This problem now brings the total of V8 or harder problems at Governor Dodge to a whopping 2. I seem to always be surprised that so many people go to Dodge instead of Devils Lake. I guess Dodge is where all the cool kids go. Off the top of my head I can think of 10 problems that are V8 or harder at Devils Lake. Out of those, I think 2 of them are unrepeated and one has sat for the better part of this decade without a repeat. I can also think of 2, or possibly more, projects that are proud and very hard.
Is Devil's Lake just not cool anymore? I mean, I like Sandstone way better than Quartzite, but still. There are all these hard problems at the lake and the last time that anyone, to the best of my knowledge, has repeated any of them was when Kelsen and I did Perfect Medium back in the fall of 2007.
I know that the recent activity has been on the exploring and FA's yet to be done at Dodge, but it seems like almost any interest in repeating hard lines is concentrated at Governor Dodge.
All that said, I'm guilty too. I was only out at Devils Lake once last spring and that was to work on Rubberman. Any thoughts??
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I am Psyched on the DL, but I think the allure of sandstone is so tempting. I believe that is he reason why they all climb der, or maybe just the FA hunger?
ReplyDeleteI will be coming into town in early may..
my "to try list" is
-Strong men
-Alpine
-Key Maker (thins is the biggest one)
-nic
Psyched. very very psyched.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Da Lake as much as I maybe should have lately. It's just too good to be left alone.
My problem is footwoork. I dont have the technique or footwork to climb on quartzite. That being said I would really like to try some of taht stuff and ride yours and Nic's coat-tails :-).
ReplyDeleteStrongmen went yesterday by me and Chris Egg-face and its more in the 7 range. Fun thing and was able to put it together real fast. kinda creepy landing.
Did you send Chaos yet ? :-)
Nice Job man!! That's awesome. Seems SV's status as the top line in the area is still holding strong.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been back out to Chaos yet. It's looking like we may be at dodge again this saturday. We're psyched to get back on some of the stuff we were working last fall again. Should be fun.
I'm excited to try strongmen though. It looks like fun.
well if you need it ive got money beta taht would work very well for you! heal hooks galore :-) I think you'll do it fast. I'd like to get out there as well Sat but we'll see what happens.
ReplyDeleteI always like beta. Send it on. feel free to e-mail me - steve@pembaserves.com.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see how it goes.
DL is way harder and more humbling than GD. I think I said this to you Steve this winter that although I enjoy getting humbled once in a while, not *every time* I go out. Not to mention I get lost easily, especially at the Lake. Would love join you guys there sometime to mooch beta and check out some problems.
ReplyDeleteNic- you will have no trouble with Strong Men.
Steve- which harder DL lines are unrepeated?
Sweat- hit me up.
Oops, that last comment was me, Chris e.
ReplyDeleteHah, I figured it was you Chris!
ReplyDeleteOn our way back from Taylors last weekend we stopped and had a day at the Reserve. I was able to get my spring dose of humble and got readily shut down on a 3. It was great.
We spent the better part of 2007 climbing solely at DL and just went from problem to problem in one or two areas trying to tick them off. After so much time on Quartzite it was actually brutally hard to come back to Sandstone. We got so used to how Quartzite climbed. It was kinda funny.
I'm going to try to post an "all encompassing" guide to the reserve soon with full directions and beta.
Both Keymaker and Captains Traverse are unrepeated as far as I know. I haven't seen the Captains Traverse up close though and I'm not sure what it's like. I only have directions.
I'll also try to put up more info on Mountainproject in the near future for the lake. There are many areas that aren't on there.
Yeah, that is one of my frustrations. A lot of the directions are intentionally vague, which I have mixed feelings about. I am familiar with being shut down on sub V3/4 problems at the Lake. This afternoon after work (I am up in Baraboo today) I plan to eat some humble pie on the North Shore. Oh and another frustration is the eliminatry, which I also have mixed feelings about. But I am hoping to get up to the Lake more often this summer as I completely agree with you-- the volume of harder problems is staggering for the midwest. Getting excited while typing this! If anyone is going out today shoot me an email chris eggert at gmail dot com. I would be willing to flail at anything for a few hours, maybe starting ~2pm.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm hoping to fix many of the directions on the site and hopefully clear some stuff up. Directions tend to always be confusing at the lake, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI tend to ignore all of the eliminates now. I just don't care anymore. I may not climb the line with the exact holds and sequence of the FA'ist but I definitely don't care. A lot of the old school guys get really bent out of shape about it but I say just do the natural line and call it good.
If you're going to the north shore you should check out greatest show!!! let me know what you think of it and feel free to send me a note or call if you need better directions. Steve@pembaserves.com
Cool, yeah that has been on the list too, though since I know how to get to SMTK (which I guess I cheated on and need to revisit-- damn eliminates), Venus Rising (shut me down all last summer) and Perfect Medium (which you inspired me to try again) I think I'll head to those first... CE
ReplyDeleteToo many projects.....way too many. SMTK is the king of eliminates it seems. I've never done it for pretty much that reason. I think quality wise I like Venus rising better but Perfect Medium is really really fun and way hard. Bring lots of tape for Perfect Medium. Kelsen and I couldn't pull off of the ground without it. So sharp....
ReplyDeleteWell, turns out I only had an hour, got called back to work, oh well. AMAZING weather out today though, I really missed the smell of the pine forest, it's nice to be back out there walking around. SMTK shut me down (again). I just feel stupid on that (eliminate) problem. I am not even sure I like it, even. I hate problems where my pad is sliding downhill before i even start. Anyway, I think that either that problem or I suck. I suspect the latter. Probably won't go try that one much any more. Finally topped out the arete to the left of SMTK, which was satisfying. Never got up to Venus or Perfect-- called back to work. Oh well. I do think my shoes are horrible for the quartizte. Old, floppy, slightly too-big Mythos are no good.
ReplyDeleteI was also thinking about the Lake issue you mentioned above. I think all of us, whether we like to admit it or not, have some ego. And it kind of painful to pull off "harder" stuff on sandstone then get shut down when actual technique is required at the Lake on "easier" problems. The styles are just so different. I feel like I can muscle my way up a lot of things. Not so at the Lake. And it's simply frustrating. That's it.
Perhaps will be out there again (roped up if the stars line up) on Saturday, maybe with Melin. If anyone wants in, let me know. I only have a half day.
-Anonymous Internet Egghead
Glad you got out, if only a little bit! I completely agree with you about SMTK. I'm not really a fan. It's just never meshed for me. I've spent more days on that stupid problem without a send and I'm fine with that. There are better problems to throw myself at than that one!
ReplyDeleteIt's always tough to go back there and get on some stuff. It seems that the easier climbs out there are more sandbagged than the harder ones. I spent two more days working on Venus Rising(V7) than I did working Perfect Medium(V9). Plus there are countless V2-4's that I've spent so many days on trying to get and have never done it. It's frustrating and somewhat crazy. That's how it goes though. Oh well.
As for shoes, Anasazi Velcros seem to work well for a lot of people there. I also stand by my Testarossas for now. They seem to work great out there.
Hopefully we can get out sometime this year!!!
That would be great. Thanks for the shoe beta. SMTK just seems like so much trickery. Perhaps I could "monkey see monkey do" on it like I usually do on stuff but I haven't "monkey seen" anyone do it ever so I can't "monkey do". Anyway yeah let's head out sometime. It would be more fun to get shut down on stuff with others around! Egghead
ReplyDelete