Triple Crown 2009: Hound Ears

The first leg of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series was unexpectedly one of the funnest days of small-pebble wrassling I've had to date. Thanks for sending me FiveTen. Climbing in a new area with great friends on a perfect Fall day doesn't get much better. The style of climbing suited me pretty well too--steep powerful movements on incut crimps. Its hard to pick a favorite for the day, but if I had to, my top three would be Stupid Human, The Crusher, and whatever the long, traversing one was where Phil--my savior for the finish--pointed out the last five holds for me when I was pumped out of my dome. Thanks.

Climbing with Phil, or just being around the kid, is generally hilarious. "I've never been betrayed like this--ever," he commented about his skin early in the day, which set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. He suffered bad, but that's what you get for circuiting V12 in RMNP just one day before. Dingleberry. Nonetheless, he climbed as strong as always.

Maximus Zolotukhin, on his 9th tour of Hound Ears, had an impressive day as well, hiking pretty much all the hard classics and nabbing a stout repeat of Random Man, a three move problem that had not been repeated since James Litz' FA eight years prior.

In the end, Jimmy Webb, the local crushing monster, took first in front of Brion Voges, who established an FA for the day to the left of the Crusher called Half Price Pornos (probably the best name in climbing...ever). Max finished third, taking away $200. Rad. I ended up 5th for the day just behind Phil, who just just repeated Jade (V15) a few weeks ago. There were over 300 competitors at the event; hopefully, next year is even bigger.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed watching Phil have a temper-tantrum. Horse Pens next!