Arkansas Part 2

So where was I? Oh yes, Day 2. I won't go through all the details, but Thursday was a nice day. It was still a little wet, but climbable. I started off the day working on Fraziac (V6) again. It still didn't go though. After that we headed over to watch Wayne and some other people try an awesome highball problem called Grand Dragon (V7). Unfortunately Wayne didn't quite finish it, so we moved around the corner to Numerical Methods (V8). I actually made most of the moves, which was pretty encouraging, but I never really gave it a solid effort because I was trying to save my strength for Razor's Edge (V5). I'm really looking forward to getting back and really putting some time into Numerical Methods...I really think I can climb it if I get just a bit stronger. That would be a big jump in grade, which would be crazy...but it's all subjective anyway. I then went and got some new beta on Razor's Edge, so I put some work into that, but still didn't get it. So the day was still pretty fruitless when it came to sending problems, but I got a lot of good work in anyway. That night we went back to the barn to slackline and start the New Years celebration. We definitely had a good time and eventually went back to the cabins for our traditional New Years dance party and midnight celebration. Friday was the best day the whole weekend. It was a decent temperature and all of the rocks were dry! I went out with a goal of doing 3 V5s in a day: Even Dirtier, Razor's Edge, and Momento. I went to Even Dirtier first and got it after about 4 attempts. This was my 2nd V5 ever, so I was pretty happy. We then went over to Razor's Edge and I gave it about 6 solid tries, but just couldn't quite get it. It involves getting a REALLY high right foot and I just wasn't flexible enough that day to get it, but it will go next time. After that I went over to Momento and gave that a few goes, but I'm still not really ready for that one. It is only one foothold that is keeping me from doing it, but it is TOUGH! After that I got a problem called Alabama Ahead (V4) after a couple of tries and called it a day. Once again we pasted the evening hours in the barn slacklining. By this time, I had gotten pretty much all of my slackline ability back, so I was trying some new tricks. My friend Evan is an incredible slackliner, so he was teaching me a few moves. Sometime this spring when it gets warmer I'll put up a video of me doing some slacklining (there is also a little bit in the video posted below).

On Saturday, we woke up to some frigid temps, but bundled up and hit the rocks anyway. Most of the group had left either the day before or in the morning, so there was just a few of us going out today. We headed to a boulder called Slopin' Joe to warm up and try a couple of classic problems. I think this is me on a problem called Slopadon Milosevic (V5). It is the classic problem of the Slopin' Joe boulder, but it was a bit out of my league. After this, we headed over to the Undertow boulder to try Hang Ten (V7). It was an awesome problem and I ended up getting all the moves but one. I'm definitely looking forward to going back to that problem when I'm a bit stronger...I think it will go! That night we ended up staying in Evan's group's cabin after yet another night of slacklining. Unfortunately, we woke up to this:
Needless to say, climbing that day was out of the question, so we got an early start home. The roads ended up being terrible, but we only came close to dying once and wrecking about 3 times... But yeah, the first 2 hours of the drive, the roads were pretty bad, but after Springfield, MO, the weather cleared up. So in the end, the trip was AWESOME! It wasn't the most successful, climbing-wise, but otherwise, I met a lot of great people, caught up with old friends, and had a ton of fun!

So I guess this did sort of end up being a play-by-play...but oh well.
Andrew and I have tried going climbing outside the past two weekends, but the weather in the area has been wet, wet, wet. Hopefully we can get outside this Sunday, but we'll have to wait and see.

Anyway, sorry for the length, but here's a video wrapping up the week in Arkansas....enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7aqVdJKQ54

Top 25 Films of the Decade

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Moulin Rouge
3. The Dark Knight
4. Let The Right One In
5. Gladiator
6. The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers
7. Love Actually
8. Cloverfield
9. Sin City
10. Closer
11. Casino Royale
12. The 40-Year Old Virgin
13. No Country for Old Men
14. Match Point
15. The Wrestler
16. Brokeback Mountain
17. City of God
18. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
19. Atonement
20. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
21. Avatar
22. Zodiac
23. Old School
24. Rocky Balboa
25. Gone Baby Gone

Devin on Film

Top Ten Films of 2009

1.) Avatar

2.) Inglourious Basterds

3.) Whatever Works

4.) Up

5.) An Education

6.) Up in the Air

7.) Star Trek

8.) I Love You, Man

9.) Zombieland

10.) The Hurt Locker

Worst Films of 2009

1.) Thirst

2.) A Christmas Carol

3.) Pandorum

4.) New York, I Love You

5. ) Saw VI (didn't actually see it, but I can't believe these are actually still getting made)

Biggest Disappointment

Invictus

Belated New Year's Wrap-Up Part 1

So it's been awhile, but I don't have to tell you that. Anyway, for those that don't already know, I went down to Arkansas again for New Years this year. My friend Sarah flew into St. Louis from Denver and rode down with me on Tuesday, Dec. 29th. We ended up getting there pretty late that night, and everyone was all moved into our cabin at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. This year featured a lot of people that I didn't know, so I got to meet a lot of new people that night when I arrived. Luckily, everyone there was really cool. It was great seeing some old friends too! Unfortunately, it snowed throughout the night on Tuesday so we woke up to snow covered boulders and cold temps on Wednesday morning. After some really strong coffee and a solid breakfast, we went out to do some climbing. As you can imagine, all of the boulders were wet and snowy on top, making full sends pretty much impossible, but we all put in some really good work on the bottoms of a few overhanging roof problems. Here are a few pics of me on a V6 called Fraziac. I worked it pretty good for two days, but never could link all of the moves...hopefully next trip (the brown, orange and blue crashpad that my friend Emily is on is the new one I got for Christmas!)

So after a bit of climbing, Wayne ran back to the cabins, grabbed a broom and spent about an hour going around to different boulders sweeping the snow off the tops to help them dry for the next day...which helped immensely! Wednesday night though, we went to "the barn" (really shouldn't be in quotes, because it really is a barn), but they have some awesome stuff in there. The upstairs has a basketball court, a slackline, an indoor bouldering wall, and a speleo box (a plywood cave for simulating spelunking). I also had my slackline, so we set up mine next to the one there and did a bunch of slacking on Wednesday night. It was nice because I hadn't slacked in quite a while. it took awhile took get everything back, but I was happy to be back at it. We then played barefoot 3-on-3 basketball....and let me tell you...I am OUT OF SHAPE! It was pretty pathetic actually...panting and wheezing and holding the stitch in my side...and that was the first 5 minutes! Needless to say, the next day I woke up with my legs sore as all get out. A night of slacklining and basketball will definitely bring the hurt on.

It's past my bedtime now, so I'm gonna have to stop there for now. I'll hopefully not be so lazy and get part 2 up by Monday night. I hope everyone is well....talk to you soon!