class•ic bloc

Ive still been resting a bit from outside climbing lately, really only climbing in the gym. Mainly, its a preemptive plan to ensure I have a lot of psyche for the fall/winter bishop season. It is kind of a weird thing though, because before this summer for the last 2.5 years i can cant the number of weekends on one hand that I have not gone rock climbing outside, i think its three. So im really itching to climb right now, and can't wait for proper temps.

and heres s'more...

approach


manbeetle


Nic on the crux of the highball 'Hail Mary' V3




straight chillin




Jeff topping the immaculate 'green 15' wall


Nic amongst the talus climbing the steep 'hose monster' v8


Jeff loving every second of the tall and beautiful 'Excite Bike' V0


the coveted glasses that Nic recovered from the death talus

this weekend, nic and I drove up to mammoth to escape the hot hot heat in socal.

I spent the weekend bouldering in Way Lake. Way Lake is at about 10,000 feet elev-thus yielding some of the more favorable temps California has to offer for bouldering during the summer months. The hike in is a little longer than your average 'approach'. Pretty, very quiet, and very green, and a strong stream of snowmelt flows throughout. (fragment) The rock is a gneissic/schist supposedly comparable to rmnp. the problems are generally powerful, steepish, and consist of a variety of holds. holds that are 1000X friendlier than socal granite-a nice change of pace. The highest concentration of problems at way lake is in the V5-V9 difficulty range, but several very classic harder and easier problems abound (i.e. twin cracks V0, excite bike V1, wave catcher V11, chumscrubber V12). also worth noting that is very cool and unique about the area: there are a substantial number of tall bold classic moderates, and many sds's- if you find yourself at way lake unsure of where the starting holds may be, look for the lowest possible / most obvious holds.. making the boulder problems truly bouldery and full value!

Jeff Sillcox (his blog) was kind enough to give us an exhaustive tour, repeating problems, and sharing alot of beta.
here is a somewhat distorted perspective of him climbing a V5 highball crack called 'Morpheus'


Which is on the same boulder as 'Two Dragons' (V9); here is Andrew Stevens



walking/sliding/descending through snow in style


nic earned employee of the day by a) flashing meadow roof sit (v9) b) getting a quick third ascent of chumscrubber and most importantly c) rescuing my very sentimentally valuable sunglasses that fell -while hiking the talus field- into a cave, in between rocks and a couple feet into black ice cold water. thanks nic.


here is a video i edited of the send... unfortunately this wont be a regular thing (not my camera- thanks to Andrew for the camera work)

Bouldering Chumscrubber (v12) Way Lake. CA on Vimeo.

p.s.
i feel bad that i forgot to add credits to the end of the film. the music is by Cyantific the song is Empty Streets.

This post is weak. But i know it wont be at least another week until i actually make a pure climbing related / photo post. When will that be? I want to visit way lake soon! The past weekend, i induced sickness upon myself via red wine on friday night (rookie maneuver) and did/could not climb the next day. Although some later evenings amongst the past two weeks yielded more favorable temps at black, it appears those days are gone for a couple months. I very rarely focus on training and skip climbing outside on the weekends, only because i can't take it and get very bored, but thats what i have been up too/will be up too until i can drag someone up to way lake. I feel, not strong necessarily, but pretty tired. maybe that will turn out to be a good thing later on down the line.


RANDOM

training motiv: you have already seen "perky pinky". but did you know?: i just learned that rich simpson went on to repeat the problem with a weight vest. i think of this when i dont want to go to the gym.

humor: i had seen my D in a B a long time ago, but how did i miss the rest of the skits? hilarious
like a boss
im on a boat
lazy sunday
jizz in my pants
my dick in a box

NEWS
since the last post some notable competition climbing achievements occured
massive shoutouts to Kyle Owen and Julian Bautista, holding it down for socal.

Nalle Hukkataival did Jade REALLY quickly. hes on top of the game.

Jamie Emerson made a bunch of very nice posts in the past couple weeks regarding future potential bouldering in CO.

if you haven't already, check out alex's and ian's recent updates on the idyllwild stone clambering.

and because you care: if you don't you should.. this past sunday was a big one for media being released in my small world. two very VERY much anticipated doses of entertainment finally arrived. the first being, the SICK ALBUM finally dropped. and the second being True Blood season 2 has begun. very psyched. so good.

that will be it for now. promises of massive sends and inspiring photos of gneissic schist soon.

"im NOT climbing..." -tyler landman dos. V

took the weekend off from climbing; it was needed. i rarely rarely do. my skin was in pretty bad shape: from weeks of never being recovered. and last week i felt in ever so slight twinge/weakness in my left hand ring finger pulley (an old injury that has felt 99 percent).

the weekend was spent in las vegas, with good friends phil and ross. i have been to las vegas a few times, but had barely even seen "the strip". i got a tickert... but the bomb italian food from bautistas (complimentary unlimit. wine and cappucino for dessert included with great meal), the pool, and the animal collective show balanced it all out. animal collective quickly and intensely turned into a rave-like-happy-hippy-DANCE-party. everyone was super pumped and friendly and chatty. not the best show i have ever seen, but for sure the most fun i have had at a concert.

back in the 9, one week left of classes / testing.. then summer (summer school and work). feel refreshed and psyched. way lake should should be thawed out soon, and yet again Ian has come through with another amazing find at black mt--apparently one of the most/more inspiring/proud/aesthetic blocs on the mountain. sounds definitely classic. hopefully checking it out this weekend.

The Beginning of the day (hot hot hot) in Ok Corral.

Bridget top out


Ian on the beautiful 'Morphic Resonance' longish fingery pulls


Bridget on a new link of lobotomy into Loh's roof. very cool moves




Ian on the one really hard move that is darkhorse



In the evening we went to a rarely climbed area called "The Chappies" which yielded much more favorable temps, top notch rock, and tall inspiring independent boulders.. Regrettably, i didnt bring my camera nor did alex bring his video camera. i was very shocked/impressed. i think i will return.. next time.