Part 5: Bishop in April

April, 15, 2011
Second Rest day this trip. I have this thing about pain. And I don't wanna be in that much pain from bouldering. 

mmmmm....beer

Anyways, after walking the town of Bishop from West Line to Vons (not that far), I went up to the Buttermilks with Kevin, Emilia, and Aaron to get the hell out of town for a couple hours. It's nice to be able to go up and enjoy such an amazing place and not have to climb there. Being with friends is good enough.

mmmmm...tequila

After the sun dropped, we agreed on Las Palmas for dinner. Good mexican food and margarita's for all! This trip has been full of firsts for me. And that was probably the first entertaining dinner that I have had. Tasty too, but more entertaining than anything.





April 16, 2011
What a great end to a trip.


I spent the afternoon chasing shade at the Sads. The Ice Caves were cool and being shown better beta for Beefcake got me repsyched on trying the problem. I'm able to do all but the third move, which involves keeping tension to match and then bringing your left foot out of a toe-hook. And since I wasn't psyched on it before, I'll call that progress. It also helps when you have someone to work it with especially if they're a local and are equally as psyched.

Before I tried Beefcake, I ventured over to Pow Pow. It's a really cool looking problem and a bit shorter than I expected. A gang of Germans were working it and I lent them my pad as they invited me to try it with them. After falling trying to hold the crux swing on a goof flat edge, I worked out the moves in about 15 minutes. Being stubborn and falling off multiple times till I got it from the third move in to the top. Sometimes stubbornness is key to working problems. I took a ten minute break up at the Ice Cave and jogged back to Pow Pow. I never felt more ready to do a problem then that moment. No hesitation, nothing. Just execution. As I got to the top I exclaimed, "America!" I felt it was ignorant but the Germans laughed at me. Sometimes, you gotta do something stupid to break the tension of seriousness of climbing. Rock climbing is serious business, no laughing! (YEAH RIGHT!)

Tommy on Evilution

After the Sads, I caught a ride to the Buttermilks to meet up with Michele since we left Bishop shortly after. I made a quick stop at Evilution to watch Kevin give a go on an insane looking project. Tommy Caldwell was up there too spotting Kevin and trying Evilution. The temps were perfect at the Milks and I was tempted to run up to Fly Boy once more to give it ago, but my skin disagreed with that idea. Most of the stuff in the Buttermilks you need fresh skin for as it eats away at your tips quickly. The holds are more comfortable there though but in terms of sharpness, I haven't found much that compare. Mortar is much more dull compared to this and sometimes that stuff is sharp as hell. 

Trying to pull on small holds

After I saw Michele drive down the road, I said goodbye and left the Milks for Mammoth for the night for Shannon's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAMP!). 




Over all, the trip was a big success. Doing almost all new stuff for me (repeating very little, mostly for warm ups). It was also a chance to wander around the town of Bishop which I found nice. Being able to spend time around town was good for me. Eating lunch from Schat's in the park, walking from West Line to Vons and back, walking the back roads to places...I don't understand WHY I like this place so much. There's not a whole lot to do unless you live there. It's small and the locals are friendly. 


Besides the magnitude of rock climbing, you can walk and bike everywhere in town. That's what I like most.