Weekend With the Floridians

Actually... the weekend I'm speaking of was last weekend.

But I've been so catch up with the holidays (eating lots of food with Jonathan and my family) this past week that I haven't had time to write this post.

But LAST weekend, Maha, Ryan, and Kayle came up from Florida to LRC for some vacation climbing. Jonathan and I were on a short break from bouldering trips since it's nearing the end of the year (Jonathan's graduating) and my pocketbook is looking skinnier than usual.

Anyway, we met the Floridians at LRC at about 1pm Friday and got some late afternoon climbing in. I hadn't planned on getting on anything in particular. No recent projects except occasionally jumping on The Chronic to see if I can reach the last move yet. I haven't... but Lacour got me motivated with some good beta and hopefully it will go before the summer.

Maha, Ryan, and Kayle all flashed Ribcage V3 and got on The Sternum V5. Maha is SUPER close to getting it. She didn't get it this trip but it will go down super easy next time!

Maha on Sternum, V5

I am really excited for myself since I sent Super Mario V4 (finally). That time felt super solid and I joke about having gotten taller since I'm getting better at static long moves. This was my first time hitting the end pockets!

Super Mario, V4 (photo credit: Kayle Klimeck)

Jonathan worked Red House Extension with Lacour for about an hour but wasn't to pull it together. I mean... every time you're doing the extension, you're doing Redhouse. That's like doing Redhouse... 15 times!!! When we finally left the Red House boulder, the sun was setting fast. We were a little worried since we didn't bring head lamps. But before leaving, Jonathan insisted we make a pit stop at Man Hands. Man Hands is a problem that Mitch has been telling me I should give a go at since it's "my style." I personally wouldn't say I have a particular style. However, I definitely have a handicap when it comes to eensy slotted crimps.

As we arrived at the boulder, there was barely any daylight left. I tossed on my Speedsters super fast. Gave a 3 second run down of the beta... and hopped on.

It was smooth sailing from the time I pulled myself off the group. I'm not sure how it all flowed so well, but it was like intuition took over. Knowing when to cross... and when to bump. The boys joked that I reached the not-so-V4 topout even before they laid down all the pads. Is it a V8? I don't know. But if everything were by my grading, I wouldn't call Super Mario a V4.

We finished off the day by meeting the Clemson kids for dinner at Urban Plate in Chattanooga. Yeah Burger would be the Atlanta equivalent of it. Personally, I think Yeah Burger tastes better. And is less inexpensive. Jonathan and I spent the night on the Floridians' hotel room floor sleeping on crash pads so we didn't have to drive back down to Atlanta.

Saturday didn't disappoint. I didn't climb much at all. I flashed Fortune V6 early in the morning (Boat Rock skillzzzzz) and spent the rest of the day taking pictures and working a little on Cinderella and flailing alot on Spanky.

Cinderella will go in a couple of trips, I hope. Though, I'm light years away from sending Spanky. For me, if Spanky is a V8. Grimace is more like a V6. And I don't really feel that Grimace is a V6.

Jonathan finally sent Red House Extension. FINALLY. He says it's soft. But a send is a send. And a fun climb is a fun climb! I'm super envious and one day I will get Redhouse!

Jonathan on RHE, V8.

And so, that was last weekend.

This weekend was spent with my family. And a movie marathon with Jonathan who is recovering from a finger injury. I didn't really like Cowboys and Aliens... or Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I spent most of the movies hiding under my blankie.

Hopefully next week (if my thesis will allow) I can make a trip out to climb. If not, I know Hueco is coming up! So no worries about not getting out enough now. Gotta focus on graduating in May! And not getting crushed too hard by Francesca during CCS in the spring even though we are on the same team!