If you’ve ever climbed on the Mushroom Boulder you would understand how dissapointed we are, hearing that no one will ever experience a similar enjoyment of such a classic boulder.
From www.Climbing.com:
“Sometimes called the single best boulder in the world, the Mushroom Boulder at Hueco Tanks, Texas, has been closed to climbing to protect the soil, plant life, and possible archaeological resources under the rock.”
Hopefully by now we have been providing a convincing argument that our crazy amounts of driving to and from various climbing destinations is totally worth it. And yet again, I think we can prove it. After we used up our last Hueco reservations for the year, we said our goodbyes and set our sights on our near term holiday plans. Relax, rest, eat lots of food and recover for the rest of the Hueco season. However, as April and I sat in the car during the long drive back to Tucson last weekend, contemplating our next few weeks, one of us asked the classic question, “How about just one more trip?” Within milliseconds we had the answer. Next weekend. Turns out the only available reservations were on Monday (today). Hmmm, after about another millisecond of thought we figured out a way to make one last trip happen. So, as I sit here in the car on the way back to Tucson, I am still convinced that we are not crazy for driving all the way to El Paso for just one day. Once again we had an amazing time and it was totally worth it!
This stellar last day started off at the Mushroom Boulder. While warming up, our good friend Nate, whom we hadn’t seen for nearly two years, randomly strolled up. Coincidentally it was the last day of his short four day trip all the way from New Hampshire. A pleasant surprise!
When my feet started to get cold and I couldn’t wait to leave to try some problems at the next spot I said to April, “Hurry up with Mushroom Roof. Either send it or let’s go. I’m psyched to try some other stuff.” April replied, “Alright, I’m about done here. Today isn’t the day for Mushroom but I’m going to give one go on Left El Murray before we leave.” Many a hardman and hardwoman have claimed the ultimate classic Left El Murray (v6) HARDER than Mushroom Roof (v8), myself included. April has given Left El Murray much attention over the years, and to no avail. Well, today was an exception to all of the above. She crushed it.
The rest of the day was a combination of running into more old friends (the season is ON) and linking up hard moves on all the problems we touched. April & Raquel had a good little session on King Cobra (v6), while my bros and I slapped the finishing hold on Anal Intruder #10 (v11). After that, I managed to make my best link yet on Right Martini (v12). It’s now time for sending go’s! And the day concluded with some spontaneous interest by myself, April, and Raquel in The Bloody Flapper Traverse (v9) – a climb that I’ve dabbled on in the past but never managed to send….until today.
So now what? April and I are both climbing harder now than we’ve ever climbed before. To keep us in tune for the duration of the Hueco season, which has only just begun, it’s time to take a short pitstop. We’re going to rest up, enjoy the holidays with the families, let our tendons relax and get reacquainted with our muscle fibers, and continue the season stronger than ever. See you in January, Hueco.
posted by pjv
As I studied the razor sharp crimps of the partially chalked, slightly overhanging wall, home to the classic Right El Murray (v8), my friend Justin said, “Hey, are you going to try that climb? Good luck dude, because if you fail to tick it you’ll only go home half a hardman.”
I was like, “Uh, whatever macho saying you just told me doesn’t sound good. Where did you come up with that rule? I mean, I’ve basically written this crimp nightmare off of my tick list but for some reason I’m going to try it again today. I guess by the sounds of it, I have to do this climb to really get credit for completing the three El Murrays. Right?”
Justin said, “Check out the guidebook man, I’m not lying.”
“The steepest section of the wall is home to the Left, Center, and Right El Murrays. The Center El Murray has been justly dubbed Hueco’s Greatest Problem. Many a tough guy has had fits at the El Murrays, knowing that if he doesn’t tick all three he’ll leave Hueco only half a hardman.”
John Sherman, “Texas Tall Tales”
Climbing Magazine No. 116.
It was funny because after hearing Justin tell me that goofy phrase something in my brain clicked. I thought to myself, “I can’t leave this problem undone. I have to do it. I have to do it even if my fingers snap off. I can’t leave here today knowing that I’m half a hardman. I am a FULL HARDMAN!” Yes. Psyched. The moment of psychedness overcame my body and I yelled to April, “Hey, quit working Mushroom Roof, gimme the pads now! I’m psyched.” She was like, “Alright fine, but hurry up. My feet are getting cold watching you flail on your attempts.”
Oh well, it didn’t quite register what she said. I grabbed the pads, threw them down, chalked up and pulled on.
Thought process:
– Ouch, left hand fingers crimp side-pull, thumb digs deep into a sharp spike
– Right hand crimps something but first move is to a hold that doesn’t really exist and isn’t chalked that much but I pretend it’s there and crimp HARD. Ouch again.
– Ok, left foot up, the jarring movement of my foot grinds my left thumb and right crimp deeper, ouch. Oh well, go.
– One more left foot smack. Ouch.
– Cross over to another no-chalk imaginary crimp. OUCH! Oh man I stuck it!
– Don’t fall now! Or you will have to repeat those moves again
– Right hand to a sharp, fairly good, side-pull…breath baby
– Set feet and move left hand from very painful crimp to less painful crimp. Mini ouch.
– Now, setup, look, spot the final jug hueco with birds nest inside, leap and do not damage bird’s nest…STICK! Yeah. Let out loud yell for good measure and to unleash all the pent up pain. Whoooo hoooooo.
– Top out and say, “Damn, I’m never doing that climb ever again!”
Ahhhhhhh. Damn it feels good to be a HARDMAN!
posted by pjv
What’s a Tucson boulderer to do with a 4-day weekend? Head to Bishop of course!
Paul and I flew back east for our family “Thanksgiving” two weekends ago, so this weekend was treated like any ‘ol weekend for us. Only this weekend, we had FOUR whole days off from work. And like many of the 4-day weekends prior, we decided yet again to make the grueling trek up to the east side of the Sierra Nevadas to squeeze out 2.5 precious days of Bishop bouldering. 12 hours of driving (each way) for only two and a half days of climbing? Is it really worth it? I’d like to say that we are sane and logical human beings and we ask ourselves this question each time we decide to make this heinous trek. But we don’t. We just go.
Thursday afternoon, Thanksgiving Day, finds myself, Paul and ‘lil brown dog Morgan bumpin’ along in our Sportsmobile van up the washboard dirt road toward the Buttermilks. Our tick lists – which we feverishly scratched down the night before (if you’re me) or 2 weeks before (if you’re Paul) – are packed with more climbs than can usually be ticked in a whole two weeks. And, well, since we have a mere two days, we best be gettin’ to the business.
Our first stop is the Pollen Grains. It’s around 2ish and we have just enough time to go find this amazing looking line we’ve seen in photo after photo. High, technical, not too hard and thin: Jedi Mind Tricks, v4. Paul promptly eats this little morsel up with an onsight and declares it his all-time second favorite v4 ever (Moonshine Roof at Hueco holding the first place position, OF course). I pass on this one. Too high for me today! We then start making our way up to The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, but the steep face of the Honey Boulder sucks us in and we boulder on it until dark. Paul quickly ticks Cindy Swank, v7 and Finder’s Fee, v9. I come pretty darn close on Cindy Swank but then darkness closes in and we call it quits.
Friday is a Happies day. Our mission this day is two lines: Slow Dance, v10 for Paul and Gleaner, v6 for me. Paul spends about an hour linking up the moves of Slow Dance very nicely, but there’s not enough time to pull it together for a send today. On next to Gleaner. After chillin’ in the cold Slow Dance cave with Paul, I thought I’d need some time to warm up a bit on Gleaner before giving it some sending attempts. I think wrong and quickly tick it. Woo!
Originally we had planned on climbing at the Buttermilks on Saturday. However, since we had such an awesome time at the Pollen Grains two days prior, we decided to head back. Turned out to be a great decision because we basically have all the boulders to ourselves on this busy holiday weekend. After some less-than-stellar grainy, slabby, scary warm-ups, we throw our pads under the classic roof of the Beekeeper Boulder. I work on the Beekeeper’s Apprentice, v5. No send – a little burlier than I had anticipated! Or maybe I’m just tired – yeah that’s it, haha. Paul shows me how it’s done and then some – ticking off all the rest of the climbs under the Beekeeper roof. Fun little session. After a few more Pollen Grains classics and some more sending go’s from me on Cindy Swank, we declare our muscles and tips total toast.
With a couple more hours of daylight, we finish off the day – and the trip – with a hike up to the Bardini Boulders to check out The Maze of Death, v12 and to admire with dropped jaws, the monolith highball This Side of Paradise, v10. Dwarfed under the massive Bardini Boulder, with the vast Sierra Nevadas behind us, the multitude of Buttermilk boulders in front of us, and the canyons holding the still more Happy and Sad boulders off in the distance, we pretty much decide right then and there that a 4-day weekend at Bishop is *not* enough. There are too many boulders we want to climb! Too many projects we dream of sending! We’ve been making these short little jaunts up to these boulders for 4 years now. And in these 4 years, the wish list has grown pages longer than the tick list. The realization sinks in. It’s time to start setting our sights on a real Bishop roadtrip. Soon.
posted by arr
Check out what we dug up in the archives:
Had a halloween woody session last week which turned out to be a blast! Thanks to everyone who came out and helped us make a dent in of our pile of donuts and cider.
Spent the weekend in NY visiting with April’s family. During the fall we couldn’t be more homesick. The changing leaves, family, friends, cool temperatures, and the sense of the approaching winter, just to name a few, are things we miss the most. Can’t wait to visit for a long stay in December and January. In the meantime we have plenty planned on the climbing front. Hueco, Bishop….the season is on!
posted by pjv
Here is a short video of our good friend Anke (from Germany – Grit’s sister) sending Local Flakes, V2 at Hueco Tanks. Local Flakes is a classic problem on the Mushroom Boulder, which has been Anke’s long standing project for the last few weekends. She cruised it this weekend! Nice job. Check out her sendin’ style:
So, this weekend we decided to make our “woody” (a climbing wall) a little steeper. 20 Degrees just didn’t cut it. 45 Degrees sounded so much better…
Before: 20 Degrees
After: 45 Degrees
Is it possible to “wear out” one’s favorite climbing area? I think this to myself as we speed towards Hueco Tanks Friday evening after work. I was excited, but not “Hueco” excited. Paul and I have spent a blissful summer bouldering in Flagstaff, where there’s no such thing as rules, regulations, and reservations. When the temps at Hueco drop from the 100’s to the 90’s, Paul and I usually ditch Flag and get sucked back into those beckoning Hueco huecos. So here we are, 1st reservations of the season arranged, rippin’ down Interstate 10 to the mecca. Have the restrictions finally started to get to me? Am I really not that psyched?! The world must obviously be coming to an end, I think. Obviously.
The next morning, however, we roll into the park – the mood picking up steadily with every foot closer to the park headquarters. We park, head inside, fill out the daily paperwork, catch up real quick w/ the Hueco staff, and head to the boulders. As with every ‘first return’ to Hueco, Paul and I are seasoned enough to know that hopping on last spring’s projects on the first day is just asking for a painful spanking. So we start this first day off with a little circuiting – hitting up all the easier classics, moving quickly and purposefully from one area to the next. Before we know it, the day is gone and we’ve covered most of North Mountain and have actually topped out on most everything we touched. Good start.
Sunday we decide to head out on a tour – only this time, as participants, not guides. We’re a little skeptical as to whether anyone else will be on this tour with us, let alone a guide that’ll be willing to take us out! You can imagine then how excited we were when 4 El Paso climber locals and 2 roadtrippin’ surfers from Calgary showed up, rearin’ to get to the rocks – a classic, full blown psyched-as-all-heck tour….in the heat of SEPTEMBER! This is GREAT! Needless to say, the day was absolutely stellar, full of good sends and good company.
So here we are on The Drive Home #146. Same drive, same excited chatter over the climbs of the weekend and the wish list for the many weekends to come. Have we “worn out” Hueco? Heck no! I must have just had a lack of sleep and been cranky last Friday night, haha. Silly me.
posted by arr
Well, sadly, our summer fun with Holly (my sister) has come to a close. She’s done with her summer internship and heading back to upstate New York tonight. And…well…we’re just a little bit depressed around here. Ok, a LOT. It’s been a great summer and we’ve had loads of fun….climbing, climbing, and climbing some more. We’ve spent most of the summer bouldering up in the cool pines of Flagstaff; mostly at Priest Draw. Holly ticked some real classics over the last couple of months and it’s been super exciting to see her progress and enthusiasm. The three of us (four, counting lil Morgie of course!) made a pretty sweet crew this summer and we’re really bummed to see her go. Hands down, there’s nothin’ cooler in the whole wide world than crankin’ with your own sis.
Here are a couple of pics from our last stellar weekend. Holly’s boyfriend Joe flew down from Colorado and we all headed up to Flagstaff for one last horrah.
posted by arr
