Japan

So I have been in Japan for the past few day and it has been amazing! The flight here was about 17 hours long but well worth it. Japan is a really fun place filled with lots and lots of people. I started my trip by flying into the Narita Airport and was shortly thereafter picked up by a 5.10 representative Kahaiho. He is a very nice guy who has been taking me around for the past few days. He is one of the few people here that I can actually communicate well with. It has been hard having to use mostly hand gestures for the last few days but a good experience for myself.

So far I have only climbed in the gym, but it both gyms I went to were really fun. My second day here I visited BPUMP 2. this is an all bouldering gym about 45 minutes south of Tokyo by train. Yesterday I competed in the Five Ten Cup, which was an experience in itself! The day started with a 60 foot lead climb (which I got my butt kicked in), followed by a bouldering competition (Which was a ton of fun and was fortunate enough to win!!!), followed by a speed competition, followed by a campusing competition, followed by a dyno competition. And that was just the semi-final round! The competition was a lot of fun and I will post pictures of once I get back to the United States.

Today, I am headed to an area outside where I have wanted to visit for some time now, Shiobara. This area is home to many of Dai Koyamada's infamous hard lines. I am very excited to try them even though I am pretty tired from yesterday and the day before climbing adventures. I am most psyched for two main lines that I have heard a lot about in the past, Hydra and Karamba. Both climb out a huge 30 foot roof and look to be just beautiful. I will take lots of pictures today and post when I return, as I fly back to the United States tomorrow afternoon.

New Hampshire

Sorry for the long lapse of no blog entries, I have been busy climbing up a storm in New Hampshire. The state is full of untapped beautiful granite! I had a great trip and the weather cooperated for us decently. Though we did have some rain and humidity, there were still dome really good days of sunshine and good bouldering.

I started my trip at an area close to Hanover, Etna. This area is very small but has some world class granite. The first day there was hot but none-the-less I had a blast. My friends from New York, Rocco and Ed, drove up for the weekend and we went directly to work on this amazing problem called "Blockbuster." The line is beautiful! Here is a picture of Ed working "Blockbuster."


We also went to an amazing boulder in the middle of the woods right by this amazing lak called "Spec Pond." Here is a picture of the Pond!


Spec Pond was a great area and I managed to get the first ascent of this really amazing line, "Spectacle Illusion" that goes right out the middle of this beautiful overhang. I also worked this project to the right which I am really excited to go back for in the future.

I also got to do some climbing at the more well-known areas of Rumney and Pawtuckaway. Both areas were a lot of fun. The granite at Pawtuckaway is amazing!!! Some of the best I have climbed on. At rumney I had a really good day of climbing and flashed both "Satan's Choice" and "Satan on a half shell" both of which are at the black jack boulder. At Pawtuckaway I sent two amazing lines that climb some impeccable granite, "Child of the Storm" and "Stand and Deliver." Both of these lines are on the Swirly boulder, one of the best boulders in all of New England.

All in all, a very exciting week! I am heading to Japan for a week on Wednesday and am super psyched about that. Until then it will be some indoor training to get ready.

Congrats to Daniel on his recent send of Suspension of Disbelief, V14. This boulder problem overcomes an amazing 18 foot wall with really hard moves to a very tough dyno finish. Daniel finished it on his seventh day of effort. He comments,

"if terre de sienne, esperanza, and swarm gets v14 and suspension gets 13,then all those should be 1" I

would completely agree with Woods. Though this is impossible that the above mentioned boulder are V12 but it does give people who have never tried Suspension a bit of an understanding of how hard it is. I have also tried Suspension for 5 days so far and feel that it has to be v14. It is the hardest thing I feel that I have ever tried except for the green 45 project. I cannot wait for the fall to get back on this amazing line when I get back to Colorado again but until then this boulder will definitely remain in my mind at night.

In other news, the gunks was a lot of fun. The weather was not prime but it was nice climbing with my girlfriend and great friends from back east. We went to Lost City on Saturday and had a blast. I managed to flash some really cool problems and the FA of this great v10 i called, "a dose of Novocaine" because it was darnnnn sharp! I also got the third ascent of this great v12, "ghost of an ant" and the FA since it recently broke. I will post some pics of Daniels send shortly.

Again great job Daniel!!! This boulder is quite possibly the hardest thing on the Front Range... but "Ode to the Modern Man" is a strong contender as well! I can't wait to try that one as well this upcoming fall. It does need a second!

no send :(

well today was really hot and humid.. not the best conditions for sending something at your limit. None the less I had a fun day and some good attempts. Daniel also had some good attempts but did not send. I believe he is going out there this weekend to try it some more. I am headed to the Gunks this weekend! It's been quite a while since I have been to the Gunks. It should be a fun weekend of seeing friends and hanging with the girl friend.

Updates to come on the Gunks trip, and hopefully some pictures!

Suspension of Disbelief Part 2

Here I am again posting over my latest obsession. This boulder problem is just so exciting for me. I feel that it is at my limit right now and completing this boulder would be one of my best accomplishments thus far in my climbing career.

I am heading out to Suspension today with Daniel, his dad, Scott (the master filmer), and his friend Alden. The weather here in CO seems to be cooperating quite well today. As I look out the window all I can see is blue skies and nice white clouds rolling by. weather.com is not predicting any rain and I'm really hoping today is the day.

I will post a re cap of the day later tonight... stay tuned!

To keep the eyes happy, here is a picture I found today that my good friend sent me of this new amazing boulder in NH. I am heading there in a little over a week to try a lot of amazing projects and shoot photos with Tim Kemple. Here is one of the boulders... all of the lines are projects!!!