Great Success!!
Every conceivable factor contributed to this years HP40 event being an excellent weekend. On Friday Hannah and I loaded up the X-Terra and headed towards Lexington to pick up Matt and Chelsea then trekked south to the sandstone mecca in Steele, Alabama. Psyche was high as I described the intricate subtleties of Horsepens to Matt and Chelsea (neither had been there before). We finally arrived around 11pm Friday night but couldn't help grabbing the pads and rushing into the boulderfield for a late-night session! 2 hours and a little lost skin later we stumbled towards our tents for some much needed sleep before the main event.
The morning dawned bright but cold, with nighttime lows dipping into the high 20s. Competitors moved slowly around the demo booths trying to shake off the frosty air and work out their circuits as they accumulated stickers, t-shirts, coffee, and other SWAG. All of us exploited FiveTen's policy of giving out free t-shirts with their free shoe demos and I excitedly procured one of their new models, the FiveTen Hornet, for the day.
OK before I talk about the comp, let me say these shoes are freaking SWEET! They are a soft downturned shoe with ridiculously sticky rubber, a good heel, and are so comfortable! I can't wait for these things to hit the shelves. (Think FiveTen Project mixed with La Sportive Testerossa)
ANYWAYS... The four of us started off the day together near the Front Slabs on a pretty awesome v2 that deserves a cooler name than "Groove 2". Chelsea, who came really close on it the night before, managed the send on her first attempt and was able to quickly get some points on her Beginner (V0-V2) scorecard. They then graciously followed me to Slag (v5) to give me some inspiration and a careful spot for the dyno. I was able to stick the lip 2nd go and was psyched to start my day off with a quick v5. Chelsea took a video of the send but they're waiting til they purchase a new computer to edit their footage.
Matt then came with me to Permanent Scream (v5) where quite the long queue had developed. I had never tried the problem and am not generally a fan of flailing in front of a bunch of strangers so I sat back absorbing beta for a couple minutes as a pulled on the Hornets. Luckily for me they had excellent toe-cam beta for one of the moves, and I came very close on my first go. After modifying the beta for my body and adding a toehook for the crux lunge I summited the boulder with another v5 in the bag in only 5 or 6 go's.
After Permanent Scream I split with Matt, Chelsea, and Hannah and made my way over to the Slider boulder to try another problem I'd never been on before, Cuts like a Knife (v5). It was PACKED. Nearly 20 people crowded into a tiny corridor left me a bit hesitant to jump in, but I saw Holly and some other Chatty peoples so I sat down and relaxed for a few minutes before hopping into the line for Cuts Like a Knife. After finally getting my turn I pulled onto the jug, pasted a right toe, and started climbing... FLASH! I hardly remember thinking anything while I was climbing, no awareness of all the people, that it was a comp, that I was doing anything other than what I wanted to - just climbing. After getting signatures I joined up with the Chatty group to head over to another v5, Warning Signs.
(Matt trying Cuts Like a Knife after the comp)
After watching 2 people climb Warning Signs I pulled on hoping for another flash, but to no avail. I blew off a Very sharp crimp and was left stomping around cursing the pain in my middle finger for a few minutes before I tried again. 3rd go was money and I topped out with my fourth v5 in only 10 or so total attempts!!
While a few other people in our group tried Warning Signs, I tried a v6 close to there called Old Inspirations. I was able to come decently close on this boulder but decided to leave it for another day when I had more time, energy, and skin to waste. It isn't a particularly beautiful piece of rock but I really like how it climbs!
Next on the agenda was Redneck (v6) back by the lookout boulder. I got a little beta for the problem but my first go was relatively blind. It went well, making the initial iron-cross move with ease then mixing up the flow on the rest of the problem. I was able to piece the moves together quickly and anticipated another quick send. This, however, is the point in my day that Horse Pens 40 bit back. For 2 gruesome hours I fell on the end of Redneck, with many tantrums in between. Finally, after realizing I was ruining my day, I grudgingly trekked back to the front to get eat some trailmix and drink a Gatorade to replenish my body and mind for the remaining 6 spots on my scorecard.
Next was Whiplash (v5), which fell quickly on my 2nd go. Back in business! Then on to Slabalicious (v6)... CRAMP! Holy Mother of hamstring cramping. My body was worn out, and I only had 5 problems.
I knew I only had a little left in the tank so I grabbed Matt and headed to the Centerpede area and quickly tick'd Centerpede (v4), Double Groove (v3), and Horsepower (v3). I gave two attempts on Sideline (v5) but my skin and muscles were rebelling against me and I had to move on.
I then, for reasons only known to me, thought it might be a good idea to take repeated falls from the top of the mega-highball Fun Dip (v5). It is so tall that a climber, walking by me and Matt who were trying the problem with one pad, said "I don't want to climb that, but will you please use my crashpad? I can ask my friends if you can use theirs too, you're scaring me..." I once again failed to manage the send and hobbled away even more exhausted than before. I finished off my scorecard with Bump That (v3) and Grooverider (v3) and slowly made my way up to turn in my scores.
I didn't place. Oh well, my best day at HP40 by far! Hopefully LRC will mean a victory for me!
On the other hand, Chelsea Rupp, in her first ever outdoor bouldering experience, won Beginner Women!!!!! She was grinning for hours as she carried around her Dolomite bouldering bag that contained, among other things, a $150 gift certificate to Five Ten!!
Hannah Gill did awesome as well! Filling out her entire Beginner Women scorecard that even included a highball v2!! Congrats!
Matt, who apparently didn't try hard enough, was insistent that we go back out climbing after the awards party so we lit up the lantern and went to the Lou-ser roof where he was able to do Crisifix (v4) really quickly! Good work man! I tried Lou-ser (v6) some but was pretty thrashed. He then tried Cuts Like a Knife (v5) while I gave a couple tries on Boomslang (v6) and we called it a night. All in all... a fantastic weekend!
("Maybe I am tired...")
