Christina Pilo has
been tearing it up around SoCal again. Actually, she probably
has never stopped, we just can't keep up with her! She
recently sent the original stand up of Greenpeace (v8).
She also made easy work of Dimitrius Fritz's new Stoney
Point testpiece - The Old Man and the Point (v8). The
first being a possible first female ascent, the latter
being the 2nd ascent. Well be interested to see of she
can link up the entire Greenpeace, from the sit. Go Pilo!
07-17-08
Another classic "hanging
guillotine" arete has been added Trams list of classic
"hanging guillotine" aretes. And yes, it IS
of the variety that could sever the head of an unsuspecting
boulderer! Named Supersonic (v8/9), this problem actually
has two possible finishes. Originally climbed by Joe Morgan,
the problem starts as a sit and climbs about 13ft. of
knobby slopers on the arete. Joes line (named Ray of Light)
then exits by traversing a flake system right, across
the overhanging right face. Damon Corso upped the ante
by extending the line all the way out the arete, for roughly
20ft. of overhanging arete (my sequence is 15 moves) ,finishing
on a rediculously thin sliver of granite posing as the
top of the rock. This problem is no doubt as good as anything
else at Tram.
07-15-08
07-08-08
05-27-08
05-27-08
It was one year ago
yesterday that the SoCal climbing scene lost one of its
greatest personalities ...Michael Reardon. For those of
you that may not know the story, Michael was climbing
cliffs on the shore of Valentia Ireland when he was struck
by a large wave, and knocked into the frigid and turbulent
ocean. Michael was never seen again. I have added a few
links that seem to have gotten lost in the mix.
The Brickyard in Santa Barbara has been the scene
of a large fire, known as the Gap fire. Reports indicate
that the fire rolled right through the boulders themselves.
No info yet on the extent of the damage to the bouldering.
We will report info as it becomes available. For more
on this developing story, check out sbbouldering.com
Dimitrius Fritz has added a new line at the historical
bouldering area Stoney Point. Dimit's line is behind Uma
Gumma, on the same boulder. He calls it The old man
and the Point, and suggests a rating of v8.
Scott Sanchez flashed Soul Caliber (v9),
making him the second person to do so. Scott also made
a second try ascent of the classic My Infested Destiny
(v7) the same day.
05-06-08
When Alan Moore is
not carving across the snowy slopes of San Jacinto naked
on his crashpad, he can be found tearing it up around
the boulders of SoCal. Alan bagged the (3rd?) ascent of
Devils Dance v12 at Tram. Also, in the past several
weeks he's sent: Tram - the Cackler (v9), Dark Soul
(v10), Boardwalk (v9), Danimal (v10), Paper Dragon (v10),
Buzzsaw (v10) at Black Mountain, and the Force
(v10) at Yosemite. Did I leave anything out Alan?
Check out this vid that we pilfered from Youtube, of Alan
sending Devils Dance. Somebody get that guy a
video camera!
04-21-08
Tram seems to be
the focus of the local bouldering scene lately, with so
many ascents of the areas testpieces that reporting them
all is becoming a bit redundant. Here are some of the
more notable sends: Joe Morgan made a possible second
ascent of Harry Pothead ( v9? v10?). Joe also
added a nice variation finish to the classic Gluttony.
Vanishing Point (v9) has had a rash of repeats,
most notably Christina Pilo's, for a second Female send.
Christina also made easy work of Suck My Venus (v8)
at the Jupes. Trevor Smith made the first known flash
of Soul Caliber (v9). Over the past several months,
Trevor crushed the Jupes, repeating just about every established
hard line there. No doubt Trevor plans on doing the same
at the top of the mountain. Finally, Damon Corso made
a very proud and personal ascent of the problem dubbed
House of Pain. Michael Reardon came very close
to getting the FA just before leaving on his final voyage
to Ireland. Mike vowed to send the climb as soon as he
returned. Damon named the climb the Michael Reardon Memorial
Face Problem (v6/7 R), in honor of his lost friend.
04-01-08
Updated: Starting
with the Jupiter Bouders, about a month
ago Lisa Rands made a speedy FFA of the
scary Lost in Space (v9/10 R),
from the sit. She sent after about three
or four burns. Shortly thereafter, Lisa
beta-flashed Suck My Venus (v8),
for the first female send of that rig. Then
last weekend, Bridget Enderle made the second
female ascent of Suck My Venus (v8).
Reportedly, Bridget repeated it several
times in a row. Finally, to recap Tasha's
send of Thriller (v10), Tash had
worked the problem a bit since the previous
season, before sending the Valley testpiece
on her first go of the day.
Photo of Lisa: Christina Miramontes
Photo of Bridget: Ian McIntosh
Photo of Tasha: Unknown
03-31-08
Despite a fair amount of snow still on the mountain, Tram has been
the site of some hard pullin' as of late. Ty Lanman
and company tore it up with multiple ascents of
both Black Mamba (v12/13), and Somewhere
in Time (v13). Ty also nabbed a second try,
second ascent of Dan Mills problem "Devil's
Dance" (v12), which is the low extension
to the Steep Sharma Arete. Ian McIntosh added a
link starting at Soulshine and moving into
Left Hand of Darkness/Over the Boardwalk. Ian
called this new link-up Dark Soul, and
said that it was just a little more solid than
Soulshine (which is going at v10/11 these days).
03-30-08
Natasha Barnes nailed the fifth female ascent of Thriller (v10) at
Yosemite this past weekend. We will have more info
and hopefully pics as soon as we get the skinny
on this proud send!
03-17-08
03-11-08
Ian
McIntosh sent an old project at the
Joshua Tree Underground last saturday.
The short problem climbs a 45° to
50° blood red and orange overhang,
on rediculously small crimps. Ian sent
after several hours of doing battle
with the climb, despite suffering three
bloddy flappers, the kind that would
end most people's day! He named the
problem Blood Drive, and suggested that
it was at least v10.
Joshua Tree's infamous highball The
Peanut (v7) saw a second and third
ascent last saturday. Both Rob Mulligan and
Aron Couzens had worked the problem on several
occasions, before growing the cajones to go
for the top. We are happy to report that no
bones were broken for these ascents, just
skinned butt cheeks and puckered nads!
01-22-08
01-20-08
01-16-08
01-07-08
01-07-08
Dan Beall has added a new hard problem at the Warm-Up Boulders at Mt
Woodson. Dan says that the problem follows
an Arete on a slabby face, and he is giving
it a grade of Woodson 5.12+ ...translated
into modern bouldering terms= V11/12.
Lisa Rands has done the first female
ascent of the Mandala (v12). She had worked
the line off and on for the past year. The
Mandala is probably the most famous boulder
problem on the planet.
Visting Canadian Sean McColl has
been unstoppable in his tour of the Bishop
area. Yesterday, Sean repeated the sit start
to the Mandala (v13/14?), despite
icy conditions and wet rock. Also, on the
Grandma Peabody boulder, Sean linked up the
traverse Barburra (v12) into the
traverse the Mystery (also v12),
naming this new mega-traverse the Oracle
(v13). He also came very close to linking
Barburra into the straight up problem
Direction (v13). Last week Sean repeated
Goldfish Trombone (v14) at the Happies,
as well as sending many other problems such
as Direction, and Xaviers Roof
(v12), both at the Buttermilk.
15 year old twins Eden and Itai Axelrad
have been tearing it up around SoCal recently.
Both twins made rare ascents of the Lion's
Den (V10) at JTree. The problem climbs
a 16ft. tall boulder that sits over a concrete
slab, the slab remnants of a cage made to
house Lions and other wild creatures during
a 1950's Disney film. The twins also both
bagged ascents of Talon (V10), and
Perpetual Darkness (V10) that same
day!
SoCal native Shawn Diamond has repeated
Toni Lamiche's sit start to the Mandala
at the Buttermilk. The sit start to the
mega-classic boulder problem goes at around
V13.
01-06-08
12-27-07
12-23-07
12-11-07
11-26-07
Damon Corso has done
what could be the Third ascent of Rob Mulligan's
scary testpiece River Nile (V9 R),
on the Rosetta Stone at JTree. The problem
starts as a jump to high rails, then moves
right with some whack moves into a shallow
finger crack. Insecure liebacking up the crack
leads to sketchy slopers just below the summit,
20+ feet up!
The mega-classic Joshua Tree boulder
problem Alexandria (V6/7) has been
the subject of complete female domination
lately. Starting a few months back with Christina
Anastasi hiking the climb on her second try...as
a warm-up! Then, several weeks ago, Christina
Pilo crushed it on her second go. Followed
by her sending the lower start (V8) on the
following try. Finally, Natasha Barnes dusted
the thing off with a third try ascent of the
low start. The problem climbs exquisite thin
crimps on a vertical face to a brickwork of
jugs high (about 20ft) off the deck!
Evilution Direct (v11) got
what could be the 3rd ascent, by Charlie Barrett
of Tahoe area, CA. Tony Lamiche did the FA
of the variation finish to the ultra dicey
highball, in '02. This variation is said to
be slightly less dangerous than the original
finish that was put up by Jason Kehl.
Well it looks like Bishop season
is kicking into gear. Back in November, Tyler
Landman sent the Buttermilk testpiece the
Swarm (V14). During that same visit,
Ty dispatched with both - Direction
(V13), and Xavier's Roof (V12/13)
- in one afternoon! Also, Kevin Daniels made
the second ascent of the new mega-classic
highball Flight of the Bumblebee
(V8), after taking several 25ft. falls - and
self administering several stitches to his
face! Who is this guy...Behr Grilles?
Chris
Lindner has repeated the right variation
of Ethan Pringle's Wetdream
in the Black Velvet Canyon of Redrocks.
Ethan put this line up several years
ago and is calling it one of the best
boulder problems in the world! The variation
the Chris sent is V11, and the alternate
Wet Dream line checks in at
V12. Thanks to Damon Corso for providing
us with these awesome pics!
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