Mfuge

Sorry for not posting since I got back but not much went on for a couple of days. It is always fun to adjust back to real life after living on the road for an extended period of time but life is great! Saturday and Sunday were both spent at the lake with my oh so amazing lovely kelsey and her family where I made up for lost meals and water time. It was nice to take a couple of days off and just enjoy the comforts and spoils that we have in an everyday, "normal" life. I was itching to get out climbing sunday but everyone was busy or away so I settled for more relaxation and weight gain. Happy Birthday 'Merica!!! Anyways, this past week I have been at a camp called Mfuge doing some mission work and re-evaluating my relationship with Jesus. The week was great and I met so many great new people and also did lots and lots and lots of work. Our band, Sycamore, also got together and played one night there and brought back the crazy good times. I was also super nervous for some reason, I don't know, all this climbing I thought I would have forgotten how to play the drums. Motivated, I jammed my heart out and it actually went over surprisingly well. Overall the week was great for me and my group, relationships both physical and spiritual were mended and yes, I had the greatest track group ever!! Anyways as we are currently driving back I can't help to be super psyched about getting some climbing in! Saturday and Sunday will be most likely spent at Sandrock, having a great time and get on a couple of soon to be projects, Crucified by Love (13a), and Rant (13a). Monday me Mark and Cal will hopefully be able to head out to Fosters and I can get on Gas Chamber (12d). Ready for the weekend to come. Check back for updates.

Last Days at The New

So this last week at The New has been simply amazing. The temps were crisp in the 70's and the sun was shining. After a much needed rest day on sunday and a chance to get re-focused, we hit it hard for the next 3 days with much sending going down. Highlights included wensday doing 6 pitches of trad at Junkyard and a tuesday afternoon trip to The Cirque where brent worked proper soul (14a) and I got on Finder's Keeper's (12c). Second go on Finder's Keeper's I sent but could not clip the anchors! They stared at me, like an omen, for the next two days where I fell again trying to clip the anchors. Basically you are on a jug but slightly vertically and literally hanging one armed to clip. Our plan was to roll out thursday afternoon but I had some unfinished business in the morning. I went back to The Cirque and without warming up, got straight on Finder's Keeper's and clipped my final set of anchors of the trip! I'm SUPER psyched to come back to the south now with more strength and learning and also to be climbing again with Mark and Cal. Over all it has been truly a blessing to have been able to come up here for a month and much thanks goes out to every belay and motivation that the group at Roger's gave me. More updates to come! Here is my final ticklist of The New:

New River Gorge:

 

Finder's Keeper's - 12c

Creature - 12c

Missisippi Burning - 12b

Hourglass - 12b

Starry - 12b

The Prow - 12b

Tobacco Road - 12b

Tarbaby - 12b

Schneezal - 12a

Push - 12a (flash)

Skull in the Hole - 12a

Sausage - 11c (onsight)

Mo' Betta' Holds' - 11c

Bimbo Shrine - 11b

Oh, It's You Bob - 11b

Instant Gratification - 11b (flash)

Legacy - 11a (onsight)

Cross-Eyed and Blind - 11a (onsight)

Mr. Cute - 11a (onsight)

Barfing Butterflies - 11a (onsight)

Do It - 11a (onsight)

The Warm-up - 11a (onsight)

Realignment -10d (trad, flash)

How bout' em Apples - 10d (onsight)

The Deficit - 10d (onsight)

Boing - 10d (onsight)

Floaters - 10d (onsight)

Madmen Rule the World - 10d (onsight)

Tsunami Bob - 10d (onsight)

Kinesthetica - 10c (onsight)

Lady Punk - 10c (onsight)

First Steps - 10c (onsight)

Baby Has a Bolt Gun - 10c (onsight)

Moon Pie Deluxe - 10c (onsight)

Gun Lust - 10c (onsight)

Rapscallion's Blues - 10c (trad follow)

Timber - 10c (trad follow)

All Ears - 10b (onsight)

Talk about it - 10b (onsight)

Strong Arming the Little Guy - 10b (onsight)

Voodoo Surfing - 10b (onsight)

Springer - 10b (onsight)

Broken Vowels - 10a (trad)

The Entertainer - 10a (trad, flash)

Orange Oswald - 10a (onsight)

Trigger Happy - 10a (onsight)

She got the Bosch, I Got Drilled - 10a (onsight)

The Wanderer - 10a (onsight)

The Rico Suave Arete - 10a (onsight)

Bullocks - 5.9 (onsight)

Four Sheets to the Wind - 5.9 (trad, onsight)

New Yosemite - 5.9 (trad)

Fabulous Groupies - 5.9 (onsight)

Hippie Dreams - 5.9 (onsight)

Souled Out - 5.9 (onsight)

Chunko Goes Bowling - 5.9 (onsight)

Flight of the Gumbie - 5.9 (onsight)

Celtic Sun - 5.9 (onsight)

Geisha Girl - 5.8 (trad, onsight)

Mrs. Fields Follies - 5.8 (trad, onsight)

Final Week

As my time here at The New is winding down, I have taken time to look back at how great this month has been. After a rest day today, I will be here for 4 more days to climb and crush, well...hopefully. I took some time away yesterday and climbed some fun classic slabs in the afternoon and went to a camping spot down by the Cunard River for an evening swim. The mountains here are unbelievable. Last night I also put together a ticklist of my sends for the month. Right now its at 52 routes and rolling.

New River Gorge:

Creature - 12c

Missisippi Burning - 12b

Hourglass - 12b

Starry - 12b

The Prow - 12b

Tobacco Road - 12b

Tarbaby - 12b

Schneezal - 12a

Push - 12a (flash)

Skull in the Hole - 12a

Sausage - 11c (onsight)

Mo' Betta' Holds' - 11c

Bimbo Shrine - 11b

Oh, It's You Bob - 11b

Legacy - 11a (onsight)

Cross-Eyed and Blind - 11a (onsight)

Mr. Cute - 11a (onsight)

Barfing Butterflies - 11a (onsight)

Do It - 11a (onsight)

How bout' em Apples - 10d (onsight)

The Deficit - 10d (onsight)

Boing - 10d (onsight)

Floaters - 10d (onsight)

Madmen Rule the World - 10d (onsight)

Tsunami Bob - 10d (onsight)

Kinesthetica - 10c (onsight)

Lady Punk - 10c (onsight)

First Steps - 10c (onsight)

Baby Has a Bolt Gun - 10c (onsight)

Moon Pie Deluxe - 10c (onsight)

Gun Lust - 10c (onsight)

Timber - 10c (trad follow)

All Ears - 10b (onsight)

Talk about it - 10b (onsight)

Strong Arming the Little Guy - 10b (onsight)

Voodoo Surfing - 10b (onsight)

Springer - 10b (onsight)

Broken Vowels - 10a (trad)

Orange Oswald - 10a (onsight)

Trigger Happy - 10a (onsight)

She got the Bosch, I Got Drilled - 10a (onsight)

The Wanderer - 10a (onsight)

The Rico Suave Arete - 10a (onsight)

Bullocks - 5.9 (onsight)

Fabulous Groupies - 5.9 (onsight)

Hippie Dreams - 5.9 (onsight)

Souled Out - 5.9 (onsight)

Chunko Goes Bowling - 5.9 (onsight)

Flight of the Gumbie - 5.9 (onsight)

Celtic Sun - 5.9 (onsight)

Geisha Girl - 5.8 (trad, onsight)

Mrs. Fields Follies - 5.8 (trad, onsight)

Rainy Dayz

So the past couple of days have been rainy at The New. Yesterday we took a rest day due to the morning rain followed by the hot afternoon sun which made for a hot and humid afternoon. Today's plan was to get back on Lactic Acid Bath but the entire cave was seeping. Two yellow jacket stings and a hike out later, me and Audrey were on the search for dry rock. We headed down the cirque at Endless Wall where Audrey was looking to get on Hourglass (12b). After sussing out some beta I went for a flash attempt and almost stuck the slab dyno at the top! I was super psyched at getting so close that all of the mess from earlier today was forgotten. With the thunder and wind starting to pick up I made quick work and sent it second go. As I untied and was beginning to pull the rope, the clouds broke loose on us. It POURED. After an epic hike/run on the trail, including a slip-n-slide in one section, we got back to the car soaked. Back at Roger's was more chill time and working on school. Currently I am finishing my school work at Dairy Queen the best wifi/ice cream/local color around. Great times are being cherished up here as we leave in a week to go back to the good old south. More updates to come!

Lactic part 1

Sorry for not updating the past week. Some new stuff has been going down and the weather has been amazing! Highlights from the past couple of days is being close on both Shaken but not stirred (12d) and yesterday on Lactic Acid Bath (12d). Yesterday on Lactic I fell getting into the kneebar after the crux and was going to get back on it today but a storm came in last night and now the hole is sweating. Today I think we are heading back out to Third Butress were I can get back on and do Shaken but not Stirred and get my first 12d! Get Psyched!

Routes are ticking

Wow what a great week it has been so far up here. Many new routes have been sent and I am getting more psyched than ever on climbing. I know I have been lacking in updates but the past couple of days have been long and hard, especially yesterday. Wednesday we headed back out to first butress again with audrey and ryan both working their projects while I warmed up on a really good ten and onsighted this fun and bouldery 11c. I then headed over to the third butress where I got on Skull in the Hole (12a) and went for the onsight but once again fell on the final move. It actually took me another burn until I sent it third go thankfully. Thursday we headed out with a part rest day part climbing. We went down to kaymoor and did two or three amazing moderate arete routes there. I decided to end after only 3 routes to head back and finish up some school work. I absolutely hate English 102. It could be the worst class on this earth along with my professor. If I could only describe to you the monotonous and unexciting nature of the so called "stories" that I have to put my self through. I think I am going to be an author if thats what people actually read. Anyways, friday we woke up early and headed out at 8 to the first butress again where I had my sights set on creature (12c). I had no intentions on doing it that day but after giving it one go I could tell my body was tired. Second go I gave it everything I had and next thing I know I am at the anchors. Funny how mental climbing could be. I was pretty much set for the day and could have gone home but ryan fortunately kept pushing me. He put me on Starry (12b) which climbs out of this huge 100 foot overhang with a full on huck for a jug at the top. I pulled off the ground again not knowing if I was going to be able to climb ten more feet let alone even finish the route. After taking advantage of every rest opportunity and a little VENGA! at the top, I sent.  Ok my day is done right? wrong. One last route, The prow (12b). Same thing but with a little more dynamic move at the top. After one go on it I could barely hold on to anything. I gave all I had second go and fell toward the top, so physically exhausted I could barely pull up on the rope to try the move again. Ryan was dragging too but he still had to finish one route before the days end, actually, the day was already over. He sent the route in almost moon light! Such a sick finish to the day, we finally, 14 hours later, hiked out. Today was a much needed rest day. School work of course then a nice run in the afternoon. Yeah, it poured rain right when I began to run but it was aaaaaaawwwsome. I ended up hiding out under a bridge when it began to flood the trail I was on. Then it stopped. After some much needed swimming I headed back to my home, the all amazing fayettville walmart, to cook some grub and get sleep for tomorrow. More updates to come as hopefully I will get on Latic Acid Bath tomorrow! Here are two pictures I got from my run today. The big bridge is the new river bridge, and the small is the bridge I camped out under during the storm.

Back again

Well although this past weekend was pretty entertaining, eventful, and even scary; it's good to be back at The New. It was good to go back home after the car situation; and it was also good to see kelsey and my family. I also had to come back to rescue michael too when he fell free soloing sunday I guess too. But anyways it is heating up here a bit but sending is still definitely going down. Today me, Ryan, Megan, and Audrey headed out to the upper meadow to run on some classics and good times. I warmed up with this killer mixed route, Floaters (10d), which followed this smooth orange arete for a full 80 feet. Next up was a relaxing onsight of Cross-Eyed and Blind (11a), which followed a slightly overhanging face with big moves in-between. My next route of choice was supposed to be Push (12a), but for some reason, probably from beginning to be baked in the moving sun, I clipped the bolt that branched off right to Boomerang (13a). This ultra-classic route follows this long overhanging face with an excited dyno crux off of the boomerang hold. After getting a nice whip on that I headed over the second buttress where the mega classic Schneezal (12a), caught my attention. I was going for the onsight but at the 3rd bolt I find the nastiest, mankiest holds ever. I come down and was pretty much done for the day but ryan went for the onsight and past the wet section and was cruising to the top about 80 feet up when I see him flail. He ended up taking a 30 foot whipper and was pretty upset that he was cruising the onsight and a hold broke. He sent it second go easily and after a renewed confidence, I sent it third go, including the 15 feet then totally becoming de-motivated on the route. I am really psyched to see how much I have progressed over the past year of climbing and how much more calm and relaxed I am on routes. Exciting things to come as we head back tomorrow!