China Beach

It all started in August 2005 in Rifle, CO.  I was there for two weeks with my friends Warren and Chad, and the topic came up of lifetime goal redpoints.  Warren's goal was Zulu, Chad's was the 7pm show, both of these in Rifle.  I was enroute to a Ph.D. program in Albany, NY so I knew I wouldn't spend much time traveling so I picked a far fetched route within a reasonable distance: China Beach.  At the time Chad and I were fairly new climbers, we had consolidated mid 12's, and we thought anything was possible.  I left Rifle that summer having sent a handful of 12b's and one 12c.

That fall I spent my first weekends at Rumney.  I did routes like Technosurfing and Whip Tide, and got incredibly shut down on Tsunami, Aquarius, and Suburban.  All of this took place in the shadow of this:

Around this time I began seriously training for climbing.  At first the training had a moderate effect on my climbing.  Finally in the last 8 months or so I feel like I've found the training formula that allows me to climb at my best. 

From that fall until fall 2008 I never thought It would be possible for me to do the route.  I held it in my mind as a carrot during long and unpleasant hours of training, but I was doubtful.  Then in November 2008 I sent Cold War(14a).  I was ecstatic, now my dream was only one letter grade away.  Little did I know that Cold War sits in the bottom of its grade, while China Beach sits at least in the middle of its grade.  That winter I spent training and climbing all alone at a boulder near my house:

                                       

The next spring I had my first serious tries on the route.  It was hard, but it felt possible.  Plagued with a minor finger injury I wasn't able to put as much of myself into the route as I wanted.  I never linked past the halfway point.  I knew once I stuck the move out of the break it was just a matter of time.  While the bottom half of the route was funky and difficult for me, the top half could not be more my style: big moves, good crimpers, and climbing square to the wall.  

I had a detailed plan in my mind for the winter that would maximize the chances of success.  Train only power and strength until a 3 week bouldering trip to my home state of Arkansas.  I would try to send everything I could in Arkansas.

Horshoe Canyon Bouldering 2009 from Maya Alfonso on Vimeo.

After the trip I would take a week off and detrain the perfect amount to start making huge gains(see for yourself in the training charts section).  The plan had me climbing or training 6 days a week 2 session most days until late March, when I would go to Rumney to rework the route.  Then, I would have all of April to take it easier and make serious redpoint attempts. Everything was proceeding as planned until good weather early in March put me trying the route several weeks before expected.  Even without a taper the training had paid off, and I was immediately getting huge high points.  Two weeks later everything came together and I sent!  It was perfect in every way:  the weather, the scene and the cliff that day.  I'm glad I didn't send faster this spring because climbing on it was so enjoyable this year, and I'm glad I didn't take longer because now we can go to the red next week and not worry about losing power.

What's next.  After a little hiatus from serious training I'll start up again.  I've ignored 10 or so 5.13's at Rumney I want to do during this quest, after that is anyones guess.