Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thrillseekers
All the climbing gyms around Denver are good gyms, they all have great staff and sweet routes. I Have climbed at most of the major climbing gyms in the country as well as having set routes at a few of them. A choice between any of them is pure style and attitude. I thought i would list the reasons why i climb at Thrillseekers.
1. No bullshit. Walls , Holds, Weights .
2. Stiff ego crushing grades. If you climb V5 at ThrillSeekers you can climb V5 in Hueco. The walls are not very tall so every move here counts. step 1. get ass off ground.
3. No scene. You will find a total lack of pretentious attitudes, instead you find climbers who are psyched to climb.
4. Circuits. If you don't have a partner and wish to train route endurance without the now defunct auto belay units, ThrillSeekers has around a dozen 30+ move circuit trainer problems. V0- to V hard.
5. Volume. Thrills has more than double the taped problems on the wall than any other gym in Denver. The variety of the problems is amazing, what's that you say? you want a dead vert crimpy v10, a v5 dihedral stem fest, a 25 move traversing slope problem of doom. DONE.
6. Price. 10 bucks to boulder.... no special hours or used-car-salesman-deals just a reasonable price any time they are open.
7. The campus board. Thrills has the best campus board in town. It is tall, stacked with runs and just the right angle.
8. Close to the City. you can ride your bike there in 20 min from cap hill. Save gas and back up all that environmental attitude with action son.
9. Longevity. They have been around for a long time and have seen all the trends come and go. They are just climbers who are psyched on climbing. Simple.
10. Music. Metal, rap, classic rock, techno, polka.... they play it. seriously it never seises to amaze me.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
sweaters and slippers... news from the front
I arrived back in Denver a few days ago. I am going to be here for a few days to hang out with my mom and then i have a hectic schedule ahead of me. First to LA for a Hippy Tree new years party in Joshua Tree and then to Southern Utah for some crack climbing in Capital Reef National Park and then to Fontenbleu for some French lessons on technical rock climbing. It will be quite a month.
Capital Reef National Park
While i am here im trying to eat right, after my recent trip i realized that while i sat down to eat a frozen pizza for dinner, most of the other climbers ate the things called vegetables. These things have been known to give you powers.
check those forearms
so i guess i'll give the little green bastards a try.
Friday, December 18, 2009
guns and caves....
the gun rack above the door... yes those are deer feet.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
a dispatch from the red
here are some pictures of me falling, because thats what i do. I have been here in Kentucky for about a week, climbing, sleeping , generally fucking off. Im here with my good friend Keith who has the unique ability to take pictures of unusual beauty. Even of goofy freaks like myself. i will have more to say when im not drunk. Im going to Cincinnati tomorrow to rest ( i know your jealous ) and maybe listen to some jazz. Maybe then i will have something of substance to say.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
pie wont make you fly... but im gunna eat the whole damn thing and try
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Matt goes to N.Table mountain ?
Today out of lack of anything more important to do i went climbing at North Table Mountain… i know what your thinking, “that place is lame” and indeed for those of us who climb harder than 13.a it does not present a traditional challenge, however, when you take away the rope it changes everything. With easy walk offs and short pitches that top out it makes a free soloists dream area.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Morrison bouldering…
Gina on Helicopter v6
today i bouldered some rocks in Morrison Colorado… so did Gina…
5.10 onsight free solo …. since v10 apparently was out of the question.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
snow day
its a snow day so here are some cool old shots from nice days in eldo
Rincon 5.11a (dan gambino photo)
Rosie's Crucifixion 5.9 (Matus Sabolic)
Your Mother 5.12D (matt lloyd)
Yellow spur 5.10d (Natalie Marsh)
“The Web” 5.13b/c (Gabe Craviero)
“The monument” 5.13a (Matt Lloyd)
The dihedral crux on “Vertigo” 5.11a (Lisa A. )
Saturday, October 24, 2009
The 1 hour solo circuit of wind tower
Thursday, October 22, 2009
bouldering in Eldo
Friday, October 16, 2009
Silver Raven and night endeavors on the Bastille
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
back to eldo
Interceptor 5.11b R - this route is amazing and quite hard with a difficult slab crux on some smaller gear. I'm not sure it deserves the "R" as your feet are at some gear while you pull the crux but it's still enough to get the heart beat up. If you yank that piece your taking a 30 footer, which in some sick way i hoped would happen.
XM 5.10c R - ok so this one deserves the "R" if you fall at the crux your only gear is two terrible looking pins. I have climbed the right variation before but stayed clear of this due to it's relatively daunting fall potential. This climb is short and scary but a full value eldo classic. If your feeling tough at the grade i totally recommend this route... just remember this beta.... smear, crimp , huck....aaahhhh we finished XM to Outer space which i have climbed about a million times and always gets me thinking.
Saturnalia 5.11b (pg13) - how did i miss this route? i always thought that Outer space was exposed...hah this thing is sweet and exciting and everything i want out of a 5.11 on the Bastille. cruxy, exciting but not dangerous, and ooh so exposed.
Neon lights 5.11a R - just to the right of "your mother 5.12d" sits this roof crack. it's hard for the grade but actually very safe.... does not deserve the "R" short and sweet. After climbing this i realised that it was probably my first time on the true top of the Bastille.
Wishbone 5.11 b/c (pg13) - first off no bolted route can be "pg 13" yeah it's run out and scary but every fall is totally safe. This route was cryptic and technical and hard. felt like a 5.12a onsight to me. and i didn't onsight. this route is hard to find sitting at the base of the west ridge.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
back in the USA and back in Eldo
Sunday, June 21, 2009
it's been a few days...
Friday, June 12, 2009
rain rain rain
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
100 degrees from eldo
Saturday, May 16, 2009
someone did it better
i was going to write a bit about climbing yesterday but my buddy Scott beat me to it and probably did it with better grammar. So check it out here....