So i updated the blog a bit to make it look nice. also made a youtube account for climbing vids since it seems like my files are getting too large for vimeo.
Here's a vid from two weeks ago of my ascent of dragon turns v9, and working on crouching dragon v11
i got a couple clips from last friday in peterskill where i worked on jefe v10. i only had about a half hour to work on it, and i got all the moves except the last one, so hopefully a send will be coming soon. i didnt figure out what im gonna do for the last move yet, so it could possibly be the crux. not sure.
goin to peterskill this friday in hopes of sending!
oh, and if you like v5 or v7 and climb in peterskill, go climb Classic V5 or its extension the hop V7.
such a fun climb! 4 star moves with a perfect topout. so fun :)
later
Wooooweee. lots to talk about.
So my last update was almost 2 months ago. I feel like a lot has happened in that time.
I haven't been able to climb outside since the last update. The weather has been shot on the days that I'm able to make the hike up to New Paltz.
But last week was different! I finally got a decent day in terms of temps. It was drizzling here and there. but it was just nice to be out again.
I've seen some drastic improvements in strength. Especially crimp strength. I knew my crimps needed to get stronger to handle harder problems.
I saw a brick wall at my job and always looked at 1/4 pad crimps, wondering if it was climbable. I felt like it was, except the feet are terrible, I can barely fit my climbing shoes into the crevasses because of how thin they are.
I didn't climb on it that often, maybe once a week for about 3 weeks. The pressure on my joints hurt really bad, and i knew that it meant i could get stronger on them. It was sharp and would leave tears in my skin!
So anyway. besides that, ive been eating normal except a ton of chocolate milk and some calcium tablets.
Last week I went to the trapps, while my friends worked the buddha v7, i worked the first extension, illustrious buddha v8. It was my 2nd day trying the extension, the first day i got to the last move and couldnt throw to the jug. the 2nd day, from the very first go, i got to the last move, but the intermediate was so bad and my shoes kept slipping off with the heel hooks. after a bunch of tries, i decided to click my heels together when i cut feet to put the shoes back on and go to the top all at once. it worked! i sent. awesome problem.
the same day i went to work on boxcar arete and the art of nothing. both v8's.
i didnt think id send boxcar, because when i tried it back in june, my crimp strength was no where near where i needed it to be. so i tried it anyway, and first try i found myself at the top reaching for the jug horn! i cruised through all the moves and they didnt even feel hard. crimp training at my work i suppose...
unfortunately, i had some elbow tendonitis from climbing 3 days in a row, including trying to complete all 14 new problems at the gym the previous night (got 12).
so i lacked the power to campus (i know) to the horn..
walked over to art of nothing, awesome problem. totally looked my style. crimps (now) and a dyno. it was went but i went for it anyway. my 2nd go i was reaching for the top! once again i lacked the power...i really should have waited for the flash, i believe i could have since its a pretty straightforward, short problem.
so the following week i went back to finish boxcar and the art of nothing. i sent boxcar first go after warming up on a v0 and v2, and then sent art of nothing 2nd go. pretty sweet!
so i wanted to try dragon turns v9, since i only tried it once back in april and wasnt even close to sticking the opening.
after some tries, i found myself throwing for the lip for the topout...!! i caught the jug with the tips of my fingers, and went to readjust, and then this happened:
such a bummer! ive never done that to my finger before, but i cut a chunk out of it!
so once again i had another cliff hanger (lol). another problem i have to go back and do..i was too close!
so here are some videos. the first one has me doing illustrious and the 2nd has boxcar and the art of nothing...
So my last update was almost 2 months ago. I feel like a lot has happened in that time.
I haven't been able to climb outside since the last update. The weather has been shot on the days that I'm able to make the hike up to New Paltz.
But last week was different! I finally got a decent day in terms of temps. It was drizzling here and there. but it was just nice to be out again.
I've seen some drastic improvements in strength. Especially crimp strength. I knew my crimps needed to get stronger to handle harder problems.
I saw a brick wall at my job and always looked at 1/4 pad crimps, wondering if it was climbable. I felt like it was, except the feet are terrible, I can barely fit my climbing shoes into the crevasses because of how thin they are.
I didn't climb on it that often, maybe once a week for about 3 weeks. The pressure on my joints hurt really bad, and i knew that it meant i could get stronger on them. It was sharp and would leave tears in my skin!
So anyway. besides that, ive been eating normal except a ton of chocolate milk and some calcium tablets.
Last week I went to the trapps, while my friends worked the buddha v7, i worked the first extension, illustrious buddha v8. It was my 2nd day trying the extension, the first day i got to the last move and couldnt throw to the jug. the 2nd day, from the very first go, i got to the last move, but the intermediate was so bad and my shoes kept slipping off with the heel hooks. after a bunch of tries, i decided to click my heels together when i cut feet to put the shoes back on and go to the top all at once. it worked! i sent. awesome problem.
the same day i went to work on boxcar arete and the art of nothing. both v8's.
i didnt think id send boxcar, because when i tried it back in june, my crimp strength was no where near where i needed it to be. so i tried it anyway, and first try i found myself at the top reaching for the jug horn! i cruised through all the moves and they didnt even feel hard. crimp training at my work i suppose...
unfortunately, i had some elbow tendonitis from climbing 3 days in a row, including trying to complete all 14 new problems at the gym the previous night (got 12).
so i lacked the power to campus (i know) to the horn..
walked over to art of nothing, awesome problem. totally looked my style. crimps (now) and a dyno. it was went but i went for it anyway. my 2nd go i was reaching for the top! once again i lacked the power...i really should have waited for the flash, i believe i could have since its a pretty straightforward, short problem.
so the following week i went back to finish boxcar and the art of nothing. i sent boxcar first go after warming up on a v0 and v2, and then sent art of nothing 2nd go. pretty sweet!
so i wanted to try dragon turns v9, since i only tried it once back in april and wasnt even close to sticking the opening.
after some tries, i found myself throwing for the lip for the topout...!! i caught the jug with the tips of my fingers, and went to readjust, and then this happened:
such a bummer! ive never done that to my finger before, but i cut a chunk out of it!
so once again i had another cliff hanger (lol). another problem i have to go back and do..i was too close!
so here are some videos. the first one has me doing illustrious and the 2nd has boxcar and the art of nothing...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
I had a great summer.
I didn't get to climb outdoors, but got some good rest time when I went on a missions trip to the dominican republic.
everything was slow paced, and I really found the center of it all. I gained insight on my future, and what it means to love God.
so the temps have been favorable. I went to the gunks 3 times in september alone!
In short,
A day in the trapps, i got one move away from sending Illustrious Buddha V8. Somehow the moves seem like theyre coming together. just a big lockoff to the jug.
A day at peterskill, i worked on tigerstyle, felt pretty impossible. But as i got my hands in the right positions, and worked on that technical end, it started coming together. Eventually i set up for the dyno, and my hand touched the lip, but no send. So we moved onto other things we didnt have beta for...like dwarf toss v8...we started in the wrong place and it made it really really really hard. might be cool if i climb v11..
so yesterday i went to peterskill again to take down tigerstyle, and it went! afterwards we went to village idiot v7 and i almost flashed it. i was stoked. in a few goes after i realized there was an actual lip to throw for at the top, i sent.
my friend dave got some awesome shots of the send,
and a video.
vengaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
I didn't get to climb outdoors, but got some good rest time when I went on a missions trip to the dominican republic.
everything was slow paced, and I really found the center of it all. I gained insight on my future, and what it means to love God.
so the temps have been favorable. I went to the gunks 3 times in september alone!
In short,
A day in the trapps, i got one move away from sending Illustrious Buddha V8. Somehow the moves seem like theyre coming together. just a big lockoff to the jug.
A day at peterskill, i worked on tigerstyle, felt pretty impossible. But as i got my hands in the right positions, and worked on that technical end, it started coming together. Eventually i set up for the dyno, and my hand touched the lip, but no send. So we moved onto other things we didnt have beta for...like dwarf toss v8...we started in the wrong place and it made it really really really hard. might be cool if i climb v11..
so yesterday i went to peterskill again to take down tigerstyle, and it went! afterwards we went to village idiot v7 and i almost flashed it. i was stoked. in a few goes after i realized there was an actual lip to throw for at the top, i sent.
my friend dave got some awesome shots of the send,
and a video.
Tiger Style V7 from Alan Kahn on Vimeo.
vengaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
So my ring finger's tendon has almost completely healed. i can dead hang on my campus board on the good two finger pockets now.
my middle finger's crimp pulley is almost completely healed too. ive been able to crimp pretty hard on it. ive lost some crimp strength from my right hand taking a break because of my wrist and my left hand taking a break because of the injury in hueco...but im good to go now!
my good friend JJ had vacation this past week for the first time in 2 years, and he really wanted to climb a lot...so we climbed 5 days this week...saturday, monday, tuesday, thursday, and friday. each session was at least 3 hours long. i was wrecked on tuesday! i felt the elbow tendonitis coming back, and i tried very hard to keep climbing lol.
climbed at brooklyn boulders, garden state rocks, earth treks in rockville near washington d.c., elite climbing gym in south jersey by philly, and manhattan health plaza club rock gym in nyc.
at bkb, i didnt feel too strong, i had a 5 day break to rest up and i needed to break my muscles in again..but i took some vids of v9 attempts (video below)
monday at gsr, i felt strong. i finally sent the red v8 pinch problem (video below). that v8 felt really hard when i first tried it over a month ago. i sent the problem first go on monday, and it made me really feel like im progressing. i also sent a orange v6- upstairs with my really burly beta that makes it go at v7, first go. that problem felt really hard with my bad beta the first time i ever tried it, so once again i felt good.
tuesday in d.c. i felt drained. however, i managed to make progress on a couple v9's and 8's, although no sends. one particular v9 on the overhang involved a powerful heelhook, big throw move which started up my elbow tendonitis..
thursday at elite, almost nothing was graded because it was all new, but i was able to bust out a send on a problem that i was maxing out on. i felt my fingers uncurling, but i pulled through. no matter what grade, i felt that i mentally made progress. there was also a pretty gnarly crimp problem i made some progress on. but i felt whooped.
friday at mhpc, i was dead. but i still climbed somehow... in fact, i almost flashed a v7+ on the overhang. it felt pretty burly even with being super sore. i made progress on a v-hard there as well. seeing jj and manuel try the problem, although they were tired as well, helped me get a sense of how hard the problems were. the problems were much more beta intensive, but i had fun, and was glad to be on new stuff.
tomorrow is another day. i took off the past two days from climbing, and im trying to recover so that i can climb hard at gsr tomorrow. i have an idea of what i want to work on. i really feel like im about to make a big breakthrough in my climbing. we shall see!
(by the way, in a couple days it will be exactly 1 year and a half since i started climbing. im getting old.)
my middle finger's crimp pulley is almost completely healed too. ive been able to crimp pretty hard on it. ive lost some crimp strength from my right hand taking a break because of my wrist and my left hand taking a break because of the injury in hueco...but im good to go now!
my good friend JJ had vacation this past week for the first time in 2 years, and he really wanted to climb a lot...so we climbed 5 days this week...saturday, monday, tuesday, thursday, and friday. each session was at least 3 hours long. i was wrecked on tuesday! i felt the elbow tendonitis coming back, and i tried very hard to keep climbing lol.
climbed at brooklyn boulders, garden state rocks, earth treks in rockville near washington d.c., elite climbing gym in south jersey by philly, and manhattan health plaza club rock gym in nyc.
at bkb, i didnt feel too strong, i had a 5 day break to rest up and i needed to break my muscles in again..but i took some vids of v9 attempts (video below)
monday at gsr, i felt strong. i finally sent the red v8 pinch problem (video below). that v8 felt really hard when i first tried it over a month ago. i sent the problem first go on monday, and it made me really feel like im progressing. i also sent a orange v6- upstairs with my really burly beta that makes it go at v7, first go. that problem felt really hard with my bad beta the first time i ever tried it, so once again i felt good.
tuesday in d.c. i felt drained. however, i managed to make progress on a couple v9's and 8's, although no sends. one particular v9 on the overhang involved a powerful heelhook, big throw move which started up my elbow tendonitis..
thursday at elite, almost nothing was graded because it was all new, but i was able to bust out a send on a problem that i was maxing out on. i felt my fingers uncurling, but i pulled through. no matter what grade, i felt that i mentally made progress. there was also a pretty gnarly crimp problem i made some progress on. but i felt whooped.
friday at mhpc, i was dead. but i still climbed somehow... in fact, i almost flashed a v7+ on the overhang. it felt pretty burly even with being super sore. i made progress on a v-hard there as well. seeing jj and manuel try the problem, although they were tired as well, helped me get a sense of how hard the problems were. the problems were much more beta intensive, but i had fun, and was glad to be on new stuff.
tomorrow is another day. i took off the past two days from climbing, and im trying to recover so that i can climb hard at gsr tomorrow. i have an idea of what i want to work on. i really feel like im about to make a big breakthrough in my climbing. we shall see!
(by the way, in a couple days it will be exactly 1 year and a half since i started climbing. im getting old.)
Red V8 @ GSR from Alan Kahn on Vimeo.
Two V9 Attempts @ BKB from Alan Kahn on Vimeo.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wow. it's been a WHILE since i updated.
let me fill you in with some short details.
i injured my left hand middle finger crimp pulley in hueco
i injured my right hand ring finger pocket pulley on a v9 at the gravity vault in chatham
ive mostly been trying to rehab my injuries, and am able to start climbing semi-normally only now...although this past week, ive been climbing every other day unintentionally and im starting to feel my tendons wearing down again.
ive been doing some secret training to get stronger, but i have only been able to implement my training for a week or so..but i have seen some good results.
i went to the gunks last tuesday and the week before that...
sent the buddha v6/7 on my 3rd go
worked on boxcar arete v8 (i can get 2 moves from the top, and almost am able to start from there and topout. but i need to get stronger, maybe in a month ill be strong enough to send it. really hard on my crimps right now..)
ive been getting better flow on easier problems like the lorax v4, and the gill egg v4. im understanding things a lot better now.
at my home gym GSR, theres one red v8 project that im able to link up to the crux, and then from the crux get to the finish, but the crux is just a little bit rough for me to do on command every time. i think i can pull it off this week, but its a basic power pinch problem, and really powerful on a steep overhang.
they put up a bunch of new problems the other day and i either flashed or got 2nd go every problem on the boulder except a new black v8. the new black v8 includes a scrunchy foot that you have to make a big move off tiny crimps. it seems impossible for me at my level now. but i have some time, hopefully i can dispatch it before it gets taken down.
so i wont bore you with too much more detail...im trying to get stronger, im starting to take protein again, tuesday i was WRECKED.
climbed at the gunks all day and came back home and climbed at gsr...definitely overdid it that day.
anyway. here's a vid from the gunks of me re-sending the buddha. enjoy.
let me fill you in with some short details.
i injured my left hand middle finger crimp pulley in hueco
i injured my right hand ring finger pocket pulley on a v9 at the gravity vault in chatham
ive mostly been trying to rehab my injuries, and am able to start climbing semi-normally only now...although this past week, ive been climbing every other day unintentionally and im starting to feel my tendons wearing down again.
ive been doing some secret training to get stronger, but i have only been able to implement my training for a week or so..but i have seen some good results.
i went to the gunks last tuesday and the week before that...
sent the buddha v6/7 on my 3rd go
worked on boxcar arete v8 (i can get 2 moves from the top, and almost am able to start from there and topout. but i need to get stronger, maybe in a month ill be strong enough to send it. really hard on my crimps right now..)
ive been getting better flow on easier problems like the lorax v4, and the gill egg v4. im understanding things a lot better now.
at my home gym GSR, theres one red v8 project that im able to link up to the crux, and then from the crux get to the finish, but the crux is just a little bit rough for me to do on command every time. i think i can pull it off this week, but its a basic power pinch problem, and really powerful on a steep overhang.
they put up a bunch of new problems the other day and i either flashed or got 2nd go every problem on the boulder except a new black v8. the new black v8 includes a scrunchy foot that you have to make a big move off tiny crimps. it seems impossible for me at my level now. but i have some time, hopefully i can dispatch it before it gets taken down.
so i wont bore you with too much more detail...im trying to get stronger, im starting to take protein again, tuesday i was WRECKED.
climbed at the gunks all day and came back home and climbed at gsr...definitely overdid it that day.
anyway. here's a vid from the gunks of me re-sending the buddha. enjoy.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
So by the way, Easter weekend (April 2nd-4th) I, along with my friends JJ and Manuel, went to Hueco Tanks in El Paso Texas.
Yeah. it was a short trip, but it was definitely worth it!
We couldn't stay longer because of work/school/etc. but this is the time to go before it gets too hot...so we just did it.
left early friday and flew back 2am sunday night. i had a test early monday morning too hahah
Got to see a bunch of sweet classics, See Spot Run V6, T-Bone Shuffle V4, Nobody Here Gets Out Alive V2, Power Of Silence V10 (recently sent by Ashima who's only 8 years old.) 3D V7, Esperanza V14...to name a few.
The atmosphere was so awesome. It was completely dead silent. You could hear people whispering in their tents from 50 feet away.
The stars were blinding at night. It was fantastic!
As for sends, I personally didn't get much to work on for lack of time. But I got to flash T-bone shuffle V4, which was a super awesome problem.
We had 20 minutes left before we had to leave to catch a plane home on sunday, and I really really wanted to try 3D V7 next to Alma Blanca V13.
So I worked on it, it was pretty rough! But I'm very happy to say that I linked it to two different sections, The only move I couldn't get was a weird cross move to an undercling jug. I was touching it but we ran out of time...
If only i had an extra day to try it! but oh well. I'm still happy, it was a really fun trip.
Now I have returned and am back in business...So much work to do! It was really nice to escape everything for a weekend. I kinda forgot i existed. haha.
I went to the gunks on monday night for 3 hours, didn't get to send anything new, but I am proud to say that I got the first two opening moves on Karajo V11! I got video of it too...Now I'm obsessing over getting back to the gunks to work on it some more...It's definitely a milestone boulder for me, that top-out is crazy scary to me.
Well first i better get New Pair of Glasses V7 done...and then I'll get the remaining 3 extension moves...My shoulders are still very sore.
Lots of work to do! Maybe I'll post some video later.
Check out all the photos on facebook here
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Hey! Short update:
After I climbed in florida, I climbed for 3 days straight, which is a huge improvement from the past month of injury!
I have no endurance and I'm very very sore. Over the weekend I climbed at Brooklyn Boulders, It's always really fun there!
I just wanted to put up a video that I took of a pretty V7 I sent there.
I sent the problem, got really pumped, and took a vid. In the vid i dont send it.
I guess you dont have to believe me that I sent it in 3 tries, or that i sent it at all, lol
But here's the video nonetheless
btw: after changing a tire last saturday during the apocalyptic weather, I hurt my wrist a little bit...It seems to be getting back to normal again, it just got a little swollen.
Hueco is a week from friday! need to build endurance...
After I climbed in florida, I climbed for 3 days straight, which is a huge improvement from the past month of injury!
I have no endurance and I'm very very sore. Over the weekend I climbed at Brooklyn Boulders, It's always really fun there!
I just wanted to put up a video that I took of a pretty V7 I sent there.
I sent the problem, got really pumped, and took a vid. In the vid i dont send it.
I guess you dont have to believe me that I sent it in 3 tries, or that i sent it at all, lol
But here's the video nonetheless
btw: after changing a tire last saturday during the apocalyptic weather, I hurt my wrist a little bit...It seems to be getting back to normal again, it just got a little swollen.
Hueco is a week from friday! need to build endurance...
Monday, March 22, 2010
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