Minnehaha

So, I've been up here in the land of the Caribou for the last four days.  My time has been split between driving and climbing.  This past weekend I stayed at this climbing area in Sandstone, MN.  The rock was, well, sandstone...very much similar to that of Chattanooga and the Red River Gorge.  The first day was spent bouldering.  It was hot, but things still got done.  My tour guides were motivated and strong so I climbed a few things then picked up the camera.  The next day I thought I was going to cross the river and go bouldering again to finish up some problems.  However, I ended running into some friends of friends that offered a belay on what I had been told was the states best 5.12.  I couldn't turn that down.

Sandstone, MN from Chaz Warren on Vimeo.

Sigma .12a

Now I'm at Vertical Endeavors rocking another Evolv demo before I head to St. Louis tomorrow.  Then I head home!!!

Suburban Tour

It just occurred to me that I spend more time in suburbia on my Evolv demo tours than I do in the cities.  This past weekend I had a few free days to fill.  I was in Carmel, IN visiting the new Hoosier Heights as well as Nurpu River and Mtn Supply.  The plan was to climb in the gym obviously, until I found out that the PGA Tour BMW Championship was being held just down the street, which was literally like 5 miles away.  FOUR!!!  Psyched.  So, I had no choice but to go to this ginormous spectacle of an event. Everything about it was on an extravagantly huge scale.  The course was beautiful. The Grand Stands were huge and everywhere (probably custom made for the course).  And the people, well, there were ALOT of people there, like 35,000 or something.

Tiger on #2 tee

Tiger's birdie on #13

 Tiger on #16 green

Winner Rory McIlroy

Vijay Singh was leading and blew it the next day

#18 after the crowds left 

#18 

#18 Grand Stands

I would not say that I am a "golfer".  I am a climber who likes to play golf.  I grew up playing with my dad at the local country club and eventually got my first job there.  So, I guess you could say it's in my blood. Anyway, watching the pros play is like watching Sharma, Ramonet, and the other elite climbers climb, excluding Ondra.  Perfect execution looks effortless and easy.  The whole time I was like...."Oh yeah, I can do that.  I'll just do what he did."  Needless to say, it's not that easy.  Do golfers watch golf videos like climbers watch climbing videos?

So, that was awesome.  The next day was spent trying to play half as good as the guys I just watched and climbing at Hoosier Heights.  All the while, living it up in suburbia.

Cheddar

Hyper Tension

If your wondering why I haven't posted a video in a long time, it's because I had some sort of master plan to put together a 30min vid.  Well, that didn't happen.  So, here is what I ended up with....Big thanks to Brandon Campbell for taking my camera and capturing the stellar Shield footage.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Cheddar.

OR Trip

OK!  OR is done and now I am at the regional show in Greenville, SC.  Over the last two weeks I have been home for 2 days.  August is a busy time for the outdoor industry.  Reps especially.  My trip to SLC, UT started off at The New River Gorge, WV where I met up with Kurt Smith for some WV fun.  To my very grateful surprise, two of my good homies Zak Roper and Ryan Scurfield scooped me up and took me climbing.....AT THE CIRQUE!  We three tried Freedom Tree .13d over and over getting higher and higher with each attempt.  Scurvy almost sent!  Huge thanks to those guys.

Going for a ride to the new AAC campground

Zak Roper and his gnarly chainsaw wound

The next day we were off to the mormon state.  What followed was a whirlwind of meetings and partying with all your friends you don't get to see but twice a year.

Our morning stop coffee shop has a ridiculous latin art gallery.  

Bar-X

Evolv Cruzers

Evolv Astroman

Metolius Gatekeeper

Metolius Bravo Quickdraw

Bravo Wiregate

Salewa hosted a fundraiser and raffle party for the AMGA at the booth.  Grand prize winners won a trip up the Grand Tetons and an AMGA course.  StOkEd on this brand!

Salewa N. American Pres. Chris Sword donating to the AMGA

Salewa AMGA fundraiser party

Salewa Director of Sales Jim Lamancusa giving out prizes

Hende call'n it like he sees it 

Hende and one of the grand prize winners

Kurt with the belly dancer

Sterling's AAC/Access Fund rope

Kurt getting schooled on HRT handholds

BRRRRR!!!!

That's a wrap yo!