I hadn't been to Lizard's Mouth since the Gap Fire, which was a long time ago. In fact, it was TWO fires ago, which makes me feel a little bit like an old timer. I'm sure my arthritic cronies and I will wax nostalgic about "dem fires" in years to come. Anyways, instead of making the drive to Vertical Heaven to get a workout, I took advantage of the good weather and drove the all-too-familiar drive to Lizard's Mouth. Immediately, I was reminded of how many people go there on the weekends; I had no trouble finding climbing partners, and I wiled away the afternoon with some extremely quirky UCSB kids. Again, I felt my age, especially when I recommended a bar and they all said "uuhh, we're not 21 yet". Nevertheless, they were hilarious, and eager to climb.
Having not been to a legitimate bouldering locale in AGES, it was fun to feel strong and confident. I easily dispatched Gangsta Hippy (V6?) on my second go, and very nearly did the sit start to Gangsta Hippy (V7?). I also second-goed the sit start to Top-of-the-world-Ma, an exceedingly awkward V6 or 7. To the left of the aforementioned problem, I worked a rad sloper line that felt desperate—but very doable. Probably V7 or something. I don't know, nor do I really care. The climbing was, as I remember it to be in years hence, spectacular.
I'm anxious to go back, actually. If anyone is interested, I'll be thrutching on Thursday from the hours of 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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4 comments:
Are you talking about the red line : http://americanrivierabouldering.blogspot.com/2007/07/whole-new-view-of-top-of-world-ma.html?
It is freaking hard.
I think Bernd put it up and called it V8. I could be wrong.
I buy V8. It has some pretty awkward slaps. I watched a UCSB kid COMPLETELY rip off the starting jug. Now it begins on a decent crimp. Aaaah, Santa Barbara rock.
I originally wanted to start deep in the hole but couldn't make the move to the jug (RIP). Then I started semi-sit with left on jug and right in the hole (with a toe hook). It is kinda contrived, but it was a fun hand match on the jug. Bernd pulled out some Austrian cranking with a true sit-start, left hand on arete and right in the hole.
I thought was I close to the red line (Who knows with those slaps?), but a critical foot crumbled. Shortly after, my motivation for that line crumbled.
Check out this : http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=1106225811246
I expect a full report.
Hmm, interesting. It didn't occur to me to start DEEP in the hole, so I just started with my hands on the crimp (in place of the old jug). My butt was definitely on the "ground" as it were, so I'm calling a sit-start, just not a "Bernd" start. I'll do that next time.
IN ANY CASE, I sent the red line first try of the day. I had the sequence dialed from last trip. The problem=brilliant. Awesome holds (sans the starting "jug") with multiple powerful slaps.
The real problem, however, which will be truly masochistic, is going straight up from the starting jug. That's right: up and over the lip. Onto nothing. I tried it today, and it's definitely possible. I just need to, well, not be weak.
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