8a.nu Trends

As some of you probably already know, I'm pretty much addicted to the climbing website http://www.8a.nu/. It combines two of my favourite things; climbing and numbers. I like how it attempts quantify climbing by attaching a score to the routes you've climbed. It does a fairly good job I think, there are some things I would change like making trad climbs count more, not weighing onsighting quite so highly in routes, and eliminating onsighting all together from boulders. But despite this I think its a cool way of charting progress over time, and also making comparisons with friends. 8a.nu gets a lot of criticism for trying to rank climbers on a national and global scale, which is never going to be accurate since not all climbers are registered on 8a.nu, although it is getting more and more popular by the day. One of my goals for 2008 was to finish the year in ranked in the top 50 combined, but that didn't happen partially because I didn't improve my bouldering as much as I wanted, a lot of good new climbers joined, and already registered climbers like me improved their level. I think I finished the year in 86th, 1 spot ahead of Micah! As fun as this is to compare with other climbers I know its not really accurate. What I really like about the site (apart from their awesome database of crags and climbs) is being able to see the routes I've logged in the past. Now that I've had my scorecard for a few years its really cool to see my progress over time. Recently I retroactively added some routes and boulders to my scorecard (that I kept record of separately) from 2002 and 2003, before I started my scorecard so that I'd have a more representative trend over time graph.

Below are my trends for routes and bouldering.

ROUTES

I like how it shows a gradual constant improvement each year. This level of improvement is not really sustainable though. For example if I were to improve at the same rate I did from 2007 to 2008 withing three years I would be ranked above Adam Ondra #1 in the world. What I hope is that that I'm still be able to improve a little bit more in the next few years and maybe level out above the 10,000 level and stay around that level for a long long time. The reason I have the same points today as I did in 2008 is that I haven't logged any climbs in 2009 yet that would rank in my top 10, and none of my 2008 top-10 climbs have expired yet.

BOULDERS

The bouldering trend tells a much more interesting story I think. I shows a lot more variation from year to year, that I think reflect changes in my personal circumstances. For example my score goes way up in 2003, this was the year I started Uni at Stirling and had a lot more access to bouldering spots, Wolfcrag was walking distance and Dumbarton not too far away. Then in 2006 my score actually dips a bit. This was the year I moved to the US and climbed a lot more sport routes. I didn't have any local bouldering areas anymore and only got out bouldering 5 days at Squamish after I arrived at the US that year according to my scorecard. Then the following year we discovered Leavenworth bouldering, I spent a lot more time up at Squamish over the summer and made a trip down to Bishop and my score goes way up.

I think I've still got a lot of room for improvement when it comes to bouldering, but right now I would say I'm more excited for route climbing. I think if I keep trying to improve in bouldering in a few years I could definitely break the 8000 point barrier and maybe even 9000 points, but it really depends on personal circumstances where I live, how much time I have for climbing etc. Having a scorecard definitely feeds my excitement for climbing and improvement, but sometimes I do have to question whether I'm climbing for the fun of climbing, or just climbing for points?

Real Rock

This weekend I got out on real rock for the first time since November! It was really nice to be pulling on cold stone instead of warm greasy plastic holds. My regular partners were out of town, Micah in Seattle and Laura in Portland, but I managed to recruit Jared, from the climbing team to come out with me. The weather had been dry all week, so I was feeling confident that we'd be able to find some dry rock. It was going to be pretty cold though, maybe low 40's if we got lucky. I places like WW1 would be too cold cause its at higher altitude and more sheltered crags like Nevermind would be seeping wet still. But I remember from making a trek out to the Far Side at exit 38 in January two years ago that Gritscone dries out quickly and stays pretty sheltered and mild. So Jared and I headed out there. I decided to lug out 2 mats as well as our rope and draws, figuring it might be fun to do some highballing! But it had been a while since I was last there, and I had forgotten 1) how far it is to walk especially with 2 mats precariously balanced on your back 2) how tall Gritscone actually is. In the end I did manage to use the mats so I guess it was worth it.

Jared and The Gritscone

Gritscone is basicly one big boulder about 30 feet high with a dozen of so routes on it, lying in a pine forest. The guide says its sandstone conglomerate, but I think its more like the type of rhinostone found at little si mixed with basalt. Either way it lends its self to great friction when its cold. And it was COLD! We were prepared for it though, with lots of layers and gloves to put on between routes. And the routes are all pretty short so your fingers don't get numb til you're done with the route. It was a beautiful day out, the sun was peeking through the trees, there was a fresh carpet of green pines on the ground, and the rock was pristine not a dab of chalk on it. Jared and I got started warming up with some easy routes on the right hand side of the block. We both led a 5.5, 5.7, 5.7, 5.9, 5.9, 5.10a, took a quick lunch break. Then Jared onsighted Booty Squirrel a tricky 10c, and went for the 11a. He didn't manage it first go, its quite beta intensive, but once he knew where the holds were he dispatched it second go with ease, commenting it felt easier than the 10c.

Next up was the main challenge, Rough Cut an 11d and the hardest route on the block. I had done it before so I let Jared go for the onsight, after about a 20 minute battle with the route (which is quite an achievement considering the route is only about 20 feet tall) he slumped into his harness confused about how to unlock the sequence. I showed him my beta, then led it one more time to make sure I had it down smooth before I pulled the rope and soloed it. I know I said previously I'm not really into soloing cause of the risks involved, but I didn't really see this as a solo, so much as a highball. Its probably the safest route to highball on the block cause its not slabby so it's a clean fall. The crux is at the top about 20 feet up but the mats were directly below and I had confidence in Jared's spotting. Besides, its probably only a V2, there was no way I was coming off especially with the friction so good. The one tricky part I didn't really factor in was once I got to the chains, there was another 10 feet of pine needle covered slab to get up, that was probably the sketchiest part. With my beta Jared was able to do all the moves and went for the lead, he got past the last clip only to fall going for the last hold! He tried again and got the hold, only to fall off trying to match it. It was just going to be one of those days for him. I did a couple more easy routes (5.7s I think) then we headed back to the car. Although Jared didn't get the route we both had a great day, Jared did his first 5.11 and has good project to come back to. I'm sure he'll get it next time. It was so nice to get out climbing in January, 11 routes in a day is great any time. I had almost started to forget how much fun outdoor routes could be. The weather is looking like it may stay dry this week so fingers crossed we might get out next weekend as well.

Me soloing Rough Cut. And yes I know I have a rip in my trousers.

End of Year Wrap Up

(warning there will be lots of nerdy climbing grade talk)

2008 has been an awesome year for my climbing. I travelled to some of the best spots in the world for climbing, met some cool people along the way and climbed hard! In fact this year I feel like i've taken my level of climbing, especially route climbing far higher than any other year (I think I said the same thing last year). Last year I improved on my highest redpoint from 7a+ to 7c which is huge, and although this year I only took it one notch higher to 7c+, I feel my route climbing has impoved so much more. I have consolidated my status as a 7th grade climber with 16 routes this year graded 7b or higher, 9 of them onsight, last year I had only done 11 routes 7b and up and none of them were onsight. Bouldering-wise although I didn't break into any new grades, I think maintained a fairly high level. My bouldering send of the year was probably Immunity Challange a V7 at Squamish which I couldn't do in 07 but did quickly this year. I think if I spent more time bouldering as opposed to route climbing I could have bouldered even harder. My proudest route of year is probably one that doesn't even count on my scorecard as one of my hardest of the year, my 2nd go ascent of Vagabond d'Occident at Ceuse. Vagabond is known as being one of the best and most popular routes in the world, in fact I just checked 8a.nu and it is has more ascents registered than any other in the world! It was a dream to climb, nice big heucos and pockets on a steep wall that seemed to go forever and challenge you the whole way. And the fact that I got it on my second attempt shows how much my level had improved on last year, having only done one 7c in 07 after working it to death.

Right now I feel in good shape for the year to come, I probably couldn't step out my door today and onsight 7b. But thats probably got more to do with the 7b's in the area to try rather than my ability, and thats a whole other topic. But if I could predict anything I would say if 08 was the year of onsighting, then 09 will be the year of redpointing. My main goal for 09 is to climb 8a, and I think I am in a better position than ever before to do so. I even have a route in mind, which is half the battle, the route is Chronic a 5.13b (8a) at Little Si. I've got on it before and struggled a lot, but I feel if I am able to train on it and work out the moves, I can use seige tactics and eventually it might go. What also helps is having other friends to work it with, and create a bit of friendly rivalry. Jimmy, Nick and Micah are all capable of climbing it this year as well. We've all tried it, and get to a similar point, Nick is probably the strongest on it out of all of us, but he won't be back here until the summer, so we'll have a couple of months to catch up to him.

Other goals for 2009 are to do more V7's and 8's at Leavenworth and Squamish. Discover other climbing areas in the US for both bouldering and routes. I want to get back into trad climbing, maybe do 5.11 trad again. And also non-climbing goals are to work more than 3 months of the year this year, and not travel so much, 25 flights in a year is not sustainable. And be a stronger climber and person in general. I'm feeling good about 2009, bring it on!

Colombia

I´m in Colombia right now on a non-climbing (although I did take my climbing shoes just in case, but so far I haven´t found any big enough rocks) vacation. I´m visiting my parents who have a house out here in Santa Marta and are here for 3 months during the winter. I´m having a great time, I´ve been here for a week and a half and have a few days left, though I wish I had longer. My parents´property in up in the hills, so its not quite as hot as in the city (but its still in the 90s every day), it feels very tropical up here. There are all sorts of tropical plants on their property ranging from banana and lime trees to cocoa and cotton. They also have an acre or two of rainforest-type jungle with a river running through it, its really wild! Its also been great spending time with some of my relatives on my mum´s side, my aunt mariaeugenia and my uncle moises and his family. But by far my favourite thing I´ve done here is to go scuba divivng with my dad. We´ve both got our advanced open water qualifications and have logged over 50 dives each, but it had been almost 8 years since the last time I went scuba diving. I don´t why I haven´t been in so long, becasue I loved it! Its an awesome feeling to be totally weightless under water and to be able to explore in 3D. The visibility was great and there was really interesting coral teeming with all kinds of tropical fish. I loved every minute of it! We are going again on Monday, and I can hardly wait!

Here are some photos of Colombia I´ve taken so far.

A common sight here is to see carts pulled by horses or donkeys, they sell fresh fruit and vegetables for cheap. Here my mum and dad get a dozen oranges for only 40 cents.

This is my dads house after he put on a new door, my mums house is much nicer.

Me and my dad on the boat about to go diving. Don´t be fooled by the rock in the background I checked it out and its crumbly.A walk up the road from our place is ´Agua Viva´ and ecological park that has a lot of the local wildlife (in cages) and jungle, it was a really cool place, and the guide helped us identify a lot of the plants we have growing on our property.A Cayman at Agua Viva.

Seattle Bouldering Competition

This weekend Laura and I traveled up to Seattle for the annual bouldering competition at Stone Gardens. It’s the biggest climbing competition in the state, climbers from all over the north-west made the trip, and we had competed the previous two years so didn’t want to miss it. A lot of the climbing team from the warehouse came up as well and did really well. Jimmy did awesome winning the men’s advanced category, and would have qualified for the open men’s finals if he had entered that category. I was pretty happy with my performance, I came in 13^th in the male advanced category which was a big improvement on my 27^th place last year. Laura did really well finishing 8^th in her category, improving again on her result from last year. So overall it was a good day for everyone.

We stuck around for the open finals at the end, where the best of the climbers compete for the big prizes. The problems were really well set and looked really hard, and most importantly separated the field well. Nobody had sent the final men’s problem, until Sean McColl who qualified first tried it finally. It was awesome to see Sean McColl who is a pro climber and former World Champion from Vancouver climb. We had met him in Ceuse France over the summer trying some really hard routes so we knew what he was capable of. He made the final problem look easy, and put on a show for the audience. Here's a video I got of him flashing it, where I think you can get a feel of the atmosphere in the gym as he sent it.

Dyno Comp and the last trip of the year

I had a pretty good weekend, on Saturday the Warehouse Rock Gym had a party to celebrate their 4th birthday, there was a cool slide show by Jim Yoder, Jimmy showed his climbing movie on the big screen and there was a dyno comp. Jimmy set all the dyno's. At first glance I thought he had set them way too hard and no one would send them, but it turned out that they were doable and a lot of fun. Me, Jimmy, and Whitey all completed 6 out of the7 (dyno #7 was huge!) Jimmy and Whitey did them with less falls than me. Here are a couple of videos I took of the dynos, the first is a short one of me almost latching the jug on a running start, and the second is of whitey doing dyno #4.

On Saturday we decided to take advantage of the break in the weather and head out for one last climbing trip before the snow, a day trip bouldering out at Leavenworth. Micah drove and we had a full car, Me, Laura, Jimmy and Jeremy. With gas so cheap right now and the car so full gas money was a fraction of what it cost us a couple months ago. We met up with some guys from Evergreen as the so there were 9 of us in total. When we arrived at Forestland it was cool, probably in the high 40s, and very misty, we thought it might burn off later in the day but it was just like for pretty much the whole day. We warmed up with a few of the classics at Forestland, Breadline (V0), The Real Thing (V4), Feel the Pinch (V4) and I did One Summer from the crouch start for the first time which goes at V6. The friction was so good it was hard to fall off. Well it wasn't that good I guess, cause I did manage to fall off The Shield (V7) and some other stuff a bunch of times . Jimmy made impressive sends of The Bedroom Bully (V8) and Busted which is a hard V8 now that the big flake has broken off. I'm keen to get back on those two problems again in the spring, cause I'm fairly close. We headed up to Upper Forestland and took our turns of some of the classics like Fedge, Lovage, The Physical, Sunny and Cheap and Funny and Cheap (all V2-4). It was fun to be climbing in a big group and giving encouragement to everyone trying the problems, it certainly turned what could have been a misty gloomy day into a fun time. Below is a video of me repeating Lovage (V3).

We finished off the day in the Scrambled Eggs area where I wanted to get back on the V8 I had come so close to completing last trip. But my skin was too thin by this point and the crimps hurt too much to really try hard, so I was content to leave this one until spring as well. I did do a couple of V3's there which were a lot fun. It was great to be out climbing at Leavenworth in November, I didn't really expect to get out so it felt like a bonus. Now I have to brace myself for a long winter of climbing indoors, and hope that I remain uninjured and strong for spring.

Jesse on Twisted Stone (V3)

Laura showing the boys how its done

Election Night

The view from our apartment of Downtown Olympia a few days before the election

Nov 4^th was the longest awaited day of the year for me. The excitement had been building up for weeks here in Olympia, days before the election the streets below our building were bustling with campaigners and Obama supporters waving their signs. We got tickets for the Thurston County Democrats election party that was to be held at The Vault, a nightclub just a block away from our place. But when it came down to it, we decided nachos and beer at our friend Micah’s house would be more fun. We headed over to his place around 5pm PST when the first states were starting to be called for Obama and McCain. I was really surprised how early in the night the news channels called each state. Even swing states like Ohio were called for Obama with only 13% of the votes in. This was the first sign for how the rest of the night was going to turn out. In between watching the results come in we also tuned into Comedy Central to watch Indecision 08 with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, which was great for comic relief and their sketch about the Bradley Effect was hilarious. At 8 o’clock when the polls in California, Oregon, and Washington closed, the presidency was called for Obama. I thought it would be a lot closer and would take until later in the night until we would know for sure, but McCain’s concessionary speech shortly afterwards made it official. Nevertheless I stayed up late channel surfing watching all the results come in.

Obama’s acceptance speech was one of the most powerful I have ever witnessed. I felt like he was talking to me personally when he thanked his supporters for helping him get to where he is. I really believe that the American people got behind Obama like no other presidential candidate has achieved previously. I first started following Barack’s career when I read his books back in 06, before he announced his plans to run for president. I felt a personal connection with him, being raised in mixed race family, and being an American living outside of the US. I thought it was great to have a politician that was so honest and open about his past and his personal philosophies. I knew then that I wanted to support him in any way I could. I’m one of the many Obama supporters who gave what they could to support his campaign. I donated $5 dollars back when he was a long shot candidate at a time when he really needed the funds. When the caucuses came to Washington State earlier this year, I volunteered to be the precinct caucus chair, and the Obama precinct captain, where I gave a speech on behalf of Obama. It was re-affirming to meet other people in my neighborhood who were equally as excited about him, and to hear their personal stories of how they are affected by his candidacy. In my precinct we won delegates 6-1 against Clinton, even higher than the state average. That was the week that the caucuses turned in favor of Obama.

Traveling through Europe over the summer I got a first hand view of how other parts of the world viewed our election. I met a store owner in Greece who didn’t know any English, but recognized us as Americans and gave us the thumbs up and said Obama! Obama! Throughout our time in France and the UK you could pick up a paper and read the hype about Obama, it seemed at times like they were more excited about Obama than we are here. Its going to take a lot of work to re-build our relationships with other nations around the world but I’m confident that Obama is the man to do it. I’m really optimistic about the next 4 years, and the way it’s looking now, it’s hard to imagine he won’t get re-elected again in 2012.