September Bouldering Videos

It's been a great week of climbing, starting with a good trip to The Acre on Sunday.  I didn't get much climbing in myself since I was still coming off a rest week, but had fun watching Ben and Vince work on a hard crimpy line in the lowest pit, with a huge press off a two finger crimp to a high sidepull and razor crimp on a questionable flake.  Vince managed the first and only send of the line, pulling hard enough on the flake to detach it another 4-5 inches, making it unsafe for further climbing.  The flake later came off with minimal pressure, and although the line still seems doable, it'll be even harder than before.  Meanwhile, Emily and my mom chose to forgo the overhang in favor of more delicate climbing on the slab nearby.

Yesterday my mom and I went back out to The Acre, thinking it would probably be too wet to climb, but planning at least to get some decent photos of the boulders to start putting together a mini-guide.  With over 70 problems there now, put up by at least 17 different people, things are getting confusing!

Arriving to find most of the rock pleasantly dry, we grabbed the photos we needed and headed to the corridor area to get a couple climbs in.  My mom made a couple attempts at Woozle, then got frustrated and climbed the arete to the left of it, which was slightly easier but way scarier!  I also got on Jon's Intro to Bellydancing to see if I could find a prettier way to work through the slopey topout that had earned the problem its name.  No luck making it look any better, but still a fun problem.

Content with our daily highball fix, we walked over to Bushwhack so I could try Stink, Stank, Stunk!, another of my intended winter projects.  After working on it for a while, and watching a stink bug (appropriately enough) mocking me by effortlessly walking up and down the left arete, I figured out two key bits of beta and was able to send shortly after.  From there, we walked back to the car by way of the After School Special boulders where the trail crosses the ridgeline.  I climbed the beautiful slab problem Bitterness & Shadows, and my mom also tried it and thought it would be a good winter project for her.  Since we were already there, I also decided to try the overhanging arete on the left side of the slab, which I had been curious about for a while.  After figuring out a good starting position, I sent it on the first actual try, calling it Atonement.  I'd still like to get back and try adding another move or two to the start, just to make the fun last longer, but for now here's a video of the day's climbs...

A couple weeks ago I also had the pleasure of climbing with the Adventures in Pebble Wrestling crew at both Coopers and The Acre, where they've recently been busy repeating problems and putting up some great new ones of their own.  Here's a video I put together featuring some of their work...

And one from Tenni...

And another from Max with problems from The Acre, Coopers, and Grayson Highlands...

Finally, I was happy to see that there's also been some recent traffic at the Murray Hill boulders, with Brian putting out this video of a new line there...

Gonna be an exciting Fall!

***Just a reminder that you can check out the Maryland Bouldering Videos Page for links to over 80 videos from Maryland, and a few more from locals on the road.