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November 29, 2005
New Crashpad
Happy Birthday to me! November 10th was my b-day but finally I was able to co-ordinate my schedule with FedEx and I picked up my birthday present.
Thank you April for getting me a new crashpad! It is really cool. It was hard to tell what it looked like from the pictures on the So ILL website but the real thing is way nicer. I can't wait to try it out next weekend in Hueco. Awww yeah.
Posted by Paul at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2005
That Hi-Pro Glow
It was January of this year when we first went to the boulder problem "That Hi-Pro Glow," V6 at Hueco Tanks. April was psyched because the moves seemed do-able with a little bit of work. Unfortunately, 11 months went by until we got around to re-visiting the problem (so many choices when you've got over 2000 Hueco problems to choose from). Fortunately, after 11 more months of climbing, the problem seemed quickly send-able for April.
Beta:
That Hi-Pro Glow is a super fun Hueco climb in our opinion. April starts it out with two hands matched and a left heel on the heinous sloper starting hold. The first several moves are hard as you work your way around a blunt arete. If you don't keep your core tight and you blow a foot it drains all your energy just trying to get back in control. Most people just fall off. If you get established around the arete there are a few options but most people quickly pop to a sloper and...whew..."the hard climbing is over..." not really....
April quickly works out her beta for getting to the final sloper and then starts giving it some sending goes. One go, two goes, three goes...more and more goes - climbing it smooth around the arete, but keeps falling at the big pop to the sloper - too pumped to get the height she needs to grab it.
The tour is about wrapping it up and getting ready to move on to the next area. Ok, last try. Two hands and a heel on the slopey start, holding the tension as she works around the arete, left hand on a shelf and right hand on a good pinchy sidepull - wing span at full extension, right foot pushes and POP....right hand smacks the sloper! YES - this problem is in the bag for April....um, we think. There's still a decent amount of climbing to get to the top of the boulder....kinda highball....but hey - it's only V0ish at this point.
April is working her way up, we're all cheering, she's pulling on jugs. As I'm watching April through the video camera eye piece, I see she has one last move to go to the lip...to a huge honking big as a bucket jug - wait a second - she looks pumped as hell. But how could anyone possibly fall from there? - I'm thinking. As my brain is computing the answer to that question, my finger switched the camera off and I went into emergency spotting mode. (Brain processing next thought): Well at least she's falling feet-first....hmm, are there pads under her?
April's highball crash landing placed her perfectly on the pads and in the arms of a spotter (who just happened to be standing in the right place at the right time - THANK YOU DAN FROM L.A.) Ahhh, the adventures of bouldering. She'll be seeing you next time - you Hi-Pro Glow (with a little more juice, let's hope).
Posted by Paul at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2005
Baby Martini Goes Down Smooth
After a long week of driving (J-Tree to Tucson) and climbing (Hueco Tue and Wed) and driving (Hueco to Tucson, Tucson to Hueco) and climbing, the time is 4PM on Sunday afternoon, the place is Martini Roof, the problem is Baby Martini, the climber is April....and...SHE SENDS....AT LAST! Who says you can't pull a send out of the bag when your arms are blown and it's time to hop in the car for a 6 hour drive home? This was the ultimate conclusion to a great week of climbing.
Here are four videos that we put together to show some of the fun climbs, cool people and excitement of the week.
Posted by Paul at 12:23 AM | Comments (2)
November 03, 2005
Two Days With Nate
Or did I mean "Two Days With Gene?" No no (that's a boulder problem name)...I've got Hueco on my mind again why? Because we went back again! Yeah. We took a little vacation and went to Hueco mid-week on Tuesday and Wednesday! Our good friend Nate who we met climbing at Hueco last year mentioned that he was coming to Tucson for a "conference." Any climber knows that when you go to a conference for work or whatever you have to figure out the closest climbing destination and plan accordingly. Of course Nate did and his two good friends Matt and Justin joined him for a few days at Hueco Tanks. We had a great two days bouldering on N. Mt. and going on a tour out to E. Spur. Nate and the guys had a nice 4 day stretch of climbing before they were totally burned out and returned with us to Tucson for the conference. I won't report on any of the highlights yet because we are leaving for Hueco again tonight and I've gotta get ready. So, we'll catch up on the posts when we return next week and detail the excitement soon. It's gonna be nuts!
Posted by Paul at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)