Buena Vista Project: Day 3

I don't know whether to be stoked or bummed.

This was my first day of actually working all the moves on the project, and the outlook is grim. Or wonderful. It depends on how you look at it. Elijah and I spent a while playing top-rope tough-guy, and what looked like a decently hard route on rappell became a snarling, foaming-at-the-mouth beast by the end of our session. I've never flailed so hard on a piece of rock. EVERY SINGLE MOVE is friggin hard. So, I'm stoked that I found a legitimately hard project for some strongman (let's be honest: it probably won't be me any time soon) to send. But I'm bummed that the moves are way, way, way beyond me. Perhaps I'm just being negative.

Elijah and I quickly tired of thrutching, so we went to the Shed for campusing. Basically, campusing felt like an ego-booster after the Buena Vista boulder.

Pictures of the project coming soon...

It's raining in paradise (a.k.a. It's raining at the Tor)

It rained this Saturday. I haven't woken up to a drizzly Saturday in years, or at least it seems that way. And while everyone was snug in their beds, or chowing down Aunt Jemimah pancakes, Phil, Elijah, Elhanon and I made the drive to the Central Coast's all-weather climbing destination: the Owl Tor. While the Tor's steepness kept most of the holds dry, general humidity and moisture made some pockets slick as snot. No matter how strong I felt that day, I still peeled off big holds. Most noteworthy was my 35+ foot whipper on Power of Eating. Note to self: don't skip clips on the last, tired burn of the day.

Also noteworthy was my bolt-to-bolt ascent of Better Than Life, 5.13c. I've never climbed on a hard 5.13 (other than Wild Kingdom, which is 5.13a). It felt... hard. And fun. We'll see. I still need to garner some endurance. Here's some footage of me sussing a section towards the top of BTL:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/badgermilk/2915781491/

All in all, I felt like a truck hit me by the end of the day.

Trail Running up Tunnel Trail

Today, I indulged in the runner mecca that is the Santa Barbara front-country. Originally intending to have a nice, 35 minute jaunt up Tunnel trail, I took a fire road that I hadn't explored before. Woops. I ended up suffering on a super sustained uphill for about an hour. It was completely worth it. Expansive views, perfect temps, and the fear of being attacked by a mountain lion reminded me that SB is rad.

Dinner was homemade tomato soup. Delish.

Buena Vista Project: Day 2

Here are the much-awaited pics. They're not stellar, I know, but it's very hard to get perspective of the boulder because trees get in way. By the way, that's Paul wielding the drill on the steep part of the route. Also included is a picture of the adjacent boulder, which touts some as-yet-uncleaned boulder problems. It's a fine piece of rock as well.

Dang, it feels good to be productive...