Monday, November 21, 2011

Bishop - The First Weekend

Blinding headlights driving in, headlamps floating in the darkness, raging fires reflecting off the sloping walls, car stereo bass laughing over an acoustic guitar across the way. Just another Friday night in the Pit.

After long drives from the L.A. area our friends Isaac, Brett, Anthony, and Sean all made it in safely to our small plot in the Pit, now packed with cars and psyched climbers. It wasn't until the morning that I realized the cars had doubled and there was going to be a huge group on their way to the Buttermilks.

Once the mob was warmed up everyone swarmed Haroun and the Sea of Stories V11/12 and proceeded to throw down a whopping 17 pads! If my skin hadn't felt like a wet napkin I would have loved to give this amazing line some serious effort. Next time. Until then here are a few choice shots from the mega-sesh:

Haroun mega-sesh!

Nice spot Brett.

Isaac putting some skin into The Fall Guy V9.

Brett on his near-send of The Fall Guy.


Anthony working out the unique opening movement of Haroun.


Once the growing group moved to Fly Boy I put the camera away. The mob made for a bit of a distracting aesthetic for photos, however it was great for motivation and there was a ton of sending in every direction. Congrats to Isaac and Sean for their respective sends of Fly Boy Sit/Stand V6/8 and a big shout to Lib for her day flash of Fly Boy Arete V5. And who could forget Anthony's repeat of the sit (I won't spoil it as I'm sure there will be video posted soon enough).

Lib and I rounded out the day trying classics we had been meaning to get around to climbing such as Hero Roof V0, Robinson's Rubber Tester V0, and a nice bonus send for each of us with Lib finishing the stout Green Wall Essential V2 and my very surprising flash of Green Wall Center V6. I never flash things at the Buttermilks, especially old testpieces like GWC.

Later we met up with everyone for a feast, a fire, and a lot of laughs. The Pit was bringing the ruckus as usual, but with good company it didn't seem to matter.

The next morning we awoke to a low lying gray haze, a chilling breeze, and no sight of the sun. The group consented to a day at the Sads in lieu of the conditions, which turned out to be the best bet with a light rain beginning to fall in the early afternoon. Isaac made short work of Pow Pow V8 while Brett and Anthony managed to finesse their way up French Press V6 before it began to sprinkle and Anthony and I fled to the Ice Caves.

As expected there was a serious bro-down in full effect. After getting into a gym session mindset it was actually a great time. Everyone was trying hard, encouraging, and thoroughly psyched. With great beta from Anthony I managed to yell my way to the end of Beefcake V10 where I turned the corner to top out and felt rain on my face and hands. Sure enough, the rain (which I had forgotten about while in the cave) had picked up and I found myself topping out the boulder on wet holds with no chalk. Luckily the end is V0/1 and it made for a memorable send.

After four days on it's time for rest, but with another great group en route, and the return of Anthony next weekend it's safe to say that the motivation is only going to build.

-BLOCHEAD

P.S. Thanks to those readers in the Buttermilks for the support and encouragement. It's great to see you out at the boulders, and know that people are actually reading this!

1 comment:

  1. Word! Wish I was going there this Thanksgiving instead of Vegas .. not that Red Rocks won't be prime. Awesome seeing you and Lib, as always.

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