Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Small Arkansas Recap

Here recently i've been looking for some time away to relax, and take it easy. Life honestly isn't too stressful here in chatt but it's always nice to get away every once in a while and just enjoy the company of good friends in a remote area. Brion, Rami, Nate, and I decided to take a trip up to arkansas this past weekend.. and though it was short lived it provided me with peace of mind, and a renewed psych on hard boulders still left to do !

On our first day we woke up to super cloudy skies and wet ground... but surprisingly enough the rock was bone dry ! The horseshoe canyon ranch is an amazing little spot when it rains because it's probably the fastest place to dry out. With the canyon being conveniently located it is prone to get heavy winds and tons of sun. Once we realized it was all dry we decided to hike up hill to the Flash Gordon Bloc and try our luck on a couple hard classics. After we warmed up Brion and I climbed Jeff's prow and hiked around the corner to give some efforts on Anti-Hero. I was able to dispatch rather quickly while Brion focused his attention on the SUPER classic Loved by Few Hated by Many. He was able to send fast, and Nate finished off Flash Gordon. At this point the sun was falling fast so we hustled over to Wood Grain Grippin for our first round of attempts of the season. I surprised myself on this one climbing through the crux move and falling on the big throw to the pinch on my first try ! YES ! I knew i could do it ... Although on the next couple of attempts i grew way tired, and voges ended up breaking a very key foot at the start. It definitely still goes, but we were unfortunately unable to walk away with a send .....

On day 2 i woke up solo super early to go try Wood Grain once more, hoping that i could maybe squeak out a send. I felt really tired from the previous day and i couldn't even get close .... so i trudged back down the mountain and headed towards the ranch to pick up the doods and head to Fred's Cave. Nothing big happened in the cave, Rami and Nate got close on their two separate problems, Freds Cave and Buddy, which they will send surely once we return. After this the evening temps started to show, and Brion and I floated down to the invasion wall in hopes to try Lost in the Hood. The start hold was super nasty but we dug out the ish and commenced to throwing ourselves at the very odd crux first move. Instantly we both felt like we could send, but the problem was.. when were we gonna snag the first hold ? I've never tried such an odd problem where you can feel so close every time yet not send... it was almost like sticking the move revolved around luck... there was no way to be accurate and every go you found yourself in disbelief that you didn't hold on. Still confident though Brion then pulled on the wall on what was probably is 14th effort? and just stuck the first move BEAUTIFULLY ! He hit the hold open handed and as soon as i saw him lock it down i knew he had it in the bag. He continued on up the finish v8 or so and topped out for his first 8b+ ever ! So sick ! I then finished off my round of attempts getting AGONIZINGLY close and splitting my tip . I was definitely a bit bummed i didn't send but the major amounts of psych outweigh any spots of dissapointment .. I can't wait to get back to finish it off !!

On our concluding day in the AR we ran up to the Flash Gordon bloc once more so i could try the sit project to Love by Few Hated by Many. This one probably links a hard v11 into the stand start v12/13. Im not quite sure how hard that makes it in full but if i were to guess.. its around solid 8b+. Once i sussed out the bottom i gave it one good effort from the start. Feeling really close i got into the stand start and greased off violently at the big move. Feeling completely wrecked at this point i decided to call it quits and save my skin for a classic V10 Off the Rails that were gonna hit up on the way home. I can't wait to get back to the AR !!!!!!!!!!

Hope ya'll liked the vids
Enjoi

2 comments:

Zach said...

Well written blog; keep it up.
Barely missing that many hard problems is just gonna make the next trip a total crushfest!
Semper Psy

Daily doses said...

Thanks man, i hope so !