U.S.A.

Ceri and I flew out to L.A at the end of December to start our two month trip in the U.S. Picking up our van and heading out to Bishop was great, we'd had a rest over Christmas and recovered from a busy few months getting things together and so we were mad keen to get stuck in. The first couple of weeks we toured about taking in the main areas and getting on lots of projects. The temps were a little warm to say the least but I managed a few v10s and got some idea what was possible or not! The forecast for Yosemite looked too good to miss, so we took a punt and drove around to the north through some great scenery. Arriving in Yosemite started as a mixed bag, I tried the Dominator on the first day and wrecked my knee a little trying to rock over the 'hard' move, then it rained and we wondered if it was a good plan driving the five plus hours. Luckily we bumped into Irish Si Moore in the cafe, it was great to catch up and he assured us the weather would be good. Over the next couple of weeks the weather played ball...it was mint, almost cheating. I started over and finished a long-term dream of Midnight Lightning v8 (the most famous boulder problem in the world?),fought hard on Shadow Warrior v12, Across the Tracks v10, Stanley Steamer v11 (ss to Wall to Wall Carpet v9). I had a 'magic' day at Camp 4 climbing Thriller v10 (the 'best' problem in the world?...maybe), The Force v9 and Stick It v11...one of the best climbing days of my life. I finished with 6 Degrees v10 which was excellent but The Dominator was so close but 'the move' was stubborn...next time. We've just arrived back in Bishop to very warm temps, but with a little shade and decent holds I nailed Kill On Sight v12 at the Tablelands and am keen for more. It rained/snowed today so we are resting and waiting for the granite to cool...