It was a balmy 19F  today – perfect conditions for bouldering indoors at Steep Rock Bouldering, an urban climber’s oasis sandwiched between New York’s Upper East Side and hipster Harlem.

Though I hadn’t pulled on plastic for nearly a week and a half, my muscles and finger joints felt limber and strong thanks to all the bikram I’ve been doing recently at Be Evolution Yoga. I’d managed to flash a pinchy neon orange v5, and spent hours playing on balancey problems on the newly set front slab wall.

Kevin Liu, Steep Rock Bouldering’s General Manager and head route setter, does a bang-up job ensuring the routes stay fresh and clean,  and last night was no exception.

It was the ideal anaerobic workout to complement (and offset) my shameless ramen consumption earlier in the evening:

Hot and spicy chorizo ramen will definitely be a comfort food staple for me this cold and dark winter.