Bully Wall - part trois

Dave (Lion's Head) Voltan was in town for a few days and I easily convinced him to climb out at Bully wall Saturday. While driving there it was raining and it didn't look to good for climbing. Once we were under Bully wall though the hard projects were dry so we quickly warmed up and jumped on the projs. We made more progress and then chalked a direct start under the main line. The direct start on its own is double digit. Dave was impressed with the wall and kept raving about Lion's Head sport climbing in ON. Time to make some fall plans maybe?
G

Shown here Dave working the direct start on Bully wall. Hard!

Bully wall - part deux

Stamp on the v7 warm-up


Today Stamp, Scooter, and I went out to Bully wall for some climbing before hurricane Bill arrived. We warmed up a bit and did a new low ball traverse that was quite burly for a warm-up (v7/8). We then moved on to the Bully wall project. That thing is intimidating and everyone in the end made some progress. We made some great progress on the arete project on the right side of Bully wall which is going to be really cool.

Scott watching the waves swarming in below Bully wall.

Bully Wall (in Nova Scotia!)

Today I did some work at the BOLO shop. It took me longer than expected and it was 5pm by the time I left and wasn't sure if I should drive out to Bully wall. But I did go and climbed about 2 hours by myself. That seems to be my trend this summer. Easier to plan and honestly less hassle. And I don't mind having some alone time to listen to music, relax and ponder by the ocean. Back at the Bully wall the gem project that will climb straight out the steepness is super duper good. Quality. The crux is going to be at the end. The start is maybe v6. So I climbed as high as I could without a spotter then just figured out what could be the sequence up higher. This thing is going to be incredible once it goes. It has me psyched. Aside from this steep cave there are other fun boulder problems. Some are steep with holds and remind me a bit of the gymnasium at Hueco Tanks. Really fun.

photo: start of gem project

Bolting

Today I rebolted a route called "Enervator" 5.12b at Main face in Musquodoboit Harbour. The old bolts were put in over 15 yrs ago and were quite rusted. I also rapped down on a steep sharp arete that could be a nice line. I was all alone at the cliff today and it was beautiful. I went for a swim and there were few bugs. I didn't climb today but re-bolting this thing gave me a little workout.
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Boulderfest

Got back today from Boulderfest. It was super hot on the island and it actually made it hard to climb. Many people opted to climb Saturday evening instead of the afternoon. 74 people came out for the event with the majority from Halifax and the others from NB, ON, Maine, and New Zealand. I set a personal goal to attempt 100 points climbing only v7s and harder. With the intense heat I knew this would even be harder. Since I was helping with registration I only got on the island at 3:30pm. After 62 points I needed to start taping my fingers. Once I reached 84 points it was 7pm and I was dehydrated. This year the diner was great. CNS and Todd organized pasta, salad, bread and more which was a break from the usual hamburger barbecue. Temps were starting to drop and many people began heading back out for a night session. I went out to see if I could score the missing 16 points to reach my goal of 100 but at 11:30pm I called it quits with a final score of 99! I was still content with my performance seeing how hot it was. Sean and GZ had some fireworks later that night and the campfire was a must. Sunday I just chilled and helped Todd with Pulldown Productions do some shooting for his next film. Always good times when it's sunny on Dover!
Here is what my final scorecard looked like (in order):
- Behave v7 (1st go warmup)
- No dents v8 (2nd go)
- Grippe d'homme v7 (1st go)
- Grippe d'homme sit down v8 (1st go)
- White Lobster v8 (2nd go)
- Smokey and da bandit v8 (2nd go)
- Blacksmith v9 (1st go)
- Third whale v7 (1st go)
- I heel good v7 (1st go)
- White trash v8 (1st go)
- Exciter v7 (1st go)
- Decepticon v7 (1st, go night session)
- Brendan's moped v8 (night session)
TL 99 points

word!

G

Another Musquodoboit boulder testpiece

Last Sunday Rich showed me this boulder he found a few years back near the road for Columbus wall. It is 50' from the main road and has 2-3 nice lines on it. I went back today and sent one of them calling it Snap-on v8. It's the nicest looking line starting with a sit and climbing the centreline. It was quite frustrating while working on this and other lines cause holds kept snappping off. That is the problem so often here around Halifax. When working on harder lines granite edges are very fragile and most of them break off with ease.

Boulderfest 2009, August 1-2

Bfest is coming up soon and I'm crossing my fingers the weather will cooperate. Dover Island is one of the best spots to climb I have ever been to. Tickets are still available for purchase at Ground Zero, Rock Court, Trail Shop, MEC, and through CNS's website. The organizers are planning on having a friendly comp for people who are interested. For the advance category it looks like it might be v7 and over where a v7 is worth 7 points, a v8 8 points, and so on. The total amount of points if you sent all v7s and harder on Dover would be 187. My goal is to reach at least 100pts. Here is my ticklist for bfest:
Out of gas 7 pts
Behave 7 pts
Grippe d'homme 7 pts
I heel good 7 pts
3rd whale 7 pts
Decepticon 7 pts
Exciter 7 pts
White trash 8 pts
Grippe d'homme SDS 8 pts
No dents 8 pts
Smokey and da bandit 8 pts
The great white lobster 8 pts
Brendan's moped 8 pts
Blacksmith 9 pts

total 106 pts


Other v7 and harder not on immediate ticklist:
Acrobat 7 pts
Bloody arete 8 pts
Man of action 9 pts
Shadow in motion 9 pts
Community service 9 pts
Pitbull 9 pts
Stone slinger 10 pts
Horizontal matter 10 pts
Exciter SDS 10 pts


see you there!!

Ghislain

note photo: Me on One Scoop v8 now gone somewhere in the ocean from a winter storm! You will be missed One Scoop! RIP.