apAdventures

Seth and Erin and their two kids came to Tucson. We did some climbing and sightseeing. But mostly stayed up waaaaay too late drinking and catching up after kids were all in bed. 😉

posted by arr

We’re done with the Hueco season and we didn’t send our projects. That’s the wrap up folks. Paul gets an honorable mention for getting really really close on Slashface though (post-finger surgery!) falling off the top, too pumped to stick the last big pull. I deserve no credit, having totally plateaued and going nowhere on anything hard from February to April. We decided to call it, not because of the heat (cause it actually hasn’t gotten hot yet here in the desert southwest! So nice!), but because my psyche was low and Paul’s fingers needed a hardcore rest. So instead of posting a overly amped video showcasing how awesome and strong and full of ourselves we are, I’ll instead post some cute pics of our kids that never made it to the site this spring. hehe. Enjoy!

Stylish Silas

Cute boys

Silly boys

A side trip to Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

Who’d ever guess there is an ENORMOUS cave around here?!

What is called “the natural entrance” to the cave

…which, despite the three foot wide paved pathway cut into the side of the cliff all the way down is indeed considerably more “natural” than the alternate entrance, a 500+ foot elevator.

Cuteness in carharts

Silas content with his sketchpad

while Ivan gets grumpy cause he wants to climb NOW!

Campsite hangout time. Get those flip flops off your face! Gross!

Animal track! Whoa!

Site 12 at the campground

A lush Mescalero Canyon in East Mountain

And a bunny chillin’ in the shade.

posted by arr

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

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

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

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

And the final chapter of our 2014 Hueco season:

Posted by arr

Happy Valentines Day!  For all the Hueco lovers out there, here’s Part II:

Posted by arr

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

What happens to boys that are forced to sit too long in their carseats? Uncontainable goofiness.

And what happens to their parents? A fervent desire to stop at the So iLL Climbing Gym in St. Louis to flex their muscles.

posted by ARR