It's On

Friday was one of those days that looked grim for climbing rocks. From San Pablo Ave, the Berkeley hills looked incredibly foggy though dissipating at a rapid pace from noon and on. Chris Bloch and I have been venturing up to Mortar Rock to try some classic rock climbs (probably some old Nat Smale projects that people think they do the FA of but don't do their research on...chuffers). We had about a hour of solitude before other people started showing up. That hour was the start of a fruitful working day.

Mortar Rock is a place were you can't show up and flash or onsight the hard lines (unless you're ridiculously strong and have an iron will). The rock hurts your fingers tips after a hour of constant trying. The conditions need to be low humidity, high 50s, and slight breeze for your hands to stick.

Conditions weren't perfect, but close enough. Chris and I warmed up better than Wednesday which made us more psyched to climb. I tried Jungle Fever again. I feel as though every day I get a little bit higher and closer to the triangle hold. I can grab the peanut hold, now knowing to shift my weight over my left hip. I bashed my elbow trying to gain the finger lock hold. Twice. In the same spot. And the Mortar Rock rock climbing gods said, "Not today son." Watching Chris get closer on New Wave was rad. These two problems for us have gone from "Never Have Never Will" to "Oh My God, This Will Go".

Impossible Wall (upper left)

One project that will go soon is Impossible Wall. I went from not having any chance to having some chance on sending it. I grabbed the first crimp after that start, locked it in, messed around getting my left foot marched with my left hand, and then it picked off. Oh well. I fought for it that try. And since I had never touched the first hold and I got close to actually DOING the problem, I call that a somewhat success.

In the words of John Cardiel, "It's On!"

Castle Rock SP Part 2

Previously…"Flashing something you saw 10 years ago in some obscure out of print VHS tape was something I never thought I'd be able to do. It felt great to flash a classic. two classic down, two to go."

We packed up and headed for the "gem" of Goat Rock, Planet Caravan. I don't see how it is a gem since

A) It's lower than my high school GPA

and

B) MAJOR dab potential thanks to the protruding rock behind your head at the crux

Once figuring out where to go and what to grab, it was just a matter of putting on our shoes and climbing it. The holds are all there and really positive. It makes for a good onsight when you don't have to worry about shitty holds. I filmed Chris on it and we headed to Way Dubious Contortionist to get that out of the way and done with. I had heard about this problem and had no idea where it was. Chris knew it as the 5.11 Problem. There re five problems on the wall, two of which start from the jug (Way Dubious Contortionist and Technical Contortionist) and two start from the undercling (Way Dubious Contortionist Low and Technical Contortionist Low).

Seeing the lower undercling variation looked more challenging, we started off that. It looked like it was the logical place to start in my mind. Chris did the problem 2nd try while I managed a 3rd try attempt after tweaking my back out second try. Chris then proceeded to do Technical Contortionist as the Castle Rock gods said, "Not today son."

Castle Rock temps are good. It's amazing, because I have never been this psyched on Castle Rock.

Thanks for reading!

Castle Rock SP

Clouds up at Goat Rock

This past week I have gone to Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains three times, taking my total of outside days up to...possibly more than last year. I can't remember. But then again, I don't care about how many times I climbed outside last year because, it's just climbing. In or out, it's fun.

Sunday was the best day I have had climbing in a long ass time. It's on my Top 5 Best Days Outside list for sure. Chris Bloch and I spent about 7 hours out there. Since I had never been to the Klinghoffers, he showed me the way. It's surprisingly easy to get there. And the walk from the lot to the boulders is 15 minutes if you stop to look at the side of the road rocks like we did. The hike there is easy and flat, and the boulders do not disappoint. I had no idea that the problems out there, were the BEST at Castle in terms on landings, rock quality, and the fun factor. 

There's a fun arete problem, Achilles Lauro, that feels like what a REAL rock climb should feel like: fun. The landing is good and holds are comfortable AND it requires you actually use your feet to stand on. I did it four times to warm up and to capture it on film because it's quite easy to film from a good higher angle. It's a fun problem. You need to go and do it (whoever is reading this).

The most sought after problem at the Klinghoffers is a problem called Right Hand Man. It's slopers and slaps and heel hooking goodness. I saw this problem in West Coast Pimp way back in the day. I thought it was taller and more overhung due to the way it was filmed. But it's not tall or overhung. In my opinion, it's the best sloper problem at Castle (but that's just me). I really wanted to flash this problem after seeing how good those slopers were. Chris pulled his camera out and told me give it a go. I sat down at the undercling, pulled up, and stuck the first sloper. Then the next one. Then the good sloper that leads to a sweet-sassy-molassy mantel.

Flashing something you saw 10 years ago in some obscure out of print VHS tape was something I never thought I'd be able to do. It felt great to flash a classic. two classic down, two to go.

CONTINUED IN PART 2!

Going Outside Part 2

Previously in Part 1 "Unfortunately, the wind made it colder than expected and we had to retreat...."


To Hueco Wall. Will wanted to repeat Hueco Wall, saying he saw a much cleaner way of topping out. I didn't believe. Then he showed me. IN THE FACE! The way he topped out was much smoother than last time and it showed me how I was going to end the Hueco Wall Traverse. We thought there would also be sun down there and warm. Thoughtfully we hoped we would escape the wind. It turned out to not be as warm as we thought it would be since the sun was obstructed by the trees. The wind didn't help us warm up any easier. Weather forecast was projected for low sixties, but the wind made it feel mid to lower 50s. Somebody call the whambulence and get me some cheese to along with my whine. 


If you don't know, now you know: I hate the wind. It makes it colder than you already are in the winter and it blows shit (dust, dirt, various debris) around and into your eyes. Wind blows. Sometimes it dries your hands out too much and you're dry firing off the rock and god, that's not fun. As much as I dislike the wind I have to give credit to drying my hands JUST enough to be sticky and not sweat off on Hueco Wall Traverse. I had previously worked the line two weeks before I got surgery. I was psyched on doing it. To someone else, it might end up looking not worth it. A couple of moves a foot above the ground to a easy top out doesn't exactly strike you as a proud line. I had already put in the effort and time on it last time, I had to follow through with it and complete it. In the end, we were all surprised as I sent it first try of the day. First try, and it ain't even Friday. Here's the video of me doing Hueco Wall Traverse V8.

Route Setting Schedule + Going Outside pt. 1

This week happened to be the first week off from route setting at Bridges. You might whine and complain now, but starting in February, we will be setting every Tuesday. Starting the 1st to the 22nd. The schedule is as follows…

1.  South Boulder east side February 1
2.  North Boulder east side February 8
3.  Cave February 15
4.  South Boulder west face February 22

After this it's two weeks off. Don't worry, it allows us to go outside and rest so we're not burnt out. We come back after next set on March 15 for a couple weeks. The gym is pretty new right now. The West Wall was reset on January 11 with 38 problems VB – V9. Destroy yourselves on these things. It's just training for your projects outside.

Tuesday was my first day back climbing after my wisdom teeth removal. It served as a good day back. Will and I started trying Kauk Roof. At first (and still) I wasn't super excited by it. I had looked at it before years ago at Yo! Basecamp when I was delusional about doing things. I tried it a couple times deeming it hard for myself. Coming back to it, I was a little bit taller and stronger (and I'll never be a baller so don't even ask). Will and I worked out all the moves but I wanted to move on. After he convinced me that I had already put in effort and I should do it, I sided with his reasoning. It the end, it ended up being more fun that I originally thought. Will captured video of my send and we moved on to the Beak so Bryan so work on it.

Unfortunately, the wind made it colder than expected and we had to retreat....CONTINUED IN PART 2

Rest days are good

Rest days don't have to be evil. You wont lose your strength or endurance for you project if you rest more than a couple days kids.

 Lately, I have been hearing people whine and moan about how they have to rest. When you're younger, I don't think the concept of resting is a big part of your climbing. You're full of energy and seemingly unable to get injured or sick.

Then you start to grow older. And your body (at least I know now mine does) requires multiple days off sometimes. NOT every time. You can climb a lot on and a little off. Two days on, one day off seems to work most of the time. Every once in a while I'll take a week off if I've been climbing a lot. Or if I get injured, sick or have a surgery.

I've found that if you keep busy on days where you aren't climbing, then they go by a lot quicker. I've made little tick lists of problems that I want to in areas I've been too and would like to go back. Now I know some of you might be saying, "NUMBER CHASER! LOSER! Tick list for what? You're 8a? CHUFFER!"

And I say no to those. Here are my reasons for why I do this (as if I have to list them out, but I will anyways because I want to):

• It keeps me psyched for outside projects
• I'm tied of going to an area I've been before and not remembering what I want to get on
• If I miss something that I don't see in a guide book and do it when I'm actually there, it's a bonus problem (and who doesn't like a little bonus problems?)

The message here kids, is to quit gripping about taking rest days when you've gone 2 weeks on and can't understand why you don't feel stronger. I've done that too. Hindsight, I probably could have been more psyched to climb and train if I had rested. Now I'm starting to understand why rest days/weeks are essential to becoming better.

Thanks for reading!

"The message here is to take care of your knees kids…"  – Chris Bloch

Days for days

Ben Polanco (the Flea)

My phone has McRibs in it's autocorrect cache  

Monday was a rest day. I saw my friend after see got off work before she went to Vegas for the week. 

Tuesday we set on the West Wall at Bridges. 38 problems, VB-V9. Setting is getting good. Can't please all the people all the time, but they like it. I see no need for other setters to get upset about if problems are sandbagged when they didn't set. That's just my opinion. I'm entitled to it, just as you are entitled to yours.

Today was a climbing day. After failing to get my prescriptions filled out Monday (like an idiot) I had to do that before anything. Why did I need them filled out? As of tomorrow for a couple days, I'll be on rest time due to having my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow morning, bright and early. Not the optimal situation but it has to be done. After that, I'm good to go. I know that rest weeks only fuel my psyche and help me get stronger. I found that out in November when I couldn't climb for a week. But tonight, I went climbing at the Oakland gym after hearing the steep section was reset. The problems were fun. Yeah, I said it. I actually got to onsight something graded difficult (but I felt it was much easier). And since I'm not the best onsight boulderer, I'll call that a success. I also climbed on the wood wall with Flea (Ben Polanco), Vitaly, and Manesha. Trying hard individual moves on that thing is surprisingly fun now. I never use to go up there, fearing an ass whooping. 

Flea and Manesha then did conditioning that I joined in on. It brought back memories of training with Greg and Marea Loh, Izzy, Flea, and Charlotte a couple years back. It was fun to work out with them, putting an end to my night.

Everything today felt like a bonus. All I wanted to do was climb. I never expected to have the day I had today.

Thanks for reading.

Two words: ON COMMAND

First try on a cold day. To get here, it's an awfully long walk.

Yesterday Will, Bryan, and I went out to Mortar Rock. Will and I were intending to get on Impossible Wall, but the lack of pads made it impossible for the day. There ended up being a large group of people that showed up to climb there in the good conditions. I wasn't stoked on how numb my feet were. A good 30 minutes of me walking around trying to warm them up didn't help much. We went over to Stoneface off Arlington on Thousand Oaks Blvd. In a car, it's a short drive, but if you not driving, it's an awfully long walk.

Will tried Hoop Dreams before the cold hit him. I rewarmed up with Hoop Dreams and then fired off Stoneface first try for the day. This might be one of my favorite problems. It's low and the holds are comfortable. Here's a video.

"On command? Apparently." – Joe Czerwinski and Chris Bloch

Psyched

As I type this entry, I feel excited. I have never felt this high of a level of psyche for climbing outside in many months. It has seemingly been built up as a result of climbing indoors all of late fall and winter. I feel strong and consistent and ready to try harder projects. Only thing that is hindering my projects at Mortar (Impossible Wall) were not enough pads for the high start. I have since eschewed my original intent to start high and have given thought to the possibility of starting where I don't need a ton of pads.

And how do you garner this psyche? For myself, it was a combination of multiple things. Cutting my hair has seemed to help me be more relaxed, climbing a lot regardless of difficulty, climbing with people who have retaught me not to give a shit about if I don't send (Will Rathavongsa, Bryan Creed, Chris Bloch). . . all of these have played an integral part to fueling my psyche. Trying to find words for how this feels is impossible right now. It's nice that I was able to get outside a lot of days already this new year. Four days but it feels like I've tried a lot, even though I haven't. And knowing that I have a week off only helps me get psyched to go outside even more when it's not bad weather.

I'm excited to set routes for the Bridges community this coming Tuesday on the West Wall. I have many ideas thanks to climbing outside these past couple of days. Ideas that you can only hope they turn out half as good as they are in your head. It's just plastic and my views on climbing on plastic have changed drastically. It's gone from, "Oh this doesn't count," and "It's not important what I do inside," to "This is fun and I've been fooling myself and being such a punk." Plastic climbing IS STILL climbing. Whether you choose to except reality or not, you're still climbing. No it's not the same as climbing on real rock, but that does not mean you don't have to try hard ONLY outside. Try hard on anything you get on. What's the point if you're not trying? Why try at all? Even if it's below you're maximum limit, try to do a climb with repositioning your hands and feet. Place them where they feel good and move. Don't waste energy or time. . . GO. That's a form of training I've been practicing (thanks Scot Jenerik, or would have never learned that).

Basically, listen to your self and your body. Rest when you need to. I have taken a week off and come back feeling way stronger than before. Rest time helps too. You can climb 17 days on, but if you push it to a certain point there's a high possibility of injury that could put you out of the game for MONTHS.

And no one wants that.

Thanks for reading!

Day 1

High tide

After a not serious day bouldering at Mickey's Beach on Wednesday,  I took a rest day. Its nice to go out and red my bike around downtown to get some exercise, even if it's flat with no hills and cars flying past me. I've been cooped up too long it feels. And since next week I get my wisdom teeth pulled, I'm taking advantage of the sun and nice weather.

Rest days like this also lead me to realizations. Like I don't enjoy climbing magazines as much as I used to. Yes, the photos attract my attention and there are some articles I do read every now and then. But I find myself flipping through one out of boredom when I'm at the gym. DeadPoint has some interesting stuff online. Rock&Ice is a classic and has some clue as to what audience they want to capture (meaning they have some idea what to put in the issue).


That's my only realization so far. Other than that I've find a new psyche for outdoors. It has been so much fun with Will and Bryan. Tomorrow we're going for Day 2 at Castle Rock with a Bridges member, Tom from Chicago. He hasn't been and to go to Castle will be good. I'm glad that I get the opportunity to climb with other members and friends. It makes me appreciate my time climbing with friends. Plus seeing people being outside and enjoying and not whining is always a plus for myself. I'm pretty sure Will and Bryan appreciate it as well.


The last two times I've been outside with Will and Bryan it has been some of the funnest mellow days I've had. I don't feel like I have to try the hardest things, I don't feel any need to complete anything super hard (though that is always a BIG plus on any day) . They make me laugh with their antics. Looking back a couple of months ago, I wouldn't have been down with that. Live and learn your lessons.

About me?

My name is Wes Miraglio.

To the average person, I'm just another guy. Walking down the street, with my pack, minding my own business.

But to those that know me, it's more than that.

I'm a route setter. A climber. An ex-bolt clipper. A pad carrier.

A successful return to society.

This is the new style.

This, is only the beginning.