Alex Megos has made the third ascent of Paul Robinson's Lucid Dreaming, ~8C, on the Grandpa Peabody boulder at Buttermilks, Bishop.
This time Alex quickly looked strong on it so the ascent was sort of expected, but he had to fight deteriorating skin and take a couple of rest days before he could add it to his ever growing tick list.
According to Rock and Ice, he made the ascent early in the morning to get the perfect "sticky wet" conditions which are necessary if you want to get any friction what so ever on the slick holds at the crux.
The same "sticky wet" quickly turned to "slippery wet" once he reached the slab that is the top out however, but armed with a brush and some chalk that was thrown to him he managed to make his way to the top and eternal glory
Instead of getting some much needed sleep, Alex was kind enough to grant UKC a quick interview!
So, this was your longest project ever, your "Dawn wall". How long did it take you?
This was my longest project by far!
It took me 11 days in total. Three days on my last trip in November, 3 months ago, and another eight days this trip.
What makes Lucid Dreaming so hard?
So, basically Lucid Dreaming only has three hard moves, and you have to do each move perfect to be able to do the next one.
The third move of the three is the hardest, which is the jump from the pinch to the crimp.
I think what made it so hard was that coming from the ground, it was very hard to hit the pinch right, and still be able to dyno from it.
Another thing was that I had problems with the skin, because if sharp holds.
Have you had a serious look at The Process? Tried it at all?
I climbed the first part of The Process (Blood Meridian) two years ago. That actually was my hardest flash at the time. But I didn't have a look at the top out, so, basically I didn't have a look at The Process. And let's just say I probably won't have the time to try it this trip.
Now what?
For the next week I'll just take it easy in Bishop, and finally get to climb :) and after that, I'm going back home to Germany for some training and to get ready for the next trips.
Thanks Alex!
Lucid Dreaming has previously been repeated by Daniel Woods.
Photo by Ken Etzel
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