ABS Nationals Finals

Sorry for no post since Friday- just got back in Atlanta and got the ol' laptop charged back up. For me, the finals on Saturday night were a bit of a disappointment- winding up in 11th place. I was not very excited about the problems set, but that is how comps go: sometimes the problems suit you/inspire you. . . and sometimes they don't. I did well on the first two problems only to get completely shut down by the slab problem, unable to reach a hold statically and unable to control the swing. Then I tapped out on the fourth problem when the start required my left hip (my bad hip) to be in a position that felt like I was risking injury. I still had a lot of fun at the event, but my friends that came to spectate were disappointed not so much by the route-setting, but by the lack of beer (what kind of climbing comp is this?). The disappointment faded quickly afterwords thanks to good times with friends and diner food, and my thoughts moved on to plans for the spring. I'm feeling pretty strong and capable of competing well, so I'm strongly considering competing in the Earthtreks Roc Comp in April, hopefully having some more time to prepare for that event than I had to train for this one.

Snowtorious

ABS Nationals prelims today: so nice to have this event on the east coast! The weather has made it very difficult for people to get here as DC was filled with dump-trucks full of snow going out of town today to try and relocate it. I am staying with my best friend, Jess Culpepper, and her husband and we had some trouble of our own making it to the comp. The plan was for them to drop me off at the metro station so they could get to work, but maneuvering around the slush streets was gripping and the traffic was gridlocked. I was beginning to think that I would surely miss my climb time, but we changed the plans and decided to drive to Alexandria instead and traffic permitted in this direction. I later learned that the red line train that I was supposed to ride to the gym had de-railed. Another bullet dodged in my book: good thing I was already wearing my lucky underwear!

The comp was super-fun with gymnastic, but technical problems: an power/enduro-fest of six problems 4min on/4min off. I am in eighth place going into finals: not too bad for an old lady (believe it or not, I am by far the oldest female competitor making it to finals). It was good as always to see all the familiar faces and friends.

After competing, I went out to lunch with Charlotte, Sarah, and Alex J. and we decided to celebrate the record snowfall:

(ABS Nationals or traversing Mt Ranier: you decide)

Climbing pictures to come tomorrow- I promiss!

Valentine's Day

Getting ready to leave for a quick meeting at work this morning and then it's on the ATL airport to fly out for ABS Nationals. I'm as ready as I'm going to be (given my current schedule) and pretty excited to compete in a nationals event on the east coast, at least I was until the double blizzards dumped on DC. As of this minute, Reagan International is still not open and only the underground portions of the metro are running (which doesn't help you if you're at the airport).

National weather service is claiming 4ft of snow with wind gusts up to 60 mph. As of now, the flights before mine today have already been cancelled, but my flight is claiming to still be on time. This is going to be a very long and blustery weekend with no guarantees that I'll actually make it to the gym in time to compete. No matter what, it will be an adventure. I'll keep posting on that situation, but in the meantime, I wanted to talk about Valentine's Day.

Nationals has always fallen on this weekend, and so, for the past 4+ years, I have not been with my husband on valentine's day. While many people hate valentine's day for the hallmark holiday that it is, I love it for all the reasons I love every movie that has Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan together. I don't know how much longer I'll be competing at events like this, but I'm really looking forward to the day I get to celebrate a Valentine's Day in the same state as my husband (like New York on top of the empire state building). Happy Valentines Day, Kenneth: I love our life together!

Boulderpalooza 2010

Kenneth and I drove down to central Florida this weekend to escape the frigid temps in Atlanta, visit his parents, and to compete in the Boulderpalooza (annual bouldering competition) at the Gainesville Rock Gym. After a 7+ hour drive that included hour long conversations over seinfield-esque topics like how long the stripes between lanes are on the highway (10ft!) and the logistics of pecan farming, we arrived in Gainesville only to find the temperatures were not much better than in Atlanta. The fruit is in trouble.

Saturday, I made my way to the Gainesville Rock Gym to compete, double-fisting coffee. I was met by a lot of familiar faces and excited youth for a really fun day of pulling down on some plastic. Chattanooga showed up in force with Jimmy Webb and Kasia Peietras, plenty of strong Floridians, and myself representing the peach state. More competitors turned up for the competition this year due to the $5000 cash purse put up by the GRG and an impressive list of sponsors. This event is always a blast- and I would recommend it to everyone: the positivity and enthusiasm is a welcome change in a comp scene that is too often dominated by entitled athletes and psychotic parents. The Gaineville Rock Gym is a small gym with a whole lot of spirit: at a glance, you wouldn’t understand how it has churned out so many strong climbers, but after having attended an event there, it becomes evident. While this small gym in central Florida may not have the biggest facility, newest walls, etc, they have heart and have inspired a community of climbers in an area where the closest rock to climb is at least six hours away. Pretty cool.

I climbed with Kasia for the majority of the day and it felt much more like a session than a competition. In between prelims and finals, there was about an hour and a half that we had to sit in isolation: possibly the highlight of my day because I spent the entire time holding Jimmy & Kasia’s 11 wk-old husky puppy while he napped. Awake, he is a rambunctious, sharp, little beast when awake, asleep he is the cuddliest, floppy-pawed thing ever. I think that if comp-organizers would like to make their events more attractive, they should offer puppy holding in every iso: I will be there.

At the end of the day, I went home happy having placed first (by not a very big margin), having had a great workout, and having caught up with old friends- oh, and made some $$$$!!!!

Best of 2009

New FiveTen assignment: blog entry on ‘best of 2009’: while several days late, I’ve been mulling the topic over in my mind. In relation to my climbing life, was the ‘best of 2009’ the comp victories, the personal bests, or the new places? The truth is that the best moments of any year come in the same unsuspecting package: moments in time where all things quiet to the simplicity of being outside focusing on the rock above. It’s not the comp days that we’ll dream about when our bodies give out, it is the moments up on a route where all you can hear is the wind and witnesses look on from the ground with their necks craned and their fingers twitching for their turn. This is why I climb: I can leave everything else on the ground.

A couple of days ago, my husband and I went to see Avatar- a lovely movie for anyone who has not yet seen it. In it, the aliens who inhabit the planet Pandora have nervous systems that extend out of the ends of their hair and they use it to physically connect with the forest that they live in. They plug into the trees to hear their ancestors’ voices and into the mane of the horse they ride to establish their connection. In the movie, the physical connection lets them understand the inter-connectedness of all things. While I don’t have a neural tube that comes out of my ponytail that I can just click to the things I want to connect to, I go climbing: my way of ‘plugging-in’ to the natural world that we are all a part of.

So the highlight of my year was not the Triple Crown. It was not onsighting 8a or sending my projects. It was not the sticky rubber on my shoes (although I still whole-heartedly think FiveTen makes the best shoes). The best part of 2009 was a Tuesday afternoon in Little River Canyon when my mind quieted and I could just climb.

Triple Crown Birthday Weekend

This past Friday I turned 28 and I am proud to say that despite cranking out some serious boulder problems yesterday, I am not in a world of hurt today (just my hips- ha!) This Triple Crown event, like all the years past, did not disappoint and included a bonus SNOW DAY on Saturday. Kenneth and I headed up to Chattanooga Friday afternoon with Jack-the-Dog in tow and went straight to the pre-registration party and set up the Prana tent. It was when my hands turned to icicles during the tent set-up that I first began to wonder if I was going to have any hope of climbing well. I had on more layers than the kids in the Christmas Story as I handed out Prana beanies to all the crazy climbers (mostly Floridians) who had not brought any head-coverings to the event and whose ears were disturbing shades of crimson. From there we met up with Michelle and went to Mudpie for some beans, rice, cake, and karaoke.

We stayed with our good friend Michelle in St. Elmo at her new kick-ass abode. Hotel Michelle was also the headquarters for the boonies (Pat Goodman & Jessa Goebel) and for fellow Prana/FiveTen athlete, Alex Johnson. Michelle’s dog, Oliver the fluffy-white-talking-dog, was joined by my dog, Jack (an old friend of Ollie’s), and Fritz (A.J.’s 4lb. chihuahua). Oliver (a huge husky) and Fritz became the star-crossed lovers of the weekend with an unfortunate mutual attraction thwarted by dimensions.

We all hunkered down for the night and I was the first to wake up Saturday morning (comp day) and look out the window. Chattanooga was covered with an inch of snow and it was still snowing! Still in my sleeping bag, I grabbed my laptop and hopped into Alex’s room playing “White Christmas” on my iTunes. For those of you who don’t already know, Alex lives the life. She climbs and hangs out with Fritz and sleeps. That being said, the girl does NOT wake up early or easily. I turned up the music and started to dance in my sleeping bag until Fritz woke up and decided that attacking me was the only option. Poor Alex finally opened her eyes and in a very confused tone looked right at me and inquired, “what ARE you?” That was how the snow day began.

Our entire snow day events: coffee, Waffle House, coffee, Bluegrass show downtown (Gerle Haggard rocked it), hot chocolate, hike with the dogs, tea, dyno comp at the gym, served tea at the tent, and then went to bed with hand-warmers in my sleeping bag. Hot beverages were definitely the theme. Before the dyno comp started, they had a pad-stacking contest where you had to stand on top of bouldering pads and add pad by pad until you eventually toppled over. Hailey (bad-ass local climber) tore it up and beat all the boys with an impressive thirteen-pad tower with her teetering at the top. Zach Walker brought the pain in the massage corner helping climbers loosen up and work out the knots.

Sunday=comp day. With temps in only the 20s to begin, we filed into the frozen boulderfield. When it gets that cold outside, I usually tap out and stay home and knit next to our space heater. I do not function well in freezing temperatures. I had on more layers than I care to admit (notice there are no climbing pics of myself below in part because there was no time and in part because I resembled the Michelin man). I had hand-warmers in my pockets and in my down slippers that I wore to get from problem to problem- all while having my climbing shoes tucked in my long underwear to keep them warm. The day got better and better and my climbing got better and better as the sun graced us and I ended up having my best bouldering day ever- and managed to win the entire comp! It was unexpected, but a great birthday gift. My ticklist:

1. Man Hands (V8)
2. Odyssey (V9)
3. Grimace (V8)
4. Spanky (V8)
5. Cleopatra (V8)
6. Bedwetters (V9/10)
7. Dr. Atkinson (V8)
8. The Brotherhood (V8)
9. I Think I Can (V9)
10. Fatigue Syndrome (V8)

Jack & Ollie enjoying the cold

Chattanooga's Gerle Haggard Band

John Hur on Odyssey-V9

John on Space-V8

Slider

Slider is one of my favorite boulder problems of all time (#1. The Orb, #2. Mighty Mouse, #3. Slider). Alex Hooks was photographing the Triple Crown event this past weekend and sent me these shots from Slider & Beta Boy. Thanks, Alex!