Rock and sea

Just returned from a week in Lisbon, (mostly) working. Took a little time off on Saturday after a week of lectures+labs to see a little of the outdoors, with a plan to pack some bouldering and surfing into a bright sunshine-filled afternoon.

Got a slow start, but by midday Joe, Henrique, and I had crammed the truck full of gear and roused Joe's friend Adam. 4 guys + 4 surfboards + bouldering pad + climbing gear + surfing gear (and no roof rack) pretty much packed the usable space full. We headed to the boulders surrounding Sintra, where Joe and I had climbed a bit last year. 4-wheel drive definitely helpful on the drive in, and the approach though short was uphill through boulders and painful plantlife (reminder to self: shoes not flipflops). Scoped out a bunch of problems, in the V0 to V1/V2 range. Not too high, but most of the landings are pretty sketchy - either with large boulders scattered about or a quickly dropping hillside underneath (or, often, both). Granite-like rock with sharp edges and often good incut jugs on ledges, we even found a short crack that went from offwidth to fist to hand jams - nice fist jam by JP to get up it.

After a few hours of sweating in the sun, we crammed back into the truck and headed for a quick 30 min drive to the beach. Decent size swells but pretty crappy conditions, lots of whitewater and breaks close to the beach made getting out tough. Flailed around for a while as I'm a terrible surfer, but got up a few times; just paddling out and riding the swells and smelling the salt were plenty good for me. Adam and Joe headed out further to hit the waves breaking further out, and I saw a few good short rides.

Closed it out with some ice cold beers and snails at a bar overlooking the beach. Nice way to close out the week. A few pics from the trip:

Finding Joe a board of his own

Setting up by the beach train tracks

Not a bad view

The human habitrail at the CCU

Steak... it's what's for dessert

The Darwin Cafe

Hillside near Sintra

Time for beer

Tejo appreciates the outdoors too

Blame it on the music

Chloe, Eric, Joana, Joe and I packed into Guillaume's newly re-wheeled Toyota for Joe's semi-annual 'visit-from-Lisbon-and-climb' trip. I pretty quickly gave up leading and top-roped with Joe, while Joana and Guillaume led a bit and Chloe and Eric top-roped. Joe worked on some great routes, getting his sequencing back in action. His fingers lasted most of the night though, suggested that his routine of crimping on a 1/4" doorframe is good for keeping those hands strong. Joana, despite presenting with a fever, got her lead head on and managed to take some falls, do some downclimbing, and climb routes without any backclipping! She's ready for Vegas (if only she could remember how to tie a figure-8 follow-through...). Guillaume and I, having been stumped by some 11s, decided that the two new slab 12s would be a perfect way to end the night (red & black). That was pretty funny, although Guillaume figured out the move to the THIRD hold on the black route. I got to the bulge on the red, and then Joana-cough-cough-I'm-sick jumped on and made the first half look easy!

I managed to not see Chloe and Eric all night?

Finished up with some bouldering and an evil pullup ladder.

Slacklining

Central Park:

Wasatch workout

5 rounds:
1 min stationary bike (>100 rpm)
7 burpees

1x30 leg push-downs (randomized R,L, front)

Hit up the gym with Joe (it was a bad idea). And it wasn't just the altitude - that man has no quit in him...

Bonus session (Ca-Blau!)

Finished Brian's session early today at the IGC, so Brian, Joe, and I caught a ride with Rui from the IGC and headed out for a few late afternoon laps back at Cascais. It was beautiful late afternoon weather, and blissfully uncrowded - only a couple of other parties on the whole cliff. The late afternoon tide coming in made things a little wet, but not ridiculously so, things were a little moist at the base but plenty dry up top in the sun.

Ran off two climbs today, a warmup V+ and a 6a we'd been eying since the last visit. Brian took first lead on the V+ and did an excellent job; it was consistently overhanging, and shaded slightly right into a series of flakes and large holes, finishing up with a devious reach into a squeeze chimney that leaves you grasping for holds. Awkward, odd climbing - almost felt like trad, with plenty of possible holds in spots but no obvious ones. Everyone fought through this one well. The 6a was called "Bicepes" for a good reason - short, pumpy gym-like climbing with a crux undercling requiring you to pull in tight with the left arm and reach high with the right, followed by thinning holds to the top.

We finished off the evening with a little (ok, a huge freakin' lot of) Portuguese comfort food: francesinha, which is pork, linguica, fresh sausage, steak, and cheese sandwiched between bread, then covered in molten cheese and sitting in a tomato beer sauce. Almost forgot to mention the bonus: a fried egg on top. Good thing where was beer to wash it down...

For future reference (from the American Alpine Journal):

Across the Atlantic

A long way to come for a little climbing, but Brian and I arrived in Portugal Saturday and headed out to the seaside cliffs in Cascais with Joe and his student Guga to do a little urban cragging, Lisboa style.

Despite the jetlag and the inhospitable sunny, cloudless, 65 degree weather, we managed a few climbs - V, V+, 6a+ (10a), 6c (11a). US ratings are approximate as I can't find Brian's little crumpled printout of the Euro grade conversion chart. Fun, technical climbing on frictiony sharp rock, and Brian did an excellent job lead climbing outdoors. Felt pumpy and exposed at first, but once the jitters wore off it was pure enjoyment on relatively short vertical to slightly overhanging climbs. The 6a+ had reachy balancy moves straight up followed by a huge, barely static reach to the right; it finished with thank-god jugs up and over to the top. The 6c was tricky technical overhanging moves, with a dicey crux sequence right below the anchors: two finger pocket undercling, big throw right, and dyno to a less-than-stellar left hand.

Pictures to follow.

Hangover helper

Spent the morning and early afternoon with Brian, Joana, and Joe - who was in town for just the weekend - at New Rochelle. Slow start in particular for J+J, something about bourbon from the night before...

Joe has improved exponentially, better hold strength and sense of body positioning. He and Joana tackled some wicked 10s (black, pink, blue) with tiny crimpers and awkward stemming and body smearing. I saw Joana fighting her previous evening on the slabs out back - we'll call it a draw...

The Brain led a couple of good routes, an older 10 (yellow) and a new 10 (purple) up the steep arch, both of which pull the roof at roughly the same spot. He's starting to get the steep stuff wired. He also sent the awkward small stemmy black 10 of Joe's - way to handle that deviously placed crux right before the anchor. I played around on some different things: a "5.9/5.10" test route for the climbing team which seemed *much* harder to me, an awkward 11 up front (suspiciously downgraded from a 12), and a green 12 up the Mad Russian column. Didn't send any of them in one go, but all the moves are there; will attempt to send 'em next time. Tried Meg's pink 12 on TR - can't get past the gaston-high step-lunge for the tiny crimper move past the 2nd bolt, but will resort to watching G figure it out first...

I'd like to work on endurance a little more, and luckily there is a new mega-traverse that winds around the gym. Also up from the team tryouts, it's open feet with specifically marked and numbered hands (2/L, 3/R, etc.) all the way up to ~80 holds. For the record, it now stands at:

BL: 22
JK: ?
KL: 25

Guillaume, ball is definitely in your court...

Pre-pork climbing

Took Metro-North up to New Rochelle to meet Joe at TRC for one last session before he goes back to Portugal. Spent some time top-roping, where we figured out our fingers were a bit too fried to be climbing long routes. Spent the rest of the afternoon bouldering, where Joe sent many V2s that mere months ago he could not start! Lots of interesting new problems; Joe worked on a long V3 that he managed to finish on his last climb of the day. I spent some time on two short V3s, and a really great V4- (green?) that involved a nice swing to a high-step. Burnt any remaining energy on a very short V5 that requires high-stepping while holding onto a really burly two-handed undercling. Good stuff. We worked a great appetite for pork-fest later in the evening at Momofuku Saam Bar.

Lunchtime rock

Took a long lunch break with Joe and Nico to explore a boulder by work. The weather was beautiful and the boulder was nicely shaded. There was chalk on some of the obvious holds, although gauging from the spiderwebs, it may not have been climbed in some time. Couple of worthy problems (turns out this is Looney bin - South boulder). First runs left, starting with a traverse along a crack and heads up to a top off with an easy walk-off (variations include heading up the left or right side of the prow). Good times, although it may be worthwhile to bring a rake to clear out some of the broken glass.

The gang's all(most) here

Great work session at TRC tonight: Eric, Guillaume, the Brain and I drove up to meet Joe and Julie at the gym, only to have Kristy, Tom, and Rick roll in later. Brian, Guillaume, and I swapped leads on some of the roof routes, including a 10 (black) and an 11 (purple). Brian keeps getting stronger and more aggressive, and is making nice progress on the overhanging leads. No apparent fear of falling tonight, because we took some good ones, Guillaume in particular; I found that not being able to clearly see either the ground or the next bolt really enhanced my ability to focus on the holds at hand (after losing a contact during my first fall of the night). Eric found himself a new belay partner who looks like she climbs hard.

Being old and slow-of-memory, I not only forgot my pass-card but the harness to which it was attached. Being unduly influenced by his peers, so did Guillaume, leading to both of us gearing up in unpadded crotch-hugging gym harnesses, much to the amusement of gym staff and peanut gallery alike. Talk about incentive to not take a whipper...

Finished it off with a little bouldering in the V2-V5 range, but not before G and I roped up on a new 11 (red) that made the crazy-strong Mad Russians, who had just TRed it, look at us with disbelief. Sweet. Maybe we'll make the 4th bolt next time...

Peter's Kill TR

Got up bright and early to take a trip upstate to boulder in Peter's Kill. In a fit of punctuality, Kenway, Joana and Joe (back from Boston the night before and then from Brooklyn to Kenways at 6AM) arrived at my place at exactly 7AM. Since I blessed our journey by dumping my freshly brewed coffee all over my feet (at least not onto Kenway's car), we made it without incident to the EMS in New Paltz at exactly 8:45, where we met up with Guillaume and his daughters.

We headed out pretty quickly as the EMS parking lot was filling up with climbers, and Peter's Kill caps the number of climbers they let in at 100 (70 climbers + 30 boulderers). So long as you make it in, you're guaranteed a nice quiet day of climbing.

I was going to write a proper trip report, but who am I kidding? Here's what I remember; there was: talk of elves and Iceland, climbing lots of problems and saying 'How is that a V1?', possible sighting of an elf (singular, the other sighting turned out to be Evangeline climbing out of a hole in the ground), turkey + cream cheese sandwiches, spilling fruit, eating fruit off the forest floor, creative cursing, watching someone warm-up on a problem that none of us (except Guillaume) could even start, hiking, ghosts, climbing by headlamp in an air-conditioned rock tunnel, bitch-slapping, the miseducation of a young lady, contests on fallen trees, pillowbiting, getting lost, acting silly, poor judgment, poor spotting, erotic spotting ('Fuck ... hold me'), swimming, laughing, uncalled-for heckling ('Dolphin power!'), handstands, cartwheels, bug bites, beer drinking, all topped off by ravenous meat-eating and a very special dessert.

More pics here.

More Rat Rock

Got a good hour and a half of bouldering in with Dr. Paton as the sun was setting. We worked on the Polish Traverse for awhile, and I managed to finally figure out the high step and get three moves past that. We finished up on the East face, where Joe worked on a nice problem that wandered up a flake and cut left to a high traverse. I tried a crimpy problem that Yuki showed me, which had me laying on my back in the dirt after a few tries.

Stuff I never would have imagined looking at that rock:

Cascais, Portugal TR

Immediately after the last lecture at the IGC, we rushed to meet at the train station in Cascais on the thinly veiled excuse that Kenway and I needed to show Joe where the local crags were near Lisbon. I mean, dude's never climbed outside before, what kind of climbing buddies would we be if we left him in Portugal without showing him some rock?! We followed these very accurate directions, and after walking for 45 minutes or so, arrived at the Farol da Guia, where the steps leading to the cliffs are marked by a very nice stencil. There is also an obvious sign that I recall reads something like 'Escalada en roca', and we cheated a bit by following people with packs overflowing with gear.


View Larger Map

A short walkway leads to steps that take you down to the cliffs, and it's there that you get your first clear view of the beautiful limestone (Ever wonder what all the goofy holds in the gym are modeled after, you know, the ones that have a hole for each finger? Turns out it's limestone.) and a set of nice clean lines (note all the chalk!). And despite the fact that the weather was very moody (pouring rain one minute, then brilliant sunshine for awhile) there were lots of climbers running around, so we made a beeline down to the base to start climbing.

The place is nicely maintained (all the routes are bolted and most are marked with a name and a grade). None of us remembered how to convert from the European grading to YDS, so we just settled on a set of nice IV+s facing the water (after some searching, this translates to roughly 5.6-5.7). Joe and I tried warming up on some boulder problems, but gave up pretty quickly as they were of the 'impossible to spot, fall and break your neck and then slide into the ocean and drown' variety. Best to just start climbing anyways.

So Kenway racked up, and flew up Directa (IV+) so fast I could hardly keep the rope moving up to him! He kindly setup a toprope and Joe and I followed his lead. Unfortunately for Joe, it started to rain just as he reached the crux where the holds get sparser. To his credit, he climbed on, and when he passed the crux---almost as if he were rewarded for his perseverance---the clouds parted and we had brilliant sunshine again. Pretty good first climb, no?

That's Joe way up there topping out in the sunshine to the right.

Kenway climbed back up to clean the anchors, and managed to snap this view from the top with his shiny new camera. In case you are wondering, Kenway is clipped into another set of chains behind him.

Wary of the shifting weather, we moved over about 25 meters to another IV+ (Doce) that reminded me lots of The Eye at Joshua Tree.

Set between two opposing aretes, it offered lots of opportunity for stemming, drop knees and crossing all over the place. Kenway led once again, and aside from the pigeons that flew out of some fucking bat cave to nearly shit in his eyes (now that would of been a story!), he made it to the anchors pretty quickly (with style even).

Joe enjoying a little layback near the bottom. This climb was a veritable jugfest, with 'thank god holds' strewn everywhere, and ample opportunity to rest.

And here I am at the short traverse near the bottom that gets you to the start of the fun stuff. I know, I know, it looks like I've got some junk in the trunk, but I assure you that it is photographic inaccuracy.

We had a V and a 6a lined up next, but alas, it was not to be. The minute we packed the rope up to move, the rainclouds rolled in and the downpour began. We hoofed it out of there as fast as possible, and managed to catch a cab back to the train station (only after we got thoroughly drenched, of course).

All in all, an incredibly fun 2 hours of climbing, set in an beautiful location with great friends. So if any of you guys make it out to Europe, make sure to stop by Joe's place in Lisbon and go climbing!

A few more pics here.

Left early enough today to get a decent weekday session in at New Rochelle. The mini-van was in London, but between 2 cars and Metro-North, we managed to gather a gang (Eric, Kenway, Joana, Tom, Rick, Joe and Alex). This time it was Kenway's turn to be hungover, and we pretty quickly abandoned leading for some toproping (it was that kind of day).

Klem Loskot Emotional Landscapes trailer:

I hope that's dog sh*t

A short evening bouldering session with Joe in Morningside park. Started off traversing on man-made walls, where we had a bit of an odd exchange with some guy walking his dog, who asked us rather casually, "Do you smoke weed?". We went off in search of problems down by the pond. This first one tucked away just below the dog park. Nice and easy with big holds that topped out after 3-4 moves (starts on the little flake by the tree).
The next was just across from the baseball field (might actually be NYPD Goo as mentioned here). This time the shrubbery was trimmed, and we had a nice clean landing. Travels up the crack, with the right hand on slopers the whole way. Feet are really bad, so neither of us managed to top out, but it's definitely worth trying again.

Practice makes perfect

Too-quick couple of hours at New Rochelle today with Guillaume, Brian, Joana, Joe, and Kristy. Improvement on all fronts: Brian continued his full-frontal assault on lead climbs, feeling the pump on an 8 and a 9; Joe sent one of his several bouldering projects and passed the roof on his 8+; Kristy sent the 11 in the corner and is *this* close from getting the V4 that's bedeviling all of us; Joana is one move away from sending her slabby 10 in high-stepping style. Guillaume and I managed to dive headlong into leading an overhanging 12 and a roofy 11 - worked out most of the moves on the 12 (reachy moves down low, hard overhead clips up high) except the perplexing final moves to the anchor, but the clipping stances on the 11 were scarier.

Disconcerting reggae Pink Floyd tunes tonight, but that karmic imbalance was righted by the unmistakable aura of visual style (blue pants + white oxford, tucked in + pink shirt = righteous duds). It's in fact very motivating: dress funky and there's no backing off from any moves.

Followed up by a revisit to Stand for some burgers, beer, fries, and onion rings. Might have to institute a weekly weight chart if we make this a habit...

The Tetons will never look the same

Grand Tetons in the Spring, 36" x 18" Palette Knife Oil on canvas, Francesca Hulick

Packed the van again for a super long climbing session. Let's see how Kenway's predictions panned out:

• Joe is going to pull that overhang on his 8+
  Made it to the overhang, and got hamburger hands to show for it!
  


• Joana is going to get on a 10
  Climbed nothing less than a slabby 10 set by Obe himself.
  


• Brian is going to pass his lead test, and probably do a split
  Check and check, but not both at once.
  


• Guillaume is going to pick up a lady or two
  Ummm, no comment.
  


• Eric is going to have new shoes
  I will give Kenway this, although it is only technically true.
  


• Kristy is going to be on time
  Early even!
  


• I'm [Kenway] going to be sore
  Almost surely.
  

For the unpredicted, Joe aced his belay test. The team is now complete, world domination awaits. Thanks to his belaying skills, I was finally able to crush the peanut that's been shaming me. There ain't no coming back from that, Mr. Peanut.

Oh, and remember folks, as a wise man once said:

What happens at climbing, stays at climbing.

Jade and Maggie joined us (those of us without fancier dinners to go to anyways) at Stand for burgers and beer (sorry J, the only picture I could find is of a laminated menu, but maybe this post will help make it clear that they were not supposed to be laminated).

Meetup in New Rochelle

We brought our own crowd (7 in the van - Guillaume, Eric, Kristy, Joe, Brian, Joana, and me; 3 by train - Annagret, Alex, and another climber I didn't even meet) to add to the roiling masses at the Rock Club's Thursday night Adult Climbing League. It was an absolute zoo, but the energy was palpable (as was neighboring bodies).

Can't recap it all as we were spread out like the tumbleweeds in the wind. I know Joe worked his way further up his overhanging project 8+, and Joana fought her way up a roofy 9. Brian crushed a 9 in the back and fought his way up Lau-style on the crotch-splitting 11 up front (and barely avoided an unintended and disastrous hand-foot match [his hand, my foot] when we met on two routes bracketing an arete). Guillaume and I led a couple of 10s that crushed us, but we did work out the sequence for that crazy sloper-guarded 12 on toprope. Brian avoided the lead test for one more day, but I think that might have been his last pass; the staff is on to him now.

Hey, didya know there's a NY metro climbing meetup group? Guillaume found out, if you know what I mean...

Bright and early

Just over four hours of climbing with Joe, Alex, Kenway and Joana in New Rochelle. Alex and Joe took Metro North with me, which was, as the website says, super easy. We arrived right when the doors opened, and were followed shortly thereafter by Kenway and Joana (both of who climbed yesterday!). Joe started off the day working the sequencing on his 8+ project, and Alex roped up for the first time, cruised his first 6s and 7s and discovered the wonderful effects of pumping out (Eric Horst on Slowing the Pump Clock, more here). Kenway worked out all the moves on Obe's 12 (purple) up front (which we subsequently watched a regular lead in style), and worked the bottom half of a yellow 12 on the same wall. Joana discovered an awesome stemmy 9+ and worked on a technical slab (9 green, Obe) in the back. I spent all day chickening out of the lead test, but at least I finally sent the slab (10 red, Obe) in the back that has been giving me grief (with a loose hold no less!). Bouldering interspersed throughout.


Joe, Joana and I finished off the day in the best way possible, burgers and beer at the Corner Bistro. I could deal with making that a regular thing.


Some inspiration for the guys thinking of climbing in Portugal:azóia - portugal by jandiro

Packing the mini-van

Got a whole gang of people packed into Guillaume's newly re-suspended mini-van for a trip to New Rochelle (G, Kenway, Kristy, Joe and Joana). We arrived to catch some of the Team Rock Club climbers polishing off some new 11s and 12s. Everyone seemed up for a change of pace today: Kenway and Guillaume took the lead test and spent most of the night dusting off their lead skills. The rest of us top-roped briefly (just long enough for Joe and Joana to make a beeline for that slab in the back and send it), and then spent the rest of the night bouldering. This was my first time trying it seriously (after hearing Kenway pop a pulley some months ago). That is some hard stuff. And it didn't help that Guillaume and Kenway came over at the end and flashed my project (G doing it mostly without his legs). Sigh...


Oh, and thanks to Guillaume and Joe, I now have been scarred by images of the two of them rubbing cow udder cream all over themselves.

Some video from the recent Gravity Brawl (via Dr. Topo, thanks Guillaume):