sitting down at the rest area with all its magazines while my daughter played with a new-made friend, when I noticed the new edition of Deadpointmagazine.  I was really surprised when I found the word “Portugal” in the front page!
“An article about Portugal!!  Who wrote it?  I must know them.  What is it about?  Which sector?  Possibly the new Meio Mango sector, that one is sure to interest the international community!”
So I a little surprised to find that it was written by a Spaniard.
Now, I definitely have nothing against Spaniards!  Yes I am Portuguese and my ancestors fought and fought them for centuries on end, but my experiences with Spanish people and especially my experience with them while climbing has been nothing but excellent.  However, it does surprise me and a part of me does wish that the spreading of the word about some of the awesome climbing that Portugal has would come from one of my Portuguese friends.

Anyway!  Here is a nice little article about climbing in the south of Portugal, in Algarve, written by David Munilla, Translated by Adam Harrington, and Layout by Joe Lavasco.
I look forward to seeing some of the other climbing areas get some recognition.  Perhaps this will more easily happen when the new Vertigem Magazine gets translated into English!

Here are photos of the article.
Coverpage:

Article:

Pedra do Urso

Portugal has two main regions for bouldering, one is Sintra and the other is Pedra do Urso.  Whereas Sintra is located close to Lisbon so it has been more in the limelight, Pedra do Urso is located in the north of Portugal and only a handful of climbers know their way around there.

Very recently Pedra do Urso has seen visits from both Spanish and Sintra-based Portuguese climbers and here are two nice videos that have emerged.

From Luis Alonso, a video with many different boulders:

From Gonçalo Franco, a video of Pena crushing Harakiri one of the 5 star lines there:

There is also a blog about the bouldering there: http://nortebouldering.com/

My interest for this place has recently peaked and who knows… perhaps I’ll go live there soon.

The Crash Pad

Another video from Sintra

This one not by me but by Rasta!

Love the shots and angles he thinks of.  I was in Portugal when he started working on the HD version and you can bet it is going to be awesome!!

 

Goodbye Europe – Hello America

(Bouldering in Hoya Moros, Spain – photo by Ricardo Alves “Macau”)

Goodbye Europe – Hello America

I feel that a quick update is necessary.  I was pretty sure that this update was going to contain news of my most proud and challenging first ascent in Sintra but, in the end, it didn’t happen.

I came agonizingly close.  This was a line that really called to me, a short and powerful compression problem on a yellow wave that somewhat resembles the light arching of a cobra’s head.  The yellow color is broken by a distinct black streak in the middle.

I tried it over several months.  The very last move had been previously done, I added one move, then another, and then another.  I felt solid and strong on the last day of attempts, just hours before the flight, but it didn’t come together.

(Bouldering in Sintra – photo by Ricardo Alves “Macau“)

The next morning I flew to Florida where I spent 5 days visiting beautiful friends, and two days ago I flew into San Francisco where I was warmly welcomed by my wife and her sister.  Today I renewed my membership to the Touchstone Berkeley Ironworks climbing gym and started my re-acquaintance with plastic holds.

I feel the motivation to begin training again, daily, focused and to return to Sintra stronger than ever.  Days after I left Macau announced that he had uncovered yet another sector, bouldering in Sintra is going through a growth spurt and I have no doubt that in the following months new gems will be new uncovered.  I want to be ready for them!

(Somewhere in the Sintra mountains, yet another gorgeous line – photo by Macau)

Of course, California isn’t going to be just training.  There is some rock around here…   I’m also looking forward to getting out to the seaside crags such as Stinson Beach and Mickey’s Beach, work on some extremely polished and crimpy lines at Mortar Rock, try to make my way over to Castle Rock, and who knows… maybe go see if there is good rock at Yosemite, Tahoe, or Bishop.

All the while I’ll be rocking my new Escapist approach shoes from Evolv.  Highly recommend them, super comfortable and light though sturdy enough to protect the foot, and really good traction with the new rubber:

Full Rosebud Massage

A quick video of a new line in Sintra.  Thanks Vegan for filming.