Pre-Injury Joe's Recap

When I first got to Joe's this spring there wern't too many people, but my friend Enzo Nahumury was there already.

Enzo and I crossed the stream to go clean snow off of Moment of Truth. On the way back we found that the ice we walked over on had broken and fallen into the river. Jumping was the best option.

Photo Enzo Nahumury

Enzo demonstrating how to gather firewood.


I started working on Black Lung right away, and other projects and climbs I hadn't yet done in Joe's.

Working Black Lung, before the finger decided otherwise.

Photo Ivelin Penchev

I did manage some of the climbs on my list for the spring. I did Jitterbug Perfume v10 quickly, after climbing to the lip 3 times last winter and backing off due to an icy top-out. I climbed Bowling Ball v4 for the first time. It was amazing! I also climbed Eden v10 while Alex Savage was there filming. He didn't think he would use the footage, so he gave it to me to post.

Eden

Eden from Paul Nadler on Vimeo.

Most people find the crux of Eden to be this half one-arm pull off a hard to figure out how to hold split finger crimpy thing. I however, couldn't manage to stick the "easier" big move to the split finger. Coming close with beta that my friend Criag Berman was using, I decided to focus on his method. After eventually sticking the big move, I immediately realized I wanted my foot higher. I put my foot in the big pod, my hand slipped, but I managed to hold on. I was then able to lock off to the hold people usually jump to. It worked for me, but I don't know if it would be good beta for many others.

Alex getting way up into a tree, attempting to get the best angle at Trent's Mom.


Tom Camillieri going into the crack on Trent's Mom ;)


After hurting my finger, I was considering staying a few days and hiking around, but Joe's had other plans. We woke to a camp covered with a couple inches of snow.




John waking up to a surprise!


Karma not being opposed to the situation.


Ivelin enthusiastically taking a photo?


The Denver crew managed to get get some things dry and have a good climbing day. The hiking situation still seemed bleak, so I made my way back to the front range.

Another Finger Injury

Photo Ivelin Penchev.

Well, I hurt my finger again. Another ring finger pulley, but the other hand this time. This one feels less severe than the last one, so that should mean a faster recovery. The picture above was actually from an earlier attempt, after grating my hand into the rock while popping off unexpectedly.

I was trying to climb Black Lung in Joe's Valley. I felt pretty close in the winter using the standard beta, but it was feeling hard that way this spring mostly due to the strain it was putting on some muscles that were already bothering me. I decided to play with beta again before refocusing on other things. I tried a method, not one I had come up with, but one I had played around with in the past. Basically, you go all the way from the intermediate, replacing the match with a easier move, but perhaps making the last move more difficult. Right away this started to get me close, coming off the last pocket, but not yet with enough control to hold it.

I had also tried a little with Jason's method, doing the first move and jumping out to the sloper. I hadn't had much luck that way, and partly I just wanted to climb the direct line. I realized though, with the beta I was using it might not be so bad to go out to that hold instead. The difficulty I had before was trying to jump to that hold from low hands, but from the intermediate it didn't seem so bad.

I decided to put a session in using this variation of Jason's method, and if that went well, perhaps do the direct version also. I felt good, but was making some mistakes on the early moves. Eventually getting past that, I started giving some good efforts and thought I might do it. I decided to give a last good effort. I tried a little harder, probably went a little too dynamically since I actually overshot the hold a bit. Simultaneously I hit the sloper and felt a familiar pop in my left ring finger. I remember thinking for a moment that if I could just hold on maybe I could finish the climb, but my right hand was already sliding off the sloper.

Next thing I knew I was back on the ground. Fuck!

Video of the injury go from Ivelin Penchev. You can't really see or hear anything though.



My plan was to be back on the front range for work April 18th, but being unable to climb I decided to come back a few weeks early. I'm resisting climbing, even easy stuff for now, but soon ill start the rehab process. The truth is, I can probably use a few weeks completely off from climbing. I think the last time I took more than a week off was the last time I hurt a finger, about a year and a half ago. Not climbing for a few weeks should be good for the finger, as well as all the little things that hurt, but haven't been bad enough to force real rest.

In the mean time, I'm doing some cross training with my friend Mike who is also injured. We've been running and doing various exercise to improve overall fitness. If all goes as planned, I'll come back to climbing in better shape than ever! I don't know why I always get really motivated when I get hurt, but I guess it's better than the other way around.

However, training isn't really taking up all my time, and I don't start work for another couple of weeks, so I have some extra time with which to occupy myself. One of my favorite rest activities is hiking around looking for new boulders, but it's so costly, driving around all the time, specially with the high gas prices. Obviously I haven't been spending all that time updating my blog, but I have been doing something productive. I been taking the opportunity to learn how to write apps for smartphones. Specifically phones that run Android, since Android uses Java and I like coding in Java. I'm hoping I might be able to generate a moderate income to supplement what I am doing now. All I need are some ideas for some useful software. I guess thats the hard part.

Hueco Tanks

Camp at Hueco with the Germans.


I left Hueco earlier this month, and made my way north for some spring climbing in Joe's Valley. My delinquency in posting about my remaining time in Hueco was mostly due to me being lazy. I didn't bring my cameras out very much, and hadn't felt like writing. I guess my blog has always been a little sporadic, but I kinda like it that way.

Anyways, Hueco was a lot of fun. Lots of new people and new climbs. Tried to climb a lot of the classics, but there are still many to see and do. Next time!

Hanging out with the Evolv crew.


Axel did managed to get my send of Chbalanke v11 on film, so that might turn up soon. Until then, it's gonna be Joe's Valley. At least until I get back to Colorado later this spring.

Shoulder Surgery Video

A couple of years ago I had surgery to repair an injured shoulder. The cartilage had detached from the bone (labral tear), and was causing instability in the joint.

Far too many of my friends have been needing similar repairs lately, and it got me thinking. I was given a video from the scope afterwards, but it doesn't seem like this is a very common practice. So I decided to upload the video so my friends, or anyone else with a similar injury, could see what it looks like in there and how they fix it.

Video from the scope

Shoulder Surgery from Paul Nadler on Vimeo.

The following an excerpt from my MRI. I think the differences from what they found with the scope were just that my biceps tendon WAS intact, and that I had a Bankart tear as well as SLAP. My understanding is that these terms described the region of the labrum that is torn. I was told that I was torn from about 11:00 to 6:00.

FINDINGS: There is Hill-Sachs deformity with bone bruise of the superior posterior and medial aspect of the humeral head.

There is anterior glenoid labral tear extending to the most anterior aspect of the superior glenoid labrum which could be related to SLAP II. There is also edema of the long head of the biceps tendon which could be partially torn. Edema is also noted involving the most superior aspect of the subscapularis adjacent to the tendon. Partial tear of the superior aspect of subscapularis at its insertion onto the humeral head is suspected.

Thickening of the inferiorly glenohumeral ligament. AC joint is preserved. Type I acromion.

Subscapularis, infraspinatus and teres minors appear intact.

IMPRESSION: Anterior glenoid labral signal abnormality compatible with tear with possible SLAP II lesion of the anterior aspect of the superior glenoid labrum. There is suspicion for a tear of the long head of the biceps tendon. Biceps tendon however is in its biceps grove. Hill-Sachs deformity with edema of the humeral head. Partial tear superior aspect of the subscapularis. AC joint is preserved. No encroachment. Type I acromion. Biceps tendon is in its grove.

First Time in Hueco Tanks

Hueco Tanks is a kind of strange place. Even the name is redundant. Hueco means hole, and tanks are water holes. Hole holes? The landscape is flat and barren, with this out cropping of unique rock called syenite. The park itself is also a bit strange. All the corridors and different levels give the park a larger feeling than is suggested by its relatively small footprint. Of course you can't forget about all the rules, many of which I barley understand even after watching the 20 minute orientation video. One thing is certain though, there are plenty of good boulder problems to do.

I have been avoiding Hueco mainly because of the difficult dog situation, but decided I just needed to go anyways. There are so many problems here and I have been trying everything, and mostly not climbing anything. I find with new areas it often takes me some time to adapt. This is especially true for me with much of the climbing in Hueco. I'm just getting worked on all the steep and powerful stuff. Still I have managed to climb some classics like the Egg, and I am really enjoying having so many new problems to work on and figure out.

The Egg V8

Photo Enzo Nahumury

Me about to try the crux move of Alma Blanca v13

Photo Enzo Nahumury

Enzo sticking the crux of Alma Blanca v13


Me realizing how weak I am, trying the big first move on New Religion v7. I eventually sent.

Photo Enzo Nahumury

If I stick around long enough I'm sure I'll become more conditioned. Then maybe I'll dispatch more of the things I'm psyched on. One thing is for sure though, I'll be leaving here stronger than when I arrived.

As for Karma, her knee seems to be doing much better. I'm letting her run around again, just on good terrain and not too much. Maybe in another month I'll let her do whatever she wants. Also, here is her x-ray for those interested in these things.



According to the vet, the x-ray showed the knee joint to be stable, meaning no fully torn ACL. What struck me was how much smaller the right leg had become, due mostly to her favoring the left leg over the last few weeks.

On an unrelated note, there have been new developments in my ability to attract other vehicles while asleep. Last night makes the 3rd time someone has drove their car or truck into my car while I was sleeping inside.

I awoke last night in the starbucks parking lot to the very unpleasant, although familiar situation, just in time to see some headlights as the car drove off. In my alert but half-awake state, I noticed Karma was also sitting up, ears and eyes perked, confirming what I knew had just happened. I looked at the clock, about 2:30am. Some probably drunk person bumped into me, nothing more to do. As soon as the adrenaline receded, I went back to sleep.

I was surprised to find in the morning that I was hit quite a bit harder than I had thought.



My friend Axel and I were able to bash out the big dent a bit, and there doesn't seem to be any damage that should cause problems. I asked the stores around if they had a camera pointed that direction, but no luck. If I got a plate maybe I could have gotten some insurance money.

For anyone wondering, the last time I was hit was just a fender bender in a camping area. No big deal. The first time however was a bit of a interesting situation, since I was hit by semi-truck.

I was travelling west through Nebraska and had stopped in a rest area. The truck parking area was full and the semis were parking in the car parking. I pulled in, making sure to leave more than enough room between me and the semi in front of me, and went to sleep.

The next thing I remember was waking up to a jolt, and a semi backing into me. Thankfully, the ground was covered in snow and I was just being pushed back. My instinct was to hit the brakes, but I quickly realized that was a bad idea. While continuing to be pushed, I had time to wail on the horn for a while. The semi eventually stopped. I figured he had herd me, but then he just took off driving. I thought, I should follow him, but figured my car was messed up. I ran outside to take a look, and to my surprise there was just a very small scratch on the bumper.

I stood there for a minute, looking around at the other cars and trucks which seemed not to notice anything at all. I drove my car a little to make sure it was fine, and once convinced, continued my drive. Looking back I think another semi must have pulled in, filling is the gap between me and the semi in front of me.

Hopefully this is the last time i'll wake up to a hit and run.

Escape Artist

My goal at Moe's Valley was to do Escape Artist v12. Having pretty quick success, I then got psyched on the lower start added by Daniel Woods. This to me is the most logical place to begin the climb, adding both quality and difficulty. So I put in some more time and effort, and was able to do what I'm guessing is the 2nd ascent from the lower holds. I put together a video, hope you enjoy!

Escape Artist Low v13

Escape Artist Low from Paul Nadler on Vimeo.

Also some pictures from hanging out with friends on rest days.

Jesse Bonin working the proj.


Ryan Held on Gription.


Ryan Held sticking the big move on Escape Artist


Andy Rosenzweig heading back to the car after a day of bouldering.

Vegas

When it's snowing and cold all over the country, you can always count on Vegas to be... less cold and snowy. It seems everywhere in the west got pummeled by a massive storm recently, and Vegas was no exception. It dried up though, and the climbing has been great since.

Getting dark while on Progressive Guy v10

Photo Axel Perschmann

I was able to finish up some climbs I didn't do last spring including the amazing Americana Exotica v9/10. Sorry, no pictures or video. Then I got food poisoning or maybe a stomach flu, and vomited all night. The next day I tried to climb this a cool problem called ultraviolet, and got totally shut down. I guess some rest was needed.

Karma had been nursing a leg injury for the last few weeks, so I tried keeping her on a leash most of the time for a week or so to see if that would clear it up. Unfortunately I noticed she was still limping a little at the end of the day so I decided it was time to take her to the vet.

The vet figured out that her knee was the culprit, and suspected a torn ACL. My brother's dog, and several friend's dogs have had this happen, and it is a costly and long recovery. When the x-ray results were back, I was happy to find that she did NOT have a torn ACL, or at least not fully torn. She could have a partial tear, or something else could be injured in her knee.

The vet recommend that I restrict activity for a week or two. Of course I had already been doing that, but when she said to keep her from going up and down steps if possible, I realized that leashed hiking through canyons instead of unleashed hiking through canyons, probably doesn't constitute the kind of restricted activity the vet had in mind.

So now I have Karma confined to the car and short walks for a couple of weeks, and then probably back to the leash until i'm confident shes back in top form. Poor little doggy.

Karma protesting me putting her on my lap to keep warm, by not posing for the camera.

Photo Axel Perschmann

Having recovered from illness myself, I was able to get back and finished up Book of Nightmares v11/12. Book is a very nice arete climb that involves a combination of technique and power. After falling once after the crux (3rd move), I was able to seal the deal a couple tries later.

Book of Nightmares from Paul Nadler on Vimeo.