Gold Bar Access

Just a reminder that if aren't part of WCC you are probably going to get fined by the climbing Gestapo the next time you go to Gold Bar. In all seriousness though join it's a good organization and they have done a lot to advance access in the Pacific Northleft.

http://www.washingtonclimbers.org/Climbing/goldbar.htm

In other related news I've been dreaming of going back to Albarracin, Spain today. Talking broken ankles at the gym made me realize I still have a project there that needs to be finish. Below is one of the Frenchies we climbed with that was stronger than the foot cheese smell in bathroom 3 at Stone Gardens today. If you're looking for a destination this should be top of your list.

Happy Holidays Stone Warriors!

Look Russ no tan lines.

As the holidays hit you might be lacking in ideas for your gift giving pleasure. We at MCPOD would like to make some recommendations that you can pass on to your  loved ones as well as some ideas for you to give because, let's face it a new chalk purse isn't all that fun if you aren't a climber. On with the list...

Things that will make your significant climbing others religious holiday of your choosing at the end of December extra special:

• Hueco Tanks T-Shirt $25 (skinny blond girl w/ scoliosis cost extra)
• 5.10 5X Neon Green Zipper, Velcro, Mocc $85 (the preferred shoe of old men everywhere)
• Beer from NW Peaks Brewery(Kevin is a great guy and even if you don't pick up a subscription you should stop by and check out his shop)
• Gerber Apocalypse Kit $priceless (if you can think of one good reason why your loved one doesn't need this 7 piece undead cutlery set you will proably be one of the first to die)
• Tweek Cap by Mammut (got hooked up with one of these guys a few weeks ago. if you are bald this is the perfect cap. keeps the ears warm with fleece but the top isn't fleeced in so no overheating)
• The Scene $20 (enough climbing porn to keep someone occupied for a least an hour)
• Mondo (not only a great catchers mit for the apt faller, but also a swish little mattress to snuggle up in at the end of the day)
• People I Want to Punch in the Face (see also the dudes from "The Island")
• Mossberg Just In Case $? (because sometimes a good set of knives just isn't enough)

Things to get the understanding non rock addicted significant other to make the religious holiday of their choosing at the end of December special:

• Amigos Skateboards T-Shirt (because let's face it the only thing cooler than grinding rails is bouldering and if your bird doesn't look sexy in a t-shirt it's time to find a new one)
• Necklaces from History & Industry (there could be a whole book written about things that good around your neck call "Things Women Like")

In the event that you are in the dog house with no end in site and no possible reprieve of a climbing weekend click this link and plan to drop at least $100. One way or another you are guaranteed a weekend of climbing or potentially at home.


Merry religious holiday of your choosing. My name's Mary. No Shit?
MCPOD

“Like all of my friends, she's a lousy judge of character.”

Last weekend a gaggle of us headed out to Gold Bar for some fun in the friction friendly cold. The theme for the day was getting shutdown on the usual suspects, Obesity and Danny Devito. Obesity is dialed just have to figure out the last throw.(Ben did it again because he is a dick... still) Watched Blue send the direct by skipping about 3 holds that we had tried using back in Nov. That gets the Attends sponsored "Peanut Butter Paste Pants Old Man Send of the Day" award.

One other noteworthy problem was Leah's new gem "Deet Teets" which is just up from the warm up boulders by camp 4. A nice little gem that's begging for a lower start but probably goes v2/3 if you do it with wet foot holds which is nice.

Leah showing everyone how "Deets Teets" is done

Becca on Deet Teets

 Anyone done anything on this boulder?

Statically Blue Obesity

Day working Obesity

Becca getting down with Danny Devito

Life On Hold

The chaps across the pond are at it again with another trailer "Life On Hold", this time on the grit. They also updated their website, which was much needed, over to a .com

The Danish Fox

M on The ______? in Leavenworth

"You can't always send what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you send what ya need"

There were a lot of things to be gleaned from the comp at Stone Gardens last weekend. The first and most important is that the old man division is not a bunch of blue hair old timers on their last leg. The top geezer would have place 11th in the Open division and was almost 700 points ahead of second, Statistically speaking I achieved 2 of 3 of my goals coming up with a top 10 finish.

The comp went something like this... Arrive early and hear the rules blah blah blah and then the comp gets started. Never having climbed in one of these 3 ring circus's I was pretty keen to sit back and watch. I had some help from Liam who was the only other person I knew and was climbing in the advanced division. (Congrats on finishing in the $)

I came out slow doing a few 200 point problems and looking at a lot of 5 and 6 hundo problems. I honed in on  400 and 500 pointers on the wave wall that didn't look bad. Most everyone was eager to jump on stuff but losing a point for every attempt led me to what I would think was a bit wiser approach. I watched. And there you have the basis of my whole strategy. Go slow climb hard and be smarter. After pulling beta on the 2 pretty straight forward problems I flashed them both. Bingo I'm off and running and things look pretty good. (Side note Ben could not flash these on Monday night which can only mean that I am stronger than him)

I went up to the front wall next pulling a second go of a 495 problem after foot dabbing onto another route like a bouldering idiot. No worries though I spied a very granite-esque crimper route in the high 5s that several old geezers had fallen off. I burned 3 goes on it falling off the top move each time. I decided to "save it for later" and moved into the cave room by the ropes. I found the easiest 600 pointer that started with a short dyno and got it on the "jumping Jack flash" attempt. (Big props to coach Sam for the encouragement on this problem. Unfortunately Coach Ben was at a Barbara Streisand concert in Canada and couldn't attend or maybe I would have done better. Glad you finally got to see Babs though buddy)

Basically from here things fell apart. I couldn't send the 600 pointer that should have gone on the 45 degree up front and after 3 burns on it didn't have the juice to finish the 400 either. The highlight of the last hour was watching this guy blow the last hold of the 600 pointer and go flying over Liam and I spotting. Only a highlight because the guy was fine albeit a little shakin.  I ran out of juice in the the last hour and got stuck with one of my earlier 290 scores. Later looking at it I would have needed to replace it with a 600 and added something big or at least all 600s. Apparently the sweet spot for old man climbing is V6ish.

Who knew there were a whole slew of Blues's out there. A comp climber I am not but, I did have fun and get a moderately cool design printed on a shitty tee shirt(seriously the neck is a size bigger than the shirt SG, next year no cutting corners) oh and this beautiful sticker...

Gratuitous promo(Mammut feel free to send me one of those sweet chalk purses for review at a later date)

Some silliness from the finals below in the video. I was going to watch them but drank beer instead because that's how old men roll.

“I'd tried to straighten him out, but there's only so much you can do for a person who thinks Auschwitz is a brand of beer.”

Three weeks ago I decided to throw my hat into a new ring and officially become a competition climber . At the ripe old age of none of your f’ing business I qualify for the “Masters” division in this weekend’s “Battle of Champions” at Stone Gardens Ballard(home court advantage plus old geezer status, you don’t get a more winning combo than that outside of the Taco Bell #5 w/ a Mt Dew, do you?). The masters division conjures up visions of old timers in plaid trousers playing golf at a snail’s pace, but unfortunately for me I think the crowd I’ll be lumped in will likely be a bit more spry.

Like every great athlete in the prime of their game I strategically surrounded myself with the best only coaching team possible  available. Sam and Ben agreed to come on board immediately. They crafted a  training regime that would not only cater to my strengths(post climbing frosties) but also eliminate my weaknesses(slopers, pinches, anything hung over overhung, smearing, problems with bad feet, not breathing and anything reachy)  to the point we all thought it was completely reasonable for me to dominate finish the top 25 of the old man division.

Sam and Ben devised a 2 tier approach to training that centered around 3 Tank Top Techno Training Tuesday workouts (aka Ben Moon’s campus board routine) along with losing 4 kgs. We also snuck in a trip to Gold Bar that I posted some pics from earlier where I climb real hard all day but never topped out. Mentally you don’t want to go outside and be topping out a bunch of v6 and v7s right before a comp where you won’t have to top out a single problem. As it stands I made it to 2 out of 3 TTTT workouts and have lost 2.5 kgs. TTTTT’ng has become a way of life and probably the best part of the whole experience. Another post at a later date of the benefits of  water campus boarding.

So with only 3 days until comp time the stars are lining up well. The last tick on the list is securing that ever important sponsorship deal because what am I if not a caricature billboard of myself walking around in hippy sandalshoes spraying about how rad my radass sponsor is. Don’t worry if you haven’t heard from me yet you may still have a chance. Likely the aforementioned purveyor of fine Mexican will fill my major donor spot aka “Nacho BellgranDonor” but I’m also hopeful in helping another burgeoning local company make it to the spotlight on Saturday at the “Poco Gordito” level.

See all you blue hairs on Saturday!

Vzerominus does Water

A short video from Vzerominus (aka the geezer Truc from the camera phone of Leavenworth last week) of several goes on "Water" from last weekend at Gold Bar. Look for the great spot Choi has later in the video. Again still a project for me but very doable. Nice commitment Tiffany for getting back on the horse after "the fall". It's a bit hard to tell on the video but you do not want to go off to the left of this problem where the logs have been stack as pro.

"If you aren't cute you may as well be clever" aka Gold Bar in November

Nothing beats a 40 degree day with some sun on high quality granite, except maybe sending something in those exact same conditions. A great day of climbing , although sendless on my end. I went 0-fer on "Danny Devito"(telling yourself you need the friction only works on frictionless days...get stronger), "Water"(unprogressing is the theme for aqua. should I ever actually remember my sequence I might climb this problem... at this point it's mental), "Obesity"(good progress making it all the way to what will likely be the cruxy throw). Just being out in November without rain is pretty amazing but consider the company an this was a 5 star day. I'll chalk this one up to good training for my first ever comp in 2 weeks. More later in the week on that soon to be hot mess of old man style in the Master division...

Ben doing Obesity again because there was either a chance he forgot the moves or a chance that he thought that we forgot that we had seen him climb it before

If you see this guy ask him about his brushes. He's sponsored advocated pro bono-ly by Black Diamond Brushes

 Chris doing "Water"... Took the new Olympus Pen out for a test drive and was goofing with the tilt shift in camera special defect

Ben topping up on h2O with the faux tilt shift after the fact (side note Ben is kind of a dick for going 2 for 3 today)

The MCPOD Mascot relaxing. This guy is not sponsored yet but is looking.

 Ben using excellent spotting form as Tony capatilizes on his thin legs on "Obesity"

Tomorrow I'll Be Gone (Full Length)

The guys at Outcrop released the 45 min version of the Brits crushing in Rocklands...

Leavenworth Vid

Radness via Vzerominus aka that geezer with da camera phone

l'elephants

M on some problem outside of Paris

The fall off the top of this problem broke my ankle in 2 places damn near tore every ligament down there too. It's on the bucket list for next go round in Albarracin, Espange

Tomorrow I Will Be Gone

The guys across the pond at Outcrop Film have a full length film coming out at the end of the month. By the looks of the trailer it will be some high quality straightforward cinematography of the Brits getting their Rocklands crush on.

Naked Bouldering

You think Snuff The Rooster is annoying shirt off? What if he showed up at your gym naked? I bet you wouldn't bitch and moan about those vests anymore...




Stone Nudes Website

The Great Debate

To gym or not to gym that is the question. The great debate, or non debate as some are calling it pits Stone Garden versus the new kid in town Seattle Boulder Project. It's the wild West vs the Southies,  old vs new or as I like to see Rocky vs Ivan Drago.

Let's face facts SBP is the equivilant of a tip top state of the art cold war Russian training facility.(complete with super strong Russian girls crushing v9***) Although not quite a barn Stone Gardens is in the middle of nowhere and boast large trees for lifting in their weight room or at least its been rumored.

Noticeable differences can be seen across the board but does this give the average Terry Boulderer a distinct advantage? Let's weigh out the differences....

Space... SBP has all the space in the world but with all it's newness it's more crowded than the latest hipster bar in Capitol Hill. Stone Gardens on the other hand is a veritable ghost town. The down side of the ghost town is there are a lot of first timers blinding walking around trying to help people break ankles. The other noticeable difference is that SBP seems to be pretty hot, and I'm not talking hot like your hipster girlfriend in skinny jeans. I'm talking Arizona in July at 7pm on a Tuesday hot. This one goes to SBP only because I'm claustrophobic.

Ratings(aka Making Me Gooder)... If you are or were a SG regular you know the ratings their are schizophrenic today's v3 is tomorrows v6. There is also the ever present v4 aka v2-v7 rating which seems to be doled out whenever it's convenient not to climb your problem but rate them anyway. Still there are some great problems there ... Dave T is a personal favorite and Scooby sets some good ones too. Over at SBP though things seem to be fairly well tapered, v6 is nothing if not consistent but let's face it SBP has gone with the feel good rating style because I should not be flashing v5 and v6 on a regular basis. SG may be all over the place but the reality is NW granite is too. All the new flashy holds in the world on soft v6's won't make you an outdoor v6 boulderer in Leavenworth. If you do work you get stronger. There is something a bit more primal a la Rocky with the log on his back in 3 feet of snow at Stone Garden, so this one goes to the Garden for all your wackiness we salute you.

Height & Padding... Fact: Climbing at Stone Gardens is sometimes like climbing outside without a pad. Fact: I've only had one friend wounded in boulder combat indoors in the least year and a half and it was at SBP. Even with the recent ankle roll I'm giving the safety factor to SBP.

Beer... Clearly having frosties at the gym gives SBP a clear advantage... or does it. Unless SBP puts together the beer selection that Kiss Cafe Noble Fir is currently offering it's even Steven. Convenience vs selection is a zero sum game so this goes as a toss up. (I'm assuming the beer thing is going to happen at SBP and this is not just a pipe dream)

That makes it Stone Garden 4 vs SBP's 2, giving the clear advantage to Stone Garden. Look for more on this arms race as a new Vertical World opens in the coming months. Until then get out and get some granite because when it comes down to it all the plastic v6s in the world don't amount to a hill of granite v3s.

***Side note if you are or know a strong Russian girl that would like to donate a picture crushing v9 let us know we think it would make a great addition to this post.

“It is funny the things that run through your mind when you're sitting in your underpants in front of a pair of strangers.”

Throw backs to Squamish

Leah

 Harold Ramis

Top 100 Boulder Problems in the US

Interesting to note that of the 100 best problems in the US(or at least by the geezers at Urban Climber) there are a handful of lines and their conquers that made the cut in the Pacific North West. The kids that made the list....

#75 WAS V8 Johnny Goicoechea
#62 Coffee Cup V10 Joel Campbell
#57 All of the Above V 13 Johnny
#36 The Practitioner V12 Herman Feissner (2010 video with The Practitioner and Coffee Cup)
#29 Five Star Arete V6 Bob Buckley (The 5 star boulder got a special shout)
#24 The Sleeping Lady V2 Kyle O'Meara

These problems are way to hard to make the MCPOD list but good on ya NW strongboys for pulling your weight. Now back to the hang board so I can finally put down Silvers Slippers. Oh and if you are into lists here's another good one more NW related.

The Scene

Haven't seen the newest from Chuck Fryburger but his last flick was good. Nice to see more geezers moving to HD and shooting with the Red One.

"Sometimes the sins you haven't committed are all you have left to hold onto."

Click here for a video of the Doja send along with new beta!

Still a project

photo by Steph

Boys who spent their weekends making banana nut muffins did not, as a rule, excel in the art of hand-to-hand combat.

It’s a shame to only get in one day of climbing over Labor day but I’m going to chalk this year up to it being too hot. I did make it out to Gold Bar with the usual suspects on Saturday. It was nice in the forest but once we hit noon the humidity could be felt in every go. I made progress on Sliver Slippers getting all the way through the campus moves and then falling off again. Tony had some good goes on Doja.( I feel incredible short and extremely weak when I touch this problem) Steph sent Fern Crack for the first time and Micah found out that climbing hard in the gym the night before going to Gold Bar can be somewhat taxing.

Steph Fern Crack

I also climbed my new favorite problem which came at the recommendation of Johnny G. It’s just to the right of Lighten Up. The 25 foot or so right side arête of a huge split makes a swanky warm up and as Johnny put it there right where you want them all the way up. It’s right in my range at v0 and should the height get to your fragile dome you can always just step back.

Swanky Arete

The Season

I ran onto this a few days ago. This episode of the Season covers a NW local on the mend. I'm sure I've run onto Anya before or maybe at the gym. Anyway a good way to kick off Thursday...

"My hands tend to be full enough dealing with people who hate me for who I am. Concentrate too hard on the millions of people who hate you for what you are and you're likely to turn into one of those unkempt, sloppy dressers who sag beneath the weight of the two hundred political buttons they wear pinned to their coats and knapsacks."

A little motivational screening to get you pumped for the long weekend

More Breakdancing

What you really need to ask yourself is why aren't there more climbing movies with breakdancing in them?

Gold Bar Video

Cool video from Princess at http://www.princessclimbs.blogspot.com/ Flashing is cool but flashing in tight jean shorts is cooler. Take that War God Aries boulder.

Life On Hold Trailer

What looks to be a pretty cool movie coming out of the UK.Best Quote:"Fuck Sake I Can't Do It"

Dyno Comp @ Seattle Boulder Project

For you flying squirrel types meet me at the SBP for some rad rock jumping this Friday. We are hoping to get some great pics of the elusive rooster as well as some free swag(hippy for stuff)

Welcome to the Seattle Bouldering Project.

Honnold send Cobra Crack

Big news Alex Honnold sent Cobra Crack in Squamish BC. That's great and all but is the 7th accent of a crack climb in bouldering Mecca really worth the coverage? See coverage here at DPM... I say no, not when there is some some rad finger cracken going down in Gold Bar. I think it goes without saying, although I've never even seen El Navigante, that this is the sweetest v3 crack in Gold bar...

Ben warming up next to the best crack in town

Me utilizing a hound mantel

Climbing Ink is Rad

I'm thinking about getting the same tattoo a friend just got. If you know any good ink guys in Seattle leave them in the comments below.

Gold Bar in the Clouds

This weekend was cool with good friction and low clouds in the morning. A few from the day...

Steph on the warm ups in the clouds

Ben working through War of God or the reverse...

 

Steph projecting Obesity

The view in the forest early morning

 Getting shut down on Glen's Problem (Maybe the best single stone in Au Bar)

Super Rad Photo of the Day: Steph

Unholy (Aries Boulder also maybe the best stone in the clear cut)

Photo: Steph

Ben almost there on Doja

Photo: Steph

Vandalism is no laughing matter. During the afternoon someone tagged the Exploder. We've filed a report with the Gold Bar Sheriff station and are confident the hooligans responsible will be brought to swift justice. Should you see other graffitis please call the authorities.

Rocklands You Gotta Live'em Everyday

Nice article on boulders trekking around Africa with chalk purses and rock slippers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/07/uk-safrica-bouldering-idUSLNE77600O20110807

Ellen, Barney & Elvis?

Ellen gets going at Barney's Rubble while Elvis gets ready to climb post peanut butter cheeseburger

Photo Credit: Steph

Stanage Classics

Some right hard grit from the kids across the pond.

Au Bar

I had a goal to put a problem in July and I did just that.  It's one sweet mother of a 3 star v0 and sits just above the finish of "Resonation" and to the left. This little jewel is called "Vera's Apricot Corner" It's got chossy feet, big holds, and is just what you need to get the day started right. It also goes as a super rad-ass v2 dyno eliminate by not using the 4th, 5th or 6th holds on the arete. That variations called "Viking Baby" and shown below...

We also got some good directions to another super rad problem you won't find in that green book called "Bricklayer" it's just up from "El Navagation" or Breakfast of Champions. It's a real bed wetter of a climb with some good ankle breaker potential. It doesn't look all that hard but it's way above my pay grade. Here is a pic of Ben giving it the evil eye before exiting stage left.

Awkward

Big thanks to Urban Climber for creating the most awkward moment of strong girl Alex Pucciio's life...

Welcome Average Climbers

Welcome to the premier climbing blogging in the Pacific Northwest. We will cover everything here from the latest fashion in bouldering vests, to chalk purses and might even throw in a review of our favorite bouldering mattresses along the way. If you have a video putting up the latest hard man v14 in Leavenworth send it our way. We'll likely post it and but your also just as likely to see someone sending v2 in a pair of Wellingtons or a v4 in their skivvies in the UK...

 
If your climbing lacks satire and hard ticks this is probably the place for you. We are open to topics and guest bloggers so if you have a topic you want discussed, pics or vids you think we would like or just want to harass us you can reach us at:

meclimbprettyoneday@gmail.com

Cheers