Hound Ears

This past weekend saw the Hound Ears bouldering competition in Boone, NC. As the opening leg of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series each year in the Southeast, the Hound Ears comp allows climbers to trammel upon the peace and dignity of this posh mountain community. It's their one day a year to do it, because Hound Ears is officially closed to climbing all other times.

The day was extraordinarily fun, although conditions were less than optimal. It's still pretty muggy in these parts, and the holds were incredibly greasy. I climbed pretty well, but didn't achieve the mileage that an all-day-one-day-a-year event calls for. I managed to make an already underlying middle finger injury (injury to insult?) official, and will have to take some time away from climbing. So it goes...

Waking up on the morning of the comp

Whole lotta foam...

Unknown climber on Blasphemy (V5)

Anthony on The Proud (V7)

Parlez Vous Parkay (V6)

Trying hard...

Anthony on the Lunatic Arete (V4). We all languished a bit on the day following the comp. We managed to get up and go climbing at the Lost Cove, but this was one of the few problems with which anyone engaged.