Great start to the season!

So after about 4 trips to LRC in the past week, I'm more psyched than I've ever been!! The projects have been falling one by one. First I sent Redhouse extension which is my first v8, then I got a sweet 5 called Fat Cat, then a really fun 6 called Main area traverse (I did it from left to right), then I got Jerry's Kids!! Not too bad for one week. I'm feeling strong and climbing really well and I can already tell that this is going to be an awesome season. I've had to not climb the past couple days because I needed to save skin for today, which is our FIRST CCS comp of the season!! In about an hour I'll be headed to franklin, TN to compete at the Crag (the place that started it all for me). I can't wait to climb some sweet plastic and kick it with old friends. Anyways, here are some pictures from the past couple times we've been out. There aren't any of me cuz I'm the one that took them. 

The Winter Tick List

So I went out with Sam yesterday and he finally got Super Mario Brothers!! That problem has been giving him trouble for years so it was awesome to see hi slay bowzer (as he said). While I was there I decided to check out the right extension to Red House. From the jug at the end of Red House I was able to piece together all the moves of the extension after only a couple goes. I then tried to link them up but kept getting shut down on one of the early moves of Red House. But either way that problem now goes on the tick list which I've assembled thanks to my handy, dandy Stone Fort (LRC) Guidebook!!! Seriously, the thing is siiiick! Here's the list for the winter as of now. Hopefully I'll be crossing these guys off asap. 

Projects

Jerry's Kids (7)

Red House Extension (8)

Tooth Fairy (7)

Cast Away (7)

The Wave (5)

Cleopatra (8)

A Face in the Crowd (7)

Deception (7)

Diesel Power (5) 

Instinct (7)

Now that I've got the guidebook I'm realizing how few problems I've actually done so now is the time to dedicate some time to ye olde Stone Fort. 

thanks for reading (pictures/videos to come soon) 

-Dubs 

It's been so long!

 I know it's been a crazy long time since I updated this thing so I decided to stop by and drop some info on the plans for the season and recent developments.

The Red
Me and Drew led a trip to the red last week and it was shweet! The trip was led through UTC outdoors so it wasn't all about us trying hard stuff but I still managed to climb some fun stuff and get lots of new climbers leading for the first time. The crew was solid and everyone was killing it and crushing their fears! I did climb one hard route, but only at the request of the guys who wanted to top rope it. It's a 12a called Scar Tissue out at the Zoo. From the ground I imagined myself hangdogging the whole thing and crying out in extreme pumpy pain, but I fared better than expected. I did the route with two rests (couldn't find a good clipping spot, then couldn't figure out the beta at the top). For an onsight attempt of something I thought I'd never be able to do I was pretty psyched, especially since I haven't been training routes AT ALL lately. So maybe this'll be the season where I shatter the barrier between 5.11 and 5.12. But right now is bouldering season!

I have three projects that are close to sending:
Jerry's Kids v7
Nose Candy v6
One % 5.12a

Which means that I NEED PROJECTS!!

That's right, I'm talking to you. If you know of cool boulder problems/routes in the greater Chattanooga area, hit me up!

Pictures from the Red

After a long week of getting our asses handed to us by some sweet Kentucky pocket climbing action, Elliott and I were feeling pretty worn at the end of the week and considering neither of us had climbed in close to 3 months, we were psyched just to have redpointed some 5.9s and hang dogged a couple 5.10s. On the last day of climbing however, we found a sweet slab route called possum lips at the military wall and just couldn't help ourselves. It's a 5.10d which was higher than anything either of us had redpointed all week so neither of us was expecting too much. BUT, elliott hopped on and after about 30 minutes of dancing, chalking, blowing off holds, and some more chalking he got the onsight! In an attempt to have some of his good psych rub off on me, I hit the route next and fell at the crux. But still feeling like I could get the send, I hopped on the next go and got the redpoint. Needless to say, this was the highlight of my trip. Then later on in the day, we decided to hit an 11b in the left flank called aquaduck pockets. The route is tons of fun but tricky because you have to grab the right pockets in order to find the good holds and trust me, there are plenty of pockets to choose from. I hit the route first and was lucky just to hangdog my way through it. I was constantly having to stop and evaluate the beta and try and figure out which pocket to use which way. So after I came down, I gave elliott the secret beta thus denying him the onsight but giving him some serious help with the redpoint. In true elliott fashion, he crushed the route first go and once again I got it on my second. Daniel also hopped on it and got the send as well. The people at the red were awesome and I'm already so psyched to go back. It's a world class climbing spot and the people are fantastic as well. Also as promised, here are some pictures from our trip. Peace! 

                        

Week at the RED!! (and a new blog layout)

Hey there digital world! Sorry it's been a minute since i've posted on here, but since I haven't really climbed for the past couple months I didn't see a need in posting about my climbing. That said, I'm currently writing this post from the downstairs area of Miguel's Pizza at the red river gorge meaning that I'm back! (and it feels so good). So while I'm sitting at my computer, I'll take a quick minute to give some updates on what's been going on lately. Last week my dad surprised me with the gift of a DSLR Minolta camera that was previously used by my grandfather. I'm not sure the exact name of the camera, but I know that it's pretty freakin' sweet. He also gave me 4 lenses for it so I'm real psyched about some climbing photography right now! So after I acquire a cord to hook that camera up to my computer, I'll be able to upload lots of sweet shots from this trip as well as all future climbing adventures. As far as the red goes, here's what's been goin down... 

Me and Elliott got here Monday night late and decided to just kick it around Miguel's for the evening since it was already too late to climb. Then yesterday we spent the day exploring the red (It's my first time and his second) as well as getting our bodies used to feeling rock on our fingers. We hit a 5.7, 5.8, and two 5.9s . We onsighted all the routes with the exception of the 5.8 for me. The last move was kind of big and I completely misread the holds. Either way, it was a good day for both of us considering neither of us had felt rock in a couple months. Then last night we met up with Brea, Daniel, and Matt (a couple of our friends from chattanooga) and we all got together today to hit some sweet stuff in the shire. There was this one beautiful line called K.S.R. (I think those were the initials) and it was a sweet 10d right in the middle of this huge face. I don't exactly know why it was so pretty but it was. It also proved to hold strong to the red's reputation for having freakin' hard routes. Each of us was able to make it to the top with a bit of falling and hanging (basically everyone hang-dogged the route except for elliott). After watching the four of us hang it up, Elliott hit the route with a head full of steam. He did it as a top rope because he was afraid of not being able to get the gear down if he attempted a lead, but he definitely surprised himself when he got the red point (that is, if you can get a red point for a top rope, I'm not really sure). So props to him and hopefully the next couple days will lead to some more get-your-ass-back-in-shape-and-up-that-route climbs for all of us. That's all I got for now. 

Oh! And I got a new blog layout. Do you like it? 

Peace! 

-J dubs