Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard.
Noah T. Kaufman, MD
Can You try your hardest without screaming?
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Well, Red done broke his hand. Mtn bike mishap leaving sugar 3... But, like the trooper he is, he's still rallying with the crew and has turned his focus on filming and editing.
Here's our session on Jesse Bonin's awesome "Welcome to the Future"
A true Tahoe test piece of slopey compression.
Get some!
Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.
Curtain call is a new rad V11 jump start that Kyle O'Meara put up at sugar 2. Kyle has really hit his stride! After an impressive 2nd try ascent of The Ashtray V11 and Blast Off V10 and Sneak Attack Low V9 and 3rd go second ascent of Focal Point V10 last weekend, this weekend he did Ground Control V11 in a session, Welcome to the Future V11 in a session, Pure Bliss V9, he flashed Integrity sit V9, flashed Pimp Juice V9 and flashed the technical American Hero V9 in the sun! He also did all the moves to the stand start of the Creekbed proj at South Bliss which he could not quite finish off but felt to be V12. The first move has still not gone, but the whole shebang will likely weigh in at V13. Great climbing Kyle! (try to hear Cartman's voice when reading about Kyle's achievements and you'll be psyched.)
Joel and I made great progress on Welcome to the future, Joel fell off the last move from the start several times and will polish it off soon. we both did the stand (V9 called "The Future Present") and I linked into the stand. I can't wait to do this thing... I can't believe I haven't done this one yet either as it is right there near the road and only 25 mins from the homestead. Great line, Jesse! A Four star climb indeed; one of the best in Tahoe.
Here's an Ian Cotter-Brown vid of Welcome to the Future et Alia:
Just a comment on grades: I'm not sure what consensus is for many of these things... I know on 8a, many climbers take Welcome to the Future as a 12. I think it's 12 in Ian's video, too. If I compare it to a Font climb, or dirty south climb it feels like 8a to me in good conditions. Like the Egg in Squamish, but not as hard as Dominator or other 12s I've worked on/done. Who knows? Also, it's in the range of +\- 1 grade, so who cares... Just hope not to offend anyone who took 12 on this rig, maybe it is! Doesn't really matter though since it's a 4 star classic. I think that should be the main emphasis anyhow. I'd love to hear thoughts on this in the comment section if you care to opine. I also thought Focal Point was a 9 banger since I FA'd the thing in the sun. Who knows. With Yosemite so close, where grades are generally stout, many a Bay area strongman has felt some Tahoe grades to be soft, although I think they are on par with most other areas in the world, actually.
Anyhow, The Season is in full swing. Apparently, Jesse sent his V11/12 project up at the Triads (upper Mtn beavers) and there is a whole lot of new rock being developed way up there! ...The hike is over an hour though, so motivation is a must.
Personally, I did some cool 10's at rock creek: Osama eliminate and the campground arête. I have been doing cool FA's at Sugarpine with Hatchett and crew including "The Anniversary" V9 dyno, "Deadbeat Dad" V8, "Shaft Adapter" V8 (flash), and the super mega "such great heights" V8 (flash.) I am super close on Welcome to the future and really want to go check out the Ashtray, Blast Off, Curtain Call, Sneak Attack Low and the Hercules proj. If I get around to it. This week we are headed down to check out Hartley near Mammoth. Siemay is getting back in shape and moving well on the rock for someone who recently gave birth to a little ninja.
speaking of which, Zun is 9 weeks old and working on grip strength. He is smiling and crying, shitting and sleeping and has already made it out to 5 different climbing spots including a couple with long approaches.
Get psyched, get out there and CRANK!
Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.
This amazing line is classic. Chris Sharma opened this line many years ago in the Josh Lowell movie "Rampage." Here Kyle O'Meara sends it second try! I spoke with Chris about this line at a recent trade show. He had fond memories of it and asked me if it had seen repeats and how hard it was felt to be. Somehow, I have not done this line yet. After seeing this video, it is back at the top of my list. Film and edit by Joel Zerr who has also done the line several times.
The Ashtray
In other sad news, Steve Jobs has finally lost his life to pancreatic cancer. This amazing human being gave us wonderful gifts, and he changed the world in profound ways. The irony is not lost on me as I write this post from my iPad. Something tells me Steve would have appreciated Kyle's mellifluous movement on this gymnastic Sharma Tahoe classic.
Seek perfection of character, respect others & Try Hard. Noah as usual.
