the wind gust are crazy today in el paso. up to 40 or 50 mph, and pretty much non-stop. we were on tour in the back country and it was pretty cold with the wind, even though the sun started showing its face this afternoon. yes, and it snowed this morning. nothing stuck but it was half of white-out conditions. pretty cool. did the highball 4 fight or flight in it; the last move being the crux (basically a dyno off a left-facing, good crimp rail to a flat sloper... not to mention a heady top-out) at about 20 feet off the deck, so that was for sure the tick of the day.
i finally feel like i'm coming out of my slump. 2 days ago did a few 6 repeats and a bunch of stuff under that grade. the day was mostly a hangout day though. we had a great day. climbed with some really strong guys. i mean, it's strong when you flash a 10 or two in a day right?!
anyway, yesterday was the kicker for me. wasn't really sure how it was gonna go; felt pretty sore and tight in the morning, but just warmed up slow on a bunch of easy highballs. then broke off from some folks from boone, nc (bill & andy & heath) and tried fern roof (9/10). it actually went really well: 1st go for the day i made the big triple bump move easily (i don't do it the kneebar way [which is like an 8 or 9 now] mostly becos it's more fun the way it used to be done and it suits me better -even though it's supposed to be "harder"), but was a little pumped and fell.. 2nd go i did the same and then caught the big dyno move out over the lip to the jug... that's where i kicked the pad with both feet. i finished it out no problem; i just have to go back and do it without the dab. i feel really good about it though.
after that saw andy almost do power of silence (10), and bill got chablanke (11) down to one move. then we went over and worked on loaded with power (10) with them and mike wohner and this guy alex and a few others. i did all the easy moves, but couldn't trust the heel hook to make a move out across my body to a slopey pinch. i was pleased though. i could get to that move consistently, so i'll work the last half later.
after all that, mike and i wanted to finish up on the front side with some stuff that he hadn't seen. so i showed him a dyno i did the other day, the smooth move (8), and another awesome dyno, slick watts (5). i can now say i've done an 8 in my approach shoes (even the crocs); granted, you have huge feet with 2 good underclings up a blank, slick-rocked face to a flat ledge about 7 feet away. i would have to say it's easier than the cinderella dyno. regardless, it was super fun. the 5 has an okay left foot, bad slopey crimps on a more overhung bulgy arete with a high, core-intesive right foot where you create momentum to go around a bulge with your left hand to a jug about 4 feet up. you feel like kareem abdul-jabar sky-hooking while deciding at the last minute to just slam dunk it! it's super fun as well.
oh, and i saw three chubby havalinas running across a field about 20 yards away this morning. that was cool. moving a lot faster than they first appear to be able to.
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