a woody for you; a woody for me

introducing the first annual bEAST coast, Got Wood Wednesday?

this week I shared my wood with...

--Josh Hepler, Didier Berthod and PBR, of course!

OLD fNUCK

bOONE

and the bEAT goes on!

Parking lot closed! No problem. Coming from the 'Burgs we would be confused if the approach were easy...luckily this is where the car was when we got back!

What a beautiful day! Boulders- open for business

it's ok Ben, Conner might be able to come next time;)

Will spotting the bro

Jen decides to skip the warm ups and go straight to V6. After a few attempts she decides to "FLASH" the V2 highball with the same start!!

lotsa spotters and everyone nervous, Jen is shuffling around in the leaves!

SHEW! Good work JEN!!

...ending the day, a few attempts at room with a view



thanks CURTIS!! (the man behind the camera)

pease!!

cliff

more goodness

Oh so good...Joe we love you.





bEAST Coast finest 1: Jose from adam walker on Vimeo.

Mountain Madness

Are your toes poking out the ends of you climbing shoes?

Your pad is now a gigantic napkin...good only for the peanut gallery to sit on?

or has your harnesses have become "bed room" use only, then this your chance!

Blue Ridge Mountain Sports at First and Main, Blacksburg, VA

Videology

Finally! After many a day of frustration and anger at both my computer and apple software, I managed to figure out the simplicity of iMovie. Hurray for not being comp-savvy in the digital age. Eight-year-olds everywhere rejoice in their collective brilliance with all things transient. Enough bullshit. Here's that promised video. Enjoy. Laugh at/with. Mock. Whatever. Just spread the word.

DAB

'nuf said. From the guys over at DABtronics.

weekend warriors return...bOZOO

The weather this past weekend...

If you don't know how that sentence ends then you are a) under the weather b) suckered into the western "fools" gold c) lame couch 'tater 3) all the above

Lots of familiar 'burger faces joined the bEAST coast posse this past weekend to feel the sweet sandstone at the Zoo. Of course, a photographic picture blitz is in order...

Oh yes...this little jewel has invited many and only allowed a few to mount her. Typical first sighting brings comments like- the disrespecful "let's climb that slab real quick" or the sarcastic "is it only one move?"

Let the games begin...

Jay has returned to even the score from last weekend- I'm thinking we agreed the scoreboard is roughly-- Jay 0 Slab 30,000,000

...and a slap from Jim

...Conner gets a his share of slaps

...bEN slaps ---numerous times in one spot?

...JOE knows the way...but this is no easy lap

...Ali finds the bad sloper

...Jay finds the good spot---sloper scores again!


...Joe decides to send the easier slab and points at the "other" slab to kiss his rosey little ass!

Careful Joe!!!! the rock gods will punish you and perhaps hiss and bite you unexpectedly...

looks like a cool starting pocket...Joe chalks up
puts his hands on the rock, right hand in the
pocket, screams like a little school girl as he jumps off the rock. What's that, a bee or broken hold?

...Fnuck no, it's a damn hissing, fang threatening BAT!!!!

difficult to see here, but this was the best image gotten from at least a dozen---

consider this a public service reminder to get your rabies shot









...until next time- cliff

bEAST Coast Recon Trip: Bluefield Boulders

Feeling under the weather and not up to going 110% on a project, I decided a recon trip to a new area was a bit more my pace. After getting tipped off as to some bouldering near the VA/WV line in Bluefield, I seeked confirmation from the crew's Bluefield information resource: Cliff

Cliff confirmed that there were boulders, and that he spent some time drinking there back in the day, prior to forming his bouldering habit. Good enough for me...at least they are quality enough to inspire some beer drinking if they proved dumpy, chossy, or worse. Off on 46oW I went.

After a touch over an hour's drive, I arrived at the VA/WV border. The boulders were clustered above a small seasonal rest area/park on top of East River mtn. Psyched to get out of the car, I grabbed my coffee and did a quick walk through of the field. Its not huge (it can be walked through in just about 10minutes), but there is quite a bit of rock with no approach to speak of. So far, so good.

The first boulder I came across was the Sandy boulder. It was home to some nice sneaker problems that were great to warm up on. After getting used to being out of the car, I gave the boulder's name sake problem, Sandy's Slap, a quick flash. A great warm up problem with no tweaky holds.

Aaron on Sandy Slap (Parlier photo)

Moving on, I set my sights on the short steep wall right behind me. I flashed Enzyte, a great problem with a nice round top out, a la Mcaffe's Knob. Next up was Adhesion, a short, crimpy roof problem. After a go or two, I solved it. The final established problem on the wall I did was Cohesion, just to the right of Adhesion...similar climbing just with bigger holds. Lastly i tried an new, possibly undone line to the right of Cohesion: "Opposition" Starting on an undercling, poopt to the lip for a techy top out. Fun even if it is short.

Steve on Enzyte (Parlier photo)

At this point I ran into Aaron P and Steve L, who have been developing the bouldering there. Surprised to see any one out there, they both were ready and willing to give a tour (thanks guys!). So off we went. Next up was Minima, another short roof with a nice sloper top out. I watched Steve give it a few goes, got some beta from Aaron, and then flashed.

Steve moving through Minima (Parlier Photo)

Next up was a line recently put up by Aaron, the Secant Line. The problem starts on a gaston and undercling, then up a slopey arete, finishing with a toss to the top. After unlocking some different foot beta, I was able to send the line.

grappling with the Secant Line (Parlier photo)

Check. (Parlier photo)

The next to last boulder we saw as the "building boulder", which had a old dilapidated building that was built INTO the boulder. Crazy. The choice line, also the most unique is the Door Way problem, where one climbs OUT of the building to a classing SE top out...best problem of the day for me.

Doorway Problem! (Parlier photo)

For the finale, we checked out the unclimbed, tall arete to the right of the Minima wall, aptly named Maxima. We cleaned the line up a bit, chalked it and then night fall came. Anxious to at least get a burn in on the line, we all booted up. I flashed through the start to the "point of commitment" but darkness got the better of me as I bailed. Aaron had a similar experience. A very nice line...one of the best here.

Overall, the Bluefield boulders are a gem in the rough. Aaron and Steve have worked hard to establish quality lines, and will no doubt continue to locate more. No approach, quality rock, and overall convienence make this field worth a stop if you are in the area.

Like pulling down on some the finest sandstone in the east? Then now is a chance to show your love and give back a little bit to your favorite destination: The New River Gorge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New River Gorge Trail Day - Help Needed!
New River Gorge, WV November 14, 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings from the New River Alliance of Climbers and the New River Gorge! We're putting out a call for volunteers to help on Saturday, November 14, because we and our good friends at the NPS are looking forward to making large dents in two main projects:

Re-vegetation planting at Junkyard Wall and Bridge Buttress. This is the project for which Kenny Parker's bald head raised in excess of $1500 dollars back at the Rendezvous. Come be a part of what Kenny's hair purchased!
Remove the remains of the old wooden ladders from Endless Wall. The wood that used to be our access to and from the crown jewel of NRG climbing will be recycled into the new Fayetteville free-ride park. It's a historic moment you won't want to miss!

We'll meet Saturday morning at 8:30 am at Burnwood (where the Rendezvous is held - view map), then divide into three groups and conquer. Please bring your own food and water. Questions? Feel free to email NRAC Prez, Gene Kistler (gene@waterstoneoutdoors.com).

Please come and help out, and then climb with us in the beautiful November weather!

Thanks!
The NRAC Board
SEE YOU THERE!!


New River Alliance of Climbers PO Box 145 Fayetteville, WV 25840 gene@waterstoneoutdoors.com

Beast Coast Bozoo Blowout 2.0

Trying to figure out the best way to say "Thanks liver, you got us through another one," is a little more difficult than it seems. When you see--at 9 p.m.--the sandwich you ate at noon floating in the toilet with what looks to be your soul, you know it's been a good day of bouldering. Not to mention the cloudless sky, leafless trees, whispering river, hawks soaring through the canyon, texture-out-the-ass sandstone, and alcoholic beverages-a-plenty. Oh, yeah, and some killer tunes. There might've only been three of us on Sunday, but we brought enough funk for six, maybe seven thousand. Trash was slung, boulders were scrubbed, beers were pounded, more trash was slung, then someone said, "Hey, let's take some photos." And it was good.

Thrutching up some dope blunt arete-ness : The Chub

Jay following suit . . .

. . . and Adam for the send.

Another of Adam on The Chub

Adam working the upper moves of a perfectly tall prow to trad-ish topout. So good!

Slappin' the slot

. . . from another angle.

Pulling up onto the slab

Reach, motherfucker!

Pointing at the sloper with all four fingers

Sloper: 1, Jay: 0

Hollywood pulling out of the cave and up onto the arete

As W reaches for the lip, Jay can't help but join in the fun

Hollywood discovering how deep the pornhole really goes . . .

Basking in the porn cave's central air conditioning

Yet another amazing slab

sussing out the middle moves

the suss continues

and the send rolls out like velvet

eyeballin' with heels

then givin' some right palm to right ass cheek

W squeezin' out all the goodness this arete has to offer

Knee-deep in the Rabbit Blog hole

this is called the 211 spot

That's it for the photo-log. There's enough here to keep your fingers sweaty til next Sunday. But there's more, oh yes, there's more. Video to come within the next two days. Dear readers and fellow climbers, did you really think we'd hold out on you? The Beast Coast is back in full-tilt-stumble-drunk action! More to come.

Joe