Sacrifices

The past week of being a single parent with two kids got me thinking. A lot. At the end of 5 days I felt the, overwhelming at times, burden of a responsibility which urges me to give "my kids" the best. This is not so much concerned with worldly things as it is time, love, and attention. This week has made me feel proud, exhausted, lonely, frustrated, accomplished, caged, and elated. The life of a parent seems to be a true rollercoaster. One that I am not ready to truly ride. This also brings up the question of sacrificing my priorities. A hard pill to swallow on the idea and even more difficult to commit to doing. Seems, for the time being, I am still in the same boat. Lots of thoughts and so little time to express and discuss.

Fatherhood

As a public service announcement to those who stumble across this blog, do not have sex until you are ready to be a parent. Being a parent when you are not truly ready to give up your desires, freedom, hobbies, and social life blows. Your children's joys become your joy. So before I go any further, I would like to thank my parents. They were perfect in every sense of the word when it came to my upbringing. Thankyou for all your sacrifices and all the times you gave us to Grandmother and Gramps. As children, we wished you needed a break more often.

From Wednesday to Sunday of this week the parents of the family for which I nanny are in San Francisco with their youngest son. Thus, I am left with the two oldest boys. I now know what it's like to be a working, single parent with desires for something greater in life. This job has taught me that I definitely want children, that I will be an excellent father someday down the road, that children must be taught to use manners and behave, and that family time is of utmost importance. Also, George Karl of the Denver Nuggets and I agree that shaking a baby is not an option. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yanpWXl9kRg NEVER.

So, it's been mustache-freezing cold in Boulder for the past week or two, which means inside activities. When I haven't been running my daddy daycare or selling shoes, I've been training at Movement quite a bit for some winter climbing at Hueco tanks State Park. I'm excited to say the least. Well, hopefully the moon, stars, and galaxies align and I get to have some off days in the upcoming months.

One Sixth

I spend one sixth of my total hours each week standing in front of this board with these holds. This is my most dominate, time-consuming relationship outside of work and sleep. Sometimes I pause and talk to people, but for the most part it's full throttle, no holds bared, all out war to succeed at whatever I decide is the task. I love the simplicity of the party tricks, a few moves, and failing because I am physically incapable. It is in front of this board that I realize my body has blatant deficiencies, inabilities, and a blessing or two. It is a beautiful thing to be constantly failing and, at the same time, gaining a deeper understanding of how your body works.

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin

There is a song that goes with the headline, but since all my media is on virus lock-down you will have to youtube it yourself. My computer has a terrible virus. "Boo, you whore." - Mean Girls.

This means more time do more rewarding things like punting on Flagstaff Mtn. I have a terrible disease which causes me to think I can climb any boulder problem. Well, maybe this is a blessing in disguise about 5 years early, once all my ingrams and physicals abilities manifest themselves. There are 4 climbs I have chosen to do before the New Year. These are not the greatest, most beautiful, most attainable, or even ones that I like. Sometimes the only reason is because it's there. Actually, that's a lie...because it's close. Anyway the winners are Trice, Apochalypse, Cage Free, and Free Range. Maybe you know them; maybe you don't. Who cares about the grade, who cares about the name even. I have chosen them because they are essentially two climbs with traverses, which were added to the beginning to make them harder, to produce 4 lines. Sounds a little like the pre-Arkansas visit a month-and-a-half ago. So I tried Trice yesterday and got spanked for a slew of reasons, but that's whatever. Sometimes it takes a visit to realise what you're against. Hopefully, next time will be a different result. Thye reason for trying these particular climbs is mostly "because;" however, they are intended to the the final chapter of my 2009 climbing year. If half of these get completed, it will be the exclamation to a year of improvement, injury, training, and growth. The second if is, if I can continue this rampage of mental growth, training, understanding, and systematically attempting to eliminate weaknesses, I will easily be one the top climbers in the world. Some people are laughing right now, or at least raising eyebrows. If completing half of the first task wasn't arduous enough, deciding to throw another 12 months on top of it seems truly impossible.

I'm a firm supporter of believing. Seems like if I believe enough, then it happens. Well, I've been exercising that since I wasn't sure if I would make it through architecture school 4 years ago. Turns out, it almost always comes true and quicker than I hoped. Keep your ears to the streets for the next year. Who knows, I might not have kids anymore, climb impossible rocks, and be the King of England. Well, why not try.

Schtuff

It's been a while. Yep. Seems like the world is getting older and stuff has happened. Max trashed his ankle. Psychedelia came and went. I almost quit my job on two consecutive days last week, but then decided that would be financial suicide. Halloween is coming and Thanksgiving will have happened before too long. Jimmy and Brion are climbing things. Half of the people in the US are supposed to get swine flu. Thank goodness I already had it. And an Arkansas woman climbed a v8?!

That's right, I got the dirty from Jason and he said among other news about two weeks ago, Morgan Gattis became the first woman from Arkansas to climb a v8. Crazy! Well, maybe not really to most people, but it pretty much blows my mind. Orbital Mechanics was the victim at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Jason said it was pretty much domination once the infallible beta was installed. Well again congrats Morgan, but it's time to climb a 9. Yep that's always been my attitude and I'm sticking to my guns.

Another thing you should stick to are your morals. Last week was a tough one, not so much for me but the people around me made it difficult. Husbands beating wives makes me realize things I will never do and things I don't want to condone. Well, can't fully support thos ideals until I have a real job. Otherwise, I would be actively making myself homeless. Dumb.

Well, the Yankees made it again. Hope they can pull out a win this year. If not, you can be sure they will buy better players, which I love.

Autumnal Life

Fall colors have nearly come and gone in Boulder. Sad times that it happened so quickly, but it was wonderful for a day or two. Here are a few pics of this one place near where I live. Lovely, really. White fences, blue and yellow homes, and trees of red and green. I missed the best of it while I was sick, but what can you do. You can however not get swine flu anymore because getting it once makes you immune!

Saw a soccer match last night. It wasn't much of a match, but that's how it goes when everyone in Denver gets dominated by the same team every fall. I was rooting for some of my favorite people. A cold night for soccer, but wonderful nonetheless. A perfect 4 hours of my life.

Do you ever get the feeling that everything is about to change and, when I say everything, I mean everything in life. Maybe it's the fall air, maybe because each day is coming closer to my favorite time if the year, or maybe everything is about to change because I want it to happen. I really do hope all the changes are wonderful and exciting ones. Since I came off the road five and half months ago, I have been participating in a life that I am probably displeased with 75% of the time. I sleep 10-12 hours a day because that's what makes time pass. This is not me and I really do hope for many things to be different than how they currently exist.


Breath-taking trees

The red maples leaves are best next to their green and yellow counterparts.

When I tell you the other red ones were already as red as they could possibly be, maybe you will begin to comprehend the special perfection of this one small bunch.

The Bubble

Everyone in Boulder knows everyone else. This is common knowledge. On second thought, it's more like 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, but 2 degrees will suffice for Boulder. Sometimes this is not so great. However, as long as nothing awkward develops, you get to see tons of people you know on various levels. This is probably one of my most favorite things about Boulder. Meeting up with all kinds of people to do anything thinkable.

Well, at the moment I'm sick. Not sure what it is, but I've been on bedroom lock down for over two days. It feels like prison, but if that's what it takes to get better then fine. Yesterday I sent off for a revision of my portfolio. Hopefully this one is perfect. Also, I've been watching mad amounts of movies. Yesterday, it was The Breakup, Hell Boy 2, Mummy 2, Missed Call, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and some love movie which I can't remember at the moment. Today I've seen Vertical Limit, The Sting, and Kit Kittredge. None that were that great, but I actually shed a tear in Kit Kittredge. I couldn't believe it either. Well, I am caring for kids these days and getting a bit older, so the story goes. Hopefully I will be well soon and able to take advantage of the wonderful fall weather in Boulder.

"It's about to get really good before it gets bad." Dave Graham

Horseshoe Hell

The Ranch is a wonderful place. Take that back, everywhere in Northwest Arkansas becomes a special place as summer eases into fall and fall gives way to the perfection of winter. I will always have a fondness for this area of the country. It is a land where almost none of the climbing has been discovered, but almost all of it is locked up by private owners. Illicit walls and boulders that exist only in the imagination and your hopes.

Friday night Jason, Rob, Greg, and I slept on the porch of a cabin at the Ranch. Cool crisp night air and more stars than could be counted gave us much needed rest. The comp began sharply at 10am the next morning. Pledges were made between partners on not killing one another and the shotgun was fired. A mad scramble for respective routes left the lodge deserted. Jason and I retired to the Idahos to get the bouldering started for the day. Unfortunately, it was warm and there were surprisingly over 20 people at both of the warm up areas. We tried and tried, but neither of us could get motivated. Still feeling the accomplishment from the previous day we decided to watch a bit of the comp in the North Forty and perhaps try climbing again in the late afternoon. Everything came together around 5 and Jason put away Orbital Mechanics v8 in several minutes, while I found myself falling repeatedly on the last move of Kneeling before Power. After 5 tries, I was exhausted and chose to sit out the last one of the day. Jason, Ben Putman, and Sarah Orens joined forces in an effort to send Orb Weaverv8, but everyone was found lacking.

Dinner was had and we returned to the North Forty to watch some night climbing. Friends showed arrived and a good time was shared under head lamps. As we turned in for the night, the comp was barely half over for those competing.

Orbital Mechanics

Sarah on Orb Weaver

Lauren and Christine still excited about climbing after 14hrs of the comp.

Horseshoe Hell

Lots to tell about the week long trip to Arkansas. Out of the blocks, Lauren and I looked like a scene from Home Alone as we ran to catch our plane to Tulsa after a huge luggage debacle. Well, we made it and Jason drove 100 miles to get us to Fayetteville by midnight. Whew. Thursday was low-key, but Bikes Blues and BBQ was in town. This means 200,000 bikes and bikers. Loud to say the least. Friday was spent preparing for the weekend competition at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Lauren was deposited in the early pm, while Jason and I left for Fontaine Red to check out a "cave feature."

We both tried Chunk up the Deuce, but it was too warm for one of the holds, so we switched gears to Fred's Roof. I wasn't all that keen on it, but Jason was close from his first day on it several weeks ago. In no time at all we had done all the moves. Jason had given several good attempts from the ground and felt like a good rest was in order before the send. He said he would give it one more good burn so as not to forget the subtleties of each position before the rest. He pulled on and soon found himself at the last jump. I told him this was the time. He loaded his legs, pounced, roared, caught the final hold and we both screamed. Though I didn't show it, as I hadn't done the problem yet, I can't recall a time I was more excited in my climbing career and it wasn't even for me. By doing this problem, he and I became the 2nd and 3rd Arkansan climbers to climb an Arkansas v11. I hope more big things will happen for him this year. That night we drove to Jasper for dinner and then to the Ranch tired and emotionally exhausted, but feeling more than accomplished.

The first large move on Fred's Roof

Sunset on the drive back to the Ranch.

Vedauwoo

Yesterday morning I left for Vedauwoo with a friend. We arrived around 11 and met up with 14 other friends psyched and prepared, or so they thought, to crush. Let me say that Vedauwoo is a terrible place if you have little or no technique, or if you cannot cope with losing chunks of skin on the occasional problem. That said, for everyone else it is fantastic. A lifetime of rock to be climbed 15 mintues from the University of Wyoming and gorgeous scenery, especially in the fall.

Fall was a week away from being in full effect yesterday, but it was almost perfect nonetheless. I was unable to try any of the projects I had made note of when I visited two weeks ago, but myself and quite a few others came up with some nice sends. Climbing with such a large group of people is interesting. Taking quality pictures is almost impossible, which is a shame since there are some many people to photograph. On the upside, there are tons of people giving support and a rediculous amount of crash pads. I really enjoy climbing with all of these people and I wish it could happen once every weekend. Everyone always seems to get a lot accomplished on the days when we have a massive squad of people. Employee of the day was up for grabs as Anne Tedesco did the Gill Problem, which no one else could do, and Said Parirohk, who gave around 20 attempts on the Information Super Highway dyno and eventually stuck it! Dan Michels got viedo of me doing this dyno, so hopefully you can see how it goes.

Arkansas!

This Wednesday I'll be leaving with my friend Lauren for the Tulsa airport. We're going to Arkansas again! This time it is for Horshoe Hell. Should be a great competition for her and the rest of my friends that will be there. As usual, I will not be climbing more than 15 moves and will not be using a rope. I'm really excited to see my brother again and get some great climbing time together. I have several smaller goals while I am there, but two main ones: Chunck up the Deuce and Loved by Few Hated by Many. Both are in the V12/13 range and it would be nice to use the high motivation and the week to get the two. Others on the list are Fred's Roof, 52 to 1 Carddeck, Jeff's Prow, and Shadow Jumper. Here is video of some of them.

Chunk up the Deuce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVwCTgzgSc&feature=related
Chunk and Loved by Few
http://vimeo.com/3991907
Jeff's Prow and Fred's Roof
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA9mJqlbnPo

Motivation

Going on the recent trend, I will talk about motivation today. This next line isn't an exact quote, but it's appropriate nonetheless.


"Motivation; what is dat all about?" - Ali G


While having proper equipment, training your muscles, and eating the right food is important, none of those come close to the mental aspect of climbing. Plain and simple, mental game gets it done. Motivation can make a climb feel effortless and impossible without it. Of all the things to train, this should be at the top of everyone's list. Prime examples of world class climbing minds would be people pushing the limits... Fred Nicole, Chris Sharma, Adam Ondra, and Kevin Jorgeson.


Several years ago I was studying architecture in Rome, Italy, and I was in the middle of climbing withdrawals. I had just taken my first trip to Horsepens 40 as opposed to going ice climbing In Ouray, CO. Dying to climb and having nothing but my shoes and a small bag of chalk drove me crazy. I was always thinking about it; grabbing everything as if I were in the middle of a climb. The first visit to a gym there took 2 hours by train and foot. I was utterly lost, but have never been more found once I arrived. Ecole Verticale was a glorious place; however, I only visited twice more. The next gym turned out to be my svaing grace and ultimately one of the major reasons my climbing turned from a hobby to a career.


Jollypower as it was called, was dirty and lacked class even though it was at a sport club. What it lacked in class and technology, it made up for it with motivated people. I climbed once a week with at least 12 men and several girls who could all comfortably complete v8s. Some of these men were nearly 60. I have never before or since met so many people that were so motivated. The ring leader of this place was a man by the name of Alesandro Lamberti, affectionately called Jollypower. At 24 he climbed his first 13.d. At 30 his first 14.b. At 37 his first 14.d. He was 44 when I met him and he is still the stongest and most graceful climber I have ever seen. This is not a man who was blessed for climbing, though he had been climbing for almost 35 years when I met him. Here was a man who trained 'til he was blue in the face, until his muscle failure was so evident that he could not move another inch. I bought his book, thanked him, and still hope I will see him again.


His book is my Bible for training, but it is unfortunately in Italian. Among other things, over 40 pages of the book is dedicated to the metal aspect of the sport of climbing. There are lots of quotes from Bruce Lee, Confuscious, and Shakespeare. One of the Bruce Lee quotes goes as follows, "the mind is the primary obstacle in any physical action." Basically, if you believe you can do it, wether you actually can, it will place the verdict solely in the physical realm. Your mind will either allow you to do the climb or you will not. If you consider all the climbers in the world past and present, you would easily see the strongest minds a top the list and a gradual drop of in acuity as the level of the climber decreased. A great example is Fred Nicole. He has always been about 10 years ahead of his time. He put up the world's first v13 and v14 when people believed Midnight Lightning to be a serious standard and v10 was an extremely high level professional. The fact that he believed and believes that almost no stretch of rock can stop him is dumbfounding. His mind is by far his most impressive asset, and let us not forget his fingers and overall physcial fitness are "special abilities," as he has been seen doing one-arm pullups on a single pinky finger. So next time you think about climbing something remember what Bruce says and keep your mind as open, as smart, and as strong as Fred Nicole's.

Assets

So yesterday was a post on training, and since I have read so much on it and think about it so frequently I wanted to expand on it a bit more. First, all people and bodies are different. Everyone responds differently to stimulus and recovers at verying rates. Therefore, one person should never be doing anyone else's training regimen. This also applies to dieting. The exception might theoretically be twins or two individuals who were almost identical in tests such as metabolic rate, cell reproduction, existing physical conditions, and their needs for training. General recommendations can be made for the masses, but these should always always be tailored.

Second, I love training myself and coaching others. I wish I could do this as a full time job. Everyone who let me observe them and then train them would eventually become whatever their heart's desired. Anyway, I wish I coached people. Maybe I should write a book or something instead.

Lastly and mostly what I wanted to delve further into is the subject of special abilities of a physical nature or assets as it relates to climbing. This is referring to a strength that is so far above average that it is unique or would be desired by anyone who knew of it. Several examples would be the open hand strength of Jimmy Webb or Dave Graham, the timing of Tyler Landman, the total muscular fitness of Alex Puccio, the lock-offs of Iker Pou, the close-handed talents of James Litz, or Dave Graham's understanding of compression climbing. These people possess unmatched abilities. Perhaps they began with more of this than everyone else, but more likely they have always been pushing something that comes naturally or something preferred. These are just a few examples, but having such a highly developed ability can make one a world class climber. Some people will never be close to such an ability, while others like Dave Graham, Fred Nicole, or Chris Sharma may have multiple ones. However, anyone can train for such a goal, and with the right choices can vastly and quickly improve whatever is desired. Obviously the most arduous would be improving upon weaknesses. One must be committed in making their weakness of paramount importance almost to the point of obsession. This type of training is the least fun and takes the longest, but will yield the most return. For example, what is Tommy Caldwell's weakness? While he has no special climbing talent that would be higher than the 90th percentile, he has virtually no weaknesses other than missin a portion of a digit, which can be argued as a special ability in disguise. Well, that's enough with the training for one post.

Training

Today, no intro I'm just going to dive in. The past year beginning at the start of this October has been a complete rollercoaster for my climbing. I quit my job last November to travel and climb. It was the best thing I have done for my climbing other than moving to Colorado. I bought my first camera, which has turned out well also. I climbed my first v11 and 12 on the trip, but I've also had some real set backs. I tore my right lat on Easter day (3 months for full recovery), broke my left ankle and tore ligaments in early June (3 months recovery and still not 100%), strained my right middle finger A2 pulley at the beginning of August (still not recovered). Someone said something stupid once to my brother when he broke his collar bone in 2 places and climbed his first v10 4 months later. "It l ooks like it was a blessing in disguise." Turns out maybe that's not such crazy talk. Maybe it let the desire and motivation build so that he would be able to mentally achieve a new level. I've been thinking a lot lately about what if I wasn't injured so much, but then again I would not have developed my weaknesses.

For the past month I have been training at Movement. Here's how it goes. The routes are great, but I don't have a partner. I climb on the auto belay and do 10 routes in 30 minutes anywhere from 5.8-5.12. Dumb, but it gets up the endurance. The boulder problems are absolutely terrible. Poor setting, climbing that doesn't translate outside, and always awkward. So none of that really. The system board is alright, but too many good holds. I train powerful square climbing on this board. Also a lot of sloper training and always with lockoffs on everything. I also spend a lot of time using feet that don't feel the best. Not necessarily bad feet, just 6 inches from where I would like. The training also consists of tons of stretching because of my inflexibility and lots of lifting to develop world class assets and improve upon weak areas. Finally, cardio whenever possible. Training is everyday between 2-5 hours sometimes twice a day. Movement is clean and the people are friendly, not to mention a well designed space from Jim Logan (the architect). This keeps the morale high. Not unlike a friend who I spent part of this last year, I have decided not to seriously climb in the gym more than 2 or 3 times a month, only training. I'm always looking for answers and this could be one.

Random Tidbits

Here are a few quick blurbs about recent news...

My brother is claiming to be the most motivated climber in Arkansas. I would've never guessed this for him, but breaking a collar bone and tearing a meniscus within the span of six months can change a person's mindset. I was informed last weekend that he nearly sent Fred's Roof v11 in his first session. Having done every move, he is in the agonizing world of trying to finish the climb from the beginning. Well, maybe there will be good news soon.

As a new and very likely the most frequently attending member of Movement Climbing Gym in Boulder, I had the privilege of watching the gym put up a rope testpiece. Mike Moelter claimed it was somewhere in the 14.c/d range after some of the moves were "watered down a bit." Originally, Somewhere near 15.a/b, I watched a v12 boulderer and a competent route climber struggle to do more than two consecutive movements. Nasty to say the least. At 42' the wall isn't that tall, but 30 degrees overhung and every move being from v8-12 with virtually no rests, it packs a mean punch.

Lastly, my portfolio came in the mail. Misprinted because of the company's web layout and several color mishaps will have me printing another 40 dollar copy. Still, I was quite pleased and thought it was pretty sweet to be able to quantify so much work and time spent over the last 6 years.