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 

New Projects. End of School.

So today Joseph, Elliott and myself headed out to leda to hit up some routes for the last time before elliott heads back to nashville (so sad). We warmed up on a 5.7 then hit girls only (5.10). I climbed the first 10 feet of Girls Only which was so freaking sketchy because there's one really reachy move before the first clip. I fell. I thought I hurt my ankle, but luckily I was solid and I hopped back on and got the red point. Elliott and Jo followed suit. We then headed over to the harder area of Leda and worked a route called 1%. None of us have ever really been strong/dedicated sport climbers so we thought we'd set our sights high and see how we turned out. Joseph and Elliott had both gotten up the route before with several falls but it was the first time I'd ever tried a 12. After several falls, I made it to the top of the route. I was reasonably psyched because I feel like on a day where I knew the beta and was fresh, it could potentially go for me. So 1% is a new project for me. I've got all the moves so I think it'll go. That's it. Stay thirsty my friends.

v7 FLASH!!

So a few days ago, Sam, Joseph, Taylor Vice, and myself headed out to the city of little rocks to hit up some sweet boulder problems on a beautiful day. First, we worked a nice v5 called Ghost (while enjoying fat tire in a can). We all put in good work and I (Jordan) was able to get the send. Next we hit up this one really slopy v5 behind ghost that was not too good on an 80 degree day. Needless to say, we didn't send. Next we headed over to the super mario boulder. Now I had planned on trying to get a flash of Red House which is a v7. I don't really know why I wanted to do it, or why I thought it was possible (v7 is the highest grade i've sent). But with some help from my buddy Nate Drolet, I was able to FLASH THE PROBLEM!~ I was so freaking psyched! Then later on I hit up the classic v5 Ghengis Khan and got that on the second go. Joseph put in some work on The Hulk (v6) but wasn't feeling it so he didn't stick the move. So here are some pictures from our day at the boulders taken by the one and only Bonnie Mcdonald. Also, keep checking back here because I've got two new projects that I'll hopefully be able to hit over the next two weeks. They're robbing the tooth fairy (v9) and Fatigue Syndrome (v8). I'm feeling ambitious so we'll see how this goes.

Chatt Town Throw Down!! (it's been a minute)

So I haven't posted in a while, my bad. Things have been really busy for us over the last couple weeks and I've done a really bad job at keeping up with this guy. It also doesn't help that I've been doing tons of work on my other blog (click me) But anyways, enough with the excuses. Last week was our third competition of the season for our UTC team (Chatt Nasty). We did pretty solid pulling in 2nd (Matt Henckle) and 3rd (Joseph Ezell) in men's and 1st (Brea Holland), 2nd (Ashley Hamilton), and 3rd (Rachel Gilson) in women's! In other news, Joseph got eliminator the other day which is sweet. So far we're doing pretty good in the standings and the setting process has more than begun for the Chatt Town Throw Down!

The Chatt Town Throw Down is the 4th CCS competition of the season for the Appalachian region which is what UTC is in. Myself, Drew, Sam, Rachel, and Tommy have been setting for it all week and we're more than a little psyched! We've got some sweet swag lined up and some awesome people coming out to help us throw down! Climbers from Appalachian State University, Bravard College, UTK, Belmont, Chatt State, and several other schools will be coming out to rep it hard for their schools. One thing is for sure, seeing people climb our problems and getting to hang out with climbers all weekend is gonna be sweet. Here's what the poster looks like, if you're a college student, come out!! Here's the link for more information: (for more info, click here)