Behind the Scenes Video - Midwest Regional Comp, Upper Limits, Saint Louis Nov, 2013

From our friend Dane Iwata...

Possible Shoe Tariff in 2013 Reversed

From the press release:

The eight bills are continuations of existing bills, meaning that the administration’s opposition would have resulted in sudden increased tariffs on specialty footwear products that represent 30 percent of all outdoor specialty sales.

“We set our pricing on a six-month basis, so we would have had to absorb the increased costs,” said Jonathan Lantz, president of La Sportiva North America. “We would have taken a big hit, which would have limited our plans for hiring, marketing and employee appreciation programs in 2013."

http://www.outdoorindustry.org/news/industry.php?newsId=17559
http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/shoe-tax-might-hit-climbers-hard-2013

Since I favor Sportivas these days, thank goodness. I wasn't relishing a 38% increase in prices and being forced into a different brand.

Stone Fort - Thanksgiving 2012

Climbers: Uncle Ben, Aunt May (aka Bingo Hammer), Peter Parker (aka Spiderman, aka Conorman), John & Jaime Kreft

Weather: VVS-1

We're hopefully headed back for a New Years trip soon, and I promised to post something documenting the fun we had over Turkey Day.... which started well. We went and saw the family in St. Louis and after the obligatory time, said our goodbyes and hit the road. Team Kreft had left a bit earlier and was already situated in Chattanooga on Friday morning. We crashed at a Microtel (hint: don't use the one by Clarksville - cheap but gross) around 2am and got up early to head into the Stone Fort.

The Stone Fort, or Little Rock City, has a special place in my heart. It's the first bouldering trip I took with my boss-to-be Angie and we had a great time. Angie also scared the bejesus out of me on that trip and rarely misses an opportunity to remind me of that... so... I returned the favor this time. :)

Spiderman on the prowl...

Friday

We met Team Kreft by the Slice and Dice boulder and Mystery Machine boulder to warm up.

Incredarete V1 - John must have climbed this at least 6 times

Ruby Roo V2 - weird problem, but interesting

Mystery Machine V3 - thin and sketchy

Two Can Sam V3

V2 variation

The Wave V6 - John worked this thing a few times in relative humidity and put it down quickly.

Spiderman got a little restless to go after the Goblin, so he swung off with Jaime in tow for the day.

John stayed with us; he'd been to LRC several times previously and graciously showed us around again since our last trip was over 5 years ago.

Crack of Doom Area was next:

A Face in the Crowd V7 - crimpy!

Stand Start variation V3 - less crimpy!

Super Mario received a lot of hype, so that was next:

Super Mario V4

Red House V7

Red House Extension V8 - John only

Super Mario V4 starts on jugs, moves straight up into some decent crimps before you trend right to stretch into an undercling, set a critical knee bar to reach the next holds. Angie struggled to find the kneebar and put it aside for another day. John warmed up on it, then styled Red House on his first try.

Peter Parker is pooped. You should see The Goblin.

It was getting late, so we trended back and went to the Jungle Gym Area:

The Big Much V4 - Angie sends!

I tried Jerry's Kids V7, "A Stone Fort Classic" but was thwarted. JK forces a pivot reach while your right arm is locked off and your feet are set sideways - a definite weakness for me.

Saturday

We got up early and headed out. Another clear day! Warmed up in the same area by Slice and Dice:

The Mane Event V4 - Angie crushes!

All of a sudden I couldn't send Ruby Roo V2 and I started to feel a bit weird. Ha.

The Wave V6 - John sprayed me down with beta and it went on my 3rd try. This was definitely on the to-do list from my first trip several years ago. Such a cool looking boulder. You slap up a smooth arete and topping out is the crux. Good thing we had lots of pads.

Feeling good, we headed down to The Hulk Boulder

What you don't see here is a treacherous rock under the pad. John was an inch from the lip and came straight down onto the pad. Which would normally be fine, but his foot caught the edge of the deformation and twisted. Yikes. Immediate swelling commenced, but John gritted his teeth and made it through the rest of the day. I felt terrible and guilty; I should have known better and put another small pad under the main pad to even it out. John was a good guy and didn't complain, but I feared his trip was cut short.

Next up was Deception V7. Stunning. Beautiful. And a vertical poor man's Shield V12. I was itching to climb it after Chad Tenbroek had described it to me. A twisting stab into a slot requires precision and is "deceptively hard." That part actually didn't bother me and with several other climbers there, we had good vibes working the problem. I didn't send though... the second to last hard move thwarted me repeatedly and I had to back away. I felt good about working it though.

Angie and Jaime worked on White Trash V5, which features a low, powerful traverse into a long move and a sketchy layback topout using a slopey rail. Hard though.

After a while, we then moved down to Cyclops V6, one of Jaime's goals for the trip.

Jaime sticking the crux move

John crushed this thing in a couple goals with a bum ankle. Inspiring! Jaime worked the low start, which I think is a bit reach dependent, after sending the stand start very quickly, and made fast progress, but saved the send for another day. Cyclops starts low and requires bumping up some thin crimps before setting up for the throw you see Jaime sticking. After that, a nice rest prepares you for a spicy topout. Not hard, but you're stretched sideways and a heel-hook reminds you it's best not to blow it 18 feet up. I was happy to send it after several aborted attempts.

Meanwhile, Angie eyed the traverse next door on the Monster Boulder and sent Monster Extension, her first V5! Monster Extension requires finishing on Sacrifice V2, which is a bit of a highball slab finish. The finish is committing. Angie worked it several times and backed down each time. Both John and Jaime climbed Sacrifice and worked out beta to show Angie... 

Angie eyeballing the slab finish.

Which she then refined once and promptly sent. Very proud send!

Sunday found us tired but ready to try some unfinished business. We warmed up and moved to Galaxy 5000 V5 - wicked hard! None of us could do the problem, although John pieced together the dyno (of course). Angie was interested in The Dragon Lady V4 so we moved to that corridor.

Dragon Lady is unique; the ladies worked it but it's very height dependent and it was interesting watching them go all out on the moves.

Jaime then flashed Tristar V4 - which I couldn't even start. Amazing. I asked her for her beta and I was still stumped.

Jaime then onsighted Latin for Daggers V5 - John sent soon after. Latin for Daggers is aptly named. Thin climbing takes you just high enough to eye the pads, then requires a strong move to get to the finish. I wasn't able to commit to the final move. I didn't get to see her send, but I tried it several times, always falling at the top. Hard!

Team Kreft then left for home, while Angie and I worked Life is Goodlett V6 with a group of guys before leaving. Angie made great progress in a short period of time and I was able to send after working the crux a couple times. It's low to the ground and not very aesthetic, but it was a satisfying send at the end of the trip.

Big props to John for crushing V6/7 so casually. Props to Jaime for on sighting two bloody hard problems and props to Angie for sending her second and third V4's and first V5 this trip.

For the regular ibuprofen users (pre- and post- exercise)

From the article...

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/for-athletes-risks-from-ibuprofen-use/?src=me&ref=general

Animal studies have also shown that ibuprofen hampers the ability of muscles to rebuild themselves after exercise. So why do so many athletes continue enthusiastically to swallow large and frequent doses of ibuprofen and related anti-inflammatory painkillers, including aspirin, before and during exercise?


“The idea is just entrenched in the athletic community that ibuprofen will help you to train better and harder,” Dr. Nieman said. “But that belief is simply not true. There is no scientifically valid reason to use ibuprofen before exercise and many reasons to avoid it.”


Dr. van Wijck agrees. “We do not yet know what the long-term consequences are” of regularly mixing exercise and ibuprofen, she said. But it is clear that “ibuprofen consumption by athletes is not harmless and should be strongly discouraged.”

Possible new climbing shoe tax - 38% increase

http://www.denverpost.com/boulder/ci_22086527/looming-footwear-tariffs-worry-boulder-outdoor-industry

Better stock up on some shoes...

Chasing Summer Reflections

We've had a great summer/fall season of climbing here in St. Louis. "Summer in St. Louis; Great?" You ask? Yep, summer and in St. Louis.

My earliest climbing memory for this 'Fall Season' stretches back to Jackson Falls June 6, 2012... I had one of those fun, magical days of climbing.

Climbers: Woody, Jaime, Sophie, Fran, Calvin
Weather: Unreal - dry and cool (60's).

You see the weather forecast and you think, "It's June. This is a freak weather pattern. We better get outside pronto." So we did. The summer drought had really scorched the midwest and I'd never seen the Falls this dry. The stream was gone. No waterfall, just a stagnant pool of water that only a mosquito could love marinated at the base of the falls.

We had a fun group and low expectations; it's June after all. If you can climb in June at Jackson, either you're crazy, a glutton for punishment, or you're in that early stage of love affair with climbing and think any climbing is better than none. We figured we'd show up and be lucky to get on some routes. Boy, were we lucky.

Major props to Woody for flashing his first (I believe) .11b, Stand and Deliver. Woody's a former NCAA level gymnast, and I believe he pulled out all he had from his bag of tricks to deliver on this climb. S&D climbs a deep water groove with two blunt aretes for your climbing enjoyment and an interesting crux. It's almost never dry this time of year. Any hint of rain and it seeps for the rest of the season.

Heartbreak of the day goes to Jaime for almost sending .12b, CroMagnon Warrior on her second try, with a minor foot slip after the crux at bolt 4 resulting in a cruel non-send. But she did crush Twist, .11c, Yuppie with a Gun, .11a, as did Sophie, .11c, both in great style.

As I mentioned, it was one of those rare, magical days for me. I just felt super light all day and I've been chasing that feeling ever since. I was able to climb one route from .10a - .11c and Cromagnon as well on my second attempt, after spending some time sussing beta. I didn't try anything super hard, but climbing was supremely enjoyable. I hope for more days like that.

I've been reflecting on our past season of climbing experiences with great friends. Each climbing milestone is, of course, a personal achievement. But our climbing family/group/community that we loosely call "Team Saucisson" elevates and energizes those experiences. I'll always enjoy climbing, whether just with my wife or with a larger group. But Team Saucisson is the best climbing family one could have. They're second to none.