Bradley, GB, Happy Valley.
Its been a very eventful few weeks for me, and the whole new england crew. First things first, the weather finally dropped down to reasonable. The past two weekends have been an average high of 50 degrees, so boulders are finally feeling reasonable.
First to go off my list was Something from Nothing v11, at great barrington. This thing is so, so good. The rock feels like sandstone, and the moves are perfect. I rolled up to GB, warmed up by repeating Castelette v9 first go, and then climbed through the crux of SFN on my first try, back flopping off the lip. I was all in shock from falling, but knew I could do it. 2 goes later, I managed to send the boulder, not making a single mistake. And damn it felt good.
The next weekend, yesterday, we all went out to Bradley. My main goal was Busted Shadow v11, this line has some of the best movement around, with 6 moves, each one quite a bit harder than the last. I hadnt tried the boulder since March, so I spend maybe 20 minutes working out the moves, and after only falling on the last move once, to my surprise, I managed to piece the thing together. After that we got shut down on White Lines v10/8c, and then I climbed suspect device blind folded, in sneakers.. with a little help by some active spotters ;) ;). In reality, I wanna get back to suspect, because 1, damn its beautiful, and 2, it didnt feel as insanely impossible as usual. We'll see!
Today, Doug and I went out to the Happy Valley. My goal for the day was to finish off my project from the spring, Sisters Savior. I cant say enough good things about this line, 11 moves up a 20 degree overhang, on perfect edges, with complex sequences and an epic last move. Its certainly one of the best, and hardest things i've ever tried. Anyways, after warming up, and Doug absolutely destroying A Love Supreme v9, on his first try, I set off on the line. Words cannot express how it felt, though the feeling is known by every climber. At no point in the climb did I feel like I was going to fall, all the sequences flowed naturally, and every move felt easy. It was truly one of my best climbing experiences.
After that, and Doug FAing a cool new v10 crimp climb, we headed over to the Hideaway to try Swisher Sweets v10. I kept on missing the hold, but after about 20 minutes, both Doug and I sent. Its a nice little line with a blind jump to a sharp edge.
After that we both had split tips, but decided to just try boulders on the millenium block. long story short, theres a 24 move long traverse called E-poch, its horribly contrived and awful, but I tried it, and fell matching the flat lip because I didnt think to clean the lip of the boulder of all the leaves that have been falling.. OH WELL! Next time I guess. I think I have it dialed.
First to go off my list was Something from Nothing v11, at great barrington. This thing is so, so good. The rock feels like sandstone, and the moves are perfect. I rolled up to GB, warmed up by repeating Castelette v9 first go, and then climbed through the crux of SFN on my first try, back flopping off the lip. I was all in shock from falling, but knew I could do it. 2 goes later, I managed to send the boulder, not making a single mistake. And damn it felt good.
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Busted Shadow v11 |
The next weekend, yesterday, we all went out to Bradley. My main goal was Busted Shadow v11, this line has some of the best movement around, with 6 moves, each one quite a bit harder than the last. I hadnt tried the boulder since March, so I spend maybe 20 minutes working out the moves, and after only falling on the last move once, to my surprise, I managed to piece the thing together. After that we got shut down on White Lines v10/8c, and then I climbed suspect device blind folded, in sneakers.. with a little help by some active spotters ;) ;). In reality, I wanna get back to suspect, because 1, damn its beautiful, and 2, it didnt feel as insanely impossible as usual. We'll see!
Today, Doug and I went out to the Happy Valley. My goal for the day was to finish off my project from the spring, Sisters Savior. I cant say enough good things about this line, 11 moves up a 20 degree overhang, on perfect edges, with complex sequences and an epic last move. Its certainly one of the best, and hardest things i've ever tried. Anyways, after warming up, and Doug absolutely destroying A Love Supreme v9, on his first try, I set off on the line. Words cannot express how it felt, though the feeling is known by every climber. At no point in the climb did I feel like I was going to fall, all the sequences flowed naturally, and every move felt easy. It was truly one of my best climbing experiences.
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Just before the crux on Sisters Savior v11 |
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Doug sending Swisher Sweets v10 |
For now, its going to rain all week, so im going to heal my splits, and then get back outside next weekend!
Kai
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