The Dog Days of Summer

For a blog primarily about climbing, there's sure hasn't been much writing about it as of late.  Well here's a quick update and then on to things more interesting.  I'm still gym-bound, waiting out the heat and hopefully getting a little stronger.  Lately I've been trying to boulder more, even though I really don't like it.  The hope is to gain some power which will improve endurance (by making each individual move less taxing).  That's the theory at least, we'll see how my plastic honed endurance and (hopefully) power translate to real rock in a couple of weeks.  Temperatures are slowly creeping down, hopefully summer will fully break after Labor Day and we can venture outside without spontaneously combusting. 

Now on to more important things.  Theresa and I had noticed that Bourbon (AKA the White Dog) had lost weight and seemed to be drinking and peeing much more than normal.  Theresa took her to the vet who confirmed the weight loss (9 pounds) and took some blood and urine samples.  We got the call about results and found that she's diabetic.  The vet wanted to do some more tests so we had to wait to fully learn more about her condition.  Meanwhile, we were supposed to take the girls to Theresa's parents to swim in their backyard pond.  We waffled about whether she would have the energy to play but decided to let her try it out.  Once we got there both dogs put on a show, playing in the lake for more than an hour, only getting out when we forced them to.  We were both very relieved to see Bourbon enjoy herself so much, a story best told in pictures.

Bourbon trying go start trouble with the swans.

Ripley grinning and showing off

Gimme!

No, really, gimme!

Bourbon showing off

Bourbon looking a little dirty.

Who's sick?

Need to work on the entry a bit, perhaps.

 The swans relaxing after the girls left the pond.

...or else she get's the hose again.

The next week we took the girls back to the vet where they confirmed the diagnosis.  The treatment plan is to modify her diet and give her insulin shots twice a day.  This was a shock at first but we're already adapting to it.  Bourbon has been a trooper, not giving us any trouble when we poke and prod here.  The prognosis is good, we just have to take a little extra care of our little white dog.

The new tools of the trade

Bacchanalia!

On Friday night we headed to Bacchanalia to celebrate Theresa's new job.  We had eaten there many years ago and both considered it the best meal we'd ever had.  With expectations high, we got dressed up and headed to the White Provisions building.  Theresa looked beautiful (as always) while I looked decent enough to not kicked out of the restaurant.

To keep things short, the meal was great.  I would rank it in the top 5 meals that I've eaten with the only course not amazing was at least partially due to a choice by me.

Our dinner:

To start, the chef sent out a very light pastry filled with melted cheese.  Simple, a perfect bite and a great way to kick off the meal.

Next up was the appetizer:  I had Bacchanalia's famous Blue Crab Fritter.  I'm not a crab cake guy but I'd heard so much about it that I had to try.  It's ridiculously good, more sweet blue crab fried to perfection than a crab cake.  Theresa had a Yellowfin Tuna Tartare that was acidic and very fresh tasting.  Not as good as the crab but very good.

The chef next sent out another treat, a chilled cream based soup with fresh tomatoes, fennel, and olive oil.  This dish really showcased the skill of the chef, as I don't like fennel.  Really, I hate it.  Black licorice is one of the few foods that I can't stand.  Theresa feels the same way, perhaps even more strongly so.  The soup was very good with many different flavors (including the fennel) shining through. 

Next were the entrees that were the least successful of the evening.  I had grouper from Florida served with roasted corn and a creamed corn puree with bacon and oyster mushrooms.  The corn and mushrooms were great with the bacon fantastic.  The grouper, while perfectly cooked, lacked a strong flavor.  Part of this was a mistake by me as I like strong, oily fish and grouper is very mild.  However, I expect more flavor out of even a mild fish than what this delivered.

Theresa had a wood grilled NY strip that was very good.  The wood grilling imparted a rich smoky flavor to the meat that was almost too strong, somewhat overpowering the taste of the meat itself.  The sides were potatoes and a grilled sweet onion, both were acceptable but not amazing.

For the Cheese and Contrast course we had a selection of cheeses from Star Provisions and a very interesting dish of local cheddar and julienned Ellijay apples.  It's nice to see more restaurants offering cheese plates as we really enjoy these.

Before dessert the chef sent out an apple smoothie with a sugar rimmed glass.  It's hard to describe how good this was, I happily could have ended the meal here with that as dessert.  But there was more eating to be done.

For dessert I had a fig soufflé with chocolate ice cream.  I'm a sucker for soufflés so this was an easy pick.  It was served with a little rich caramel sauce that accented the egg flavor of the soufflé.  This dish was close to perfect and has had me searching the internet for a fig soufflé recipe to try.

Theresa had the Valrhona Chocolate Cake with chocolate ice cream.  This arrived warm and had a molten center that oozed chocolaty goodness.  Five out of five stars!  This is one of the two dishes that are always on the menu (the other is the Crab Fritter) and it's easy to see why.

Service was perfect, I can't remember out waiter's name but he was friendly and very well informed.  His enthusiasm for fine food and wine was obvious and complemented the meal nicely.

Overall, the evening was another great dining experience at Bacchanalia.  Sure, it's quite expensive but for a rare treat it's the best thing going in Atlanta in my opinion.

Stone Summit

When I first heard about a new gym coming to Atlanta I was pretty excited.  I say pretty excited because the location was 20 minutes from my house and I wasn’t psyched to drive in Atlanta rush hour traffic.  As time progressed and I heard more and more about the gym, I began to get more into the idea.  Darren and Daniel, the folks that brought Stone Summit to Atlanta, were doing tons of homework, visiting many other gyms and really looking to the future.  I was able to tour the facility during construction and was totally blown away.  I immediately made the decision to begin training there as soon as possible, traffic be damned.

I was in Spain for the grand opening but I’ve been climbing there regularly for the last 6 weeks.  My overall impression is that the gym is amazing, a great indoor facility.  However, like everything, there are a (very) few things that I don’t love about it.  Details below:


The Good:

1.  The place is huge.  This has been key this summer as the heat has kept many Atlanta climbers inside and in the gym.  Even on a Saturday with the parking lot near capacity, the gym doesn’t feel too crowded.  There can be a slight downside to the size and that's the loss of the intimate, community vibe.  However, I haven’t noticed it at SS at all.  In fact I think it’s brought many of the Atlanta climbers that have been spread out over many gyms into one place which has been really cool.

2.  The routes are very good. Claudiu Vidulescu, the head route setter, is a nationally certified setter and it shows.  Lots of variety in movement as well as many different hold styles (and manufacturers) make for a really nice training experience.  For routes they've opted for colored holds, eschewing tape.  I usually don't like this as it limits the setters but SS was able to get hold companies to produce holds in their colors.  This means that, for a given color, setters have several different companies and sets of holds to choose from.  This eliminates the tedium that can result when routes are set with only one hold-type.

The routes range from very easy to 5.14- with a nice number in each grade range.  The gym features most angles from slab to very overhanging which is great.  I have a couple of small issues with the routes (see below) but overall they’re excellent.  In 6 weeks and sampling many of the routes, I’ve done 1 bad route and 1 not so good route.  Both were left over from the junior national competition in early July so they're not really representative of the gym’s setting.

3.  Bouldering is good.  I don't know the exact square footage of the bouldering area but I do know there's a great deal of it.  Lot of problems at most levels, a pretty good mix of angles (more on this later), and nice tall walls.  No topout boulders but I’m ok with that.

A portion of the bouldering area.

4.  The gym facilities are top notch.  New, modern cardio and weight equipment with a nice view of the climbing walls to keep you motivated.  Towel service both in the cardio area and the locker rooms shows the gyms attention to detail and willingness to provide proper service.  Spin classes and yoga classes have just begun which are included in the membership fee.

5.  The café is cool!  I scoffed at the idea of having a place to eat inside a climbing gym but I was wrong.  The food is very tasty and reasonable, smoothies are very good, and the folks back there are super friendly.

The seemingly ever-evolving menu.

6.  The gear store is great.  Unique Outfitters has to have one of the best selections of climbing gear in Atlanta, if not the best.  Lots of different models of shoes, hardware, and soft goods.  My one complaint would be the lack of Petzl gear.  Plus it's staffed and owned by people who actually rock climb.

The Bad:

1.  The routes have too many huge jugs on them.  Yes, I said it, huge jugs aren’t always great.  This isn’t as much a criticism of SS but a criticism of steep gym climbing and hold companies.  Hold manufacturers need to realize that holds can be good without being absurdly good.  I think this will slowly become less of a problem at SS as the gym gets more holds (they are continuing to purchase new holds several times a year which is great!) and the setters become more comfortable with the steep terrain.

2.  The grades are a little wacky.  Routes and boulder problems both have a wide spread of difficulty for a given grade.  I would say on average, the grades in the gym are soft but not always.  Should it matter?  No, but it is nice to track progression.

3.  This may seem odd for those who have climbed there but I wish the gym had more steep ground, particularly in the bouldering area.  A long 45 degree wall without a break in angle would be a great training tool. 

4.  Evening fitness classes would be nice.   The current yoga classes are only offered very early in the morning which is difficult for some of us to attend.  I heard a rumor that evening classes may be coming soon, I hope so.  It would also be nice to have some evening fitness classes such as core training, P90x, crossfit, etc.

So is it perfect?  I'd say no, but it’s close.  My negative comments are small, almost trivial issues.  My overall opinion?  The gyms is simply fantastic.  I can easily say that I would be a much stronger climber if this gym had been built 5 years ago, and I look forward to getting stronger there in the next 5 years.  Darren and Daniel did brilliant job producing a top-notch, world-class facility.



Full Disclosure:  I'm not compensated in any way by SS, nor do they know that I'm posting this.  I pay my monthly dues like everyone else.