The Dark Horse....

Tomorrow I will be going to the first competition of The Dark Horse series, which will be held at Metro Rock in Boston. My friend Dave Wetmore will be setting so the problems should be outstanding.

On a side note I want to explain why some comments were taken off my last blog post. I was unaware of a few access issues and I was politely asked to remove some of my comments concerning PA.

I would never remove a comment based of something I didn't like or found to be insulting. I love to get comments and encourage people to leave comments. They make the blog exciting for me.

I'm not sure how long my time in CT will be. I'm hoping to get in some outdoor climbing since it is November (the best month for conditions). Luckily the weather for tomorrows comp looks like pure hell (80% rain). Great day to be inside without sacrificing a nice day outside.

HP40...

I just arrived back to the Beat (Hartford CT). I was at the Triple Comp at HP40 this weekend, which was great. I didn't win or even place, (Big Surprise). But I did climb much better that I thought I would. The best climbs that I did were, The God Module V11, Slider Sit V10, Hot-n-Tot V10, and Step Child V8. I did a bunch more climbs but those were my fav's. I think I might have ended up 5th so I can't complain too much. My hats off to the winners who climbed very well.

Oh, by the way I only split one little tip at the HP40 comp compared to 6 split tips at Hound Ears...

Free Range Video...

The Free Range video is up. Visit www.deadpointmag.com

Free Range...

I love having good climbing spots in my backyard. Boulder Canyon has got to be one of the best backyard spots in the U.S.. Since the end of this years park season come for me. I've been giving my local spots more attention. Free Range (the V13 sit start to Cage Free,) located in Boulder Canyon is in my opinion one of the best test pieces around. A hard tricky start climbs into a desperate dyno to the lip. I've had my eye on this one for a while.

So after a snowy day waiting around for the weather to clear up. I headed up and, Did Work!

Free Range !!! Video soon...

Ode...

Check out www.deadpointmag.com for a nice day out at the Dali wall!!!

Ty combs his hair...

Crazy events have brought me back to Ct. for a week. I wish it was a good reason why I'm back but either way I believe things happen for a reason and in the end, it will be ok.

I have managed to climb a bit while I've been back. Today I dragged my lil' cuz Tyler out. Ty has been focusing his time on school work and not climbing much, so I didn't expect him to come and beast one of the hardest problems around.

We warmed up on some classics then went straight to this amazing test piece named Suspect Device. Suspect Device is graded V11 and I bet people reading may think "One of the hardest around?" Well The grade on this one doesn't really matter much. I've only heard of one person climbing it in a day. Most people have spent a few days on it. I spent about 5 years on it before I climbed it. Needless to say this is a savage line and very respectable to climb it, let alone in a day. Ty made very quick work of it after nearly flashing it (flashing way past the crux.) He may look a bit rusty at the end but the strength to get through the beginning is still there. Nice one mate!

Suspect Device V11 from Phillip Schaal on Vimeo.

Hound Ears...

Post savage climbing day.

Hound Ears was lot of fun. A lot of sharp holds and many problems left me brutalized.

I think I may have ended up 4th which is cool since every problem I did was new for me. And all were done with 5 split tips. One tip had 3 splits on it WTF!!!

The hardest one I climbed was called Random Man V11,

Thanks to Dave Wetmore for the stills. And check out www.meaning2memorize.com for Max making the 2nd ascent and me having a nice freak out. Just one of many I had during the day. I know I'm a P. Ham.

All jokes aside the comp was great and I would tell anyone to go. The organizers did a great job and if I'm around next year I'll be there.

A report from the CO high country is that a fresh foot+ has fallen. This may be the end of season but you never know what will happen up there. It could be 80 deg. tomorrow.