Monday, February 18, 2013

Getting Mad at Mother Nature

Not too much going on for me the last few weeks. The weather in SWPA is shitty this time of year. Did you know that Pittsburgh has only 2 less days of rain per year then Seattle, WA? Those who know me well know that I'm not above getting mad at inanimate objects, and mother nature is no exception.. Bitch is pissin me off! Picking which day to go out climbing is a science. You gotta look at the 10 day everyday, because lord knows it changes quick. Monday Tuesday Wednesday snow and 25. Thursday and Friday have a high of 48 and sunny! But wait, how much did it snow?.. Because you can bet that if any remains on the rock, that everything will be wet. And don't bother going out on that crazy 60 degree day in January because the rock will be sweating more than a DPM hater talking to a girl.

Sometimes it's easy to predict when Coll's will be dry, but it's also easy to get blinded by the desire to climb. Even though I knew it wasn't going to be good today, I went out anyway. It snowed all weekend and today went all the way up to 48- what the fuck was I thinking! There is some things that always stay dry at Coll's, but my focus has been narrowed on a recent ex-project. The project formerly known at Little Black has falllen to our very own former pro Joel Brady! It stands to be one of the best lines at The Cove, and is the first established V11. Check out the vid below. The climb is now called Bhante Pema after a budhist monk, specifically after a certain someone's inflection when they talk about said monk. Correctly it's pronounced Ban-tey Pem-a, but it's more funny when said with a Pittsburgh accent. After working on the climb for only a few days, Joel made it look easy, but not without a heartbreaking fall off the very top! Apparently it's harder than it looks up there.

I've been trying Bhante from the stand when it was just a project; maybe 6 days over the last 2 year. Last spring it actually tweaked my left ring finger pully quite bad so I had to lay off. It was always envisioned to go from a lower start, but I didn't have the spark of possibility until Joel starting trying it. Since it's been established I've been trying it from the logical lower start, and I have made a ton of progress. I'm not gonna get all beta crazy on ya, but the crux is in the first few moves, and once you link into the stand it's v8/9. Last week I made it from the low start, through the stand, and fell at the last V7ish move to the good seam... PSYCHED! It is definitely going down. After Bhante, there is only 2 other established double digit climbs for me to second ascent - Mick Jagger by Rob D'anastasio and No Kill, No Thrill by Nathaniel Walker.

Here is the process at Coll's - We show bad ass people amazing projects because we're not strong enough to do them. They do them. We get really psyched and end up doing these climbs that we would have otherwise thought impossible. - This is why I don't get peoples' obsession with First Ascents.. I think most people have a misconception of first ascents, placing too much value on the glory.The "recognition" is not important, the satisfaction lies in the creation of a new line. IMO, it doesn't matter who did it first, but that it was done. I don't care if i'm first, second, or 100th, all I care is that the climb exists and I just climbed it. I would never keep my projects a secret, climbers who do that are too worried about the glory and most likely ego crazy. If done with the right motivation, a first ascent can give you the same feeling as donating to a charity. It's a way of giving back to the climbing community through growth. I have done the first or second ascent of just about every hard climb at Coll's Cove, but I don't want you to remember my name. All I want for you to remember is the climbs. I can understand placing more value on who when you're talking about climbs on the cutting edge of difficulty, but when you're doing FAs of moderates all that matters is what... 

...because lets face it, who gives a shit.



Colls Cove: the next Coopers Rock from Crazy Ape Productions on Vimeo.

Yea I said it.. Coll's is the next Coopers. Just go there if you don't believe me!

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