SMASH BOX PRODUCTIONS: Victory is Bittersweet.

I reported yesterday that Andrew and I would be getting back out today to try and complete Kung Fu (v8). It has been a sort of project of mine for the season. It would be our second consecutive day on the climb an my fifth day total, with Andrew putting in seven days on the line. The weather could not have been better. Sunshine and cold temperatures kept us psyched to chuck burns on the Moondye Boulder's classic v8. One problem: the hold was seeping still from the storm a couple days previous. Solution: blow torch. When we got to the climb in the morning, even prior to warming on some more moderate boulders, we torched the moisture out of the hold and it stayed dry all day long!
Its a bittersweet feeling I get when I say I finally sent the problem. Bittersweet because Andrew was not successful as well. Despite consistently climbing through the crux move, he was not able to stick the final dyno to the lip. Every time he fell, my heart sank. The good news is that he is super close to finishing and with rest, I know he will have the energy to deliver.
Having finished what was originally intended to take an entire season and not being able to do many of the moves on the first day, it feels both incredibly rewarding and somewhat disappointing. I love the feeling of hitting the last hold and sticking to it like white on rice, but trying it for so long and making progress was perhaps the best feeling in climbing that I've experienced. I love that it took me five days of work over more than five weeks. In fact I would be happy to fall off of it for another several days had I not finished it today. The whole experience has been very inspiring and shown me what is capable if I am determined enough. That being said, here are some pictures from the day. Perhaps the most funny of these is the one in which I am hanging from the last hold giving a shockingly loud victory cry. Enjoy.