Siri and I hit Smith Rock this weekend for our second trip to this climbing mecca. Unlike the first time a fortnight ago we were blessed with beautiful weather. On the saturday it was too hot to climb in the sun and after warming up on sun baked 5.7 & 5.8 slab routes at Christian brothers we moved into the shade of the Phoenix buttress and attempted out first 5.10 leads.

I kicked things off with a slightly shaky but ultimately successful lead of the excellent Phoenix.  Great climbing on nice positive features with good rests before all the tricky bits. Siri then cleaned it on top rope before leading the bolder Drill Em, Fill Em to the right of phoenix. A good lead with a runout top slab and less chalked, far less obvious moves than Phoenix. I cleaned the route and we headed off on a beautiful evening to watch the Ducks come back to win against Stanford down at the local bar. After an enormous rack of ribs and enough beer to get though the game we cruised back to the campsite to try and get some sleep.

The next morning brought overcast skies and the pitter patter of rain on the outside of the tent. Disappointed but glad for an extra half hour of sleep we waited it out from the comfort of warm sleeping bags. Breakfast at the One Street Down Cafe and then straight to Northern Point to try our hand at some harder routes on Top Rope. We were quickly spat of both Lady in the Meadow, 5.11a and something that started on a slab and got hard fast at 5.11a. With sore arms we left the crag and headed back to Portland for some much needed rest.

 

 

 

Its been a mixed couple of weeks of training. I have made some good progress on steeper ground. Completing a couple of V2 and V3's out of the cave. Part of the gain has come from technique, but I am also feeling a little stronger on the holds. Still feeling elbow pain in the right arm though it is affecting my climbing less than it was. The majority of V4's are still eluding me and I often find V3's difficult. On the positive side I am starting to feel the possibility of a v5.

Short late evening training session tonight. Felt stronger after a days rest and worked all the moves in a very steep V3 out of the cave. Wasn't able to link it in a couple of tries though the moves felt fairly good. Completed an old V3 on the floating boulder that I had failed on a number of times. Was a lot more in control than in previous attempts. Struggled on a number of sit starts and more technical problems.

• Weight: ~ 203
• Hardest Problem Completed: V3
• Mood: 2
• Intensity: 3
• Session Length: 1hr

felt like there were 800 tweens at the gym - not an enjoyable night to climb. Did an old V4. No arm strength on overhangs today.

This was my third day in a row bouldering and it was very hard. I felt tired from the get go. Even the warm up problems seemed to take their toll and I failed to complete 3's and 4's that I had dome in the previous session. Fingertips were sore and by the end of the session the lower part of my bicep was very sore. Managed about 90 mins of bouldering mostly working new 3's that had been set in the gym. Found the low starts extremely hard. Need to work on body position. Found myself frustrated failing on problems I though I should be able to do.

Weight: 202.4 lbs

Mood: 3

Hardest Problem Completed: V2

I am going to be using this blog to keep track of my progress towards the goal of sending V10 boulder problems. I will be tracking my training. weight and anything else related to my climbing progress. I didn't want starshun.com to become a boring list of posts regarding my weight and frustration at slip;ping off holds, so through the miracles of posterous an instant new blog. V10 or BUST!