Spring Break at Flagler and HP40

Exhausted. Had a great interview this morning after getting back in last night from a great spring break with Jonathan! Last Saturday morning, we drove down from Atlanta to Flagler Beach. We stayed at a small motel called Beach Front right across the street from the beach. It was nice considering we were so close to the beach, but still far enough away from the usual spring breakers to enjoy some quiet sun to ourselves. Jonathan even bought a cheap skim board from a nearby Publix store to kill our down time with. I quickly learned that skim boarding is not as easy as it looks, and I'm far from being even slightly proficient at it. J, however, got some killer shallow water runs off of it though. And I can't say I wasn't jealous. Every time I jumped on the skim board, it sank right down into the sand.

J showing me how it's done on the skim board

Day 2, Sunday, we met up with our Floridian climber friends Ryan and Maha and made a trip up to St. Augustine. It was nice taking a day off to walk around and look at shops and try different types of ice cream and sweets. We did, however, spend quite some of our time trying to hunt down a specific ice cream shop. After walking end to end on the shopping strip twice, we were inches near giving up. Until we realized it was right behind us at the start all along. Great friends, great times.

Even when we're not climbing, we're climbing

 Monday, after catching some morning waves, Jonathan and I headed back up north to get ready for three days at HP40. We were somewhat worried as the temps were looking at about a high of 70 and a low of 40 for all three days... not exactly what you'd call ideal bouldering temps. But hey, the last time either of us had been to HorsePens was over a year and a half ago! Needless to say, this was a trip that needed to happen.

The first day, we warmed up on Eightball and WASP before heading over to Redneck. I was worried I wouldn't be able to climb it as the first move off the starting holds was a bit reachy. After practicing a burly start a couple times, I was able to get the send pretty quickly. Definitely psyched to send it in the hot Alabaman heat! Jonathan then showed me Bumboy! SO HARD! It took me about 6 tries to get it. I ended up just keeping my legs out and squeezing the rock to get up the climb. Jonathan jokes that I mantled so fast even before I hit the jug on the flat ground.

We also got onto Cuts Like a Knife. Jonathan had sent this one a long time ago, so it was nice to catch beta from him... well, kinda. The beginning for me was super hard because at full lockoff, I was still short of the first crimp by a few centimeters.

Me, right under the crimp by a few centimeters!

Even after trying the "secret foot beta" with the feet out on slider, I was missing the crimp by a tad. In the end, after even failing to deadpoint the crimp... I opted for the last resort — dynoing. After a couple attempts, we were joined by some Canadians, stopping by to see what the fuss was about. I guess with the pressure of the spectators, I was able to nail a VERY nasty dyno to the crimp. Once I hit the crimp and fought the swing, the rest of the climb seemed to fall like puzzles pieces into place as intuition kicked in until I hit the top. Beautiful, beautiful climb. Once of the hardest sends for me to date, regardless of the grade.

Day 2 was a quick day for me. Our hands were starting to get shredded. But luckily, I was able to flash Hammerhead and Mullentino (drop variation) to avoid more damages.

Me on Mulletino

On our last day, we were joined by Brybry and Gabe. Jonathan showed them how to send Bumboy in the high 70s degree heat. And I took most of the day off by just taking pictures. Here's Bryan cheating on Man With the Slow Hand by dabbing/using the pad and rock to the side. Haha!!!

On our way out, Jonathan and I headed over to the Suspicion Boulders where I was able to jump on Drainpipe. We thought it sounded like my kind of problem: low overhand into "slab." Though I will say, upon arriving at the climb, it wasn't the same kind of slab we were thinking of (Boat Rock). After fighting a burly start, I fell off trying to pull the lip. After figuring out beta for the lip to the top out, I gave it another burn and got the send. So unexpected and so exciting!

Here's the full send list (minus warm up problems I forgot to write down):

Chicks V0 flash
Silky V0 flash
Stare V0 flash
Dope V2
Orchid V2 flash
Sure Thing V2 flash
Eightball V2 flash
WASP V2
Bumboy V3
Green Lantern V3
Cuts Like a Knife V5
Hammerhead V5 flash
Mulletino drop V5 flash
Redneck V6
Drainpipe V6

We also got (low quality) footage of me sending Redneck, Mulletino, and Hammerhead. So I'll try to post those soon too! Can't wait for the next day trip out.