Cat Daddy V11 - old footage from this winter

Recent events in my life have caused me to think about life very differently. The first question I asked myself was, what makes me happy? Of course rock climbing, but why does it make me happy? Rock climbing allows me to test myself mentally and physically. It is when I feel closest to nature, and feel the most alive. Nothing beats those days out in the boulders when you feel on top of the world. No matter if you do your project you are just happy to be alive. Those are the days  I feel like i can breathe. I do not feel claustrophobic like I do in everyday life.I have tried to think of something I would rather be doing, but there is nothing. It is my drug. No matter what is going on in my life, rock climbing allows me to totally lose myself in the moment. Suddenly nothing matters , and all my focus is on the boulder. I used to get very mad if I did not send a boulder, and grades definitely played a big part in that. I have thought like, oh I should be able to do that climb just because it was a certain grade. But that is not the right  attitude to have. When things such as this have occurred I have sat myself down and made sure all my intentions and motivations are honest. Especially in times where I have started to compare my successes to other climbers.  This has been very useful. I have concluded that I love being outside and being a part of nature. I climb for myself and no one else, and if that is no longer the case, then I am in it for the wrong reasons.. Everyone is competitive in life, whether it be at a sport or at a board game. We all strive to be the best. But rock climbing should not be like that. I have come to the realization that it does not matter how hard I climb, or how hard the next guy climbs. There is no reason to compare each others accomplishments when it is a personal sport, and what I do effects nobody but myself.  As long as I am trying my hardest to be the best that I can, then I am happy. The only person I need to compare to is myself. 

Scarub V10+ 

Farley Ledge

Climber: Tucker Kendrick

Photo Cred: Ralph Munn

Scarub

Lately it has been vey hard to climb outside. It takes so much effort to go shovel off boulders and haul all your gear and pads out. Luckily it has been paying off. I have been surprising myself on climbs I never thought I'd do. In the past couple weeks I have done: Wet Banana V8 Monkey Butt Love V8 Babies with Rabies V10 Cat Daddy V11 Scarub V10+ Wet Banana is a very cool tension sloper climb. The climb has a heel toe cam and knee bar. Definitely very interesting climbing. Sent in 9 degrees! I would give this 1 out of 3 stars. The movement is very subtle. All core on this one. Monkey Butt Love is a slopey arete climb. Almost everyone has different beta for it, which I think is very cool. I would give this 1 out of 3 stars. It is much better then people give it credit of being. Babies with Rabies is a climb that I never thought I would do. I tried it in the past, but could never do the first move. It felt so impossible that I just took it off the to - do list. On a cold snowy day I decided to try it because I knew it stayed pretty dry. I surprised myself and was standing on top of the boulder within 30 mins. It was a surreal feeling for me. What before felt so impossible to me I did very quickly. This climb is amazing and I would give it 3 out of 3 stars. Cat Daddy is a straight power boulder. It is four moves long, the first being the hardest. This boulder took me 3 days of work, which is a lot quicker then I thought it would take me. This boulder gets 2 out of three stars. It would get 3 stars if there weren't so many betas for it. None the less it is a beautiful problem and one of my favorites. Scarub is one of the climbs I wanted to do most at Farley. It is 2 move boulder. You have a good right hand slot and a quarter pad, two finger underling pinch for your left hand. You get a high left foot on an awful smear, pull on and explode left hand to a 1/2 pad crimp. Once you have that you bump your hand again to a good edge and go to the lip. From the first day that I saw this boulder I knew I had to do it. Its reputation as the hardest V10 at Farley always shied me away. Early in the season I tried this boulder for about 10 minutes. I gave the boulder about 5 tries and it felt impossible. This past week I had a few hours before work and decided to go out and try it. I cleaned it off, and sent in 15 minutes!! Definitely one of the best boulders I have climbed. 3 out of 3 stars for this one. Happy Sending! -Tucker

Video of some recent sends. Watch in HD. Song : P.O.S -P.O.S is ruining my life

Porcupine Invasion

Went outside on this wet sopping day to this place my friend Finn discovered as a child. He knew the area pretty well for he had spent many years there, he called it "Battleship". This area called the Battleship is a secret area that only a few people know about. It has two main cliff bands and a ton of different boulders and many to be discovered. We went out there planning to clean some lines but instead spent our time on two projects. The first projects is all big moves on good holds, to a few hard crimp moves. Unluckily the crimps were soaked, so then we went to the second project, and while we were over by the boulder we were looking at other possible lines and about 10 feet away from me was a porcupine!! Then we went back to the project and started working out the moves. At first it felt quite impossible but we managed to unlock the beta. I did the bottom section and then the upper. All there was left was the move connecting the two sections. After a couple of attempts I unlocked the beta. For the move, you have your left hand on a side pull edge and a right hand gaston. The crux is getting your feet up high on the left hand starting hold to go into an undercling. I stuck this move and then started to try it from the start. It was a battle to keep the holds dry enough to climb it but we managed. I did the boulder after a few tries from the start! Because of the interaction with the porcupine, I named it " Porcupine Invasion". The movement is so cool and all the holds are very unique. I believe it is about v7, but I am eager to see what others think. Finn is going to send it soon. Thanks Finn for showing me the problem. Happy Sending.

-Tucker

Just got back from a 5 day trip to Acadia national park. Rained for 4 days..... but at least i got to climb on the last day! Sent an awesome cave problem that goes at v8 and some unknown v6. Happy Sending.

- Tucker

Mad Rock Sharks

Just got my second pair of Mad Rock sharks. Despite the negative things people say about these shoes, I am absolutely in love with them. The rubber sticks to everything , and they just fit perfectly. They have a very slight downturn, and work great on slab and overhangs. I also love the amount of toe rubber they have, they are the best shoes i have had for toe-hooking,and  the heel fits on the most precise placements. Definitely my top shoe for any hard projects. Happy sending.

- Tucker

Training

Last night was the first time  I have trained in probably around a year. Boy did i feel sore this morning. I started off doing a couple pull ups and push ups to warm up. Then i started doing  sets of 10 pull ups,10 push ups, 1 min. plank, and 30 sec. of bicycles. I did about 5 sets of each which isn't much, but enough to get me sore. I am going to start training 2 days a week to try and get strong. I do not typically enjoy working out, but I know it will help me send my outdoor projects.Happy sending.

-Tucker

Farley Session

This past weekend I ventured to Farley Ledges in Erving,MA with a few friends. My goal for this trip was to send a cool compression problem called Mid-Sized Man. This problem is a very inspiring line that has only seen five ascents. The day started off well, I warmed up and quickly repeated this climb called Dope. I was surprised how fast I repeated, and this got my hopes up. We got to Mid-Sized Man, and conditions were perfect. The sun was just peeking through the trees, but the holds were in the shade, so the friction was perfect. I gave it a go, and everything was perfect I worked my way through the crux and fell on a move coming out of the crux. I gave the climb a few more burns, but was not able to send. My psych is at a high and I feel a send coming soon. Happy sending.

-Tucker

Photos by Oscadal Photography

Chronic V5

Dope V9

Mid-Sized Man V11