class•ic bloc

The last two weekends have been a bit uneventful on the climbing side of life.. Last weekend, I stayed in town to take care of some business: and this weekend's plans for Bishop fell through at the last minute. Bummer.. But, I did get the chance to venture into the San Jacinto Mt.s to play on it's granite during these virgin weeks of the upcoming season. Before class on Wednesday, Ian kindly gave me a 7 a.m. tour of a very lesser known-low traffic area near Black Mt., at lower elevation. The hike took longer than the drive, but the setting was perfect and the boulders blew away my expectations.. I climbed a couple top notch 3 star classics! Here is a video of ian on a cool arete I climbed up there.. There are a multiple lines on this steep boulder ranging from V6ish-V10ish. Notice the hueco and bicycle.. on granite!! Unfortunately, no pictures, but I will hopefully be returning in the next couple days.. I also visited the Tram for the first time in a very long time.. On Sunday, Nic and I showed up to the tram prepared, bearing a shovel and tarp.

too not much avail, we invested some time on these..

How low can you go? A tribute to Ryan W... The problem below is actually pretty damn cool, very interesting/fun moves.. woulda shoulda coulda... I couldnt pull it together.. And Im not sure how Nic didn't flash it. darn close.

the verdict:  dry boulders, wet socks, complete solace.  negotiating the trails without proper shoes (walking a couple miles in snow with street shoes) is kind of shitty. but the boulders are crisp and clean. good times overall.