While it only gets three stars in the guidebook, it is a classic North Mountain problem. A bit tall, a bit technical, and a bit bold, with a feet-off jump just below the lip.
Left hand starts on a small pinch, right hand on the “babyface” hold–a decent sidepull that you can get your fingers behind. Both holds are at head height, and very far apart. Right foot starts on a little point under an overlap, while the left foot finds an appropriate smear. Drop the left knee, and reach up with the left hand to a small side pull, then go again a small, positive crimp. This is the most powerful move of the problem. Everything that follows is mostly just ticky-tacky and insecure. Right foot goes up to a little spike, and the right hand grabs a slick pinch on the arete. Match feet on the spike, then right foot goes up to the babyface hold. These moves are insecure–the pinch never feels terribly good, and right foot hold requires precision. Right hand goes up again to a very small, positive crimp. Here’s where things get a little crazy. If you’re tall enough, swing the left leg a bit and lunge with the left hand for a good ear. Your feet will cut, but if you’ve gotten this far, you will stick it. If you’re short, well, commit to some greasy smear with the left foot and go for it. Finish the problem by getting a right foot on a good edge, grabbing the rather large holds at the top of the boulder, and pull over the top. Take in the views of East Mountain before you climb down.
We are now in Tucson, AZ, staying with Paul, April and Silas for a few days. It’s hot here, too, but some cooler temps this weekend should allow us to climb on their bouldering wall for a day or two before we head to California. Gotta keep strong, you know!
I was a little sad to leave Hueco, but it was hot, almost too hot, to be there. Yes, the climbing was fine once you reached the confines of a cave or a jumble of boulders, but hiking between them was terrible, and sucked the life out of you. As far as a post-mortem goes, the trip wasn’t the sort of success I hoped for, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t bad, either. I sent very little from my tick list (I believe the only thing I sent from it was Babyface, V7, which was left over from last year), but did manage to do a bunch of other good problems. I also sampled some completely awesome harder problems that I look forward to doing next year. I did manage to do at least one problem of every grade from V0-V9, so I certainly sampled lots of good stuff. I did leave a long of list of undone problems, too:
* Full Service (V10)
* Notorious D.I.G. (V9 — should have done this one)
* Mojo (V10)
* Glas Roof (V9)
* Big Iron on His Hip (V7 — fell off the end several times, as I have no stamina)
I’m already thinking about how to modify my training for next year so I peak a bit closer to the trip, rather than about a month before we leave. Live and learn, live and learn.
I also planning on doing a few “anatomy of a Hueco Tanks problem” posts on some of my favorites from the trip.
Well, the heat hasn’t subsided, much. Paul and I managed to have reasonable temperatures today on East Mountain, but the it came at a cost–wicked winds, especially on the slabs overlooking Mescalero Canyon. I thought the seven of us were going to blow off to West Mountain while we worked on Mojo.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Yes, it’s been hot. We’ve sought shelter in the caves, and the fleeting morning shade of the front side of North Mountain. The mornings have been nice, but moving between boulders in the heat of the day is unpleasant, to say the least. But, we’ve soldiered on, and even managed to do a few things. Notable ticks include Stinking J (V8), a fantastic sloper problem on North Mountain. The movement is unlike anything here, almost Coopers-like. I may go back to work on the lower start, which checks in at V10. I also managed a quick ascent of Dirty Martini on the Rocks (V9-ish, or V12, if you want to believe the guidebook). It’s a dynamic problem, with a big, arching move from poor crimps on a steep wall. Yes, I took the safe escape route after the difficult section, but I’d rather live with that rather than broken bones sustained on the chossy topout. I can painfully close to doing Notorious D.I.G. (V9) on East Mountain, but alas, it wasn’t to be. I did salvage that day with a second try ascent of Li Stand (V7), a fun, short problem on the Warm Up Wall.
I have perhaps two more climbing days before we move on to Tuscon, AZ. I’ve found thus far that I climb better when I don’t have expectations–that is, I haven’t targeted particular climbs to send. It seems that if I target something (say, Choir Boys or Glas Roof, of which we shall not speak), the weight of the expectation is too much for my feeble mind, and I fail. Neither Stinking J or Dirty Martini were on my ticklist, but both were sent very quickly.
Today, the boys and I are taking a rest day. We spent part of the morning trying to find tires for the van (which ended in failure) and trying to find free WiFi (obviously successful, since I’m posting this). It’s windy, and dusty, today. Jen, Paul, and April went up East Mountain, and they are doubtlessly fighting some strong gusts there. Tomorrow looks to be some of the best weather of the trip, with temps around 80–time to clean up North Mountain projects before we hit the road.
I am bittersweet about leaving. I am, on one hand, sick of the heat, and the wind, and the dust, but there are problems left undone. And I will the miss the mornings, the sun peeking out above the hills to the east, sitting under the shade of a low tree, sipping coffee and watching the hummingbirds. And I will miss the evenings, after the sun disappears behind East Mountain, eating burritos, drinking beers, and reliving the days successes and failures. But, we shall lean westward, on to new adventures.
Well, we’ve been here five days, with three climbing days. It’s been hot. Summer desert hot. Highs around 90. Thankfully, it’s easy to find shade, and the conditions are reasonable, but walking between boulders is torture, especially across the slabs. Oh well–good thing I brought the long underwear. Hopefully, the temperatures will moderate a bit this weekend. It could be worse, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.
As far as climbing goes, it’s been a bit frustrating. I’m fairly certain I overtrained a bit this winter, and probably peaked about a month ago (you know, when it was still cold and wet in Pittsburgh and we couldn’t climb outside), so I’m hardly at optimal strength. Our first day out was spent mostly at Martini Roof, and I could tell I hadn’t been on rock in about five months. I was able to quickly link the moves on Big Iron on His Hip (V7), but sun on the finish preventing a proper send. Day two found us on a tour of East Mountain with Paul and April and Silas, and I finally got my legs under me a bit. I worked on Full Service (V10) for a bit, and made reasonable progress. The problem is amazing, with a wild selection of holds, and excellent movement between them. I wish we could go back to it, but its height is a bit intimidating (and, of course, there’s the whole matter of it being on tour). Oh well–at least I had the opportunity to try such a classic. I finished the day flashing two four star V5s–Dragonfly and Hobbit in a Blender (this was a mulligan flash). Day three found us wandering around North Mountain again. I headed up to Power of Silence (V10), but the heat and sore muscles subverting any efforts there.
As far as the coming days, I’d like to link Big Iron, and perhaps give Choir Boys (V9) a solid effort. We’re touring the East Spur next weekend, and hopefully I can clean up classics like the Glas Roof and Better Beat Your Sweeties (V7). I will not, however, try Better Eat Your Wheaties (V9), given my experience last year.
Is winter finally over? Despite a few nice days, the cold hasn’t released us from its grip. We’ve had hail several times over the last week. We haven’t touched real rock since the fall. But all that doesn’t matter much at this point, for in roughly twelve days, we will be climbing at Hueco Tanks, where it is sunny and warm. Then we will move along to the California coast, where it is also sunny warm. And from there we will go to Bishop, CA, where it is also sunny and warm. Sunny. Warm.
I’m curious as to how the climbing will go. After a winter of training hard, I feel like I peaked a bit early, perhaps a few weeks ago. I haven’t felt bad (well, most of the time, but that’s life), but my high end isn’t quite as hard as it was in March. Of course, if I manage to avoid injury at Hueco, I’ll climb harder than I did last year. I’m not sure what my goals are. There are problems I’d like to do, but I don’t know what’s reasonable, and given that I didn’t climb a lot last year, I want to do as many problems as possible. That means I’ll likely ratchet down my grade expectations (who wants to spend days climbing the same thing?), but I don’t even know where to set that bar.
This is probably less impressive if you’ve never fondled a Beastmaker board. For reference, I was totally chucked to do a round of repeaters, with two hands, on the 35 degree sloper. Mr. Edwards casually does a one armer on the 45 sloper (I can sometimes hang these with two hands) with a dumb-bell in his other hand.
