So I must admit this isn't my first attempt at writing a blog.. I used to think it was lame, then I thought it was cool, then I went back to thinking it was lame. I dunno, maybe I just didn't have anything exciting to say. Now I still think its lame, but a necessary evil on the road to being a respected climber in the community and I think I have a little more to say these days!
I'm not even going to start talking about my climbing history, I mean who really cares.. All you need to know is I didn't start when I was 2 days old like every other prodigy out there, and I probably definitely didn't sell my soul to the devil.. yet. (I think some climbers have, but that's for another day..) So what are we gonna talk about? And when I say we I mean me rambling and ranting and you just listening quietly - laughing is allowed but SHH no comments! You actually agree with everything I say, and I'm going to operate under that assumption because I think it's funny. If there is one thing I can't stand its anonymous hate on the internet, which is why I am writing a blog, right?... I know you've already seen 100 videos of these climbs, that all my topouts are sloppy, and I drink too much.. So you can fuck off if you don't like it! Just kidding, you can comment - but be prepared to stand behind your words if I ever see you out and about.. If you stand behind your words, I wont even be able to punch you in the face because your words will be all in the way! Makes sense to me anyway.
Climbing. Rock climbing. Bouldering. Thats all we think about! Or is it? Let me keep going: Development. Traveling. Photography. Video editing. Writing? Wait I thought the only thing we thought about was climbing? It seems the deeper you go into the climbing addiction the more things become attached to it, and believe me it is a full blow addiction. I've seen functional alcoholics live more productive and "successful" lives then us climbing bums.. Be honest, before you started climbing you never wanted to be that guy with an expensive camera, or thought you'd be writing some faggy blog about you're "adventures". But it is what it is. For me, I simply can't help myself. It's a full time job being addicted to climbing, and when i'm not climbing I want to do something that at least has to do with climbing. Thats where this faggy blog comes in, just another way to express my passion and generate internet hate.
Disclaimer - If you are at all offended by anything in the first three paragraphs - TURN BACK NOW! It's probably going to get alot worse from here.
Lets get serious for a second. For anyone who cares (and i'm sure no one does), I recently did my first V10! I always told myself when I do my first V10 I'll start a blog again, so here we are. It's called Power of Amida and its at LRC in Chattanooga Tennessee. But to be honest there is alot of grey area... One - I may have used "unapproved beta". That means there isn't necessarily any holds off on a boulder problem, but you can only use them in certain ways.. Which for me takes alot away from the purity of a problem. Two - It kinda felt like V9 to me, BUT I think it's really my style. For those who do not know the story of Power of Amida, let me break it down. James Litz did the first ascent, which probably stayed as straight up as you could possibly go. ( and I am just assuming this ) He gave it a V10, but we all know it was probably more like a 12. Then Jimmy Webb or whoever repeated it and went maybe one more hold to the right but still thought it was V10. Then a bunch of people lately (i've heard) have been doing the first couple moves and then practically traversing right and continuing on jugs instead of the intended crimps. What I did was kind of a variation of what I saw in the Brion Voges video (https://vimeo.com/7281473), but I most definitely topped it out in the correct place. To the best of my knowledge I don't think any holds are off, it certainly doesn't say it in the guidebook. If anyone out there knows what's legit, please let me know.. I'm already planning on repeating it exactly like Brion's vid for my own self satisfaction. When I think back, it's always a grey area when you break a new grade. Did I dab or something?, Was that the right place to start?, Is that hold off?, It's like we can't just accept success. Then you do more and more of that grade and realize you've been legit all along. I mean, what does it really matter, we're climbing a fucking rock..
Here's a little vid of a few climbs we did at LRC. And in this case, we means myself and Mike Steighner. You'll probably be seein alot of him on here so get used to it. You probably know him well from this video: https://vimeo.com/7858740 (don't judge us, that was a long time ago..) I did the exact same beta as Mike on PoA.
4 Problems You've Probably Never Seen @ LRC from Crazy Ape Productions on Vimeo.
Well, Goldfish Slab isn't at LRC obviously.. I'll give someone ten points if they can tell me where it really is!
Lets get into the controversy right away, and talk a little bit about the Rocktown guidebook.. Written by Dan Brayak, Zach Roper, and some old guy - It looks pretty good! It's got a hundred color pictures, mostly of climbers seemingly lit up by a nearby stadium. The descriptions are pretty spot on, over head drawings are accurate, and overall I honestly don't have much to complain about. But what is up with some of the grades? The Vagina is a V7 now? Burst of Joy an 8?? Campus Punks a 5!?! Not to mention some of the "v2's" that I couldn't even envision myself doing. I'm not the only one who feels this way, I've heard it from several locals who also think the grades were stiff enough in that old Dr. Topo. I've also heard that not all the authors have the ability to climb some of the problems that got downgraded - which is fine and doesn't make me think less of them - but you shouldn't get a vote on something you've never climbed. Take a look at the ascents of The Vagina on 8a when you get a chance, not a single V7 out of ~50 ascents. How can you argue with that kind of consensus? I'm not sure where people get off on sandbagging, but I am firmly against it - Especially at an area that has been popular and solid for years.
So I made this video to try to raise some awareness and piss some people off about downgrading! And of course it worked, because no one can take a fucking joke on the internet. Its a JOKE people! Look at me struggle, you think I really think the orb is a V7?? Comon, that thing is V9!!
The Rocktown Limbo from Crazy Ape Productions on Vimeo.
Speaking of The Orb, I wouldn't be a dorky blogger if I didn't describe my epic with this climb. So almost 5 years ago in the spring of 2008 I took my first ever climbing trip to Rocktown. Not only my first climbing trip, but my first climbing experience in general. I got invited by my friend who was also new to climbing. "Comon man come with rock climbing in Georgia! Its like climbing on little rocks, and we don't have any ropes just pads."
I was like, "uuhhh that doesn't sound like fun."
But after only one day at a local area lovingly called Breakneck, I was in. A few days later we had arrived at Rocktown at 7 in the morning after driving (and drinking) all through the night in my friend's kush van (which is now my van, but that's another story..). First things first, we all dropped some acid. Then led by our fearless leader Mike Steighner, who himself was only a few months deep into climbing, we entered into the heaven that was rocktown. And I mean literally heaven, the entire place was swallowed up by a cloud and we were the only people there. So we walk up to the first set of boulders and of course there is The Orb staring us right in the face, but what the fuck do we know. My first boulder problem was that little V1 or whatever that faces the orb. I was beyond psyched. I remember looking closer at the holds and line of The Orb.
I said to Mike, "Are people putting chalk on these as like a joke? No way can people really be climbing this!"
The journey from that day to where I am today is incredibl.....ly boring! No, I've had my fair share of ups and downs, but that's for another day... Anyway, yea, I finally did The Orb this year. I tried it every year since that first trip, and made a little more progress each time. Just when I thought I had it down, I would realize that I wasn't even close. Each trip my "blank zone" of beta moved further and further up the climb until I could visualize me doing the climb as a whole. Overcoming the mental barrier that climb had on me was hard - it got seared into my head (probably literally because of the LSD) that is was impossible. I had to do 30+ other V8s to come at The Orb with the skill and confidence I needed to send. Now that it's done I feel like I can really move on, especially at Rocktown. There is so much stuff I haven't even been on there, and thanks to the new guidebook now I know what everything is! Truly, I thank the authors of the guide. It's hard to put yourself out there like that, but somebody has to do it. Being a developer and guidebook author myself (again, another story), I know what it's like to have the pressure and take the heat. All I have to say is, they are lucky The Orb is still an 8!
But who really gives a shit..
-pete
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