V3s and V4s and V5s, Oh My!

Enjoy the mildly creative titles while they last, I don’t think I can keep this up for much longer (I might have to actually resort to SEO-friendly titles, and where is the fun in that!).

I almost didn’t go to Sportrock tonight. I haven’t had an evening to kick back and relax since… Dec. 30th I think. After cleaning Piper’s tank (my pet ball python) and taking care of some web work for a client, all I really wanted to do was sit down and watch The City of Lost Children, a French film that came in from Netflix today. But, my brother was taking his first of three FF1 Sessions and I told him I would meet up and climb with him afterwards, so I saddled up and headed out. It was the best decision I’d made all week, haha.

I decided I was just going to boulder tonight, because I wanted to take a break from top roping and really put some time into the problems I’d been working on. Warmed up on a couple of V1s and the Junior Team Campus Routes (which are a ton of fun, by the way), before hitting the hard stuff. The first V4 I went after was a repeat, the green tape on the 45° wall that I had hit for the first time last week and hadn’t been able to do since (the one that requires two heel hooks). Got it on the first try.

There was a problem marked with yellow tape right around the corner that I started working over the weekend with a few people I met up with. The problem itself is unmarked, but we believe it to be right around the V4+ range (it has a nasty sloper in the middle of the route that is tough to hold on to, followed by three crimps before toping out). Swinging barn door the first time, but managed to stick the sloper and finish the route the second time through. V4 number two for the night. I was on a roll.

In the middle of the bouldering section there is a nice little overhang, and this is where you typically find the most difficult of problems (some crazy nut set a V10 over there for the competition). There is another V4 here that I had attempted a few times in the past but never had much luck (it has some good slopers, which I’m not very good at). On my first attempt, I got as far as the second to last move, but couldn’t reach the hold. I didn’t fall of the wall though, just back down to the sloper, so I reached for it again.

Missed.

Reached again.

Missed.

After the third miss my arms were blasted and I had to come down. Left it for another time. I messed around on a few easy problems with my brother before going back to it. Got to the same place, second to last move, where I kept banging my left knee into the wall (the right foot is heel hooked out to the right). Decided to flag my left left leg down and to the right, and made the move with surprising ease. Topped out and gave a little shout of joy.

In my last post I talked a little about a V5 I had been working, that starts with a nice dyno to a double horn and then moves up and around to the top. The most difficult part of the problem is not the dyno itself but the weight transfer that follows. After you make the two moves after the dyno, your are essentially laying on your back with your feet hooked into the double horn you made the dyno to and your hands about shoulder width apart on large crimps. You have to move your left foot over to the stalactite so that you can control your right foot over (which is one stretched out move). Move the right hand over and make the next pinch, then top out. I had never been able to complete that weight transfer… until tonight. No doubt it was partially due to the small crowd that had collected (everyone loves watching a dyno). I made the weight transfer, stuck the pinch, and then made the last move to top out. I’m sure there was a huge grin on my face after that one. I tried again for kicks, but my fingers were shot.

Moving right along down the wall, there is yet another V4 I have been working. This one too requires a couple of heel hooks to keep your body from swinging off the wall (on another overhang, with slopers, of course). I’m still working on that problem, so won’t get into it much here.

The last big problem I tried was an interesting V4 marked with white tape. It has a bit of a flying start with a small, shallow jug at chest height and a large, round sloper about 7 ft. off the ground. After you jump up to the first sloper, and match, you have to reach out about five feet to your left and hit a similar round sloper. From there, it’s about 5 ft. to the top, with no other hand or foot holds to help you. I have seen people dyno it, but it’s a little clunky and I have never had the power to make the move. So I tried something a little different. After matching on the second sloper, I brought my heel up and hooked the first sloper. With one powerful move, I mantled up just far enough that I could get my fingers up over the top. I couldn’t believe I’d just hit another V4.

That put my tally at four V4s for the evening (three new completions for me) and a V5 (the second one I’ve completed at Sportrock, and a lot harder than the last one). Needless to say, it was the best night I’ve had at Sportrock since I got my membership there two months ago.

And now that my fingers are sore, thrashed, torn up, and complete useless (especially after typing all of this!), I am going to go put on my pajamas, dish up a bowl of ice cream, sit on the couch and find something decent to watch until I doze off. I think Family Guy is on.