apAdventures

Last weekend marked the first of many at Hueco for us. We’ll be spending a lot of time there over the next couple months…including an extended stay with our Pittsburgh friends, Brian & Jen & little Seb and Oren. This is what we’ve been training for, and so far….well, so good.

First up for the weekend was my request to go to the New Meadow. I have a silly little goal of ticking a grade for each of Silas’ months. v2 when Silas was 2 months old (just *barely* scrapped my way up Nobody Here Gets out Alive!), v3 at 3 months, v4 at 4 months, and so on. Well, he’s 5 months now so I tried to repeat a v5 gimme – for me, anyway. I’ve probably done Lobster Claws at least 30 times. And yes, Saturday I did it again. Wooo!

Next up was some work on my first real project I’ve picked out (post-Silas), King Cobra, v6. And based on my performance on it, hmmmm, this climb may go down sooner than expected (hopefully before Silas turns 7 months so I don’t blow my silly little goal, haha!)

Then it was on to Raquel’s obsession, See Sharp, v6. For those of you that have been on this climb, you know I mean when I say “dang it’s a feisty one.” Not very tall, not very steep, and not very hard-looking. Uh yeah, until you touch the holds. Raquel though, is totally styling the moves (and the heinous crimps! Yow!). Styling so well in fact, that her performance on it has lured me in too. I, however am *very* far from ticking this one. Go Raquel! This one’s your’s girl.

Next up on the list, a little clean-up action by Paul over at the Terminator area. As you might recall from our last Hueco trip in January, The Governator, v10 was close to going down. And it did, first try. That was too easy Paul, you need to get on something harder. 😉

Which brings us to the final highlight of the weekend: Alma Blanca, v13. Paul’s new project. Stay tuned…

My two boys. Ready to hit the road and head to the boulders.

Raquel styling See Sharp, v6.

Paul trying to look as good as Raquel.

And me just trying to get my butt off the ground!

A surprised Silas

A happy Silas

The Governator, v10

Paul on Power of Silence, v10. Still a project.

Oh the places Silas’ bouncy seat will take him: propped under blowing shrubs and trees and grasses (Nature’s Mobiles)

..or under the swirling colorful roofs of little caves.

posted by arr

A Hueco Tanks boulder problem, yes. But also the vibe that’s been lurking out back at the woody as we train to be something great, sneaking around and nipping us in the butt when we let go from a climb, bail on that last pullup, or heaven forbid….begin to whine. “It’s time to get serious people,” as Paul loves to say.

One of the wonderful things about our sport is that there is no prescribed training recipe. You want to run a 5k? Well google “train for 5k” and all kinds of info pops up, easy. For climbing though, most of us are left to our own training concoctions. And there’s oodles of room for creativity. Core training: let’s do L-sits, no even better, how about L-sit pullups? Then let’s add 90 degree lock-off hangs to the L-sits, plus the L-sit pullups. And do this after a climbing session, or before? Now, let’s train fingers. What’s more effective, hanging as long as you can on the sloper, or hanging until failure at .5 seconds on the micro-crimp? Or what about adding feet to the equation and doing this on the woody? And now what about cross-training? Run 30 minutes. No, 60 minutes. No, 30 minutes plus speed. And do this after a climbing session or before? Oh jeese, and now let’s talk about food. Protein for muscle-building. No, carbs for energy. No, both! Aahh! Well, you see how it can get very complicated very quickly.

So now, after gathering all the tribal knowledge we can from various people, websites, and our own experiences, we’ve come up with our own little regimen that we’ve been taking very seriously over the last few months. We’ve adjusted our attitudes and trained like we’ve never trained before.* To sum it up, our recipe is this: Serious training + a psyched attitude + a fun environment = hard sending. Right? Well, that’s the plan anyway. And now it’s time to see how all that training pays off. We’ve got Hueco reservations, baby! See ya’s at the boulders.

posted by arr

*Going through pregnancy and watching one’s middle stretch out to the size of a watermelon can give one a motivation that is unprecedented!. 😉

It’s not often that we go to Hueco without reservations. Especially during the busy season. However, when you know you’re going to send you can’t sit at home waiting. So…we packed the van and showed up to the biggest line we’ve ever seen at the entrance of Hueco. We were a little stressed at first but managed to get in (a BIG thanks to our El Paso friends). After a quick warm-up I walked over to Diaphanous Sea. With Daniel Woods cheering from behind I over powered the climb and nearly made the big move static. ha ha. He said, “Dude, you almost did that static.” I said, “I didn’t mean to, I’ve always had to dyno like crazy to hit that.” After that “warm-up go” I knew I could do it. A few minutes later Diaphanous Sea became another classic Hueco problem ticked off my list. YEAH! And a little bit later Daniel made the 3rd ascent of Terremer, v15. Nice!

Diaphanous Sea v12

Mama and Silas cheer Dad on

Perfect weather

A lot of family fun

Silas loves the views

Mama and son

The monster hat rules

It was cloudy an hour earlier. Perfect for The Governator, v10 which is always in the sun.

Hot but still rad

No cheers from Silas on this climb

posted by pjv

We ticked off our second trip to Hueco with little Silas last weekend. Yet again, we find ourselves driving home after 2 days of good hard crankin’ with the obsessive itch to return ASAP. Paul is 1 move away from completing Diaphanous Sea, v12, a climb that he first drooled over 5 season ago. This trip our friends Mia and Tom joined us, vowing to return very, very soon to finish off See Spot Run, v6. And me, I’m in repeat mode, trying to repeat the good stuff to quicken my comeback. Fueled by the obsession, Paul attached some campus rungs to the woody. It’s time to get serious people. 🙂

Here are a few pics from the trip:

Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12

Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12

Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12

Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12

Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12

Paul’s sequence on Diaphanous Sea, v12

Tom and Mia

Tom making quick work of the classic, Sign of the Cross, v3

Mia, right on Tom’s heels

Too much climbing? Never!

Silas sending a good cat-nap in his bouncy seat

More napping. Dang, this is hard work!

Next project: Eating, mmm!

And Silas’ other fav pastime at the boulders: taking in the view

Wow, breathtaking!

“This is a nice spot. I can see my momma.”

Life is good

posted by arr

Well, the Bambino has officially been initiated. Silas got to enjoy his first Hueco trip this weekend! And enjoy it he did! He spent most of his climbing time snuggled up warm in his snowsuit puffy, chillin’ in his bouncy seat or in mama’s or dad’s arms (when we weren’t climbing of course). From the looks of his goofy smiles all day, we’re thinkin’ he digs the place. Already he’s got an eye for good bouldering. 😉

It was really nice heading back over to the old stompin’ grounds. We spent both Sat and Sun on North mountain and got to meet up with the crew, including our old friend Nate whom we hadn’t seen in a couple seasons. It was good to be back on real rock. Paul has somehow gotten stronger during these pre and post Silas-days and proved it with a quick send of Dean’s Journey, v10…long-standing unfinished business of his. Then he linked some promising moves on Diaphanous Sea, v12…also a first (damn him). Me, on the other hand, am slowly but surely thrashing my way up the rock – sorry, no big sends to report from my end, haha.

Just one Hueco trip is all it ever takes to get Paul and I into crazy obsessive training mode. And this trip wasn’t any different. I already made a phonecall this morning to add a few more weekends to our Hueco reservations….as little Silas was laying on my lap giving me those goofy smiles that can only mean one thing: “yeah yeah, let’s go!” 😉

Silas in his carseat on the way to Hueco. What’d I tell ya, this boy is psyched!

Dad and the marshmallow

Mama and the marshmallow

Mama warming up at the Small Potatoes

Our buddy Steve giving See Spot Run, v6 a try

posted by arr

The weather in Tucson is perfect now. Perfect for some woody sessions, the desert museum, and just being outside. Here are a few photos of what we’ve been up to recently.

The Desert Museum

There is glass between Jenna and rattlesnake

Kate and Jenna visit!

Silas checking out the action on the woody

It does get cold at night here

We are finally starting to fill in the woody with a lot of holds

Time to get STRONG!

Fuel for the fun

More fuel

Too much fun, time to sleep

With the recent arrival of our little guy we’ve been busy developing our new “routine.” We’ve got climbing fever bad and are setting our sights BIG on some projects for 2010. We’ll be announcing our tick lists soon. Some projects which have been left unfinished and some new projects that will put April and I in new territory. More later…

For now, as we start our training insanity we’ve been getting psyched by reflecting on great memories from our last year’s trip. Enjoy this little video of one of the most classic climbs in the world.

…Our Rocklands Trip 2008! Finally, the South Africa footage is compiled and we have a little home video ready to share with our special peeps. Click on the pic below for a mild taste-tester.

Get psyched people!

We took a break from the woody construction last weekend to party it up in Las Vegas for April’s Aunt’s wedding. It was a blast. We linked up with Joe and Holly, toured the strip, lounged by the pool and had a great time visiting with family, new friends and partying in the Luxor. Congratulations Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tom!!!

After returning from Vegas we’ve decided to lay low at home for a little bit and not risk having to deliver a baby in the middle of the desert (where we usually find ourselves on the weekends). Now, I’ve focused my attention on finishing the new addition on the woody and April…well…I’m not going to say much but she’s secretly working on our full length DVD featuring Rocklands, South Africa. Soon…very soon…it will be available and in HD!!!

April and Baby

Congratulations Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tom! Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas

Heading up to the bride and groom’s suite after the wedding, to party

Holly and Joe, my drinking buddies

Ever since I started sending Martini climbs at Hueco this has been my drink of choice

Planet Hollywood, wow

Having drinks at a Luxor bar before the wedding

Holds are going up on our new 60 degree roof

Me, trying to demonstrate and give perspective to the size of the new addition

The baby is going to be psyched. This woody is awesome!

Posted by pjv

While temperatures have been consistently breaking 100 degrees here in the desert we’ve been doing more planning and talking about climbing than, climbing. So when April recently asked, “How am I going to get back in shape after I pop this little climber out?” I said, “Oh, uh, I have a few scraps of wood lying around. I can add onto the woody. In fact, I think the heat might have gotten to me because I got carried away. Here is the frame of “the arch.”

The new section will have a 20 deg kicker, 60 deg roof, horizontal roof and near vertical headwall. If the budget allows we are going to fill in a side with vertical climbing (so the baby can climb of course). You’ll be able to start from our existing 45 deg section and climb up and over the arch, or even traverse. All the slopers we had from our original woody will be back in action.

I just have to complete the thing when it’s 100+ degrees outside!

Posted by pjv