apAdventures

After a lot of driving on Saturday we finally made it to our first destination, Colorado! April’s sister Holly and her boyfriend Joe have welcomed us into their mountain home and have let us set up camp in their driveway…

On Sunday morning we woke, still tired from all the driving but without hesitation, packed up, drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and made the trek up to Emerald Lake.

Our plan was to hike up to Chaos Canyon and check out a couple climbs we scoped out last October (on our anniversary trip to RMNP). Before we knew it we were at “The Kind” boulder right below Emerald Lake and realized we missed the fork which leads higher up towards Chaos Canyon. Usually it isn’t hard to miss but this year we’ve heard RMNP has received a lot more snow than usual, making trail finding a little more tricky. So we settled on some Emerald Lake bouldering.

Paul on Real Large V9 at Emerald Lake

April on an unknown climb at Emerald Lake

posted by pjv from Joe and Holly’s apartment in the mountains

It’s healthy to have dreams. It’s even healthier to turn one of those dreams into reality. A colleague once told me that he prefers to have hundreds, thousands! of dreams. Because with thousands of dreams, there’s a much greater probability that he can turn at least one into reality. I like this philosophy.

So here WE go. Paul and I are about to live a dream. A dream that we’ve discussed numerous times amongst ourselves, loved ones, and friends. A dream that has gone through many iterations, revisions and re-writes. We’ve been talking the talk about this “big climbing road trip” for sooooo long that I’m seriously having a lot of trouble this week differentiating between the reality and the dream. Is this for real?! Are we really pulling this off? Am I……dreaming?

And then I look at the van parked out front, the vehicle which is about to be our little home-away-from home for a while. And I see how nicely and neatly its packed. Packed with all the material items that we will be living off of over the next 6 months. I’m surprised actually, at how much room we still have in there. Either the van is way more space-efficient than I thought, or we’ve seriously forgotten some major stuff. I realize how little I care about this right now. As long as the crashpads, climbing shoes, and at least a tad of chalk are in there, we’ll make due. Oh yeah – and our plane tickets and passports. Can’t forget those.

Paul tried to be a little creative in giving hints on this site of our potential destinations. If you’re a climber, you’ve already got it figured out. If you’re not, then I am jittering with excitement to announce that the final cut of our “big climbing roadtrip” dream will include the following destinations. <drum roll please>

1. Rocky Mountain National Park (and surrounding areas), Colorado
2. Rocklands, South Africa
3. Bishop, California

Yep. That’s the plan man. Thrown in amongst these areas will also be plenty of time spent at home with the fam’s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Marathon, New York.

So without further ado, I now must get back to the packing so we can hit the road….TODAY. Stay tuned on the site. You’re about to see a lot more action.

posted by arr from home in Tucson

I can’t stop looking at this amazing photo, wondering what it will be like to climb in this foreign land, experiencing what may be the world’s most incredible bouldering mecca. It’s almost time people. Time for the ultimate adventure…

Photo by Keith Ladzinski

So many boulders, so little time.

…or not?

A short 4 day trip here wasn’t enough…

What do you do when it’s your last Hueco weekend, your car breaks down, and your manager calls and says you have to work?…

Personally, I didn’t care at all. I’ve pulled off some sends over the last several months that I’ve been really proud of. April on the other hand, was extremely close to ticking her first V8 this season, until the ultra-classic Mushroom Roof was closed. She worked all the moves and made excellent links on Left Martini V10, worked out and started sending gos of Bloody Flapper Traverse V9, fell on the last move several times, on King Cobra (a burly V6) and there were countless other problems where I noticed her make a tremendous amount of progress. For a good bit of the season I was jealous because I could see her progression and wondered if mine was as obvious. Or if I was progressing. But perhaps that jealously fueled my motivation to achieve new levels. Overall we certainly can’t complain. The last several months at Hueco contained weekends spent with great friends, good food, fun times and plans to climb yet again in places far.

A good gift is something that you would like to receive yourself. When I asked April what she really wanted for her birthday she said, “I want to go bouldering!” I quickly replied, “Simple, you got it (as I thought to myself…this is going to be a nice treat for myself too).

Yesterday, April and I left work early, threw the crashpads in the car and drove 5 minutes down the road to a boulder we’ve never even touched (how dare us, I know). We had a nice evening session trying out the classic “Hairpin Roof,” v6 and other variations on the boulder. As an added birthday treat April managed to quickly send the classic v6 version. Check it out…

“Dirty Martinis with Grey Goose, all around!” This was our friend Raquel’s request to our waiter last night over dinner in El Paso. Six dirty, hungry climbers raised their martini glasses to cheers to Paul’s big send. After many weekends of nail-biting sending go’s and subsequent devastating failures, Paul was finally able to pull it all together yesterday for the biggest send of his life: Right Martini (aka Shaken not Stirred), v12, in the Martini Roof at Hueco. Click on video pic to see the excitement:

After nearly 3 years we’ve finally compiled and edited our video footage from 2 bouldering trips to Fontainebleau, France. Click on the picture below to watch a little teaser and get psyched. The 30+ minute DVDs should be poppin’ off the press in the next week. Who wants one?…

So now that we’ve reached a high point in our home improvements (Porch, done. Guest House Bathroom, done. Main House Bathroom, done. Hot Tub Shade Roof, done.), it’s time to update you all with more serious matters: CLIMBING. HARD climbing. Although it may appear that we’ve replaced our beloved sport of climbing with “This Old House” episodes lately, this is hardly the case. Quietly, we’ve been sneaking away on weekends…cuttin’ ruts in I-10…throwing our crashpads down underneath some of our hardest endeavors yet. Our month off over the holidays worked out just as planned. Our muscles rested, our bodies rejuvenated. And now we’re back in tip-top shape and climbing stronger than ever. On what? Here’s the scoop:

Rewind 4 seasons ago to our very first trip to Hueco, and our very first glimpse on Martini Roof. If you’ve spent any time at all on this website, you’ve probably read at least a dozen-million accounts of us raving about all the fantastic climbs in the Martini Roof. First it started with Paul sending Left Martini, his first v10. Then me with Baby Martini, my first v6. Then me again on Big Iron on His Hip, v7. Not to mention Schadenfraud v5, Martini Hotbox v9, and Dirty Martini v9. Can you tell we love this place? From day 1, however, Paul has been drooling….and I mean drooling….over yet another Martini classic: Shaken Not Stirred (aka Right Martini), v12. Well, after 4 seasons the time has finally come to start giving Right Martini some attention. And the attention has been positive. *Very* positive. Every weekend I’ve watched Paul progress steadily. First working out the beta, then linking the crux, and now finally awesome sending go’s. The send is inevitable. This weekend’s highpoint on the climb made us both realize just how inevitable it is. But we try not to think about it yet….not until Paul’s right hand cranks up to the finishing hold on Big Iron on His Hip. Then it will be time for the ultimate celebration. “Martini, please. Shaken, not stirred.” 🙂

So that’s Paul’s news. Now what’s new with me. Back in December I had my sights set on one climb and one climb only: Mushroom Roof, v8. I was able to link the sections pretty quick and had started giving it sending go’s. Just to give it one last shot before the holidays, Paul and I took a vacation day from work on Monday, December 17th and headed to Hueco for what was hoped to be, my send. Alas, I did not send it that day. As a consolation prize however, I snagged a send on Left El Murray, v6 instead (of which I was TOTALLY psyched on). No big deal, I’ll just save Mushroom Roof for January. Then Saturday, December 22nd, 5 days later, the Mushroom Boulder was closed. Permanently. Indefinitely. Forever. I’m not going to gripe and moan and woh-as-me any further than this on this topic. I’ll just end it with saying I was heartbroken. As were many other climbers I’m sure.

So January 2008 comes, and with it my new quest to find my next obsession. I need another v8. But it has to be a good v8…..as good as Mushroom Roof. So I dabbled on some climbs here and there and surprisingly, landed my sights on the Bloody Flapper Traverse. I say surprisingly because this climb is crimpier, longer, and just a degree harder than Mushroom Roof. It’s a v9. Hey! Who says I can’t try a v9 without having never sent a v8?! There aren’t rules in rock climbing! Are there? I say no. And I say my send of Bloody Flapper Traverse is also inevitable. I too, reached an incredible high point this weekend on my climb. Although I think my progression may be a bit slower than Paul’s progression on Right Martini, I know that I can do this climb. Ultimate celebrations are on the horizon. Martini’s and bloody flappers! Now *that’s* rock climbing. 🙂

posted by arr