Monday, December 31, 2012

Mediocre Pancakes

It occurred to me the other night while I was eating a nice chili dinner that I had been doing it all wrong.  What was I thinking?  I mean, c'mon Chaz!  Can you be a little more creative than mediocre pancakes?  Throw some Bananas or Blueberries up in there.  You could even put some chocolate chips in there.  Sheesh....

Anyway, I'm sitting on the sideline this week with a shoulder injury.  The coach let me wear a headset and make all sorts of crazy hand and arm movements to the players on the field that aren't even looking at me.  Psyched!  Thanks coach!

I don't recall an incident involving shoulder use or abuse that would have done this.  Maybe it's just inflamed from overuse?  Unfortunately it feels like a rotator cuff.  I can't comfortably lift my hands over my waist with my arms straight.  Snow angels or the YMCA dance are impossible right now.

Since I couldn't go climbing yesterday I washed and waxed Helga and took her out for a photo shoot.







Hope you liked this post.  It's quite different from the normal content.  

Cheddar

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Alabama Crag

This post is all about the insane cliffs not too far from Chattanooga.  Crowning the valley and forming the coves is an unrivaled amount of hard routes on the tallest walls in the area.  The approach is 2 miles of deep ruts and ponds that only the burliest vehicles can pass followed by a 30 minute hike.  Gnar.   After that awaits a vertical encounter that you must prepare a way in and out of the gorge for yourself.  This area is NOT for the casual cragger.  With that being said, I won't mention where this cliff is exactly as it is private property.  Sorry....

Over the last two weeks we had some really good climbing days out here.  The days start out all sunny and warm.  Even when the morning temps are in the 30s the rock is warm and the atmosphere is comfortable.  As soon as the sun dips or you walk around the other side of the cliff the temp drops dramatically.  I managed to send an 8a route in a few tries (pic below) that Blake Cash had told me all about and how it's all vert and techy and barn door fighting on terrible feet.  DANG!  That sounds pretty rad right?  In the same time Blake had been trying hard on an 8b that he is VERY close on.  Any day now Blake, you will send.   I had the privilege to go up this route between his burns with all the beta readily available and I must say that it is one of the best.





Stay tuned for more.

Cheddar

Monday, December 10, 2012

Tis the season

You gotta love this time of year.  As the temperature drops (for brief periods of time) and the climbing season is in full swing, everyone has their game face on and seems to be getting down to business.   If that sort of psyche doesn't do it for you, there are christmas tree lots on every corner and signs of sales and reminders of holiday cheer to help lift your spirits.

This past week Urban Rocks and the Southeastern Climbers Coalition hosted a trail day at Chattanooga's sport crag mecca, Deep Creek.  There was a really good turn out which made the work load a lot lighter for everyone.  We ended up taking care of a lot more than planned and went climbing with plenty of day light to spare.








That trail day marked the end of a week of Evolv and Salewa demos.  The next couple of days were spent taking care of things around the house, mtn. biking, and scouting new boulders on the chattanooga hillsides.  Nate and I found a giant boulder with problems on every side.  In the pic below you can see a few of them.  We cleaned and sent all on this side, including one that sit starts in the middle of the right face and climbs left along the bulge and up the arete.  BOOM!  We named it Main Attraction 7B+.  


And since I mentioned the holidays and all the cheery things that come with it, I'll share some pics of Chandler and I's first tree.  We had a lot of fun decorating and taking pics.  My house smells soooo good now!





And finally, catching up to current events.  I went sport climbing on one of our recent, not so prime, 70 degree December days.  The venue was The Message Cave at Twall.  It was soooo hot!  However, I managed one of my better climbing days ever.  Not that it's a huge deal, but I thought it was pretty successful to do two .13a routes that I'd never tried before in the same day.  I guess the style and how easily approachable these two routes are made it happen.  Both are pretty casual up to and between their two distinct cruxes that earn them the grade.  Needless to say, I was satisfied and psyched!  


The weather next week is looking good!

See yall at the crag.

Cheddar.