Finals Week

So here we are, another month between updates.  Truth be told, I have a good reason this time.  I took a month off of climbing to recover after Hueco and have just recently started to climb again.  Can’t tell a whole lot of difference one way or the other so far, but time will tell if the time off pays off.  The real reason for this post, however, is that I finally finished up the first video (of what should turn out to be about 4 or 5) of the climbing we did this winter.  Adam shot all the footage, as usual, and I dragged my arse editing it for several months, as usual. Pretty happy with how it turned out though! As soon as the schedule settles down a bit and I get into my summer job in lovely Aiken, SC (land of horses and golf), the others should make their way off of my computer and onto the interweb for everyone to get a sniff on.

LRC/Stone Fort Winter ’12 from George Evans on Vimeo.

Hueco Tanko

So last week we took off and ditched the warm, humid southern spring to hit up the dryer (with the exception of one day of sandstorming-blizzard-rainfest) Texas weather in the legendary Hueco Tanks State Park.  Anybody that reads this blog with any regularity is probably familiar with the New Years resolution list I put up a few months ago, and might remember that I had a list of problems from Hueco that I wanted to do this year when I went back.  To make a long, whiny story short, I didn’t put down a single problem on that list.  This is partially due to the fact that I didn’t get to a couple of them, but primarily due to the fact that problems in Hueco are hard.  I certainly tried Sign of the Cross (V3) and Ghetto Simulator (V2/5.13d as far as I’m concerned), but left both for a future trip.   Moonshine Roof (V4) also proved to be a pump-fest that spat me off the lip several times on our only day on East Mountain.  Lobster Claw (V5) was another that spat me off after sticking the crux from the start, and Wicicala Cave (V5) is just straight hard.  The new problems that I did somehow manage to do went as follows (to avoid the spray, skip past the bullets straight to the video).

  • V-Obsession (V5) – Cooler problem than I gave it credit for, looked sharp but turns out you hardly use the intimidating holds at all.
  • Girls of Juarez (V4) – Classic hueco roof jug pulling, and better than the 2 stars in the guidebook suggest.  The landing looks a bit spooky, but really turns into nothing with a couple pads and the best spotter in the southeast behind you (I’m giving you the stick Adam). 
  • Walrus in a Blender (V5) – One big move that finishes into a classic V2.  Cool horizontal dyno into a one handed swing on a super positive jug though, unlike anything else I’ve done outside.  
  • Choss Training (V3) – Bit of an epic.  Tried on the last trip, thought it would be a cake walk this year.  This turned out not to be the case.  I spent three days throughout the trip trying the big one-two-jump beta from the huge foot down low and got reaaaaal close that way, but eventually had to unlock some whack beta with a lil’ crimp pinch and some higher feet.  Finally did this thing on the last day, with the ranger honking  her horn at us to get out of the park.  Everybody else did it in their approach shoes.  Shout out to Ashima, whose tiny-hold usage was an inspiration to this no-jumping oaf.  Also, thanks to Dougie Fresh for walking back across the mountain to this thing with me for a last ditch effort.  IT’S TUESDAY, HERSH!

So with the blathering about my 4 new sends behind us, I’ll leave the two people who’ve made it this far through the post with a video me and Adam put together (which, for once, I’ve managed to finish editing in less than 6 months).

Problems featured are V-Obsession (V5), Girls of Juarez (V4), Moonshine Roof (V4), Coffee Achiever (V5), and Free Willy (V10).

1 Day

Spring break is starting at 5:00PM today for yours truly, and we’ll be making a return trip to the lovely Hueco Tanks near El Paso, TX.  My back is a bit sore, I’ve got a hole in my finger, and this has been a long, lousy week, but barring anything going terribly wrong on the day-long drive out there, things should get much better around 5 or 6PM tomorrow night, when we arrive at the ranch.  I’ve got a few problems in mind, with Moonshine Roof being the one that would really make the trip for me.  Here’s a few videos that I’ve been watching to get amped up for it, as if I need any help getting psyched…

Our classic vid from Hueco last year:

Raise Up from George Evans on Vimeo.

One from Patagonia of Lynn Hill crushing Dragonfly, Moonshine Roof, DDD, Chblanke, etc…

A new one from LT11

Louder Than 11 in Hueco from Louder Than 11 on Vimeo.

Another new one from LT11

2012 Hueco Rock Rodeo – Highlights from Louder Than 11 on Vimeo.

LT11 apparently spent a lot of time in Hueco this year…

New Years in Hueco Tanks – Evangalion (v13) from Louder Than 11 on Vimeo.

And a couple others:

There’s a lot of other good ones, but these have been on replay for me this week. 2 classes and 4 hours at work left!

Winter Trips

So I’ve spent a lot of time on the road this winter (if you want to call it that, it really has hardly gotten below 50 in the souf).  I seem to be slowly ticking through the New Year’s Resolutions post I made a while back.  This weekend, we made it out to Rocktown to get another chance at Golden Shower and I finally managed to put it down!  Adam did all the moves on the Orb, and Doug did a bunch of new 8′s, so we’re all pretty psyched as of late.  I’ve still got a lot of work to do on the list though, so we’re planning to keep hitting it hard straight up through when it turns warm again, presumably in a month or two.  At least the groundhog came through and saw his shadow today, so we’ve got 6 more weeks to cross our fingers for good temps.  Also, me and Adam have started working on a big video project covering a lot of areas in the southeast, so be on the lookout for that sometime this spring.

Happy trails.

Mulletino Vidya

Here’s a vid of me sending mulletino to the lip/thrashing my shoulder.

Nice to cross a roof problem off the list, I hate steep climbing. Did this one for Ouyang. Ended up having a really good day that trip, finally finished off Green Lantern (which is probably the same difficulty as Mulletino) and repeat some of the harder stuff I’d done there in the past. Still waiting on that cold weather though, it was still in the 60′s during the hot parts of the day this weekend…

I Sent Millipede and None of my Strong Friends Can Do It

Let the record show that George Evans is the greatest rock climber of all time, also that Taylor McNeill and Doug Ianuario suck.  Don’t worry, I won’t let this send go to my head.

New Years Resolutions

1) Quit peeing out of my butt (probably due to drinking expired milk and eating dumpster pizza, mmmmm).
2) Climb some new boulder problems. Unfortunately, I was absent minded enough to delete my old blog without copying over the long list of boulders I wanted to climb. That list has changed a bit anyway, so here’s a bit of an updated wish list:

Rocktown, GA

1) Golden Shower – V5 – Great problem. Glad to have done it. Probably more like 4/5, but took a lot of effort from me regardless. Really pretty face.

2) Soap on a Rope – V4

3) Island of Beautiful Women – V3/4?

4) Pythagorean Theorem – V5

5) Nose Candy – V6

Stone Fort, TN

1) The Wave   – V6 – So psyched to tick this one off.  It will take some convincing for me to take V5 on this thing.  Caught it in perfect weather.

2) Manute Bol – V5 – Took the wave V6, felt guilty for taking this one too, so I won’t.  Feels tough for me, don’t think my body fits these moves really well… nice prob.

3) Super Mario Ext. – V6

4) Shotgun – V6 – 1/15/2012 – Awesome. First V6, and glad it was. Very fun boulder problem.

5) Ghengis Khan – V5

6) Space – V8 – SHUT UP, I do what I want

7) Two Shoes Jack – V4 – In actuality, probably at least 3 grades harder than space

8) Rage – V5 – Fell after the crux on the topout jugs of this thing yesterday (1/15), looking forward to getting back.

Horse Pens 40, AL

1) Getcha Some – V5

2) Hammerhead – V5 – 3/4/2012 – Wow.  Didn’t expect to do this thing anytime soon.

3) Mulletino to the lip – V4/5 – 1/6/2012 – “George, did you take V5 on your scorecard?” You will ask, and I will say “Yes, but then I went back and changed it to 4/5 cause I felt guilty”.  Glad to have it done, not worth whatever it did to my shoulder. OUCH

4) Trick or Treat – V6 – Can’t win it if ye ain’t in it SON!

5) Mortal Kombat – V4

6) Boogey Wonderland – V4 – 3/4/2012 – Still couldn’t tell you how I ended up on top of this thing.  Ridiculous

7) Uniball – V4

8) Green Lantern – V3 – 1/6/2012 – One hard arse V3

9) Orca – V3 – 3/4/2012 – Finally felt like V3

10) Horsepower – V3 – 3/4/2012 – Didn’t feel even remotely like V3, maybe V6?

11) Popeye – V5

Boone, NC

1) West Texas – V3

2) Pullin Teeth – V4 – Will have to wait until that finger is ready to crimp again…

3) Mighty Mouse – V5 – Ambitions

4) Haptos – V4

5) Patio Arete – V4

6) M1 – V3 – Scares the nuts off of me, I hate rockovers

7) Nitrous Oxide – V5

8) Throttle – V5 – Would mark a bigtime progression for me.  Really want to do this one.

9) The Fin – V5 – Got close on this one, just couldn’t keep it together to finish.

Rumbling Bald, NC

1) Lewis Lunge – V5

2) The Sail – V4

3) Pit BBQ – V6

4) Grease Pit – V5 2/18/2012 – Can’t take 6 on this thing… feels every bit of V5 to me though.  Lewis Lunge is hard…

5) Brackish One – V4

6) Slave Driver – V3 – 1/4/2012 – Can’t decide if this or Genesis is the hardest V3 of all time

7) Campus Problem – V5

Hueco Tanks

1) Sign of the Cross – V3 – Hueco Tanks, should go without saying.  Need to do this if I go back…

2) Moonshine Roof – V4 – Will also be a major goal if I make it back to Hueco this year.

3) Bodysnatchers – V4

4) Lobster Claw – V5 – Would be nice to send V5 in Hueco, though it doesn’t seem likely.

5) Wicicala Cave – V5

6) Ghetto Simulator – V2 – Didn’t walk down to this one last trip, need to make sure it happens this year.

7) T- Bone Shuffle – V4

8) Jingus Bells – V5- Not sure how my balls will feel when I’m standing under this one, but it looks incredible.

Other Stuff

1) Riverfront – V5 – At Cumberland, one of the prettiest problems I’ve ever seen…

I plan to add/tick from this list as new problems come and (hopefully) go.  This is more for myself than for the 2 people reading this, but who knows, maybe this list will get someone else psyched to hit up these areas and try these problems.

God Module Video

Here’s the video of Doug doing God Module (V11).  I thought about dragging it out a whole bunch with him taking like 9 thousand falls, crying, throwing his chalk bag, etc. but decided to keep it simple and throw a good jam over a few close burns and the send footy.  “Mom, Doug told me everything!!!”

Nice work, SON!

Another Vidya

Still playing catch-up with all the footage I have from the past few weeks… here’s a quick one of Doug on the Vagina (V8) at Rocktown.  Sorry about the poor quality/lack of effort put into this vid.  He hooked it up pretty quick that day, barely had time to get my camera out.  Looking forward to climbing a lot in the next couple of weeks.  Merry Christmas! 

 

 

Delayed Update… and Triple Crown Vid!

I might as well begin this one with the typical apology for taking so long to get a post up.  School kinda took over during the course of the last few weeks (and as such, ended up going pretty well, so I don’t feel all that bad about neglecting my blog).  However, I will attempt to regain your affection with the posting of a video.  Climbers love that stuff.

A lot has happened since the last time I posted, I’ll throw it in bullet format to keep things brief:

  • 1st and foremost, Doug Ianuario climbed God Module!  This was a long time coming, glad I could be there when it went down.
  • The same day, I managed to put down Millipede for my first of the V5 grade at HP40, which offered some serious psyche for the rest of the day, when I managed to put down a few more projects in the Thespian, Spirit, and Man with the Slow Hand, all of which are well worth doing. 
  • I’ve made a handful of trips up to the local spots in the upstate and managed to put up a couple of new ones (Awk Hawk V3 and Delayed Gratification V2), of semi-decent quality.  Also, a friend of mine, Ben Case, came up and put up a line of his own, French Press (V2/3) on a nice, big standalone boulder tucked away up in the hills of S.C. which is also home to Delayed Gratification.  
  • We’ve made 2 or 3(?) trips to Rocktown, where Doug is painfully close on The Womb (V10), Adam is falling off the lip of Pulling Tubes (V6), and I’m punting off the last move of Golden Shower (V5).  A promising trip should be somewhere in the near future, as Doug also made some good progress on Golden Harvest (V10).  On the upside of the Rocktown trips, I did manage to do the ultra classic Scoop Direct (V14-) last time I was there for my proudest ascent to date.  Not sure if this is a first ascent, but it’s definitely one of Rocktown’s best, we’ll have to get  someone strong out there to see what they think.  Maybe if Doug does more abs/pullups/develops his technique he’ll be able to squeak out a repeat.
  • Doug did the Orb and the Vagina (both Rocktown V8′s) and I peaced out the hyper-classic Super Mario Bros. (V4) and hyper-soft Sternum (V5/8) at Little Rock City. 

As far as videos to look for in the future, I have UNCUT FOOTAGE of the Millipede, God Module, Vagina, and Awk Hawk sends, though unfortunately I lack footy of the Scoop Direct.  I’ll have to make a repeat when Chuck Fry-big-up Productions decides to document PressItOut’s movement to the forefront of the climbing news community.

At the moment, I’m kicking back at the Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala, getting amped up for 3 days of sailfishing, overeating, and general Evans-family-guy-antics.  Should be a blast!  To be followed with a few weeks of climbing climbing climbing.  Very excited about the season.

Happy trails.

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