Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Death of Common Sense

Just some social commentary:

An Obituary reported to have been printed in the London Times. Interesting and sadly true:
"Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, "Common Sense", who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouth wash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust. His wife, Discretion, his daughter, Responsibility, his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights; I Want It Now; Someone Else Is To Blame; I’m A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing."

I feel lucky to be surrounded by people who still take responsibility for their actions, who still live by the Golden Rule, and who want the world to be a better place, even if they know it's an uphill battle.  Thank you!

-=Seek perfection of character. Respect others. Try Hard.=-

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Cooler Temps

Congrats to Jesse Bonin Today for destroying the Whaleshark Boulder at Burnside. He sent the 2 V9's, The V8, and the rad V11 "The Wolfpack" in 2 goes. Sick.

This weekend we are going to the Buttes, I will try to polish off "Diamondback" a really cool V11 that I have been psyched on for a while. Joel Zerr did the FA this spring. Here is my best attempt so far... Trying really hard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4ygpLQ1VJk&feature=related

We will likely go to the Freaks and Eratica this week. Temps are cooler and problems are going DOWN!

Noah as usual

SEND

Today was amazing. Perfect Temps up at Crater Lake. We rallied with a huge crew: David, Frank, Siemay, me, Patrick, Sonia, Fabian, Paul, Brian and Anginette Arnold.

The psyche was high and the paddage even higher enabling some sick climbing.

This Boulder is so much fun. The rock is a billion years old (according to Frank's guess.) Here's what went down: "Dangerously Cheesy" V7: Brian, David, Patrick (Siemay falling at the last move. Sonia, Frank: sick efforts, close!) NEW FA: "Lactose Intolerance" V10 (4-star) - me (after Brian Arnold nearly crushed.) NEW FA: "Barnyard Massacre" V6 stand (me, Frank.) Brian - sit (variation V7) - This is the brilliant Right side arete.

You should check out this boulder. It's really fun. It has the best highball V0- slab in all of Tahoe, to boot. The Temps are perfect for summer. It goes into shade early, and the hard side of the boulder is shady all day.

I got some wicked footage of Jesse sending the V11 and my new V10. Both will be in the new "Try Harder" video that I am making. I'll try to get some new photos up on my blog soon, too.

Anyway, now that Brian and Ang are in town, we will be touring around all the local hot-spots (especially as it cools down.) Eratica, The Freaks, Whaleshark at Burnside, The Ghosts, Job's Peak Boulder, Outcalt's many areas, and maybe check out another couple still secret Westside spots. It's almost like work except for the fact that it is so insanely fun.

***Several of us are planning a Sierra Buttes trip for next Saturday and maybe Sunday. You may remember that this place is THE BOMB. It's like 20-30 Crater Lake boulders in an even more beautiful setting... But it's a little drive. 1.5 hours from South Lake then a meaty hike uphill 45 mins.

See you there?

Try hard!

Noah

UPDATE:

Here is an interesting update on the history of the amazing boulder at Crater Lake "Dangerously Cheesy" That Don sent me. Great find Don! For those of you that don't know, Don has scoured the hillsides and has been one of the most influential contributors to the Tahoe scene over the past several years. Don, we love you!

"Hey Noah,Congratulations on the sit start send! Glad you all are psyched! Sick boulder as I said in our phone conversation at the start of the season.Just so you all have an idea of the history of the boulder as far as I know. Tough to tell if anything had been done previous as it is bullitproof and gets buried every year.steep side (north)- right sit down arete v11 Ian, next line in to the left v7 Ian, center v8 Ian ( no sit I don't believe). the sit your Lactose Intolerant?, left side v3 me.east side (towards lake)- right straight up off shelf dyno v? me, left center rounded layback v3 Dave Goodwindownclimb slab side

west side (over the pit) right slab v0 me, left side v0 Dave GoodwinI came upon the boulder in late season 2005 and did a couple of the problems (no pads) brought Kris from Cali and Dave Goodwin up the following season. Ian did the aformentioned August 2008.Happy sending,Don"

With this info, and based on my trying Jesse's sit start into the V7, I can fairly confidently call Jesse's line an FA, although I will try to confirm with Ian. I thought it was in the V12 range or harder. I had broke 2 pretty big holds of the center line, so I was surprised to find it had been done... Adding the sit to "Lactose Intolerance" definitely makes the problem more classic. It's a 4 star V10 now!

Thank you, Don! Also from Don:

"On the geo-petrology of Dangerously cheesy, the hypothesis stated (basement metamorphic for the region) is interesting, but another theory consistent with the region is an altered andesite (contact metamorphism) tertiary volcanic along the Hope Valley fault grabben."

fyi, Noah

Saturday, August 22, 2009




Climbers,

Wow. What can I say. Climbing in Tahoe is really exploding. The numbers of world class boulders and problems not in any books is remarkable. Take for example "Dangerously Cheesey," an incredible boulder of perfect rock with four star lines on it sitting at 8200' near a perfect turqouis mountain lake. A preview of Heaven? Or maybe Heaven on Earth? Who knows. Many lines are done on this bad boy up at Crater Lake. Just 2 miles West of the Blue Lakes road turn-off. You need Hardcore 4 x 4 to get up there, or a long hike. Subarus won't make it... Bring a swimsuit for a noon-time swim. around 4 pm the temps require a fleece. See Jesse's blog for details:http://jessebonin.blogspot.com/2009/08/afternoon-delight.html ...and more photos.
Wow. I love Tahoe! We are all getting psyched for the season. There are so many projects in the whole grade spectrum it's insane! It seems Like Jesse and I have our work cut out for the fall to keep up with Jay and Frank and David and the other South Lake developers! TRY HARD! ...Speaking of which, I got some rad footage of Jesse climbing "Dangerously Cheesey" V11 second ascent and it looks sick. Maybe see you out at Eratica or Crater Lake, or Burnside, or the Ghosts, or... well... If I can get out of last minute wedding planning details. Don't tell Siemay I said that. -Noah as usual.

Friday, August 14, 2009

The Homestead

After residency, Siemay and I road-tripped for a year, which only had one downside: we had no home. I would fly into Tahoe to work for a week and then be off for a month. It was pretty sick actually.Eventually, we started working more and decided to spend more time in Tahoe since the climbing here is insane and there is soooo much exploring/adventure to be had. So many first ascents! After waiting for the market to bottom (it's still not there yet!) we finally found an incredible deal on a nice house with awesome views. The garage met my criteria for building a woody, so we bought! Soonafter, close friend Brian Arnold and Ang Arnold drove our stuff out from Ohio. Brian and I started to work on the wall and these photos are the end result. So now, when there is bad weather or if we just want to train, we have a world class woody, the 3rd I've built, to monkey around on. Stop by anytime and CRANK!!! (Post brought to you by ROCK CANDY HOLDS - www.rockcandyholds.com)



Sunday, August 9, 2009

Urban Climber Interview


Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: Urban Climber just interviewed me:

http://www.urbanclimbermag.com/themag/drive/noah_kaufman/

FREAK SHOW!


Climbers,

The past couple of weeks have proved very interesting.

A new area, "The Freaks" has been discovered and developed by Frank Lucido, Jay Sell, Jesse Bonin, David Outcalt and others. I did 2 very cool highball First Ascents there just yesterday.

This is a volcanic area in the forest with very steep climbing not dissimilar to Hueco Tanks, TX.

Jesse has done two new incredible V12's there that he has named "Freakshow" and "Downtown Brown." Really amazing stuff. Thanks to Ben Broche for capturing some awesome point-and-shoot footage of the sick sends.


Also, many more pics plus other interesting stuff at Jesse's blog: http://www.jessebonin.blogspot.com/

Fall is coming, so it's time to get in shape! The Bear Valley bouldering competition/hang out/party is Sept 19th, If I can get out of work, I'll be there.

Hope all is well, everyone!

Noah as usual.

PS. This will FREAK YOU OUT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwh4ZaxHIA Unbelievable.