Sayonara Sweden and a Movember Video

I'm leaving cold dark Sweden behind and hopping on a plane for the USA in a few hours.  Will be great seeing everyone back home and I can't wait to bask in the sun and actually climb rocks.  It's a shame these winter trip always have to begin with getting back in shape but I'll be State side until mid February so maybe I'll get a couple things done.  First stop is a pseudo-secret sandstone area in NM and if it's good enough I might be there for a week or two.  I'm hoping for the best but worse-case-scenario I head down to the Tanks.  Win-win.

Also, as Movember comes to a close I thought I'd post a little video experiment of mine.  Here was my first attempt at a stop motion of sorts.  I just wish my mustache wasn't so weak


A Mustache for Movember from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Puddles.....R.I.P.

One of Solkintens more popular problems recently lost a very key hold.  Puddles is now a shadow of it's former self, no longer a moderate test piece but instead a heinous crimp project.  It came as a surprise as the broken crimp seemed totally solid and when it broke it left nothing.  I'm sure the problem still goes but it will require long pulls on sharp little crimps and doesn't seem very appealing.

 Bummel mourns the loss of a good problem

Examining the crimp he just ripped off

 Imagine how good this crimp must have felt

Stella and Albin were shoeing up when the hold broke.  Take my word for it,it was a fantastic problem 

The new beta will require plenty of this

Glue the hold back?  Bummel states what we think about gluing

Golf Wall Video

Here is a little video of three of the problems I put up south of Gothenburg at the Golf Wall.  Hope you enjoy.



Swedish Bouldering: The Golf Wall from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Landvetter Project Goes Down

The blog has been a bit slow lately.  It is partly due to Sweden entering the oppressive time of year when out-door climbing become less frequent but mostly it's because I've been busy/lazy.  Fortunately that is all about to change as I'll be making my annual trip to the States on November 27th. I'm looking forward to basking in the sun and shredding my tips.  Until then I'm hoping to get a few more crisp days here in Sweden to tick off some projects.

Speaking of projects, a couple weeks ago I made it back to a good one I've been very excited about.  The Landvetter project has been high on my list since first laying eyes on it but it took awhile to get back to.  When Antonio was here he was psyched (when the weather was good and he wasn't sick) and we brought a rope to brush the top-out and suss out the the finishing moves.  I was excited when I realized it could go down and elated when I stuck the crux and climbed to the top.  It's a great problem and I hope folks come check it out, but I recommend bringing a rope to clean the top.  It's easy up there (relatively speaking) but a fall from the lip might send you tumbling down the hill.  Dirty holds are not our friend.

I'm calling the problem "Catan" after my favorite board game.  Here are a couple pictures

A view of the boulder.  The arete and the steep face to the right will be good climbs if they get properly brushed.

Antonio gunning for the big crux move.

Antonio working the post-crux moves.  None of these moves are gimmes but are considerably easier than the crux.  It also feels pretty exposed as the ground abruptly slopes away just outside the fall zone