Squamish and Progression

I have finally made it to Squamish! Alex and I drove from Portland the other day and are now in Squamish. The drive was long but well worth it. We got to climb yesterday for the first day. It was a bit on the warm side. Hopefully it will cool down shortly. Alex got an amazing flash set up for her new camera and her newest photos are looking amazing! I will post some up as soon as we get them on the computer. Hopefully it will cool down a bit and i can begin to try some difficult rock climbs!

Besides getting to Squamish, we had an awesome time at the Summer OR. The comp was fun, though i did not feel 100 percent. It was great to catch up with a lot of friends and meet some new ones. Besides the comp and the show was the first screening of a good portion of the new film by Josh lowell, (www.bigupproductions.com) Progression. The film looks like it is going to be amazing when finished! At the OR show, they showed segments on Tommy Caldwell in Yosemite, Chris Sharma on Jumbo Love, and Kevin Jorgeson on his new highballs in Bishop. All of it was super inspiring and the Reel Rock Tour in September should be quite a fun show to end across the country! Daniel and I filmed for Progression in South Africa last summer and it looks like Josh will be using this footage in the Progression DVD.

Anyway, the week was great and now i am in on of the most beautiful places in North America. stay tuned for pictures!

Portland

today we are leaving Humboldt county on our way to Portland to stay at my aunts house before departing for SLC. The weather has been amazing and we have one final day of climbing here before we make the trek up to Portland. It will be one day in Portland before we leave for the Outdoor Retail Show in Salt Lake. It will be nice to fly there since we have been driving quite a bit the last couple of weeks.

I plan on competing in the comp and hope that my lack of indoor climbing won't shut me down to badly. after the comp it is on our way again to Squamish, the main destination of our trip!

Humboldt

After a ton of driving Alex and I have finally made it to Humboldt! The weather is beautiful and the bouldering on the beach is spectacular! It feels nice to finally be in a place where it is not over 100 degrees outside! Waking up every morning to a cool breeze and amazing boulders is pretty perfect!

From here it is off to the tradeshow and then an extended period of time in Squamish where I cant wait to try the singularity and dream catcher!

More updates to come!

the big worm and area b

Lately I have been heading up to Evans in an attempt to finish up the last couple of lines in area A and also find some new lines in Area B.

I made a quick repeat of Dave's "Big Worm" last week. The line is all encompassing and about 20 or so moves out a huge roof. The line climbs quite well and I was very pleased to start off the alpine season with a fast send of this line.

Last week I explored area B a bit and with the help of a picture from Carlo, found a great project right in the beginning of B. Though a jug broke off in the middle making the line quite a bit harder, i still believe that the line will in fact go and may be one of the harder lines in all of Evans. Hopefully within the next few weeks i will have a better understanding of how hard this line may actually be.

Here are some pics taken by Alex Kahn.

a dedication to my hero

It has been a little while since I have updated my blog and i just have not really been able to think of words to put down. I flew back from NJ on Sunday evening to a week of relaxed climbing before the World Cup in Vail, CO. Prior to my departure my dad was admitted into the hospital due to complications from his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He had been fighting this for quite a few years and as i left i just was under the assumption he was going to get better and be back in no time to his good ol' self. The week went by and by Friday I had to try my best to turn all of my attention to concentrating on doing my best in the competition as i know that what he would have wanted me to do. I barely made it to semi finals and knew that i would have my work cut out for me on Saturday. Fortunately Saturday morning i climbed well and qualified for finals in 1st place. During the final round i had a hard time keeping my concentration and fell quite a bunch which slipped me back to 4th place where i finished the comp.

As soon as i was done competition i spoke with my mom who told me it was necessary to make my way home. I booked a flight for early the next morning. I unfortunately did not make it home in time and lost my absolute best friend that Sunday morning.

I wanted to write a blog in his dedication as he is the one who was always on top of me to make sure i updated. Since he was back in NJ and i was traveling the world this as well as our daily phone conversations was his way of seeing all the amazing things that i was up to. He definitely was my number one fan since i first put on a pair of climbing shoes at the young age of 11. He was by far the strongest person i have ever met and fought a really hard fight for many years. He has and always will be the person in life that i look up to most of all. I will definitely cherish the memories we have had together and push forward as i know he would want me to.

Finals

I am back in Boulder after a long flight home... Philadelphia's airport has a tendency to get you into the plane and have you sit in a line of about 20 planes before taking off. Anyway, the comp went well on Saturday night and fortunately i came out on top! The field was extremely strong and walking into iso i knew that it could have been anyone to take down the Gravity Brawl this year. I felt as if i climbed smart in finals and kept my head together.

This week is the final push before the World Cup this upcoming weekend! I am glad to have won the comp this last weekend giving me a lot of confidence for the main event this weekend. I am going to go climbing at Evans tomorrow in hopes to get the lungs ready for the high elevation that Vail will offer this weekend. Besides that it is back to summer school for me Modern Art 2 begins today.

I have been painting a ton and am about to finish off a new piece soon. I will post it up as soon as i complete it. Also the beginings of a new website are in effect, p-rob.com coming soon, hopefully!!!

qualis

day one of the mammut bouldering championships are over. I finished all of the climbs on day one and am going into finals right behind daniel. him and i were the only two to finish all of the boulders today in the mens category. The problems today were a bit technical and hopefully will be a great deal harder tomorrow.

Tomorrow evening is finals and i am looking forward to it! My little brother is back climbing again and he is going to be competing again in his first competition tomorrow and i am very psyched for him! He has only been climbing for a few months and killing it already! i looking forward to seeing how he does tomorrow.

After the comp it is back to Boulder and one last week of climbing before the main event, the vail world cup. I am so excited for the comp and am getting more and more nervous as each day passes. More news tomorrow!



qualifiers 4

NJ Bound

I am about to head to the airport to go to NJ to compete in the mammut bouldering championship at the NJ Rock Gym. It is always fun going home and competing against good friends and being on my "home turf." Its been quite sometime since i have been home. last time home i was just learning to walk again so it will be very nice to go home and be in good shape again and ready to compete! I feel ready and am super excited to get the weekend underway!

Last weekend totally sucked. Alex and i made the trek to Joe's to find it raining and it never stopped. Then we drove to Salt lake where it continued to rain and on monday morning we drove all the way bac to boulder. I climbed on wet rock for 30 minutes and in the gym for 4 hours. oh well sometimes the weekend just doesnt pan out to all it was meant to be.

off to NJ wish me luck!

Summer

Summer has officially begun. My finals went well and i am now taking a few credits this summer in an attempt to reach my final goal of graduation. The weather down in Boulder is heating up a lot and it seems like in no time the bouldering up in the park and Evans will be in its prime! i have a bunch of lines that i am super psyched on and am hoping to find some amazing FA's!

This upcoming weekend i am headed to Joe's Valley for a long weekend of bouldering with Alex. It looks like their are a lot of amazing boulders that have been put up recently and I am psyched to get on! The new line masterpiece put up by Litz a few months ago looks to be amazing and i think i am going to be putting that line at the top of my list!

Besides that i have been working very hard on getting ready for the world cup in a couple of weeks! It is coming up super soon and i am getting very excited! it looks like there will be a lot of strong competitors there! i will get some pictures this weekend in Joe's and post when i return!

1 more day

today is the last day of the spring semester and i am taking a short break from my studying to write this blog post. the past few weeks have been a complete whirl wind for me. i have been studying, finishing final projects, and above all training for the upcoming world cup event in Vail!

Today marks the last day of the semester and i am psyched. after this i will only have one class in the mornings during the week for summer school and then it will be off to the park, evans, or wherever to find amazing new boulders to be climbed in Colorado. very psyched!

with that i am back to studying! wish me luck as sociology is quite the killer and i am studying my brains out in an attempt to pull in a B. ahhhhhhh.

Back In Boulder

The past few weeks have been quite the whirl wind for me. The end of the semester has come around and school has become super hectic! I am trying to get my all of my art projects done as well as prepare for my final exams and write papers.

I got back from a short trip to Kauai with my family last week which was to say the least, amazing! I totally would be living there right now if i did not have climbing in my life. the lifestyle is amazing and i cant wait to go back, hopefully someday soon!

Now that i am back in Boulder, my training for the world cup has truly begun! I am building a really strong endurance base this year by doing lots of routes at the BRC a couple of days a week with my girlfriend. The other days i have been spending climbing at CATS training really hard boulder problems. As the weeks go by i think i am going to start spending more time at CATS not only training hard boulders but also doing intense 40 move power endurance problems.

I feel that last year, my endurance could have been a bit better before the comp so this year i am making sure to be a bit more prepared. I didnt rope climb at all before the comp and i hope to see positive results from getting on a rope 6-8 weeks prior to the competition.

Other than that, i made a quick evening session up to the flatirons with Robyn Erbesfield's son Shawn. He just turned 11 the other day and totally crushed "The Turning Point" on his 3rd day of effort! Very impressive to say the least. I climbed this really nice 8a that i did not know the name of. It felt nice to be outside again. The weather here in Boulder has heated up a great deal and i am hoping the sun stays but the temps will get a bit cooler in the upcoming weeks. There are a few things around here i would like to get on before the summer heat rolls in and it is up to the park and evans to hide from the heat back down in boulder.

Also, a nice video of my ascent of "Psychedelic" on the main page of Dead Point Magazine if anyone is interested!


yes it is hung crooked i know (i didnt have a ruler at the time).

relaxing!

Rocky Mountain Highball Premiere - April 27th Boulder Theatre

Everyone should come out, if you are going to be around, to the premiere of Rocky Mountain Highball at the Boulder Theater on April 27th!!! For more info visit rockymountainhighball.com and get your tickets here www.bouldertheater.com/event_detail.php?id=1067!



Me on Diamonds, V7, RMNP.

breakin the law - check

yesterday was my last full day of climbing for my 09 spring break trip. I decided to check out this nice 14b at the black and tan wall called "Breakin the Law." put up by Dave Graham a while back. The line is about 70 feet tall but the crux is down low followed by a very involved slab at the top. I had a great flash go falling off of the last hard move before the final slab section and managed to do the line a few tries later! it was a very fun route besides the slippery feet through the crux bit!

Today it is off to the Gorilla cliffs again for a first attempt at "The Present" before heading to Vegas tonight and flying back to the snow covered Boulder, Colorado tomorrow morning. Sorry for the lack of climbing photos. Hopefully some will pop up int he next week or so and i will be able to post some up! Let's hope that the weather in Boulder gets good again soon!!

psychedelic - check!

So today was the first day that i can actually say that i have done a legit route! I nabbed the second ascent of "Psychedelic" 5.14d at the gorilla cliffs outside of St. George in Southern Utah! Though the route is only 60 feet tall i really had to give it everything i had to get this thing done. 60 feet is a heck of a lot for a boulderer!

After the send, i went to moe's and made a quick ascent of cloverland, V12. The day was great and i am very relieved to have finished my hardest route to date! from 13c to 14d! back to bouldering!?

St. George

I have made it and i am officially a rope climber for the next couple of days. I have to say my first day at the Gorilla Cliffs was a lot of fun. I warmed up on a nice 11b "adventure" climb i would like to call it. Then it was a few climbs to the right for my initial attempts at "Psychedelic." My first time up the climb i hardly climbed on the route but rather just went from draw to draw putting up those snatchlinks and chalking up the holds. It seems as if some time has passed since anyone has climbed on this amazing route.

After my initial scoping of the route I did the upper sequence on my first go and decided it was time to try the crux sequence. For my first day and it being quite warm i feel as if it went quite well! I figured out the moves and am very psyched to get back on it again! The crux boulder problem is hard! it is just past vertical and very technical on the feet. The holds are small and each one you have to hit exactly right. After the crux boulder problem it is maybe 13a to the top where you end up finishing about 60 feet off the ground. I just wish the weather would get a bit colder because the holds hurt when your skin is soft!

More to come!

Five Ten Treasure Hunt

Back from Hueco

This weekend was the second time I was able to boulder outside since injuring my left ankle back in mid October. It was amazing to be back in Hueco again and climbing at what felt like the best i have ever climbed before!

The weekend started off hot! but the day of the comp came and the temps were perfect!!! I started my day by doing Terre de Sienne and then Diaphanous Sea all with in the first hour of the comp. It was cool to get back onto a climb that had been so difficult for me in the past. After this it was on to what would end up being my hardest climb of the day, Algerita. I had done the climb the year before and booted up and quickly found myself about to finish the climb on the last move that is no harder than v5 and as i crossed over to the final jug i broke a crucial handhold with my left foot and found myself on the ground a split second later. I eventually was able to figure out how to send the line with the broken hold and in my opinion feel like it was the hardest thing i did of the day. Though i do not know if i would call it v14 it is for sure a solid v13 now (probably was soft v12 prior to my breaking of the hold).

Anyway, i then found myself at a nice roof called techo de los tres B. I did it first go and moved on to the last v13 on my list, Diabolique. This climb is one of my favorites in Hueco Tanks and was a pleasure to do again. I hooked it up in a few minutes and was psyched to only have one climb left!

By this point in the day my ankle was in a lot of pain and my tips were pretty much purple but i had to finish strong so it was on to loaded direct. After a few crappy tries falling on the second move, i stuck the crux right hand sloper and climbed it to the top.

It felt amazing to be climbing outside again. though i feel as strong as ever my ankle still seems to be holding me back a lot as i was in a considerable amount of pain through the day. Hopefully with in the next few months i will be able to get back to 100 percent again in my left ankle.



Besides that it was a great weekend with good friends and i am psyched for Spring Break... Psychedelic and Rastaman! Stay tuned!!!

Hueco Bound

I am fortunately heading to Hueco for a nice long weekend. Unfortunately we are sitting at the Denver Airport waiting for a plane that is now going to be over 3 hours delayed and won't get A.Kahn or I into El Paso until 2:00 AM, Friday morning... The weather is looking like it is going to be unbearably warm but I am hoping for some coller evening temperatures for another attempt at the Full Sit start to Esperanza. Though with highs in the 80's I am unsure as to how much luck I am going to get.

It has been over a year since i have been to Hueco and i am very excited to get back. Though i wish it were for longer, it will be nice to have weekend in the bouldering mecca of the United States.

wish us luck!

a long 4 months

Sorry for the lack of updates but here is a big one to make up for the past few weeks. My healing has been going great and I have decided to get the screw taken out as soon as I can find a spare minute in my schedule to do so! It has officially been 4 months since I injured myself. Other than that, my limp is pretty much gone, I am able to begin falling on my left foot again as long as it is a controlled fall, and the strength in my leg seems to be growing every single day!



ABS Nationals: Besides being sick (with either the plague or the flu, I have yet to determine) and extremely nervous, I am very happy with my performance. It helps knowing that people are truly cheering you on but it does not take away from the anxiety of wanting to win or at least to perform at your best. As I learned in a SLC comp, it does not matter how strong you are (or how much support you get from the crowd) if you do not read the problem correctly, it is a VERY LONG 5 minutes. I believe that my strength is 100% back, but I still need more time for my overall balance and strength in my leg to fully return. I have been going to a physical therapist twice a week and it has helped speed up the recovery tremendously. The problem setting at ABS was outstanding. I was very impressed with everyones climbing and dedication this year at ABS Nationals. I can definitely see some young guns who will be taking top positions in comps with in the next few years. I better keep training harder than ever!
Now that nationals are done and my ankle is nearly healed, I can start climbing outdoors again. I am going to the Hueco 2009 Rock Rodeo in less than 2 weeks. I will be putting all of my effort into a project. It is the sit start to Esperanza. It starts on on Right Martini and then finishes on Esperanza. It is about 18 or so power moves on a near roof. It is going to be a real test of endurance. I am still a little tentative of a high fall so this project is going to be perfect for my short trip.
After Hueco, I am heading to Saint George and Bishop on March 18th for 11 days (spring break). My main goal is to get the second ascent of DG’s Psychedelic. My tick list below:
Psychedelic, Saint George
Breakin the Law, Saint George
The Present, Saint George
I will then head to Bishop for the rest of this trip. Once again, I plan on working the sit start to Rastaman. This will be my third spring break trying this problem. I know a lot of other climbers have also put effort into this line. I am able to do every move and have come extremely close to linking it; however, the crux move is a long reach to an almost nothing crimp off of a pinch that is barely a hold. If I send it, I honestly think it will be my hardest send to date, and it will certainly be the hardest boulder problem in Bishop; although, I am not looking forward to the top out.
After Bishop, it will be back to school to finish off the semester before yet again embarking on some amazing climbing adventures.
Deadpoint magazine has also asked me for a monthly blog. Therefore, between these two sites I hope to continue to share my experiences. Again, I am very sorry for the lack of updates, time is truly flying! Count on more updates and photos soon!

B-town Stompin'

It has been almost a month since my last update and a lot has happened over that time.

First of all, I am officially “bootless”. The doc has given me permission to “officially” start therapy and training. The only decision I need to make is to keep or take out the screw. There are good and bad reasons for each. I am leaning toward taking it out because it hurts. If anyone has any experience on this issue, please let me know.

In reality, I never stopped training. I feel pretty strong. My overall balance is not back yet but I am sure it will be shortly. I have been climbing a ton with Carlo Traversi and Alex Puccio. we have been doing a lot of sport climbing and i am having a lot of fun with it. It is great to be training with those two and really pushing forward in trying to heal my ankle back to being healed. I have also been climbing at CATS to keep my finger strength in tact.

After 8 months of not being in school the first week was quite intense. I have officially completed my first week and am looking forward to a relaxing four day weekend. I am headed to Clear Creek with Carlo Today in hopes of sending this 14a called Primeval. I tried this route once or twice 2 years ago and look forward to giving it another try today!

Other than that, i am just going to continue to train for the months ahead and am on a crash course in attempts to be ready to compete at ABS Nationals in February! I will be updatin a lot more now that i am officially back home and finally settled in! So stay tuned!

Final Draft: 2009 Tick List

The final days of 2008 are among us and I am beyond PSYCHED to start the new year! I look forward to many amazing adventures and an all around awesome year. As always, check back throughout the year for exclusive blog posts regarding my travels and hopefully keeping on a steady pace of sending the craziest list i have ever come up with! Hopefully i will send all of these this year!!!

2009 list

9a

USA

Psychedelic, Saint George

Spain

Es Pontas, Mallorca

8c

Breakin the Law, Saint George

8b+

USA

The Present, Saint George

8C

USA

Rasta Man Vibration Sit (Project), buttermilks (all depending on ankle)

France

Satan I helvete assis, font-Long’s Vaux

Switzerland

From dirt grows the flowers, chironico
Brione “Bi polar Hi roller Project”, Brione

Italy

Gioia, Varazze

8B+

USA

Suspension of Disbelief, Eldo

France

Gecko assis, font-Les Beaux Quartiers
Kheop’s Assis, font

Switzerland

Never Ending Story, Magic Wood (must have revenge!)
Dreamtime, Cresciano
Confessions, Cresciano

Austria

Bugeleisen, malltatal
Emotional landscapes, malltatal

8B

France

Gecko, font-Les Beaux Quartiers
Fata morgana assis, font-Long’s Vaux
Satan I helvete, font-Long’s Vaux

Switzerland

Shadowfax, Chironico
La prue, Cresciano

Austria

Golden Gate, Silvretta

8A+

France

Total eclipse, font-Cul De Chien
Chaos, font-Rocher Gréau
Big Dragon, font-Petit Bois
Karma, Font
Partage, font

Switzerland

Kirk windstain, cresciano
Collateral, Chironico

But more than anything I look forward to going out and searching for projects around the world! I will continue to keep my eyes open for amazing new lines all over and see what i can find and hopefully climb!

Happy New Year! And good luck with all of your 2009 tick lists!

happy holidays

I have been walking now for a few mere weeks and my ankle seems to be responding super well. It has now been 2 months and 1 week since the injury occurred and it seems as if it shouldn’t be more than one more month before I will be able to wear both my climbing shoes again, on a rope of course.

I am unsure at the moment when I will be getting back to bouldering again but am hoping that with the physical therapy I am going to start in Boulder the healing should go by a lot faster. My psyche is very high and besides my endurance, I feel quite strong. I am really hoping that my return will yield some of the best climbing I have ever done.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season and an awesome 2009! Keep a look out for the final tick list for 2009 in the next week or so.

preliminary draft: 2009 ticklist

So here it is. Unfortunately as many of you know my trip to Europe was cut short because of an unfortunate left ankle break in the middle of my trip. But now i am on the healing course and very much looking forward to the year 2009!!! I have below the preliminary list of boulders and routes (:gasp!!!:) that i would like to climb this upcoming year. First off i am sure that i will not only add to this within the next few weeks and will post a final before the end of the year but of course will ass to the last throughout 2009 as boulders get my attention from area to area. As for plans for 2009, I will be doing a semester at CU this Spring and then one month long semester known as "maymester" before yet again embarking on a 7 month journey, with hopefully no injuries or set backs this time around! And for Spring break it seems as if it may be spent rope climbing in St. George, Utah in an attempt to go for the firs repeat of Dave Graham's "Psychedelic," and hopefully squeezed in there a few days in Bishop if my ankle is ready for outdoor bouldering by then. As you can see on the list there is no real summer destination included. I have yet to determine where exactly i would like to go this summer, though i know it will be somewhere in the southern hemisphere, maybe South Africa again or possibly even an adventure down to South America! Anyway, as always feel free to comment on my list and of course if there are any climbs i am seemingly missing, please let me know!

2009 list

9a

USA

Psychedelic, Saint George
Es Pontas, Mallorca (yes!!! so very psyched for Mallorca!!!)

8c

Breakin the Law, Saint George

8C

USA

Rasta Man Vibration Sit (Project), buttermilks (all depending on ankle)

France

Satan I helvete assis, font-Long’s Vaux

Switzerland

From dirt grows the flowers, chironico
Brione “Bi polar Hi roller Project”, Brione

8B+

USA

Suspension of Disbelief, Eldo

France

Gecko assis, font-Les Beaux Quartiers

Switzerland

Never Ending Story, Magic Wood (must have revenge!)
Dreamtime, Cresciano
Confessions, Cresciano

Austria

Bugeleisen, malltatal
Emotional landscapes, malltatal

8B

France

Gecko, font-Les Beaux Quartiers
Fata morgana assis, font-Long’s Vaux
Satan I helvete, font-Long’s Vaux

Switzerland

Shadowfax, Chironico
La prue, Cresciano

Austria

Golden Gate, Silvretta

8A+

France

Total eclipse, font-Cul De Chien
Chaos, font-Rocher Gréau
Big Dragon, font-Petit Bois
Karma, Font

Switzerland

Kirk windstain, cresciano
Collateral, Chironico


Rasta Man Sit, Bishop Photo: Jeff Sillcox

the docs

It has been getting harder and harder to sit through the beautiful fall/winter days that keep unfolding before me. But I know that with each passing day my ankle is slowly starting to make its way back to its previous state.

Today was my greatly anticipated doctor’s appointment. X-rays were taken and after what felt like days, the doctor came in to diagnose the healing effort. I was happy to hear that it has been healing very well and properly. I still am in my boot for one more month but am now able to weight the foot 100 percent all the time as well as begin some minor physical therapy exercises. It was a great feeling to be heading in the right direction again!

In one month I will be able to walk without the boot freely as I please and shortly after that I will be getting the screw removed from my ankle and I will be back climbing again in no time!!! The wait has definitely been very mind numbing and days have grown ever so long but it looks like I have gone over that final hump and the end is getting ever closer.

I head back to Boulder in little over one month to start up another semester at the University of Colorado. Until then I plan to continue the training I have been as well as start to gain the mobility and strength back into my left ankle.