The old "tower"... the cave inside held the bouldering.

In the midst of several skin injuries, and a scary but not-so-bad tendon injury, you'd think I'd blog more, right?  I thought that too, until Valerie, the manager of Rockquest Climbing Center, called to tell me that she'd gotten the green light to tear down the old, terribly outdated "tower" that served as our pseudo bouldering area.  In it's place we would build a new, topout-able wall.  That same night, I went in to tear down the first few sheets of plywood, so there would be no turning back.

LOTS of people put LOTS of hours into the demolition of the old tower, and construction of the new boulder.   We had a deadline to meet as well... as we were hosting a comp on October 30th.  With the help of my friend and fellow climber Anthony Kempf, I finished painting the boulder on October 28th, putting paint on the plywood as it was being hung.  The setters, led by the gyms head setter, Tony Frey, came through and the comp was a success.  Now, after climbing on the boulder for a few sessions, I can honestly say that we've created something pretty special.  I'm extra psyched for the winter training to begin.

At first, it resembled a ship.  "The Ark", coined by Margarita Martinez, became the working name.  After several 18 hour days of painting, I sat back and saw something new emerge... a tool with which to shape steel.  

Introducing:  The Anvil 

Frank Cleveland drove down from Indy to finish up a few things he had left from the comp.

Kory and Annalissa on The Anvil.

Kaitlynn on the "Ceuse" inspired side.

Kaitlynn on the "Mill Creek" inspired side.

Alex Southward on my latest creation, a cool compression problem. 

Now I can get back to training, back to climbing, and back to chasing these goals.  Time's a wastin'...