Luminance "Send Train" Video

Thanks to Spenser Tang-Smith and Vikki Glinskii at rvproj.com for uploading this sweet video of a send train in action on Luminance, featuring Mark Heal, Alex Johnson, Josh Horsley, Steve Bradshaw, and Eliot Faber. Yep, five people in a row all cruising this glorious-looking highball! Don't have 20+ pads? Well call your friends, gather a posse, and have at it!

Alex Johnson, Luminance ground-up flash!

Alex Johnson is super-happy with her one-day visit to Bishop yesterday, after making a ground-up flash of Luminance, a shocking highball on the Luminance Block near the Beehive sector of the Buttermilks. This problem has rightly gained a reputation as one of the finest on the Eastside--perfect rock with perfect slashes for holds. Amazingly, despite the heinous-looking fall zone it has also attracted numerous suitors all gunning for the 45-degree line ground-up.

Alex's prior three-week stint in Yosemite had been hindered by wet conditions, so she dreamed of a special finale to her California trip. Using facebook she posted her intent to check out this amazing line as she drove east for family time in the mid-West. A large posse of climbers and pad bearers met up on a perfect day at the Buttermilks. Though many were talking about trying the problem and studying the features, at the base of this intimidating prospect, nobody seemed to want to be first to pull on their shoes--so Alex has told me! Then, Mark Heal stepped up and moved through the powerful climb with such ease that everybody's attitude changed.

"Mark made it look SO easy," said Alex. "He showed me the beta, told me what footholds he used, and which ones Max [Zolotukhin] had used."

Alex was second to the plate and said she pulled onto the start and into a zone where nothing mattered but gaining the top. With great beta, a positive attitude, and no hesitation she cruised through it first try.

Three other climbers also completed the line during the same session. Also of note, as I heard this but haven't mentioned it, was Isaac Caldiero's ground-up flash of the same line about four weeks ago.

Alex is planning to be back in a couple of months.

Back in Bishop!

I'm back! I'm back in Bishop for some winter bouldering under the sunny skies, amid the stunning scenery of the Sierra's east side!

Snowy mountains ...? Check! Vast vistas ...? Check! Big rocks ...? Double check! I've spent most of the last year out in the eastern US and yes, this blog has lacked updates for all of you beta-hungry boulderers out there! Has anything much happened? Have I missed something? Well, yeah, a LOT!

Thanks to everyone who has written me (email at right) with info and updates. I hope to see you all out there at the boulders in the coming weeks. I know there are a few new additions I have to get out to climb, and I will try. I am in okay health and have been climbing quite a bit lately so hopefully this will continue and I'll enjoy another fantastic season out here, long overdue as a result of various injuries and distractions. I've gotta take care of some household chores, but I can't wait to grab some of those familiar holds again.

I hear you about the broken jugs on some of the heavily trafficked classics like Suspended in Silence (Pollen Grains/Lidija Boulders) and also on Arch Drude (Druid Stones) among other less major breakages such as the right-facing ear on The Mandala. But don't worry, there ARE still holds left. All this means is your favorite bouldering area just got cleaner, safer, and better! Be careful though and never take anything for granted. Ha ha ha  ...!

Bishop is a-buzz as usual: Dan Beall, after establishing the area's hardest problem since Lucid Dreaming nearly a year ago (Misdirection --I'll get to that in a future post), has been climbing technical double-digit lines in his hiking shoes between sessions on new projects, while climbers continue going ground up en masse on previously unimaginable objectives! Young Alex Johnson (yeah, the girl not the guy version) has just (yesterday) joined the list of lunatics by making a ground-up flash of Luminance. Highballing has been the name of the game at the Buttermilks, as ever: New lines, climbers new to me, and much to talk about, so I'll sign off and return shortly with some updates and more about the last year's, as well as the last week's developments! Talk soon.

Alex Johnson, Golden Age (2nd?) and More

Alex Johnson is back in Bishop for a while and loving the bouldering here as much as ever. On this trip she has taken things to a new height by getting off the deck on some of the area's taller problems. It impresses to hear of her ascents of Mesothelioma (v7), Golden Shower (v10) and The Ninth (v6), all at The Pollen Grains (a.k.a. Lydija Boulders) in a day.

But, I was most pleased to hear she had gone out and repeated Golden Age (v8?) out at Dale's Camp. "I thought there was just Xavier's Roof. I didn't realize there were so many great lines there," she said of the area. Perhaps inspired by the three-star rating I gave the problem Golden Age she actually took the trouble to try to figure out where it went. I did this line a couple of years ago and was truly amazed to be making FAs of such quality in the area. Obviously I gave the line three stars, as that's just a rule for first ascents by guidebook writers.

The route to the right, In The Bank (v5) is another one that is well worth the trip for highball aficionados! See this earlier blog post which should give a pretty clear idea of where these lines go. Both of them begin on some sharp and granular rock, but quickly progress into some really beautiful glassy patina.

 Alex on the crux sequence at the start of Golden Age. Photo: Sasha Turrentine.

When I did the problem, it really did seem like we had been experiencing the golden age of Bishop Bouldering, with a slew of amazing highballs getting done all across the Buttermilks. However, I have not heard of anyone else repeating this striking line and Alex may well have made the second ascent! She seemed to think it was pretty hard and certainly well worth doing. Just make sure to climb directly up the blunt arete at the start with some harsh pulls on some sharpish rock, and don't come into it from the crusty holds on the right.

Makers, v8, Pollen Grains

I made a trip over to the Pollen Grains/Lydija Boulders on Saturday. The road down to the Get Carter boulder was still incredibly deep with snow, which is a bit surprising considering how little snow is left on the slopes of the main area. We all began to get a bad feeling as driving downhill in the 4x4 became tough going! Anyway, it was good to finally get out to the area as I’d been waiting for the chance to check out a couple of lines there.

Daniel Ferreira had written to me a while back about a problem he had done on the Honey Boulder (between the Lydija Boulder and the Jedi Boulder). It takes a direct line straight up from the start of Cover Me With Flowers, passing some cool rounded features to gain a distant slopey crimp (for the right hand), followed by an awkward pull around a bulge. Daniel had named the problem Makers after a night of whiskey drinking. I felt it was in the v8 range, and well worth doing--a little grainy, but that’s normal for FA’s. It’s fairly high and exciting, but the landing is flat. Thanks Daniel for bringing this to my attention.

Sorry, pretty lame not to have a shot of someone on this!
It is slightly overhanging to a bulge.

Sadly, the hours rushed by, and I didn’t get up the hill to look at the other line I was eager to try--Kevin Daniels’ Anaphylaxis, a direct start to the Beekeeper topout, which climbs directly to the finish of The Beekeeper from off the rounded rock at the base of that wall. Kevin said about v5 for this highball. I will report more about that one when I get a chance.

For more goings on, check out Alex Johnson's blog.

Alex Johnson, The Mandala

Alex Johnson climbed The Mandala (v12) this afternoon. She did the problem from the high-start that is standard now (off pads with right hand in the undercling). This follows pretty much the same sequence used by Chris Sharma on the FA in 2000, beginning with a huge burly span from the undercling and some big pulls on small but positive crimps. Unlike Sharma, she only cut her feet near the top.

Alex Johnson, The Mandala

Alex Johnson, Haroun & the Sea of Stories, v11/12

The snow is all over the boulders and a foot deep or more across the hillside, and the road in is like a sleigh run, but some determined folks have still been getting after their Buttermilk projects! Alex Johnson, battled through the ice and slush this past week or so, to enjoy nice cool conditions on Haroun & the Sea of Stories (v11/12), which she succeeded on after a few days work. Arriving Jan 3rd, and planning to stick around for January and February, Alex also managed Stained Glass (v10) and is looking at some of the harder and maybe higher lines to see what might be next. It promises to be a pretty amazing season here at the 'Milks for Alex.

Alex Johnson writes more about this on her blog.

Alex Johnson, A Maze of Death

In an astonishing feat this afternoon, Alex Johnson climbed A Maze of Death v12 in five tries (really five tries, that is, beginning from the start each time!). She had watched Jeff Sillcox on the problem a couple of days ago and went over his beta before trying it. Jeff had perfected new beta over a few days. "It was crazy!" said Alex, "It's kind of straight-down crimping. It was the perfect problem for me. Totally my style."

Alex Johnson, The Mystery (v12)

Alex climbing The Mystery (Photo: Jeff Sillcox)

Alex Johnson has had an amazing day at the Buttermilks today, which included her ascent of The Mystery (v12), a sustained problem involving big moves and a lot of body tension... "Super core-intensive," says Alex.

"It's definitely the hardest thing I've ever climbed," says Alex, who has rarely had to go back a second day on a problem before. She was close the first day she tried The Mystery, but ended up taking a couple of returns to it on other days before getting it done.

The same morning, she also flashed The Fall Guy (v9). Alex has spent about two weeks in the Bishop area, acquainting herself with the rock, and climbing some classics at the 'Milks like Evilution to the Lip (v10), The Checkerboard (v8), Soul Slinger (v9), and flashing Moonraker (v9), and High Plains Drifter (v7).

"I love it!" says Alex, of Bishop. "I like that it's crimpy and that there's no hike... I also really like the highball aspect. The weather was awesome. It was gorgeous! I'm definitely coming back. "

[Thanks to Jeff Sillcox for the photo!]