The Book...

After 6 or so years, The Book of Bitter Aspects (8b+), gets the 2nd accent.  Even better is that it came from me.  Whoooah!!!

I can't comment on the grade since it didn't take much effort maybe 10 or so tries over 2 days.  I've pulled onto it in past years, but never with any serious effort or hopes for success.  It's always just been there, waiting.  I know some other climbers have tried to complete this line in the past without success.  Regardless of the grade 8b or 8b+, it's been there for so long without a repeat until now.  I must say this is one of the happiest moments I've had through climbing.

Check the vid....

The Book of Bitter Aspects from Phillip Schaal on Vimeo.

Comps...

I suck, suck, suck, suck, and suck at competitios.  So what did I do this Saturday instead of taking advantage of the primo conditions outside?  Went to a competition.  I felt like I climbed well but was missing something and just gave up on making the finals, hoping to conserve some energy for this week.  Not to mention there was this tall drunk dude talking out of his ass the entire time,  distracting to say the least.  

Monday or Tuesday will be the only days that I'll be able to climb outside, the rest of the week I'll be setting for the Power Srtuggle 3,

which is at my home gym, Prime climb, in Wallingford, Ct. 

I suggest to anyone in the northeast to come.  We're going to have great problems, good music, beer and pizza.  And a mega party at the gym afterwards.  There will be a cash prize for men's and woman's open category and prizes for the rest.  People can sleep at the gym afterward if they become too wobbly to drive. 

Gneiss...

Last Monday I went to Great Barrington with some friends

The day was perfect, sunny and temps in the 30’s.  We went to the Speed Boulder straight away.  For those that haven’t seen it let me say that it may be one of the best.  That’s right in the world.  Since I’ve been home I’m dying to get back here.  While we were warming up on some of the easier terrain of the boulder, I noticed that some big chunks were missing.  Someone must have removed the rock by force.  Kind of weird but whatever.  Then while I was re-aquatinting myself with the problems I saw again that some rock was missing.  This time on the mega classic Something From Nothing.  I know the hold very well and I’m confused as to why someone would yank the chalk stone out.  Resulting in the enlargement of the hold making the problem easier.  Not cool in my book.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe that during the opening of a boulder problem extensive cleaning is essential.  All loose/rotten/sharp rock should be taken down.  The chalk stone was neither rotten or sharp, maybe a bit loose but it still managed to withstand 10 or more assents.  Bummer someone ruined this stunning line.

After making sure that all the rest of the holds were still the same I started getting to work on Roses and Blue Jays.  A lovely line that starts with Something From Nothing and moves left out a blunt overhanging arete.  After figuring out the moves for the 100th time I began from the start.  5 or 6 tries later we all were itching to go to another boulder.  I gave it one last try and punted it on the top out.  Wanker!!!

Below are a few specimens of what the rock at Great Barrington looks like.

Yaddamean...

I've been home for about a week now.  So far so good!  I got out to Bradley Mt. the other day.  Bradley's a 20 min drive from where I grew up.  It's not the best but sure isn't the worst.  It's my local spot.  The weather here's been great, sunny and in the 40's.  Nows the time to make a run for it since the weather always craps out.  I started off the day checking out this new boulder my dawg Burg's been telling me about.  It's a dope lil' one settled in the corner of an apple orchard.  There only a few lines on it but what's there is quality.  Below are some pics from the test piece of the boulder, Granny Smith.  It's a nice compression 7C with a cool pinch move at the end. 

After we session-ed the block for an hour, we moved on the the Graffiti Wall which is located at the main area of Bradley.  There a few test pieces here including The Book of Bitter Aspects.  The Book is a unrepeated 8b+ established by Dave Graham years ago.  I've been looking at this line since it was put up.  This time to my surprise it felt doable.  Meaning I could hang on the holds and move off them.  Its only two moves into a V8 high ball finish.  This is going to be my main objective in CT. until summer comes.  After I tried The Book I moved on to Busted Shadow, V11, which is a few feet to the right.  I surprised myself by doing it first try this year.  My Friend Greg captured the send a few moves in.  All in all it was a great first day back at my local boulders.

The Beat....

After a 44 hour drive Nikki and I are back in Ct.  It's good to be home.  I'm a bit nervous about keepin' it trill out here.  Nasty weather is a big obstacle and it seams like this winter has been rough.  Our last days in Hueco weren't exactly the prime.  Highs in the 70's brought our motivation low.  We all managed to salvage a few problems.  Nikki finished off Girls of Texas, Burg took care of business on Power of Silence, opting to test his crack climbing skills on the end.  And I was sycked to get Bleeding Brothers done.  I tried Bleeding Brothers one afternoon last year and didn't have much luck with it then when the temps were good.  So heading up to it on the last day, 3rd day on in 70 deg temps, I wasn't expecting much.

After working out the moves I had my method and began giving it burns from the start.

I wasn't having much luck with the last move,

but I keep on trying without any success.  I was about to walk away when my mates from down under came around.  We were chilling out in the sun and I kept on trying since we were still there.  Over and over again I kept falling on the last move.  Frustrated I asked Webbie what he did for the end.  His beta was a bit different and seamed to work well but I still couldn't finish it off.  Everyone was getting ready to leave when a light bulb went off in my head. A minor change where I toe hooked, might give me what I needed.  So I gave it one last burn, got to the end move with the new toe hook placement, set the heal and hit the move.  The day was salvaged.  We all climbed a bit more that day and after we had a final dinner at El Posito with our mates, we hit the long road back here.  All in all this year in Hueco was fun even though it was the "winter of 60's"

Here is my spray list form Hueco,

Nagual V13/14
Crown of Aragorn V13
El Techo de los tres B V13
Diabloic V13
Bleeding Brothers V12
Chablanke V11/12
Le Cnickel V11
Litz Prolbem V11 
Schwhere Gustoff V11
Thearder of the Absured V10
Shroom V9 (Flash)

All Ready.....

I know it’s been a while since my last post and there have been many up’s and down’s.  Now with 3 climbing days left it’s down to the wire. Nikki’s been climbing very well and hooking up many nice problems.  Her latest send was Chris’s Arete.  Although it’s given V8 in the book, many as well as Nikki feel it’s a bit soft.  No matter what the grade is Nikki took a chick piss on it. Nikki has improved greatly over the last 2 months and it’s been exciting for me to see her progression.

Burg,

 has been on a streak climbing many 7c+’s in “A Day”.  Not bad for being off the couch.  I’ve been battling it out with Esperanza,

 gettin’ close but after having a bad last day on it, I steeped off.  I decided that I needed a rehabilitation day so yesterday Burg and I set off with the intention of climbing some classics and giving our “PJ’s” a break.  We started off at the nice but low ball Stanage on Holiday, then moved on to Theater of the Absurd.  I tried Theater 4 or 5 years back so I figured out some beta then desperately sketched my way to the top.  Burg followed suit shortly after, falling off the last move on his first try. Then, he climbed back to the last move where he paused for an eternity before he finished it off.

We were happy with the day and decided to walk up to the top of the chains.  On the way we made a brief stop at Chablanke.  I’ve never had success with this one so I decided to give it a few burns.  I figured out how to hold the pinch

 and how to move off it. 

 Not bad considering I’ve tried Chablanke at least one every trip I’ve made to Hueco.  This year the stars were aligned correctly and I sent it with the quickness.

Happy with the day Burg and I bagged the top of the chains and busted it to “Ross Dress for Less” where I hooked up a dope flannel hoody, sycked.

Now we have a few days left to salvage.  My spirits are getting better after our “re-hab” day so now it’s back to battling with Esperanza.  

Here's my queen on her first "V8"