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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 November 13, 2005 11:55 PM