A Whirlwind

With Summer in full swing, we are busy! The shop is raging along and Meg and I are busy with side work projects as well, but when has that ever meant there wasn't time for climbing.
The success of our first family weekend camping in Ten Sleep prompted an even longer weekend, Friday through Sunday. I charged the drill packed an extra rope and all the required steel. So many routes have gone in this year, everyone is psyched and some real good 'fill-ins' have been put up. The vibe was apparently infectious enough to spur me into taking on another long route requiring lots of cleaning. The new rig took an evening and most of the next day to prep and its a doozy. It seemed easy enough to maybe send quickly, being that there aren't really any stopper moves. I tried it right away and was shut down. It gets bouldery up high and the clips are farther apart due to the lack of clipping stances. Oh yes and it overhangs nearly 20 feet in 85', with no vertical sections. Perhaps I underestimated a bit and have had six runs on it with no success yet. It is mentally and physically taxing yet still a lot of fun and I am still psyched on it, so hopefully everything will fall into place this weekend.

The local posse is still bouldering religiously every Tuesday and Thursday evening despite the smarmy summer heat. I am so not psyched about bouldering right now, yet hanging with the homies is always a kick, plus there is a movement towards landscaping right now. It is interesting how this has slowly gained momentum over the years and is now gradually reshaping the landings of many of the frequently visted boulders. Controversial perhaps yet almost unanimously appreciated.

My picture taking has reduced to nothing and I can't seem to shoot a video of anything worthwhile, so I have nothing to post on that.

On the local news front the boys are polishing up boulder problems they have been working for a while. Oh, and with the dangerous rock removed from the landing of the Orange Ripple Boulder, the Problem Ancient Sea of Fire now goes straight up as a dyno without much anxiety. We ran the train on it the other night, it seems like V5 or 6 and is way more fun than the original shoulder wrenching method first used. Props to J-Tow for snagging what I think was the FA of the direct line a few years back before the landing was fixed. Also Kerrick Stinson got the second ascent of Prize Fighter the supposed V10 sit start to the Spugilist. LG got the FA years ago due to his brute strength and enormous wing-span. Kerrick worked something different out, so I am psyched to have a look. Also he has finally found the brilliant and clandestine Clam Shell boulder which should keep him busy for a short while.