March 10th, 2015
You haven’t heard much from us because we still haven’t sent our projects. Grrrr! The good news is we decided to extend our trip by another week though. Cute kid pics will thus have to suffice for now. ☺
Morning cuddle with Ivan.
A dancing Silas
The boys with Mike and Raquel
Windblown baby
Laundry day
Silas being an artist and Ivan being cookoo at Slashface
The view from Slashface that we’ve been enjoying for a total of 15 days now (since Paul first tried it back in November)
posted by arr
February 26th, 2015
Yesterday was a climbing day. On the agenda was Bloody Flapper Traverse, v9 then Slashface, v13, maybe Mo Mojo, v11/12 and then Ultramega, v8. Trying to warm up for Bloody Flapper Traverse I realized I was still extremely sore and tired after only one day of rest. I needed two, maybe even three full days of rest, and so I bailed on climbing for the remainder of the day. Having now knocked Bloody Flapper Traverse and Ultramega off the agenda, Slashface was the mission. AND!….
….no, Paul did not send. But he came close! I will admit I didn’t think he was ready to start giving sending attempts quite yet. I thought he needed at least another day of working the climb. He thought otherwise though, announcing he was pulling on the start with the intent to climb it to the end. And he almost did! His first go was completely solid – nailing the big move perfectly, executing the cross move and then almost, almost! nailing the swing, slipping off unexpectedly at the last second. He tried 4 more times, but that first go was the best.
Tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday our friend’s Mike and Raquel will be back at Hueco to climb with us. Resting up today for three big days of crankin’! If you hear distant whoops and hollers coming from the southwest direction, you’ll know Paul has just sent his first v13. 🙂
Pretty clouds over North Mountain
Paul and Ivan at the Bloody Flapper Traverse
Hiking up the East Mountain slabs
Slashface
Cute Silas
posted by arr
February 24th, 2015
So remember when I said winter was over here in the southwest? Well, I spoke too soon. Monday a cold front blew in and yesterday we awoke to FREEZING and WINDY conditions. I’m not at all exaggerating. It was 25 degrees when we headed to the office around 8:30am to snag some North Mountain walk-ins. Because I had been waiting sooooo long for cold temps on Bloody Flapper Traverse, v9 (which bakes in the sun), I felt it would be stupid not to get on it. So we filled the thermos with hot chocolate, bundled the bambinos and headed out.
The short hike to the climb carrying Ivan was enough to get me warm. I pulled onto the easy parts of Bloody Flapper Traverse and felt amazing! Light as a feather! I quickly did the v4 ending using some new non-condition dependent beta (a sequence that replaces reliance on a greasy sloper that I inevitably slide off of when it’s warm and sunny with a bigger, dynamic bypass of the hold). I then started lower on the climb, trying to link the harder crimpy moves into my new finishing sequence. My performance however quickly deteriorated as I got colder and colder and colder. I couldn’t climb enough to stay warm and I couldn’t rest enough without getting colder. I finally called it and we headed back to the van. It was close to noon now and our thermometer said 30 degrees, without wind chill. And, while we’d been out a light dusting of snow covered the mountain tops. No wonder I was cold!
We made another thermos of hot chocolate and warmed up in the van a bit before heading back out to part two of our day’s mission: Slashface, v13. Lucky for Paul the sun finally came out and the wind stopped. Another classically perfect Hueco climbing day was now our’s for the taking. Paul had excellent progress on Slashface. First go, starting at the beginning, he stuck the “big move”. He’d stuck the big move a few weeks ago but not from the beginning of the climb. THEN, starting from the big move he did the “crossover” AND “held the swing”. This was a first for holding the swing. All climbing jargon aside, what this means in layman’s terms is that Paul can not only finally do all the moves on Slashface, but has it linked into 2 segments. Woot whoot!
From Slahsface we moved over to Mo Mojo, v11/12. Paul was too tired though to send after all the Slashface attempts. Maybe next time. So then we were off to Ultramega, v8. It’s been logistically annoying for my project to be on North Mountain and Paul’s to be on East Mountain, so Paul recommended I give Ultramega a try to see if I liked it. Normally I wouldn’t get on a brand new v8 this late in the season, especially in the middle of a trip. But Ultramega being at the same angle as our climbing wall at home, with relatively straight-forward left, right, left, right beta, Paul convinced me it was right up my alley and I could probably tick it off relatively quickly. I think he’s right. I put all the moves together and linked major sections in just a couple hours. And now it’s all I can think about. 🙂 Ok, ok, I’m still thinking about Bloody Flapper Traverse too. And this other v9 that I’ve been dabbling on a bit here and there that I haven’t even mentioned yet. As well as handful of other climbs…. I could go on forever here. 😉
Sticking the swing on Slashface, v13
Making my way up Ultramega, v8
posted by arr
February 22nd, 2015
Since the holidays we’ve been spending quite a bit of time at Hueco – surprise, surprise. We’re in our groove, training hard after putting the kids in bed at night, driving to Hueco at the end of the workweek, camping in the van and spending day after glorious day at the boulders. One would think that it would get old, but it doesn’t. Not for this family anyway.
January started off with snow! It’s not everyday we get to see snow at Hueco. Kids LOVED it.
And with cold Hueco weather comes plenty of hot chocolate! Kids love that too.
Bundled in their cold weather finest: synthetic thermal underwear, flannel-lined carharts, sweaters, smartwool socks, down puffys, snow hats and mittens!
Snug as bugs
Hot chocolate mustache kiss anyone?
And then winter was over. 60 and 70 deg temps have stuck around ever since. I feel naughty typing this seeing as our eastern friends and family are currently being pummeled by an endless winter right now. Sorry! Uh, come visit us?
Ivan finds an neat little nook to draw in
While Silas watches for birds
West Mountain Gate gymnastics
A trip to “the bone cave.” The kids and I found this spot with our friends Jen, Seb and Oren a few years ago on a rest day. Owls and other large birds must like to bring their dinners here – apparent by the multitude of little critter bones, owl pellets and big splatters of bird poop everywhere. Cool!
Silas and Ivan pretending to be birds themselves
Van life. Paul reading the kids a big-boy-chapter-book, Charlotte’s Web.
Quiet time with crossword puzzles and coloring
Ivan builds a nest in the van. Can you tell these two like birds?
Friends of our’s that used to live in El Paso came back for a long-weekend visit, Mike and Raquel. They invited us to camp on Raquel’s father’s land with some of their friends. Excellent group of people. We all had a blast.
The view of Hueco from the land
Getting ready to climb while the kids find yet another interesting cranny to play in
And last but not least, climbing! Lots and lots of climbing! Silas sends with dad and Ivan on spot
Ivan’s turn
And now dad’s turn. He sends The French Tickler, v9
And mama too – I tick off Locals Only, v7
And then there’s the unfinished business. The Bloody Flapper Traverse, v9. Still a project. What IS IT with this climb?!
McBain, v8
Hebro Sausage, v5
Mo Mojo, v11/12
…and Slashface, v13, Paul’s season obsession.
We’re currently on a two-week vacation here. Hopefully we’ll knock out some of these projects as well as many more. Wish us luck!
posted by arr
February 15th, 2015
And the final chapter of our 2014 Hueco season:
Posted by arr
February 14th, 2015
Happy Valentines Day! For all the Hueco lovers out there, here’s Part II:
Posted by arr
February 1st, 2015
At the close of 2014 we had put together a little homemade video of our Hueco Adventures from 2014, primarily featuring the time spent on our 2 week Thanksgiving trip with our Pittsburgh friends. I’m finally getting around to posting it, woohoo! It’ll be in chunks since it ended up being about 30 minutes long. We’ll call this opening segment Part I:
Posted by arr
December 1st, 2014
It’s that time of year again to climb with our Pittsburgh buds at Hueco! Similar to last year, we coordinated our trip over Thanksgiving…a blissful 2 full weeks with excellent temps, minimal crowds and plenty of strong psyche and sends. Here is a re-cap in photos:
Sunset on our first day, North Mountain
Silas the plane
Paul still trying to perfect the handstand
…until one of the kids knock him down, wanting to play
Seb and Oren being goofy
Me sending a short yet powerful little v8 called Mystery Knobber early in the trip
Bucket bath!
Chillin’ in a Starbucks parking lot on a rest day
Ticking off a 4-star classic I’ve walked by a hundred times in the East Spur Maze and never touched, Slim Pickins, v5
Seb’s perch for a good read
Thumbs up for a Jingus Bells, v5 repeat
Our hero of the trip: Jen! Here she is sending Better Eat Your Wheaties, v8 after only a couple days of work. Awesome!!!!!!
On the same day immediately following Jen’s send of Wheaties Paul ups his game too and completes The Focus, v10
…and then another v10 for good measure, Dead Serious
The children too are having fun
Silas makes music out of a couple of sticks
Seb reads and Oren plays out yet another adventure with his yucca-stalk sword
An East Mountain tour and everyone sends! Starting with Jen’s flash of Ides of March, v6
…followed by my send of one of the more burly v4’s at Hueco, Tri Hard
…continued with Brian’s fast work of Julio and Me, v9
…and finished off with Paul’s tick of Sunshine, v11!
The grownups’ enthusiasm is apparently contagious
The four little rascals
LOVE these kind of days when everyone sends!
And now we can celebrate by indulging in our Thanksgiving feast
This year’s wholesomely homemade Thanksgiving menu: mushroom lentil mash with cranberry chutney, raw kale salad with root vegetables and maple-candied pecans, potatoes with arugula pesto, brussels sprouts with bacon, applesauce, pickled okra, a loaf of whole wheat seeded Barrio Bread from Don the Baker in Tucson, and a store-bought pumpkin pie. Ok make that 2 store-bought pumpkin pies. 😉
Now time for a West Mountain Tour. The infamous starry-eyed man pictograph
Cleanin’ up the classics: another 4-star v5 that I’d never done, Star Power
…and conveniently Paul also sends his adjacent line on the Star Power Roof, Unfinished Symphony, v10
A neat bird’s nest on the 100 Proof Roof
Jen sends her long-standing project from last season, Mexican Chicken, v6
And Brian adds Double Vision, v7 to his tick list
Silas and Oren on a “diving board” over a bathtub-sized Hueco
And for every climb and grin and send shown above there were two, three, four times more! We all had such a great trip. Paul, Silas, Ivan and I were definitely saddened to see our dear Pittsburgh friends drive east at the end of it all.
posted by ARR
April 16th, 2014
We’ve decided to call it quits on Hueco a few weeks early this year. We’re tired and/or injured, and have some big home improvement endeavors that we’d like to get started on. [We’re getting air conditioning in the house!!!!! Wooo!] So to wrap things up we banged out two back-to-back weekends…with the intent I’d have a shot at squeezing in a send of Bloody Flapper Traverse, v9 of course, haha.
The big news from the first weekend was that Paul sent The Flame, v12, sore finger and all. This one surprised me. I figured he’d have at least another working session on it, and that day he had already tried it a half dozen times. Apparently he was just warming up because after a lecture by Silas on how “practice makes perfect” when it comes to climbing to the top of rock climbs, he put his shoes back on and climbed it to the top. Woo! “See dad, practice makes perfect!”
Last weekend turned out to be very special due to our old El Paso friend Raquel (who now lives in Austin) being in town and joining us. The boys absolutely adore her, as does she them. We had an outstanding day trying some of the climbs-less-traveled and sampling projects we’ve already picked out for next season. And then we topped it all off with some delicious bibimbap at a Korean restaurant.
As for Bloody Flapper Traverse, I didn’t do it. I gave it 13 goes over the course of 3 separate days and fell at the last move every time. This isn’t earth-shattering news by any means since I’ve been falling from the last move since the spring of 2008. Yes, 2008, really. Well, minus the baby off-time of course…but still! I have some theories as to why I can’t pull it off – a mixture of lack of psyche when I pull on (cause I’ve pulled on with the intent to send soooo many times) combined with muscle memory I’ve probably built up of falling from the move versus sticking the move (cause I’ve fallen from that move soooo many times). Whatever the case may be, I’ll go back to it in the fall. Walking away is not an option for me. I’ve never put this much time and effort into a climb and not eventually done it. I can say that now since I sent Better Eat Your Wheaties. 😉
In the meantime, amongst the home-improvement chaos, potential surgery on Paul’s finger and summertime fun with the two little monkeys, Paul and I have already started crafting trip plans, boulder problem tick-lists and training schedules (in that order). RMNP, Hueco, Bishop…all three? We’ll see where this year takes us, after our “off-season” is over here in hot Tucson.
Pit stop on the way to Hueco
Silas and Ivan reenacting The Three Billy Goats Gruff (their “horns” are up and they’re getting ready to butt the troll off the rock, I mean, bridge)
Paul ticking off Russian Woman, v9 on the Acme Roof
more Russian Woman
Ivan finds a hueco
Silas playing mama with Franklin
Shhh, Franklin is asleep
Ivan our blondie. I could stare at this tousled mess all day. Love it!
Silas our climber kid
Yeah boy
Who wants a drool kiss?
Traffic jam back at camp…
…tequila…
…and a dump truck being bossy to a defenseless jeep. Such drama.
Dad showing off the results of all that front lever and planche training he was doing most of the winter when he couldn’t climb on account of his finger
Our view of choice to wake up to in the morning: Hueco!
Raquel on The Weenie Roast, v4
more weenie roastin
Storytime at the boulders
Paul sampling The Ugh, v11, which is on the same boulder as the 4-star classic The Egg, v8. Wanna make a guess as to what’s on my next season’s ticklist? 😉
posted by arr
