Thursday, April 28, 2011

NH - April 2011

With it being four months since our last climbing trip we were in serious withdrawl and needed to leave NS for a bit. After I finished my last exam, we packed up and headed out.

Krissy and I left Halifax on Wednesday, April 20. We left much later than anticipated and therefore just drove to Saint John, NB before heading out early the next morning.

We arrived in Pawtuckaway, NH at about 3:30pm to perfect conditions. We jumped out of the car and immediately began climbing - not the easiest thing to do after lots of hours in the car.

Some of our highlights from our short session in Pawtuckaway include:
Chunk O' Blitz V11/12
Chuckies Torture V9
Dopeman V8
The Whip V2
The Hobbit Hole V3

I worked on Halcyon (V11) first as it was my main goal for Pawtuckaway. After figuring out beta and giving it a couple of good goes, I quickly realized that months of studying and exam writing was not great preparation for the shouldery moves in this problem - Halcyon won this time...

Friday was another great day of weather. This time we headed to Rumney to do some sport climbing. The area was quite busy, however, we still managed a good bit of climbing. We ran into some familiar faces - some from Pawtuckaway the day before, and others from out time spent in Rumney last summer. It was great to see some of these people again. We also met up with Roger and Samantha (who has a wrecked shoulder) from Halifax. We were able to get in a few routes together. Krissy and Roger both nearly sent Social Distortion (5.12a/b), with Roger completing the crux only to fall after...sucky! I started working on Parallel Universe (5.14a). I was able to do all the sequences quite quick, however, I will need to build up some power endurance to link the whole thing...maybe next week.

Saturday the snow came! We woke up to snow falling in the Rumney area. This actually worked out great as we needed a rest day any way. So we went to the hot tubs and coffee shops for the day. Just by chance we also met up with a couple from Fredericton and were able to visit with them as well. We all went out to try a new restrant called the Shalimar - all Indian food - it was awesome!

Sunday was another great weather day! We decided to head to Farley, MA. This turned out to be a big mistake. We arrived to find the boulders wet and actually closed to climbing due to nesting peregrine falcons. So, we packed up and turned around to head back to Rumney where we knew we would find some dry, quality stuff to climb. We headed to the Pound to do a bouldering session. Thanks to who ever put the Easter eggs on our car! I ate them and then climbed my project.


Camp


The Pound at Rumney


The Pound at Rumney


Project Done


Loomit (V10)


Coyote in our site???


No explanation necessary


The horrible weather we experienced...


Chunk O' Bltitz (v11/12)


The Hobbit Hole (V3)


Our wintery looking camp site

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Recent Turtle Project Attempt

Quick video from an attempt on wednesday evening...

Turtle Project from Ben Blakney on Vimeo.


Sunday, March 20, 2011

Super Bad (FA) and Fear of Flying


Ben making the first ascent of Super Bad (v11/12ish)


Super Bad - the angle makes the boulder look much smaller than it actually is...


Super Bad


Super Bad


Super Bad


Looking over the top of Fear of Flying


Third ascent (I think, after Nick Sagar and Ghislain Losier) of Fear of Flying (v9). Warning - low quality fo0tage (combination of low light and compression).


more photos and video to come...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Climberism Magazine Interview



Check out Climberism magazine for a short interview I did with Dave. There are a few cool shots in it from Krissy.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tour de Bloc Halifax

The Rock Court in Halifax hosted a Tour de Bloc local event this past weekend. The turn-out was pretty good for being way out here on the Atlantic coast...This was my first time setting for a Tour de Bloc - I was excited and nervous to see how things would go. As it turned out, I think things went well overall.


Jess on Women's Final #1


Holly on Women's Final #1


Sam checking out Final #2


Elise on Final #3 (she also climbed Men's
Final #4 after the comp - easily!)


Michelle on Women's Final #4


Scott on Men's Final #1


Andrew on Men's Final #2
(sorry about the foothold Andrew)


Andrew about to try the last problem again after breaking a hold.


Matt on Men's Final #3


Scott and Heather with the CNS award.



The Fredericton Crew.

Monday, January 17, 2011

New Photos


New kicks


Gun Control


Ben on Gun Control


Gun Control...very small holds




Project...


Project...

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Gun Control


A person goal of mine was has been to repeat Gun Control (V13ish) here in Halifax. The line is an old Nick Sagar test piece from sometime around 2003. It is a short, steep, blunt prow with virtually no holds. I remember trying the line years ago before Nick made the first ascent thinking that it was impossibly hard. The holds are seriously small. I tried the line this year for three short sessions as I would only get a couple of goes before my skin would be destroyed from the tiny crimps. Yesterday I got out of classes early and on my walk home decided the conditions were too perfect to pass up (sorry Krissy). I had had about 4 or 5 days off since HP 40 filled with only time driving and eating junk food. I had zero expectations to actually send it because of this. I think that no expectations really allows you to try without worry of an outcome - there is no disappointment or anxiety related to sending or not sending. I warmed up quick and went straight to "work". I made a couple of failed attempts that were no where near close to sending. No send today I thought...I took a rest, put my shoes back on, and climbed it seemingly effortlessly - weird. Second Ascent.