Home for the Holiday

Ben and his friend were down from Billings this morning to do some Bouldering at the Sphinx. They showed up just before 10:00 am and I was a bit skeptical as to there relative comfort level as it was cold at 7:00 am when I went to work. They chose a good day though and it was soon in the 50's and sunny with very little wind. They were set on some shralpers, namely The Plague V10 and Fuck Germain V7. I wished them well and told them if they could salvage some skin I would meet them later in the afternoon at the Antelope Boulder for a session in the sun.

Unfortunately the climbs exacted a toll in skin and perhaps some blood, and the promise of Family arriving for the coming Holiday sent them packing early. Too bad, cause I rousted Clint and Jason and eventually a swarm of other locals home for the Holiday came to join in on a fine session. Clint, Jason and I hit it just about perfect, arriving at about 1:30 to revel in the sun window that lasts until 3:00. The Provart brothers caught the last half an hour of sun in time to warm up. Drew arrived with Matt and Dave Klug after shade had engulfed the boulder but this didn't dampen their spirits at all.

Clint fired off Pocahook V7 very quickly and finally sewed together the intricacies of the Run Like An Antelope Traverse V8. It seems like every one climbed or learned several new problems and even though it got pretty damn cold toward the end, we all had fun. This vid has a few highlights from the day.

Another Afternoon at The AB from Mike Snyder on Vimeo.

A Few Afternoons in the Sun

Minimal Climbing lately has yielded, well, not much. I have been getting out once a week though and managed to make it over to Drew's new area North of town called Dry Creek. As usual the man has been busy cleaning new boulders and landscaping landings. I got a tour of six or so new blocs all of which were pretty good. My favorite was the Ecoterrorist, a cool albeit sandy V4.

Mike Snyder on The Ecoterrorist V4 from Mike Snyder on Vimeo.

I went back a week later with my wife and son and added a sit start to the right of this problem that has some great movement but is marred by being a bit contrived. I think it goes at about V6, I called it the Preservationist. Yeah I know, real inventive name... not my strong suit.

Drew, Logan Shane and I got out on Tuesday this week in search of some sun. The boys had designs on projects at the Antelope Boulder and I was able to talk them into warming up at the neighboring Sunshine Boulders. After a half an hour of V-zeroing, we turned to the arete in the entry corridor and ran through these great but kind of awkward problems as well. The Antelope beckoned, so we satched up what skin was left and headed down to this beaut. Surprisingly the warm up was just about right and we all felt strong.

We all punched out Sir Hugeness and the Tuk, two of the coolest V3's you'll find anywhere. Logan was psyched to do SH for his first time and we cheered him on to top it out. As a side note, no one ever tops these problems out unless succeeding for the first time because the down climb is a pain. Drew begged some beta for the best and most sandbagged V5 in town, Meathook. I gladly sprayed him down and soon after he sent. This seemed to be one of his most satisfying triumphs yet and he humbly sat in the nook above the problem breathing in his victory. I decided it was time for a go at Pocahook, a relentless link up of Pocahontas V6 across the high V5 link and into Meathook. I had become more and more interested in doing this since it was one of the few AB problems I hadn't done, and it forces the menacing Meathook move after considerable effort to get over to it.

I climbed through Pocahontas on my first attempt and was staring up at the Meathook move quickly thereafter. I reared back and hit it and as I topped out my mind raced with what to try next. Electric Nachos, a fussy one move V9 dyno piqued my interest, and so it began. I damn near stuck it in a handful of tries, but ultimately I had to walk away. Damn that boulder is good! Even if I finish it by completing every hard problem and goofball link up I can think of, I will still return because it really is that good.

This video showcases more the setting and angle of the AB than the problem being climbed. I would like to have done the beginning again to reveal whats going on at the start during the Pocahontas part but I had lost the light, so joining different angles may have been, well... disjointed. Hope you enjoy anyway.

Mike Snyder on Pocahook V7 from Mike Snyder on Vimeo.

News Story

Check this out. Angela Douglas from Q2 News in Billings, MT came down to Cody a few weeks ago and shot a story which aired on Sunday Night. Here is the Clip.