Saturday morning I shot up to Pine Mountain to do "a little" bouldering with Davi Rivas and his 11 year old son, Carlo. Man, it was just a great day from the start. We fooled around for the next 7 hours on a bunch of V-easy stuff (V0's,V1's, & V2's). I love bouldering. . I love being cordless, putting the moves together, that unnerving tingle when you know you're high off the deck. A day full of bouldering is all the fun I need.
Pine Mountain is home to about the only notable bouldering in Ventura County, but what's there is good, clean fun. Some problems are easy, but tall. Some are short but hard. It's a good mix with a little something for most folks.
I find myself, when talking about climbing, wishing I was younger. As in: uninjured. Unfortunately, I have to climb within certain restrictions that accommodate my extensive list of chronic injuries. The real problem is that if I pull down too hard or crank wrong with my right arm, I could wind up blowing what remains of right my biceps tendon. This is a bummer, but I'm learning to just enjoy a day on the rock for what it is. My days of hard climbing seem to be behind me. I've known that fact for years, but between the injuries and my other interests I'm learning that anything in life that affects me starts with my perception, and since I got really hurt over a decade ago I've slowly rediscovered the joy of moving on rock, regardless of how easy or hard it is. Nowadays I can usually look at a climb or boulder problem and decide to climb it or blow it off, makes no difference to me. I'm there to have fun. No need to prove myself if it means that I'll end up in an OR with some dead person's tendon in my arm. Because that just doesn't sound like as much fun as walking a little further to climb something easier
Pine Mountain is home to about the only notable bouldering in Ventura County, but what's there is good, clean fun. Some problems are easy, but tall. Some are short but hard. It's a good mix with a little something for most folks.
I find myself, when talking about climbing, wishing I was younger. As in: uninjured. Unfortunately, I have to climb within certain restrictions that accommodate my extensive list of chronic injuries. The real problem is that if I pull down too hard or crank wrong with my right arm, I could wind up blowing what remains of right my biceps tendon. This is a bummer, but I'm learning to just enjoy a day on the rock for what it is. My days of hard climbing seem to be behind me. I've known that fact for years, but between the injuries and my other interests I'm learning that anything in life that affects me starts with my perception, and since I got really hurt over a decade ago I've slowly rediscovered the joy of moving on rock, regardless of how easy or hard it is. Nowadays I can usually look at a climb or boulder problem and decide to climb it or blow it off, makes no difference to me. I'm there to have fun. No need to prove myself if it means that I'll end up in an OR with some dead person's tendon in my arm. Because that just doesn't sound like as much fun as walking a little further to climb something easier
A special "Thanks" to Carlo for hanging out with the cameras all day. He took the first photo on this entry.
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