Higher and Harder

My obsession with Man on the Moon started with my ever growing love for taller boulders. Over the past two years i feel i have climbed alot of the high ball boulders that have been established at the New while also adding a few of my own. High ball bouldering is my favorite type of climbing. Something about being in the No fall zone and being able to remain clam takes me to a place that nothing else comes close to. When i first saw the Line it was considered a project in the old New River Gorge bouldering guide book. It seemed unreasonable to try and boulder it at first. Its A perfect 25ish foot face with good holds down low that lead to a blank section about 3/4 the way up followed by what look like jugs from the ground. The landing isn't exactly ideal. The farther up you go the more the ground slopes away, so 25 ft of climbing can turn into a 30 ft fall from the top which is border line soloing in my book. I finally decided last fall to rap the boulder and see exactly what the deal was.  The very first thing i noticed was that the top out was no joke. The lip of the boulder is just a large sloper with one thumb catch for your right hand. and above the lip where two small crimps 1/4 pad and 1/2 pad. I didn't really think to much about it i figure it was manageable and kept lowering. i got down to the blank section and I felt like it was pretty straight forward.  I was stoked . I rallied up about 10 pads for the first day and i decided that i would have to try and go ground up without trying any moves on the rope. I got completely shut down, it was way harder then i originally thought. I ended going back a few days later and worked out the moves on a single line while pulling rope as i was climbing. this wasn't an easy thing to do this boulder is steep and the holds are very small. i ended up having to get my girl friend Michelle to come out and pull me into the wall just so i could work the moves out. I figured out the top pretty fast. It ended up not being very hard just extremely technical and i felt like falling off the top was a good possibility if i was even a little pumped. That first day on the rope i never could quite do the crux move in the blank section but i still felt like i saw the way to do it. I felt like it was all about sticking that move one time and it would be over. I went back about a month later after some cooler temps came around and tried again. this time i was making it to the crux but wasn't even getting close to sticking the move. I ended up back on the rope that day just trying that single move over and over. i must have tried it 30 times that day. Then it happened I stuck The Move. I couldn't believe it . I yelled in excitement It goes i cant believe it goes. From that second on i knew i had to climb this boulder. I have to name my projects before i send them. for me its like my own little way to make it seem like its really a climb. If i call something a project to much it gets in my head that its to hard for me or i would have done it already. I figured standing on top of this boulder would be the closest feeling i would ever get to standing on the moon. Man on the Moon seemed fitting. I went back multiple times over the fall and even into the winter i spent roughly 10 days putting effort into it over a 4 month time frame

.  I couldn't try it day after day because i knew i would have to be at 100% or i could possibly fall off the top. One day while working it I ended up sticking the crux move and did the next move to the Jug. as soon as I hit the jug I realized that I was too pumped to do the top. I shook out for a few seconds on the jug and made two more moves to the lip and then I backed off I knew that if I would have tried the mantle I would have taken the worst possible fall and probably would have been really hurt. I had mixed feeling about that moment. I was happy because I knew that I could do it but I realized that it would take confidence to top this thing out. I knew that this boulder was very close to the limit of what I was capable physically but mentally I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull it off. I was scared to fall off the top. with no Health insurance I couldn't really afford a serious injury. I went back by myself and worked the top out into submission doing it over and over until I felt that there was no doubt in my sequence. I went back a few times after that and couldn't stick the crux again. I started to think that the time I bailed was my time and I let it slip away. It started to mess with my head. I wanted to climb this boulder so bad. I took about a month off from trying it i worked on my core my power and my endurance. I wanted to be in the best shape of my life for my next attempts . I was ready, i remember telling Michelle that morning that today is the day. i felt light confident and I wasn't putting any pressure on my self to send i was just going to go for it. i was either going to send or die. Click on the Link to My vimeo page to see the raw footage.https://vimeo.com/69916032



Photo taken by Pat Goodman

The Dries First Look

 This past fall I was contacted by Dan Sohner about shooting a video about The New River Gorge bouldering development. There was no real plan at first except for shoot some climbing footage and talk about the bouldering. We didnt really have a direction. I just wanted to show people that the New River Dries are truly a unique bouldering destination. And I think Dan nailed it. Click the link to see the video.

http://www.dpmclimbing.com/climbing-videos/watch/new-river-dries

News for the New River

The NEWS on NEW

Brookfield Renewable owns and operates  Hawks Nest dam. Hawks Nest dam isn't your normal dam  it  diverts 10,000 cfs of the New River through a 3 mile long 30 ft diameter tunnel to a power plant down stream from the dam. The diverted New river rejoins its natural path just below Gauley Bridge WV. The power plant creates a very specific amount of power for a manufacturing plant further down stream. This plant is a silicon metal plant. They are the largest silicon smelting plant in North America. It runs 24/7 and fills 30% of our countries silicon metal needs.  November 2012 started the 5 year long relicensing process for Hawks  Nest dam. This is going to affect a lot of different people. There was a public hearing in Ansted WV where Brookfield Renewable Energy had a public meeting where they explained what was going on and gave individuals a chance speak about whatever their interests are in this process.

AlloyMetals

Gone but never forgotten 

The hawks Nest Tunnel

Stakeholders.At the meeting the issue of minimum flow level on the dries was stated to be to low by environmentalists. The Commercial white water industry wants to sell short trips of class three rafting. They want scheduled releases of water on the dries during the summer months. The alloy plant down stream was designed to run off the power that the dam creates. Any loss in water means they lose productivity and possibly jobs. The climbers want the minimum flow to stay the same so that we can access the remote parts of the river for bouldering in the winter season.

What this means for climbers.

The past few years the Dries have seen a lot of bouldering development. The dries has very remote sectors down stream from Cotton Bottom boulders. You can walk down the river during the minimum Flow days and even cross in some areas. The minimum flow on the dries right now is 100 cfs which means that during the times of minimum flow the entire river becomes a bouldering Promised Land for the climber that is willing to explore. There is potential that Brookfield would be willing to work with the climbers to put in a trail system that could mean 15 minute approaches to sectors that normally would take hours walking down the river from Cotton Hill. Brookfield is aware of the climbing and fishing that takes place on other parts of there property and are open to the idea of allowing more recreational access. With that being said its up to us climbers to show land owners that we can be responsible and respect there property. They dont have to let us climb there. Thats a fact. There are  places all over the country where climbers have trespassed to climb on rocks that most land owners didn't even know were there. Climbing development is more then just finding and climbing new lines. I understand how hard it is to explain bouldering to someone who has no idea what rock climbing is or why people do it, but it is a necessary step. Locking in legitimate access is the most important part. Brookfield is going to need volunteers for the studies on the dries during the relicensing process. This could entail carrying equipment, surveying and even helping them navigate the remote areas on the dries. Climbers have the opportunity to work directly with the land owners that hold the key to more climbing. That is something that we should take pride in. No other user group has put in the miles on the dries like the local climbers have. Anyone wanting to volunteer to help with the studies can e-mail david.barnhart@brookfieldrenewable.com. He is the operations manager for Hawks Nest. These studies will take place over the next two years. The best way to stay informed is to get on the mailing list for the Hawks Nest relicensing process. I will also keep current updates on this blog.

Remote sector on the dries

Hawks Nest OG classic. white eyebrow

Pat Goodman putting up a New line 

Wing span. Just below Hawks Nest dam. 

Water Level on the dries.

Enter the Ninja. Newest addition to Cotton Bottom

This link takes you to USGS site that tells current gauge height below the dam. 4 ft its just over Min flow(100cfs) http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?380649081083301

Any one wanting to experience Bouldering on the New River Dries should reach out to any of the locals or waterstone for more info. E mail me at nicspruill@gmail.com

The Dries

The New River Dries

   The Dries, you've heard of it or you haven't, but I would be more than willing to bet you've never been there. Not to say that you wouldnt what to. Trust me you do. The Dries are the last 5.5 miles of the New River that starts below the Hawks Nest dam. The dam has a tunnel that diverts  about 10,000 cfs of water from the New, any more then that is released from the dam and flows down the dries. The lack of water on the Dries makes it a truly unique place because it leaves hundreds of polished sand stone boulders revealed. The Hawks Nest and Cotton Hill sectors of the Dries has been what most people think of when they think of New River Gorge Bouldering but are just two of the many sectors on the 5.5 mile stretch. The hill that is located between rt 16 and the river is owned by Brookfield Renewable Energy. They have allowed  rock climbers to use Hawksnest and Cottonhill areas for years. Over the years climbers have slowly explored the areas down stream from cotton hill. During minimum flow days you can park at Cotton Hill and walk down the river all the way to Gauley Bridge. The New has never really seen a strong push for bouldering development until the recent years. The local bouldering community is pulling together to getting things done. Efforts range from finding cleaning and climbing first ascents to trying to make sure we have legitimate access so that others can come to the New and see what it's Dries have to offer. Check out some pics and video from this past year on the Dries. Anyone interested in checking out the bouldering at the New should reach out to the locals and they will point you in the right direction. Waterstone Outdoors has directions and info to get to some of these areas. Check out the link on the bottom of the page to see a video from Skerv.

Crux move on Enter the Ninja.
The stand start to the left of V-sixteen

                                                                     The New New