The Birthday Bouldering Challenge

  So this past week was my birthday and as reluctant as I am to admit it...I am getting old and feeble!  In an effort to fight the affects of turning yet another year older I had the bright idea of mimicking a bouldering challenge that I saw before that some strong climbers out of Massachusetts attempted and completed.  The objective was pretty simple and straight forward:

• Climb 300 V-Points in a single day  
• 100 V-Points at (3) separate bouldering areas
• Areas chosen in order of climbing was McKenzie Pond, Snowy Mountain, and finally Nine Corner Lake
• All problems counted towards the total point value with the exception of no repeating problems and either the stand or sit start could be climbed but not both...

  Let me just get right to the point and admit that this challenge was not successfully completed.  In total, my day (co piloted the entire time by Ken Murphy) consisted of 21 hours total from leaving my house at 5:00 am and returning home at 1:00 am, 300 miles in the car, 64 boulder problems, 265 V-Points, 8 split finger tips, and basically every muscle in the body was beyond exhaustion.  Case in point; this challenge is no joke and would be a serious accomplishment by anyone who is able to successfully complete it.  In my opinion, my limiting factor was my skin.  I ended up splitting my right index finger while sending Flux Capacitor (V8) at McKenzie Pond within the first two hours of the challenge.  This made for a very long day of taping and struggling with right hand crimps.

  Despite not reaching my 300 V-Point goal for the day, I did reach a personal best with 64 boulder problems in a day, 265 V-Points, and even though I have been climbing in the Adirondacks for over a decade...this is the first time that I bouldered at 3 separate areas in the same day.  

  Throughout the entire challenge, Ken Muprhy and I were extremely fortunate to be accompanied by many climbing friends.  Kyle Biel, Jay Shultis, and Jamie (James) Frazier were with us right from the very start at McKenzie Pond.  At the second stop of the day, Snowy Mountain we were joined by Tim Poulterer, Mitch Hoffman, JP Cashiola, Emily, and JP's friend.  This dedicated crew then stuck it out to the bitter end with us well into the darkness of the night at Nine Corner Lake.  James Frazier did a tremendous job photographing the entire challenge from start to finish.  I would like to personally thank him for documenting all of this and all of the images below are from his collection from this past Saturday.  This guy has some serious talent with the camera!   

McKenzie Pond:  (photo credit:  James Frazier)

Snowy Mountain:  (photo credit:  James Frazier)

Nine Corner Lake:  (photo credit:  James Frazier)