Jan 01, 2021
In 2013, Skills Inventory V8 was everyone's project at the time. Bored by a relatively easy line, Ben Smith accompanied us to the area, and delivered a blow to our collective egos by sending the dramatically harder Trade Surplus V9 right beside it. We hated it immediately. Cries of "not pure!" "linkups suck!" "morpo!" soothed our collective egos. Ben's accomplishment diminished, we could safely ignore Trade Surplus V9, and continue our assault on Skills Inventory V8. Fast forward 7 years, endless servings of humble pie, and much earned humility. Neither climb are a challenge for me now - and I can say without bias or agenda - Trade Surplus V9 is every bit as good as Skills Inventory V8. Maybe better. Skills is cruxy - one hard move that needs one lucky go. Trade Surplus is proper consistent hard rock climbing. Fun moves, good holds, a beautiful boulder, and sheltered on a sunny winter day. I'm glad for another reason to visit this beautiful spot. Dope FA homie.