That title doesn't really have any deep or serious connotation. I just listened to a song called such and was intrigued by it. It is 9:19am on September 9th and I am drinking coffee and, well you all know the rest by this point. This month is yet again a month with tons going on. Matt and Jamie get married is probably the big thing. Although the building of the climbing gym is really really close in the running for the biggest. Sorry guys. I have this week off of school which is very exciting. Kevin Branford and I had planned on going down to Hueco to do some climbing but instead decided to get the climbing gym built. That is equally as exciting as a trip to Hueco. And it isn't going anywhere. Well that is assuming that the regulations don't get anymore asinine and tedious. We'll go later in the year when temps are hopefully better. So poor Lauren has worked hard all week while her boyfriend has gotten to play. With this said playing isn't exactly what you would describe this building process as. Kevin and I have had quite a lot of fun in the process however spending an entire day builting supports, cutting wood, drilling and hammering in a hot attic of which's ceiling is only about 4 ft high isn't exactly a vacation. We have been putting in 8 to 10 hour days since last Friday with Monday as a rest day to go climb with Lauren.
KB went up to Mt. Evans to boulder with our friends Megan and Stacy. As a side note they ran into Chuck Fryburger, Sarah Marvez. Cody Roth and some others while they were hiking out. Sad I missed that however Lauren and I could not have had a better day. We had biscuits and gravy, which she made from scratch, while I graded papers to start our day. Have to say that 130, 5 paragraph essays doesn't exactly scream vacation either. Breakfast was amazing which was followed by a trip to Ute Valley for some bouldering. Lauren has been working the right side of the wave boulder on and off now and wanted to work on it some more. I had a couple ideas for lines that I hadn't climbed and was thinking about repeating the Overhanging Arete (v6) which is a really cool problem across from The Floater, (v5) Vindicator, (v6) and Chick Power. (v7)
Lauren did an amazing job on her project. After quickly doing the stand start she moved into the significantly harder SDS. (Sit down start) She figured out really good beta for all the moves by the end of the day however her fingers weren't as excited to keep trying as her brain was. Pretty typical problem to have although one that I have never had. (lies)
I was able to climb 3 new lines that were all really interesting. Two were pretty high with landings that were a little questionable, and the other was really cool with some crazy foot beta, a miserable pinch that might as well not even be there, and a mono pocket that can't be skipped as far as I can see. When we finished we drove over to Old Colorado City and had greek food at Jake and Telly's. Perfect day.
Now today KB and I will be putting the finishing touches on the gym. As of last night at about 9 it was completely built. I and we are so stoked to finally have it done. I can't thank Kev enough for his help and the amount of knowledge he has shared with me and poured into this project. I did thank him quite a bit yesterday with a bottle of Stranahan's Whiskey which is distilled in Denver and is amazing. There will soon be a video of this process. Anyway here is a video from yet another day on Amethyst, a dyno up in Morrison, as well as Lauren and my day in the Valley. Actually this will just be the first video. The other isn't cooperating. Can't wait to see all of you in Oxford, and safe travels to those of you out and about. Cheers.
