pulling down

friday morning at 5:00 my buddy j. and i hopped into my car and headed out to bishop ca. for three days of bouldering, or at least as much as our gym-soft hands would allow.

we made it to bishop in 6 hours flat, and after a brief stop in town to get directions and some food we headed out to the sad boulders and got started.

it was pretty hot, so after warming up on a few things we went into the ice caves, which are cool and out of the sun and stayed there for the rest of the day. we got on 'mothership connection', and after some false starts we both sent it, although we found out later that we did it a weird way. most people get their right hand in the jam under the roof, and come out with their left to a side-pull thing. we went with a left in the jam, then right to a crimp, which was hard but doable.

j. got on 'erotic terrorism', which is v6, and put that away too, but it was too much for me, and i had to let it go.
by this point our skin was really starting to hurt and we were just about to go back to car to call our friend m. (we were staying with her and her husband) to see what the plan was, when she showed up, so sore skin or no, it was back on the rock.

j. figuring out the beta.

the next day we (j., m., her husband c., and i) went back out to the sads again, warmed up for a bit and started climbing.
boy was it painful; skin already worn a little thin was abraded more, but it was too much fun to stop.

me toe-hooking.

we did a bunch of stuff on a great overhanging juggy boulder, and then moved over to 'pop a wheelie' which j. had been on before. i got on it first, just planning on checking out the first few moves, and much to my surprise i ended up flashing it!
it was my first ever outdoor v4 on-sight, and i was really stoked.

m. going for the top on 'pop a wheelie'

we did a couple of variations on that problem, and then went back into the ice caves to escape the heat. we got back on 'mothership' and tried to do it with the right hand-jam, but i was too toasted, although j. got it no problem.

the rest of the day we tried to climb while nursing our incredibly sore skin, but nothing too exciting happened.

me failing to latch the first move on 'fueled by hate'

sunday morning we went out to a newer area called tungsten boulders, which is granite. the slightly softer rock was the only thing that made it possible to climb; our fingertips had developed purple patches in the center where the skin was worn almost through, and it hurt to touch anything.

despite this i managed to send a very sharp crimpy problem that felt like a very hard v4, maybe a v5, as well as a throwy, powerful arete problem that was probably v4 as well.

i didn't think i was going to get it, but i rested before my last try, focused, and it went. j. got on it right after me for his last try and sent it too, and on that note we piled into the car, and headed back to san francisco, tired, happy, and with very thin skin.