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Sendage, Current Goals, and the Start of Buttermilk Season

For the crew I climb with, the start of October officially equals the start of climbing season in the Buttermilks. Come rain or shine, we'll make the trek to Bishop every weekend, wake up to the sweet smell of Black Sheep coffee, rub the bleariness from our eyes, and crush some absolutely stunning boulder problems (see Fig. 1). As you can probably guess, this season has been no exception, and Friday marked the first official day of the season for yours truly.

Fig 1. Greg Horvath climbing on the back of the Grandpa Peabody. Photo by The Burrow Files. I hope they don't mind me using their lovely image.

As with most seasons, there's always an acclimatization period during which you can't climb for shit because you've been lugging yourself around on plastic all summer, and during which you absolutely beat the fuck out of your fingers - and really everything else on your body. And while in many ways the start of this season was no exception (60% of my fingertips no longer have skin on them), my first couple of outdoor trips have proven to be promising thus far, and I've been able to put down some problems that felt incredibly difficult/close to impossible for me last season.

I mentioned in a previous post that pretty much every variation of Go Granny Go has proven to be difficult for me. In fact, Go Granny Go direct took me approximately 5 months of work before I sent it, and doing that climb last season was truly one of my proudest moments. I've used that climb as a basis for strength ever since, and frequently warm up on the moves to see how I'm feeling on that particular day. Well, I am SO stoked to say that not only did I feel solid on the direct version this weekend, but that after finding it nearly impossible to do last season, I was able to send Go Granny Go right variation. Yes! Finally. A good start to the season indeed, and a place from which I can begin to set training and projecting goals with confidence.

Speaking of goals, now that the season is upon us several people have asked me what my goals/projects are, so I thought I'd lay it out there in case anyone was still interested (*cricket* *cricket*). Anyway, my goal for the season is to do as many 6's and 7's as possible. Why? Because I think that as I work my way through these grade ranges I'll only get stronger and closer to my goal of climbing V10. Plus it's a cool way to see what climbs are out there that I may have been missing out on. In addition to that I have several harder, "reach" climbs I'd like to try out.

Here are the climbs currently on my radar (in grade range order):

EDIT: I'm going to strike out the climbs I accomplish during the season. Hope to session them with some of you!
  1. Drone Militia, V6
  2. Smooth Shrimp, V6
  3. Pope's Prow, V6
  4. Seven Spanish Angels, V6
  5. Cave Route, V6
  6. Change of Heart, V6
  7. Saigon, V6
  8. High Plains Drifter, V7
  9. Go Granny Ho, V7 (and then my love affair with the Grannies will be complete)
  10. Pope's Roof, V7
  11. Junior's Achievement, V8
  12. Checkerboard, V8
  13. Magnetic North, V8
  14. Devoted, V8
  15. Pow Pow, V8 (Sads for the win!)
  16. Swanky Sit, V9
  17. Finder's Fee, V9
By no means do I anticipate sending all of the 6's and 7's on this list, but by god if it isn't a place to start. Anyway, that's about it for now. Hope to see you all out in the Milks this season and happy sending!

NOT Bishop for once - me trying out some beta on Center Visor, V6 at Black Mountain. God this climb is dope. Photo by Adam Kimmel.

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