We routinely climbed a short High Rocks classic called 'Jimi Hendrix', rated 5.10 (a boulder problem now'days) in the old EB climbing shoes. In short time, a Spanish company, Boreal, comes out with a new shoe with vastly improved cohesive "sticky" rubber - 'Fires' (Fee-Rays, phonetically speaking). The great climber, and Rob's hero, John Bachar, is the poster boy for the shoe. First tried them out at Seneca Rocks (got the first pairs at the 'Gendarme' climbing shop) and was impressed - stemmed/edged the whole way up 'Greenwall' (a moderate 5.6) with ease - no kidding - felt at least two grades easier sans EB's.
Later on, we're back at Hendrix. Good test for the Fires. Steep thin slab. I tried to do a direct route - the original route slightly angled in from the right - "What are ya' doin' - you're not on the route!!" I cruise it, straight up, after about four - five tries. Rob fumbles with it several tries and finally relents - "That's not the way the route goes!!!!" A few years later, I picked up a copy of a guidebook titled 'Rock and Road' (or somethin' like that) for Rob - had a few of the local SWPA spots (somewhat) detailed. I noticed that Hendrix was rated at 5.12. I pointed this out to Rob. Rob off-handedly mentions that Hendricks has been upgraded to 5.12. Someone put up a direct start some time back. Never mentioned who, and I didn't ask (or care).
Fell in love with this new training method. Was a hassle, however, constantly doing my bouldering "circuit" - most of the rocks had maybe two - three problems (un-roped), then its change back into the trail shoes and move on to the next. I need to find a boulder with a multitude of lines where I could spend time doing laps. There was an excellent boulder just thirty seconds walk off the Casparis trail road. Problem was - there were again only two to three lines. The boulder had an excellent southwest facing vertical wall, around eleven feet tall at its highest (I measured it). Less than five holds, and small crimpers at that. Screw it - nobody cares anything about this rock - I got out the hammer and chisel, and in a short time I added close to six thin lines - all crimpers with an excellent landing (no crash pads back then). Over time I added a few more lines. All in all - if you count all the routes - one lap gets you around 110 feet of climbing! I would routinely try for four laps - getting in a minimum of at least 250 feet per visit. Though referred to as the "Workout Boulder", it is officially identified as the "Rat Block". There's another smaller block maybe 75 feet west with two lines - both short moves up an overhanging face to a difficult mantle - a third if you add a traverse across the mantle. This is the "Mouse Block" (all this discussion of muscle cars flicked the light switch for this post - Chevy big block and small block engines were referred to as "Rat" and "Mouse" back in the day - hence my "logic"). I also added a homemade "Bachar Ladder" to the area (is still there), and had a chin-up bar between the trees for a while (it disappeared years ago). All in all - was (and still is) a regular "Jungle Gym". I'd say the moves are within the 5.10 range, however, Tim Anderson said that he added a few "sit-starts" a few years back. The mostly crimper holds can wear the fingertips quickly if out of shape. I always figured that if you can climb 5.10 competently and consistently, you could travel to most any climbing area and have fun.
I heard I caught some flack from a few climbers, indirectly through Goodman, for these antics. Never really cared.
Some Photos:
Fell in love with this new training method. Was a hassle, however, constantly doing my bouldering "circuit" - most of the rocks had maybe two - three problems (un-roped), then its change back into the trail shoes and move on to the next. I need to find a boulder with a multitude of lines where I could spend time doing laps. There was an excellent boulder just thirty seconds walk off the Casparis trail road. Problem was - there were again only two to three lines. The boulder had an excellent southwest facing vertical wall, around eleven feet tall at its highest (I measured it). Less than five holds, and small crimpers at that. Screw it - nobody cares anything about this rock - I got out the hammer and chisel, and in a short time I added close to six thin lines - all crimpers with an excellent landing (no crash pads back then). Over time I added a few more lines. All in all - if you count all the routes - one lap gets you around 110 feet of climbing! I would routinely try for four laps - getting in a minimum of at least 250 feet per visit. Though referred to as the "Workout Boulder", it is officially identified as the "Rat Block". There's another smaller block maybe 75 feet west with two lines - both short moves up an overhanging face to a difficult mantle - a third if you add a traverse across the mantle. This is the "Mouse Block" (all this discussion of muscle cars flicked the light switch for this post - Chevy big block and small block engines were referred to as "Rat" and "Mouse" back in the day - hence my "logic"). I also added a homemade "Bachar Ladder" to the area (is still there), and had a chin-up bar between the trees for a while (it disappeared years ago). All in all - was (and still is) a regular "Jungle Gym". I'd say the moves are within the 5.10 range, however, Tim Anderson said that he added a few "sit-starts" a few years back. The mostly crimper holds can wear the fingertips quickly if out of shape. I always figured that if you can climb 5.10 competently and consistently, you could travel to most any climbing area and have fun.
I heard I caught some flack from a few climbers, indirectly through Goodman, for these antics. Never really cared.
Some Photos:
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| 'Rat Block' - routes are highlighted |
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| 'Rat Block - South Face' - my old ladder is still there |
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| The old 'Bachar Ladder' still hangin' in the trees. I replaced the rope around 2002 - hung on it yesterday and bounced a few times - still appears sturdy. I used some very stretchy rope, on purpose. |
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| Early test of the work by a local hard-ass. Note the Fires - very good shoe. |
A final comment: I figure at best either rock makes for a nice tombstone - just scatter my ashes throughout the brush. HA!
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