A (not so) Brief History of Cobra Strike

Back in 2009 I was driving along the outer edge of Hartman Rocks searching for new climbs. I had planned on driving a lot further, but just 10min after leaving my apartment I noticed a surprisingly overhanging wall. Right off the road. I pulled off and hiked up to the wall, not expecting much. From the ground though, it was obvious that there was a route that followed the black water streak. I rapped off the top to get a better look was amazed at the quality and presence of holds. Those that have been to Hartman’s know how anomalous and overhanging route with holds is. In fact, in the whole sea of friction slab climbing that is Hartman Rocks, I think this is the steepest, if not the only, overhanging sport route.

Obviously I was psyched! I couldn’t wait to sink some bolts into the wall and start figuring out what I thought was going to be a sweet 5.12. I called everyone I knew who had a drill, trying to borrow one. Everyone said, “No”. I couldn’t even get someone to lend me a hand drill. So I bought a hand drill and spent Easter ping-ping-ping-ing away. Almost 1 hour per bolt for 7 bolts. The Hartman’s Project was born.

My first tries on the route were pitiful. It took all day to figure out the overhanging mantle and after that I couldn’t do 90% of the moves. This couldn’t be 5.12. Having never climbed 5.13a before, the hardest thing I could conceive of was 5.13b. Maybe this thing is 5.13b?

Early tries on the Hartman's Project

Enter Ben Spannuth. I met Ben through the Collegiate Climbing Series in 2009. Ben is a SUPER strong climber with multiple 5.14d ascents. After a CCS competition we held at Western State College, I took Ben out to check out the project. He was psyched on it! In the one afternoon he worked on the route he quickly did all the moves, but couldn’t link the sections. Ben left, but was psyched to return at some point.

Ben's first time on the project. 2009.

Over the next 2 years I would periodically go back to the Hartman’s project to see if I was strong enough yet. I wasn’t. Eventually, with the added psyched of Caleb Justice and Roy Quanstrom, I was able to do all the moves on the route. After another year I could 1 hang the route right in the middle.

Now it is 2012. After climbing a bunch of ridiculously hard routes in Spain, Ben is coming back to Gunnison to work on the Hartman’s project. The pressure was on. I knew Ben was strong enough to do the route and I had only 3 weeks to get the first ascent before he arrived. After bolting and working on the route for 3 years at this point I REALLY wanted the FA. I became obsessed. In 2 weeks I went from 1 hanging the route in the middle to falling on the 2^nd to last move every time. The clock was ticking and I had to SEND. After sticking the 2^nd to last move and falling on the last move one day I was psyched! I had it, the route was in the bag! I skipped class he next day and went out to the route fully confident that I would send it. I warmed up, did all the moves, came down, and got psyched for what I hoped would be the send burn.

The camera was rolling. I cruised through the overhanging mantle, snagged the low crux crimp and cranked <POP> to the pinch. Wait. Shit. Take. That was my finger.

I had just ruptured my A3 and A4 pulleys in my left ring finger. Climbing was out of the question for months. I was facing a long recovery and I knew it.

Ben arrived a week later and got to work. I hiked up and belayed him for 2 weeks, still no send. He was so close though. At this point I just wanted to see someone send the route. I had imagined over and over what it would feel like to snatch that finish hold. Now that that was out of the question I had to at least SEE it done. To know it was possible.

Ben left for a weekend and quickly (5 tries) dispatched with The Bleeding (5.14b) at Mill Creek in Utah. He came back and had 1 more week to finish off the Hartman’s Project. The last few moves are hard though and Ben was hitting the same wall I had, the deadpoint to the lip off of the two slopey pinches. The 2^nd to last move.  On the evening of May 2^nd, 2012, Ben dug deep, snatched the lip and topped out Cobra Strike (5.14b).

I learned a lot from watching Ben climb Cobra Strike. A lot about climbing, but also a lot about humility, patience, and priorities. I had become so obsessed with the first ascent, something that I thought was rightfully mine, that I over worked and injured myself. Only to find out that I had a crucial bit of beta wrong. Had I been patient and worked on the route with Ben, I might have sent, I may have even got the FA.

I like to think that every project has a lesson to teach. A lot of times that lesson isn’t even about climbing.

Fast forward through the year and a half of recovery and training and here we are. September 2013. I sent it. It felt great.

I did it!

I could regale you with the details of the send and give you the move-by-move recap, but I won’t. Because that isn’t what is important. The important stuff is what occurred before the send, the lessons I learned, and the life that goes on after.

I am sitting in a coffee shop in Gunnison Colorado with Ben right now. We are 3 weeks in to our 4 week climbing trip. Our cuticles are destroyed from working the hard pocket routes we just finished bolting. Who is going to get the first ascents? Who cares?

Hiking to the new routes.

Climbing is more fun when you’re climbing with your friends.

Back In Gunnison

After getting overly frustrated with the conditions at Mill Creek we made a snap decision, packed up, and left for Gunnison on Wednesday afternoon.

Upon arriving in Gunnison Wednesday evening Ben and I met up with another friend of mine for an evening bouldering session at Real Lost Canyon just outside of town. RLC is a unique sandstone area that a few friends and I "rediscovered" a few years ago. I put up some of my favorite boulder problems here an used the area as an outdoor training facility. It was really fun to go back to those boulder problems and see where I am compared to where I was before I blew up my pulleys. The verdict? My fingers are still significantly weaker than before, but I guess that is to be expected. Fortunately I have a good amount of time left on the trip, and I have places like RLC, that got me strong before, to get me strong again.

Oh, and guess what!?

I got on Cobra Strike yesterday! I almost sent it! Three times! Hopefully it will go down today.

If/When I send I will write a longer post about the history of the route (which I think is cool). For now though, this is the roue that I blew up my pulleys on a year and a half ago. Every time I pull the move that I hurt myself on, I can "hear" my pulleys popping and my stomach gets tight. It is terrifying. I keep doing it though. My finger has been doing well, but I am hyper conscious of the pressure in my left ring finger. Being back on the route I can absolutely understand how I injured myself. The left hand crimp is almost perfectly designed for ring finger destruction. I have to keep trying. I'm so close!

Mill Creek: First 3 Days

Ben and I arrived in Moab the night of the 10th. In the morning the weather looked bad, humid with large storm clouds over the mountains. We went back to a large arete we had scoped out during our last trip in March. We were very excited about the potential of the line. It was almost 200 ft tall and it looked like there were just enough holds for it to go. However, upon further inspection this time, we decided it probably wasn't possible. There is one 15ft section that has literally no holds. Drywall. That and one of the key holds for the top section flexed a lot and would probably break in such a way as to leave no hold at all and another impossible section. Definitely a bummer. After hiking back from the arete we went to Big Bend for a quick bouldering session. We repeated a bunch of moderate boulders and then put in some work on Hell Belly (V11), a hard compression line out a sandstone refrigerator block. Since it was over 80 degrees out neither of us was expecting anything. Surprisingly I was able to put my lanky frame to work and link a lot of the moves. If there is time I'd like to go back in the morning or evening sometime when it is cooler and try to send. For the rest of the day we worked on a silly traverse eliminate just to get pumped and wear-off some fingertip skin.

The arete that doesn't go.

The next day the clouds still looked ominous and the humidity was unreasonable high. For those who are living in caves and haven't heard, Colorado and eastern Utah are getting HAMMERED with rain right now, lots of flooding and damage. So I guess we are pretty lucky to have the lesser amount of rain  we have been getting. Still though, the heat and humidity are making it nearly impossible to put together the main objective of this leg of the trip, The Bleeding (5.14b). I worked on The Bleeding a few months ago, in March, and was able to do all the moves, but couldn't link the sections or do the crux consistently. Fortunately, training works and I feel much stronger this time. I can do the crux move almost every time, and I can link the route in 2 sections. I just need to build up some more endurance and have a few days of dry air. Fortunately, time is still on my side.

The Bleeding. So pretty!

Today we had some more goes on our projects, but with the intermittent rain, high temperatures, and high humidity, thing haven't been going too well. I think maybe I brought the east coast with me :( I feel good on the route, but I am definitely struggling. I settled on some new beta for the crux that is even more consistent than before and I pushed my high point to within 6 moves from the top. Which sounds great, except those 6 moves are a V9 boulder problem after climbing 40ft of consistent cranking on powerful underclings and sidepulls with no rest. Needless to say, I'll probably be falling from the top for quite a while. If I don't send this thing, it certainly won't be for lack of trying!

The weather...

Next up is a rest day! hopefully the weather will begin to clear up soon.

First Days in Colorado

The drive was quicker than expected. I was originally planning on a 3-day trip from Maryland to Colorado, but once I start driving I find it hard to stop. The first day was a 17-hour epic all the way to the western edge of Missouri. I was hoping to make it there in a little less time, but a flat tire somewhere in Illinois slowed things down. Day two was a shorter 12-hour journey, but it felt longer because I knew I was almost at my destination. Within 5 minutes of entering Golden I was already tossing a Frisbee and slacklining with my good friends Terry and Jacy, who have been letting me crash on their floor for the past few days.

Pat's Arete

That evening we immediately made plans to go bouldering at Mt. Evans the next day. Mt. Evans is an AMAZING alpine bouldering area that sits around 12,000ft surrounding 14,264ft summit of Mt. Evans. On the hike in to Area A, we encountered some thunderstorms and almost turned back. Fortunately we decided to hide under a boulder to see if the storm was going to stick around or just pass by, you never really know with the weather at that elevation. After about 30min though, the rain passed and we had fairly clear skies for the rest of the day.  I was able to make some quick ascents of a lot of great problems like Ludders Pinch (V7), Pat’s Arete (V7), The Dali (V8), and Bierstadt (V9/10). I was also able to start working on a problem that I have dreamed of climbing for almost 10 years, No More Greener Grasses (V12). I remember seeing pictures and videos of this problem when it was first finished in 2004. The line follows bad crimps up a 40 degree wall covered in green and black lichen. Unfortunately my trip to Moab might keep me off the boulder until next summer, since the boulder could be completely snowed in by the time I get back in October. I’m a little but happy about that though, because I’m going to need this next year to develop some more finger strength to be able to pull off a send in a timely manner.

Bierstadt

After a rest day and a tour of the Earth Treks Golden construction site we were back at it. This time Caleb was able to come down from Fort Collins to come boulder with Terry and I in Boulder Canyon. We went to the Castle Rock boulder, which is right off of the road. I couldn’t believe how good the rock was. We started on a super classic V5 called Standard Bulge. This might be one of my favorite boulders for the grade anywhere. Terry did a cool variation of the problem by trending right under the bulge with a cool sequence of smears and side pulls. I was able to onsight The Citadel (V8) just to the right of Standard Bulge and then we all took turns hucking ourselves at the V10 dyno of Cage Free. I  got close to doing Cage Free which is surprising because I  typically don’t do well with dynos. Unfortunately it promptly started thunder storming, but this time it didn’t let up, so we jumped in the van and headed back to Golden for a brutal session on Terry’s recently completed home wall.

Terry on the Standard Bulge var.

Caleb on Standard Bulge

Now I am super tired and sore and I’ll probably just lay around, work on the climbing team curriculum, and slackline all day. Ben has some things to take care of in town and then we are leaving for Mill Creek tomorrow morning! 

A Tale of Two Sports

First, a warning: I'm pretty caffeinated and I'm about to write something about the differences between Gym and Rock Climbing.

Second, I use the word "Sport" loosely and mostly because it makes the title sound nice and might trick you all into thinking I am well-read and witty.

Here we go...


I went to college in Colorado. I was able to climb rocks almost every day. Blah, blah, blah, it was great, then I graduated, now I've been living in Maryland again for over a year. Since moving back to Maryland I have probably spent less than 20 days rock climbing and at least 200 days gym climbing. Compare that to the year before, in Colorado, where those figures were pretty much flipped. In the past 2 years the pendulum has swung dramatically, giving me what I think is an interesting perspective (not unique, just interesting). Especially as I look forward to my imminent move BACK to Colorado in 2 weeks, where the pendulum will hopefully begin to settle somewhere in the middle.

It seems obvious to me, but I'll go ahead and say it just so we're all on the same page:

GYM CLIMBING AND ROCK CLIMBING ARE DIFFERENT.

(Okay, I shouted it. Because every so often I need to remind myself too.)

Sure, they're pretty similar: You grip, you pull, then repeat, and I'm sure your feet are probably doing something too. Though I would submit that this is where the similarities end and the two activities diverge, sharply.

Lets explore.

Yay plastic!

Gym Climbing:  It is so fun! Especially as a routesetter. You get to grab and step on ergonomic shapes,  rip your body through space, and explore any move you can imagine. It is climbing, simple and distilled. Every hold protrudes obviously from the wall, brightly colored and marked with tape (usually). Each route and boulder problem was set for YOU, to be comfortable, relatively safe, and fun. Oh yeah, and difficult. Gym climbing is difficult. Whether you are squeezing the juice out of a pinch or bruising your fingertips on small crimps, gym climbing will WORK you. Gym climbing will make you a strong climber. It will even make you a good climber, a good gym climber at least.

Yay rocks!

Rock Climbing: Even more fun! Not just fun though. Interesting, frustrating, scary, painful, uncomfortable, all the good stuff. Though, what constantly and consistently strikes me as the most defining characteristic of rock climbing is the SUBTLETY. Shifting a hand position by a few degrees can make an impossible move easy. Adjusting the amount and direction that pressure is applied to a foot can make a small, seemingly insignificant, rough patch of rock the key to unlocking an entire boulder problem or route. You know all those crazy moves you imagine and set in the gym? Those moves are already out there. Along with a ton of other moves and holds you can't imagine, but can only discover. Rock climbing will make you a stronger climber, a smarter climber, and a better climber...a better rock climber.

I recently had a conversation with my girlfriend who was frustrated because she didn't feel like the gym was preparing her properly for outdoor climbing. She went to the New River Gorge, was working on a certain grade, came back to the gym, got stronger, went back to the NRG, and was still working on the same grade! How could that be?!

My response: How could that NOT be?

Training in the gym and then expecting to be a better rock climber is like spending hours perfecting your Guitar Hero skillz, picking up a real guitar, and expecting to be able to play the same songs. It just doesn't work like that. Guitar hero might help with your coordination and finger dexterity, and you need those things to play guitar, but you are missing everything else. And it's everything else, that makes playing the guitar, playing the guitar.

Training in a gym will make you strong. It will help you with basic sequencing. You will learn general technique and grip positioning. You'll learn how to try hard, how to heel-hook, how to toe-hook. You get the basics. And you NEED the basics, but what you're missing is everything else. The uncomfortable holds, the cryptic sequences, the minuscule foot holds, the weird body positions, the awkwardness, the fear, the SUBTLETY. It's all of those things that make rock climbing, rock climbing. It's all those things that the gym won't prepare you for.

Routesetters are constantly berated for how their work compares to rock climbing:

"There is NO WAY that is 5.9!"
"That would be 5.12a at The Red!"
"Yeah, but you would NEVER do that move outside!"
"All the grades in here are SO sandbagged compared to outside."
"All the grades in here are SO soft compared to outside."
"Yeah, that would be V2 at Horsepens."
"Dude, that V8 would be V11 at Hueco!"
"Bro, have you ever even BEEN to The Red!?"

Hey guys...chill. It's different. If you want to go rock climbing, go rock climbing. If you want get strong, train for comps, not lose all of your technique, have a good time, get pumped, satisfy your addiction until your next trip, flex at the girls on the treadmills, then come on in to the gym.

I hope it doesn't seem like I am bashing gym climbing, because I LOVE gym climbing. Hell, I even like comps! But I recognize and accept that it is not rock climbing.

I've been training in the gym for the past year. My body is stronger than it has ever been. But my last few bouldering excursions have been frustrating. My mind is weak. I feel uncoordinated. I have trouble seeing and feeling the body positions. It takes me longer to adapt to novel movements. I don't trust my feet enough. The list goes on... The only way I can improve these things it to climb on rocks more. For the ExPhys nerds, it all goes back to the SAID Principle. The Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. The body can only adapt to the demands you place on it and it adapts very specifically. Rock climbing and gym climbing are different stimuli and you body adapts accordingly.

Is this horse dead enough? I sure hope so. I'm going to go work on my van.

A Bit of Boulderin'

     Ross and I went out into the wood to try to climb Nicodemus (V12). This was my second session on the boulder and Ross' first. We both got close, but there is one stopper move that we just couldn't get with any consistency. The crimps are very small and skin intensive. After a few tries it is really hard to make yourself bear down enough to make the move.

The crux of Nicodemus

Ross, gettin' his "Ggrrr" on.

     I was able to send the right start variation though, so that was nice. From Tim Rose's blog I think the problem is called "Right Hand of the Leper" FA by Fernando. I did the problem in essentially 2 moves. One giant move off 2 decent crimps to a bad-ish right handed crimp, then I put my left foot by my left hand and cranked straight to the jug flake. The left hand moves about 7ft in a fraction of a second, super powerful, and wicked fun. My total guess on a grade would be V9 or V10, but I think the most accurate grade would be Vcrimp-jump. Whatever that means.

Move 1

Move 2

Done. Jugs to top out.

After my skin thickens up again I plan on heading out at least one more time before I leave MD to try to get Nicodemus DONE.

Almost Done!

Well, I'm 2 1/2 weeks out from my departure date and the van is almost done! All of the major construction is finished. All that remains is:

- Some minor trim work around the vent fans and the back door
- Attach the curtains to the back windows
- Rig the insulated divider to separate the living area from the driving area
- Attach the awning storage to the ladder racks

I decided to wait on adding an auxiliary battery due to budget restrictions. I'm not too worried though, this is still an outrageous upgrade from my coffin-like Tacoma living area. Here are some pictures of the nearly finished product.

I think I am most proud of this super-classy mahogany counter/workspace/storage shelf. The bungee cords are removable and do a great job of restraining the contents of the shelves while still allowing ease of access.