Before it all began

Hey yall,
I was sitting around just about to head up to the gym for training today, and stumbled across the video of my friend and I during our trip to Hueco Tanks last year during New Years. It got me really syked up to remember all of that stuff and I am motivated to keep pushing it. Right now I am getting ready for the National Sport Championship in SLC at the end of january. For the past several weeks I have been hitting it hard in the gym almost every day I can to get in form for that and 2009 in general. I've been pondering a lot about where the year will take me, and have some guesses so far...but thats for me to know until they are a little more solidified. Sooooo...enjoy the video

Things just very slowly

yesterday, I took a rest day, cuz after a few weeks of training hard, it was needed a complete day to chill and bro out. While fidling on the computer brushing up on my russian lessons(ive been taking them for two days now) I came across some entertaining whatchings...enjoy

I'M BACK!!!

Well, it has finally been done. Last teusday I arrived in Dallas setting foot on US Soil for the first time in 318 days! the EuroTrip08 chapter is officially closed. I got to spend the last couple weeks working on a farm with my friend Albert just taking in the lifestyle of it all.


I know what your thinking....its too much fun to handle. Theres no greater feeling than smacking a tree with a stick in this world. but anyways, I'm back and right into the swing of things six days a week getting prepped up for the National Championships in SLC at the end of January.

Slovenia, Switzerland, Spain, and snow...

So....I have been in Catalunya, the eastern block and the expensive part of europe in the past few weeks...at the moment I have been delving into some boulder blocks for the first time in ages and been enjoying it, here's a little taste of whats been happening:

myself:
Never ending story p.1, V11 third go
Alfain Moon, V11 4th go
...some other stuff, havn't been learning all the names, but just enjoying beautiful atmospheres

meanwhile,
Some people have been getting up a climb or two

Wanna send a shout out to Dave Graham who just managed to haul his way up the notorious Boogalaga assis, yet to have a confirmed name, a extremely difficult climb that adds two moves into a pre existing V13(8B) the Boogalaga. Just from trying the moves I would guess it to be at leeeaast V14(8B+) and likely harder. Congrats man, you put in a lot of effort and you earned it!

He sent not a moment to soon either, because the next morning was welcomes with this stuff

midnight mayhem

before anything else is said...I FINALLY BROKE FREE! We left santa linya after Jon nearly hammered out Open Your Mind and Jerome sussed out Fuck The System some more. We are passando un rato here in Lleida and checking out Margalef. But, damn, today is definately a rest day after pullin this shit off all night


...going a muerte with the beast himself...more video to come

while its all goin down

AAAHHHHHHHHHH....ok had to get that outa my head, got some stress goin on up in there. We got people arriving today to pick up, another tomorrow...also one to drop off...go to the cave, get to hatims house, buy food in balaguer...MELISSA LOST PURSE, no passport, gangsta roll gone, chavi wont wake up, donde estan las cajas, and a whole bunch off other shit goin on in my head right now...now you uderstand how dificult it is doing business in spain without a car! so while I overworry myself about absolutely everything, everyone else has been creeping under the radar, absolutely rampaging santa linya!
lets start off with the ms. of the group:

Melissa-
Devorah Hombres, .13a
archeologico, .13b

Jon-
Ultima Ola, .14c
la Pequenya, .13c flash
Airline, .13b ONSIIIIGHT, NOT EASY
DEVORAH HOMBRES, jons FIRST .13a of 2008, a good start for the year

Gabor-
Nueva Ola, .14c
la Pequenya, .13c flash as well
Ingravid Serps, 14c

and now the Ultimate Underground

Jerome-(in less than 2 weeks)
Devorah Homres ext, .14a third go
Novena Puerta, .14c Third go
Ultima Ola, .14c
Archeologico, .13d, OOONSIGHT FOR THE WARMUP
Fabelita, .14b second burn
Open Your Mind, .14c 2nd day fourth try!!!!

Well while I am epicing on everything, at least someone is having just an 'alright' time

WE ARE GOING TO FLORIDA

we have been in st linya...still, trying to fix the car situation. Its a little difficult due to the fact that we are living in a cave, without internet, electricity, toilets...INHUMANO!!! we were reaching the point of no return, about to eat each other for food we were so hungry. Rght when no more could be had, we come across some young fellows in the nearby town of the hazelnuts. The hospitality here is amazing. Everyone offers help when needed. They know about the car and haven't stopped helpin us out since. While chillin at the casa de albert and went a little crazy when we were able to use a computer!

enjoy

...ANYONE WANNA GIVE US A CAR???

soooo...the past week has been interesting. Yes, we are back in spain, yes we are stuck in Santa Linya, and yes I did say stuck... So last saturday on a excursion for wifi, Gabor and Jon went to the nearby town of les avellanes(the hazelnuts..?). On their return at 11 somethin' at night, passing the futbolin just before our peublo, a small car came barreling around the corner. Jon, given little reaction time, could only veer off onto a dirt road to avoid a collision. Going to fast for a dirt road, he tried to stop, started sliding...hit a water puddle...hit a dirt mound....became airborne....did a 180 degree spin...and the car ended up off of the road on its side!!!!! I will follow that by saying that all parties involved are absolutely unscathed( save a scratch of glory on jons neck). We spoke with some friends of the region, and appearently there is a bar in the town that all the old creepers go to to 'emborracharse'(aka get smashed) and that maybe that is why the car didn't stop to see if they were even ok!!! So...after AAAA LOOOTTTT of pondering and reflecting on it, we then began to try and figure out what to do. ANY SUGGESTIONS OUT THERE?? The only thing we can storm up in our minds is to find a cheap ass car for sale and make sure it doesn't die on us for the next couple months....
heres some of the ones we have been scoping out:

Benvinguts una Altra Vegada

soooooo....
a lots been kickin´ lately. I thought I was gonna get another shot on triptik(after I fell matching the last hold of the crux!!!)...this did not happen. After falling past the last crux move two times on Total Eclatch I thought it would be done up for sure......this did not happen. But there is good news, IM IN SPAIN!!! after an overly epic day of travel, we are in and around Lleida finally and letting the crews(myself, gabor, jon, and melissa) rampage commence. after a little celebration in a very biiiiig cave, its all starting to unfold.

more to come on this breaking news
future out-

Time to Do The Damn Thing

We are all doin just great now. The crew, recently changed to THREE

is about to be all finished here. Just as I thought it would be tooooo wet for Triptizzle, I went up it today, it miiiight be climbable still, that and a huge shiny clear magnificently magnificent blue sky are bringing the syke back up. That and after a couple goes I fell on the last hard move of Total Eclatch (first half of kinematix) yesterday and tomorrow it will fo' sho' be finished up. if that wasn't good enough. Just two days ago I warmed up, reput the draws on the beginning and sent Hot ChilX, 5.14bizzle!!! I had fallen off of the last move the climbing day before, and was skeptical to try it again, but successfully pulled through shaking on every move of the crux in true fashion of the 'just to spite you' send!!!


OH EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS IMA BE BACK IN SPAIN IN BOUT A WEEK!!!!! Gabor has the car and after his last world cup in Puurs, Belgium hes headin straight down. good luck Gabs and godspeed

Judgement Day

Sooooooooo....we have officially been trapped in the mist in the gorge for days on end, I think our combined total of any amount of ANY sky in the past 4 days is less than 10 minutes. the day to decide has arrived, we NEED to bounce...but where to?
Hope to hear good things gabor, keep tearin up wherever you are!

So......this is a serious moment, depressing too. Unless a fucking miracle starts up then triptik is OUT OF THE GAME. Id like to still try it but projecting .14c wet is HANEOUS! sad days at the crag, so to lift our spirits we get all tickled up over this:

Fresh Off The Press

So some serious stuff has happened in the past several days!! where to begin...a veure...ok so last Teusday me and jon head to Enzo and Freds house for a night in a bed and a shower(our friends here are the best!) also, because the next day melissa showed up. After a loooong day of dealing with a SERIOUSLY JETLAGGED Melissa, we rest up and the next day make our way back to the cliff with public transportation. Getting back almost at the end of the day session(before the sun hits the wall) we hit the warmup routine quick and hard to get to the damn thing. Jon had his really good burn on Kine' a couple days before and was skeptical as to if he could live up to that attempt again today. After a bolt to bolt sess on both our projects, jon suits up to give it a burn. I gotta say, he made it through total eclatch, 8c, SOOOLID. the only other person I had seen do it that easily was Rustam, who podiumed at world cups, so I was syked to see what would happen. He starts the link into Honk and just keeps pullin until he shows up where he fell last time.....HE LOCKED OFF THE FUCKING MOVE!!!!! So needless to say, the game was fuckin on now. He only had 8 more nonstop power pullin moves of INTENSE resistence left, each move was a toss in the air, couldn't tell what was goin on in his mind except just try and keep going. He sticks the first finish hold...there is a slight pause, his feet were lower than usual....while in his hesitation his arms are chicken winging like you wouldn't believe...afraid he is freezing up I shout oyut "C'mon, fuckin throw it up there"!!! right off he tosses his foot high, throws a kneebar, matches up, and CLIPS THE CHAINS OF KINEMATIX, HIS FIRST 5.14D!!!! Props jonny boy! I hopped on Triptik once, stuck my highpoint then bumping again slipped off, just matching it and I am finished. Also, I then went from lower before the crux, all the way to the top, so I know it is finished within the next couple goes, fellin syked.

Friday we met up with our friends from Down Under and went to Jurassic Park. We had tried this route there recently Zobble, 5.14b/c, for one day and were syked to get some more time on it. After I go bolt to bolt to get the beta down again, Jon hops up and pumps off after the crux move!!! I too get a high point sticking the first crux move and bein a little to tired to pull off the next one. Jons next go and he easily polishes off Zobble, 5.14b/c!!! I get a little too fatigued to get to the chain, but am certain that this too will be finished up next few attempts on it!

Well, Jon....5.14d and .14c.....not a bad 2 days, bet your feelin pretty good

heres a little after shot of his victory meal

Progress...

Jon and I have been workin on the projects lately, and slowly but surely some results are showin. Today we did the usual warm ups, falling ooh so deeply into the routine norm. it was day number 3, and at a place as physical as this wall, that many days is truly only for those who know how to persevere. After I did a bolt to bolt of the bottom crux of TripTik, decided Kinematix was ready for yet another redpoint burn. After only having pulling through the reeeeeally tough Total Eclatch at this point in the project process, not too much was expected. He pieced it together in style falling on the head wall( 1 move from the second to last clip) then right away went to the top. Needless to say when your dealing with a 9a route, a 1 fall is some IMPRESSIVE STUFF!! Magnus and Rustam, the two latest accents of the route, took quite some time before entering into the headwall just to give some perspective on this stuff.


Rustam on the move that marked Jons highpoint today


So after that it was up to me to keep the standard of progression. I hopped on TTT and stuck the first of the 2 crux moves(which is at the end of a difficult resistence sequence the first 6 clips off the ground). Super gassed, I try to bump up on it a little better and get spit off. SYKED...because yesterday I was able to do the route from 2 clips below to the chain, so the end is near!!!

heres enzo oddo( 13 year old Nice BEAST, sending the route just the other day)

after such a good day we are left in good spirits.
GOOD THINGS ARE COMING

Check it yooo

Jon babbles on about this place and how amazing the climbing is. Hes a pretty well traveled dude when it comes to climbing so if he says so, its prolly a damn cool video to see!

Welcome to Greatness

AAAHHHHH, past two days can only be described by one word...SIIICK!! So I took my long rest(2 days i know Im spoiling myself) with hopes that something would click. Philipe hooked us up with a bed for the night on friday, I need at least 1 day away from the cliff to feel normal...so this was a very good hook up.
Saturday-
We arrive at the cliff, warm up, hop on the proj's.....and I fall on the last move of the crux.... jon does as well on his...not exactly what we were hoping for. I lose the syke for the day and give this route honk a burn, miss a hold halfway up, fall, and go straight to the top. It was a freakin frustrating day I must say. After feeling so terrible, I was hoping that a 'repose' would do some good, but after today I wanted to leave this place, enough said.
Sunday-
another night at the crag, the beast stayed its distance so we didn't need to plan any assaults. Go through the warm up routine once again...as I said, gettin a little fed up with it all. I tie into the rope, hop on the route....everything went PERFECT!!! Every move on the route felt super casual until the crux. I had done the moves so many times, there was no way I was letting go and sure enough, I didn't. That burn put Ultimate Sacrifice, .14b/c, in the bag, my hardest to date! Riding off of the syke, I decide to try honk again and see if anything happens. Sure enough something did. I cruise through the move I had missed before. Everything followed in perfect harmony on the route. I grab the finish hold, kick the right foot up to put the knee bar needed to clip the chain and.......NOOOOO. I took the last hold a little to low and there was no room for my knee!!! Frantically I try and fix it all, but was in the wrong position and it was too late, down I fell. I decide to chill until the evening session and hope I still had some energy in me. Jon goes for another burn on triptik tonik, his project at the moment, and falls once again on the last move of the endurance crux....it has been a rollercoaster of emotions today already!!! We go down to the swimming hole, jump in the freezing water, then proceed to chill until the sun is off of the wall for the evening session. after a few quick warm ups Jon preps up for his route. "...don't even think I can get through the bottom crux this time...", that was about all that was said. Ten minutes later, in an absolute casual style through the entire way, he is clipping the chains of Triptik Tonic, a solid and sick .14c. Props for sure, its an AMAZING tufa line, that except for two holds with a little sika, is entirely natural. OK OK, I digress, the day is by no means over. flooded with excitement, I start working my way up my route once again. If the last burn I felt great, the only way to describe this time is indubidably stupendous. I grab the finish hold, double bump to make sure there remained room for the knee, and topped off Honk, .14a. The master plan that formed in my head earlier was that if I do honk, to go for Hot ChiliX, .14a/b, but seeing as I had just climbed honk twice...Lack of power appeared as a problem. I decide to cut my losses and go for a slightly easier route. I tie in and start up Deverse SatanX, the locals went a little overkill with the X on the end of routes but who am I to judge. I am working up, feeling pretty gassed. I pull through to the rest before the crux, and just go for it. I don't fall on the crux thankfully....I fell just past it on the LAST MOVE AGAIIIIINN!!! ah, After my feelings going up and down, time after time, I settle at a content level for the day. Jon and I got a little gift from our russian neighbors at the cliff, a free dinner!! I take one whiff of the rice and meat and get......an energy. This surge came over me as I looked up at the route. "Jon I need a catch" I say as I prep up for what I assumed would be a pathetic attempt. I start climbing.....don't feel good. Barely get to the rest....still don't feel good. when I make up my mind to go for it, I am immediately pumped out of the rest. Each move includes a desperate flick of the wrist to try and get any energy possible. I almost fumble the last clip, just clipping in time to grab the nearest hold from desperation. I continue to suffer until the move I had just fallen at before. I desperately toss....and by some magis catch the last crimper. In my last effort before I thought I had no more I toss my foot up to grab the finish hold just next to it. Yet another miracle happens as I catch it, bump up again to get it good, and clip the anchors of Deverse SatanX, .13d. oh yeah, the sun had already gone down and it was my first HEADLAMP SEND!!! We dig into our savory dinner and basque in our victories of the day. Without a doubt my hardest climbing day of my life!

oh no the news isn't over yet
Monday-
Jon and I wake up to Rustam, doing his morning stretches getting syked up to climb. to keep it short, I shall say it as casual as he made it look. on his 39th try, he fired off Kinematix, .14d, making him the first Russian to achieve the magical grade!

Weather and Rest

UUUGHHHHH... the crew, jon and myself, hitchhiked down for free wifi again. Deverse is a cool wall to climb at, but soooo physical that after a couple weeks, my body is completely exhausted, every day feels a little worst than the last now and we did a group call to go ahead and take a good rest period. After Jon properly dispatched Hot ChiliX this morning, after falling on the last move!, we cut off the day early and the rest of the week is gonna just be...chill. The weather has been persnickety lately, heating up getting humidy also. Hopefully when we get back to doin the damn thang all charged up, we will have some better conditions to look forward to...

Nice is Nice

Well the time spent since updating last has been jon and myself camping out at the wall roughing it out. Its nice during the day having people we know come up to the wall so we weren't feeling completely isolated, but as soon as the sun went down its just us two....and the beast. It seems that every night just as we are preping up for bed, there is a ruffling noise in the forest just below that seems to dart by the wall, only to leave after jon and I cave man it by just throwing a lot of rocks until it goes away fo sho. Well anyways, I digress. So I thought we weren't gonna be able to update that well do to the fact that there isnt any wifi or outlets to charge shit at the crag. It wasn't until the other day while resting that Jon decides to take it to the limit....so we just go hitchhiking. Turns out just a 10 minute drive away is a extremely quaint, and EXTREMELY touristy, town of Tourettes sur Loup. there one can stroll down the medieval looking streets with all the greenery hanging from the windows to give it a magnificent scent of all the flowers of the region. At the heart of the old part of town is the Dix sur Dix, a cool juice bar/coffee shop/FREE WIFI PLACE!! So it is pretty well decided where we shall spend our rest days from now on. In accordance with the syke of finding this place, we start pondering....so we ended up escaping the beast for the night by heading to nice(45 minute bus ride only 1 euro!) and enjoy the beach and all the people on it spending there last week of summer vacation here. Now, its back to the caveman life for us, we need to stay focused and get our projects done!!!

How to do a rest day in the Cote D'Azur

So today was a down day after Jon and myself did an epic 3 days at the deverse wall. Us and some homies headed to a beach just next to Cannes, France to spend the day. As we are walking down I hear our french friends talking about the spot we are going and happened to catch the word arch, our eyes lit up right away. Just next to the beach was a rad mini es pontas arch and as soon as we could, we went to check the lines. It turned out just getting out of the water was really hard, me and jon epiced for a while until we found some nice lines with solutions getting us a decent height above the water before fear made our foot slip or barely miss the hold and plummeted us into the water. Later on we enjoyed a nice dinner with a tasty french beer 'Desperados", and yes I am aware of the irony that it sounds like a mexican beer.

Im really bad at updating

So yeah, a while ago i said id start putting it all on the blog about whats goin down...im just a little apathetic is the problem. So I have finished my A Muerte training with david macia in spain and have been in Nice, France climbing in Gorge de loup the past 2 weeks. Needless to say the crew here has been crushing, here are the notables:
Sean McColl:
-4 .14bs: Quenelle Trophy, Hot ChiliX, Total Eclatch, 7 PM Chaud
-4 .14as two of which(Hot Chili Beans and Honk) were flashes!!!

Jon Cardwell:
-Ultimate Sacrifice, .14b/c first go after the easier entrances!
-Qoussai de la fin, .14b 4th try
-last Soul Sacrifice, .14b
-New Power Sacrifice, .14b a solid send while still dealing with jetlag
-Karoshi, .14a, fourth go in a day

Myself:
-Qoussai de la fin, .14b
-Last Soul Sacrifice, .14b
-Quenelle Trophy, .14b
-New Power Sacrifice, .14b

So obviously we are all syked right now. Yesterday was day number 3 of climbing for me and Jon. At a wall as burly and intense as Devérsé, 3 full days of going up only 5.14 pitches, cuz thats all there is at the cliff!!, is damn-hard. Even this being so, We both managed to haul our exhausted selves up the overhung, 120 foot long route Qoussai de la fin! after my BIRTHDAY send and falling off the last bolt of hot chiliX, and Gerome Pouvreau finishing off the SUPER proud Triptik Tonic, .14c, We had a little celebration dinner at the photographers, Philipe Maurel, house. An amazing plate of pasta and a lot of wine just comes to show that whether in the Deep South in the states or the Cote D'Azur in France, Southern Hospitality always is AWSOME!

first euro post...5 months in

So yeah, made this blog back in February to spread the word about my euro-trip...but lackin that little thing called a computer for most of the on, it got a little hard to get anything done online. Well I'm semi settled for the moment just outside of BARCA with my friend edu spending some time in the gym to save money and catchin rides with friends to get outside. Well the only interesting thing that happened climbing-wise lately is the Petzl Roc Trip in Millau, which happened to be awsome. Also, Sunday evening, team españa took home the cup for the Euro championships '08!!! Well no photos right now, but keep tunin' in, theres gonna be more from now on.

Future out

The Epic from HELL

So a lot of y'all were at the trade show over the past weekend and know it was tons of fun...the only downside to such a good weekend is that it was a TEEERRRRIIIBBBLLLEEE epic for me. Where to begin....falling off of projects past the cruxes....misplacing absolutly everything you don't lose on a road trip...ok ok, its friday the 25th. I accidently locked my keys in my car before qualifiers at the momentum comp. By the time I realized this I was forced to wait for five hours which I either spent arguing with AAA to come unlock my car or just basquing in the moments of agony. After this length of time was when I found out that mall security, the gym was next to a mall, can break into cars for you for free!! They didn't even ask for ID, which is good because the previously during the trip I lost my wallet, drivers liscence, and check card all on seperate occasions. The next 24 hours were surprisingly enjoyable whether at the show, competing in finals, or at the after party. But, last sunday brought yet another rude awakening to reality. So here I am almost a 1000 miles from Dallas, from which I drove, with no drivers liscence, no cash, and no credit card!!! I spend most of this day pilliging through my car looking for my card, until admitting defeat. The rest of my determination was then set on getting a money order for gas money for the 23 hour drive I had to complete. Monday morning brought the news that at any Western Union awaits $300 cash to get home. ALRIGHT, I venture off into the snow storm that had swallowed Salt Lake City looking for a street with the adress 767. after arriving where the building should be, I trek in my sanuks with no socks in nearly 12 inches of snow, with flurries of snow to blur my vision, for nearly twenty minutes going from door to door, building to building searching for my destination. Once again, I admit defeat and return to the car only to then notice that the adress is 676! This time I find the store with ease, but fate would not let me off that easy. The Western Union guy had stepped out and we had no idea when he would return. So back to the house to find yet another location, and soon enough, I had what I set out for, GAS MONEY!!! ready to simply drive off into the sunset, I am once again denied. The snow storm resulted in closed roads all across Utah, and I was forced to stay yet another night. teusday morning marked the begining of my voyage home, when it should have been the end of my drive until all the delays were in affect. I make the solid 14 hour trek alone in my '95 forest green Nissan Pathfinder, but due to 18 wheelers kicking up snow slush during the drive its a tint of black, brown, and dirty white. At 1 AM I stop near Hueco Tanks to spend the night. Once again I am off the next morning feeling determined to finish the drive. All of a sudden I get too comfortable on the road and try to shave some hours off when I am stopped by a cop going 82 in a 70. I took it ok, in fact me and the cop chatted a bit about climbing, a slightly awkward conversation due to him handing me a ticket sining to the tune of $180. "OK OK, I have had some slip ups" I told myself, "but lets just finish it up and get home". I started my engine, prepared to take off. It was almost as if the screeching was a voice taunting me with the fact that some divine force just didn't want me to finish the trip. I turn the car off and lose my composure to say the least. Five minutes later, and to many obcenities to count I try it again and to my surprise nothing sounds wrong, and all looks well, so I just take off before the opportunity for another mishap comes across my path. 150 miles later, only 2 hours away from my front porch, I notice I need gas and realize that my battery light is shining bright, and has probably been on since the run in with the 5-0. After filling up, I attempt to jump start the car, since it obviously didn't turn on, and IT WORKED. I didn't ask questions, I was too close to home to let something happen again...well less than a mile down the road I am stopped in my tracks again. AAA sends out a tow-truck and another 45 minutes later I am sitting shotgun while the mechanic explains how my alternator has seen the end of its days and that after 100 miles of towing the price goes from free...to $2.85 per mile. Easy enough, my dad gladly comes to meet us as we just leave the car in a grocery store parking lot. we decide to figure it out tomorrow and 20 minutes later I am in a bed for the first time in a month while my dreams carried me off to a far away place where people always send what they are passionate about, nothing ever gets lost, cars cannot lock keys inside, there is no speed limit, and alternators never die.
Well its thursday night now, and on saturday morning I leave for Barcelona to start a new climbing epic in Europe. Lets just not hope that the past month hasn't been a forshadowing prelude to my 5 month Euro-Epic!!!!