This was my fourth year in a row going to the Illinois Climbers Association's annual fundraiser at the Holy Boulders. Cleverly called The Pilgrimage, it celebrates southern Illinois climbing and brings together climbers from all over the Midwest. The event includes a competition, though plenty of folks don't focus on it.

I turned 40 this year, which qualified me for the Stone Master (40+) category. While I'm not especially competitive, the smaller field of older dudes made a podium feel attainable; in previous years some of my scorecards would have landed me in fourth.

The goal this year was simple: land on the Stone Master podium. Even if I missed, pursuing it would be beneficial. As expected, the pursuit was beneficial. It pushed me to take multiple solo trips to the Holies (two in the hot and humid off-season and one in early October), and those trips were a blast. I learned the joy of solo bouldering trips and became more comfortable without spotters.

I missed the podium but still put down a solid score, even after failing to repeat a few v5s I thought would go. Even two or three more v5s (approximately an additional 200-300 points) probably wouldn't have bumped me into third, though it would have been close. My total score would have been a comfortable third in 2024, but in 2025 it left me just outside the podium; I'm looking forward to seeing the full rankings to see how close I was.

This year, like the three previous years, was a ton of fun. The Illinois climbing community keeps the stoke high: everyone is encouraging, willing to share beta, and happy to provide a spot.

October 31 – Southbound

Christine and I drove down on Friday. We left Chicago around 2:30 PM, took a ~50 minute dinner break at a McDonald's, and pulled into the venue at 9:15 PM.

This might be the earliest I've arrived, which made grabbing a campsite easy. We didn't realize until Sunday that we were camped pretty close to a bunch of other Chicago climbers.

November 1 – Competition Day

The comp started at 9 AM and Christine and I got up a little after 7 AM. We walked over, grabbed a bagel (thank you First Ascent for sponsoring), and checked in for the competition.

We went back to our campsite, made breakfast (Huel for me and some oatmeal for Christine), and brewed a couple of Cometeer coffees. If you want camp coffee to taste great, bring Cometeer. You only need to heat water and you'll have some of the best coffee you can make.

I warmed up with the Zodd from Fingers of Fury and we walked over for the announcements. While waiting, I did some push-ups and a lower-body warm-up.

Unlike previous years, I arrived with a list of climbs to try to send. It was mostly climbs I'd already done and felt I could repeat with minimal attempts, spread across styles so my body absorbed different stresses throughout the day.

We started by heading to the Shadow of a Man boulder. I wanted to knock out Shadow of a Man (v5) and its sit-start (v6) before the crowd descended. During my early October trip, it felt much harder on sensitive fingertips, so getting there early in the day meant cleaner holds and happier skin.

I sent Shadow of a Man on my fourth attempt, took a short break, and sent the sit-start on my next go. That sit-start felt smoother than the stand-alone send, even though the extended intro added some fatigue. The sit-start wasn't worth many more points than the stand, so adding a v6 to the scorecard didn't move the needle much beyond knocking out another v5, but it still felt good to have it.

After finishing there, we moved on to the Brown Cow boulder, where my goals were Sukha Sit (v5) and Helios (v4).

Sukha Sit is hard. I linked the sit into the stand twice during my early October trip, but this time I punted five or six times before moving on. I made progress on most goes and think a little more aggression could have made it happen, but I didn't want to burn skin and energy on one boulder. I day-flashed Helios, and we moved on after Christine climbed a problem here as well.

Our next targets were Full Grain (v4) and Suede (v5), but we stopped at the Cliffline area so I could try Cliffline roof right (v5). I'd climbed pieces of it on solo trips but never topped out because I wasn't sure I could downclimb and didn't want to risk jumping to a single pad. I sent it first go while some photographers took photos as they walked by. Turns out I could downclimb quite a bit before hopping down, so this might be doable on a solo trip, though it was still nice to have a double stack of pads.

We continued our journey to Full Grain and Suede. Christine onsighted an easier arete, I sent Full Grain on my first attempt, and then I slipped off Suede a few times before calling it. Rain had started, and continuing to attempt a wet friction slab seemed like a losing proposition.

I was a bit bummed to not send Suede after doing it twice in a row in early October. I wasn't surprised to miss Sukha Sit, but I expected Suede to be automatic.

Next up was trying to repeat Tabernacle (v5). It was my last send of the early October trip, and that go was a battle, so I knew it would be a fight. I tried a few times but bailed to keep energy for the rest of the day.

We moved on to Cruisers next. I'd climbed it in two attempts before, so I thought it would fall quickly. It didn't. Maybe it was the rain, but I couldn't get my left foot placed well for the (crux to me) move to the arete.

On my first attempt at Cruisers, I slipped and rammed my big toe into either the rock or the ground. It hurt immediately and turned black. I kept climbing, but any time I used that toe (or accidentally tapped it), the pain spiked. My partner was concerned it might be broken, so when I was back in Chicago, I had x-rays taken. It was not broken!

We headed to the Vultures Nest area after this so I could knock out Embryo Stasis (v4). I've sent it about four times (once three years ago at the competition, then three times in October trying out different beta). Even so, the top was wet and I was pulling on slopers, so I had a couple of unexpected falls before sticking it on my third or fourth try. As a bonus, I was able to help coach a newly met climber, and later we ran into each other and he excitedly told me he sent! He was super thankful, and it felt good to know I helped someone achieve a goal.

While here, I also climbed Peace Pipe (v3). It was my first time on it, and I did it to make sure I'd be able to submit seven climbs on my scorecard.

After Peace Pipe, we went to the Open Gates boulder so I could try Open Gates (v5). Except for the first move, I hadn't tried it before, and the huge Chicago crew there made it a ton of fun. It took me four or five attempts, with noticeable improvement every time. That's one of my favorite things about bouldering. Something can feel quite challenging at first, but as you refine the technique it quickly becomes doable.

After Open Gates, we had about an hour before the competition ended. I considered going to try Secret of Davenport (v6), but on the way there I saw a bunch of friends working on Tabernacle. Encouraged by the crew, I stopped and tried Tabernacle some more. I picked up some better starting beta, but I still failed to send. During one of the better attempts I muttered "I'm so tired," which is not something you want to think while trying hard.

My final tick list in table form was the following.

The top seven (by points) boulders counted for the competition, giving me 2,924 points.

After the comp, I turned in my scorecard. I tried as hard as I could that day and sent a lot of difficult climbs, including a couple I hadn't done before. I knew my score would have placed third in 2024 and not in 2023, so there was a chance I might squeak onto the podium. I didn't, and that's entirely OK. Going after the goal led to good and fun choices in 2025 and I'm glad I chased it.

It rained during the after-party, which I think cut the band off early and sent part of the crowd home. Christine and I eventually bailed to her tailgate to keep hanging out and sipping wine.

November 2 – Homeward

It sprinkled and rained much of the night, so we expected the boulder field to be wet. We didn't bother checking it out, and other climbers confirmed it was.

We drove to Ferne Clyff, thinking we'd do some rope climbing if it was dry. It seemed dry enough, but as we stood at the base of a cliff, we realized neither of us wanted to take a lead fall. My big toe still throbbed and Christine had tweaked her ankle hiking during the competition.

So instead we left and went to Carbondale for lunch. Thai Taste (so good) was closed, so we checked out Underground Public House. Underground was tasty. I'd go there again.

We still wanted to climb, so we adjusted our route home to go through Peoria, stopped at the First Ascent there, and did some top-rope climbing. After three or four climbs, I stopped because of toe pain.

We continued home and got back relatively early for a short weekend trip down to southern Illinois.

Reflections

Having a goal for the year was motivating. I hadn't really climbed with a specific target before. I could have done more. My first half of the year was fairly unfocused, but I'm overall happy with what I achieved.

Quick list of notes:

• I should have snapped photos of the climb labels when I was nearby. Knowing the points values of more climbs would help with strategy.
• My modeling overestimated the points I'd get. I assumed (v-grade * 100) based on my 2022 scorecard (mostly House Boulders problems), but that math didn't hold up elsewhere.
• Points aren't necessarily scaled by the listed grade. For example, if I remember correctly, Double Rainbow (a v3 I haven't tried yet) was worth about 10 more points than many of the v4s I climbed.
• Focusing on a scorecard changes how much I try to cram into one day.
• I couldn't have had the day I had without Christine's support. She encouraged me, spotted me, and carried a pad, often at areas without problems she wanted to climb so I could keep trying things. Thank you.
• Thank you Chicago crew for all the encouragement during the competition and the beta on Open Gates. It was fun seeing Chicago so well represented at this event.
• It was super fun trying Open Gates, an almost entirely new boulder to me, instead of only repeating prior climbs.

Even if I had repeated the three v5s (Sukha Sit, Suede, Tabernacle) and the v4/5 (Cruisers), I probably would have landed just outside third. Using my average v5 score (~450) for Sukha Sit, Suede, Tabernacle, and Cruisers (likely an overestimate) would have put me around 3,229, just shy of the podium.

If I want to be competitive in future years, I need to aim for harder boulders. Luckily, there are a lot of them down at the Holies that I'm excited to try for the first time or to revisit.