apAdventures

Well isn’t this one a beauty?! Best of the Best, V9 on Hueco’s West Mountain.

posted by ARR

Cheers to Paul’s send of a Hueco climb whose beta and rating doesn’t seem to exist anywhere on the internet. Heck yeah – sending it old school!

posted by ARR

Paul and I are what some might call “risk takers” when it comes to rain in the weather forecast when we want to climb. Our rule is pretty simple. Unless the forecast says 100% chance of rain, we go. We drive to the boulders. This rule has worked really well for us over the years. I can’t actually think of one instance where chance of rain has totally grounded us. Worst case, we’ll get a couple climbs in before the skies open up and dump or sprinkle. And for us, a couple climbs is always worth it.

Well, this weekend we got busted. We woke Saturday morning and drove Ivan to gymnastics, came home to pack so that we could leave by 11:30am sharp to make it to the Hueco park office by 5pm before they close for campsite checkin. I checked the forecast, not for rain but for temperature so that I could appropriately pick out a cute sending outfit to wear. 40% chance of rain on Sunday, and not until 10am. Alright. Worst case the family gives me priority and I get my two hours to warm up and send Serious Legends and then we head home. We proceed with the packing and the picking up of Ivan from gymnastics and the five and a half hour drive to Hueco.

We check in, do our campground walk to loosen up from the drive and make dinner. I read another chapter of Little House on the Prairie to the boys and we’re all tucked into the coziest accommodations on the planet (our sleeping bags) by 8pm. Right before bed I decide to check the forecast: 60% chance starting at 10am. Alright. Mama gets priority it is then.

6am the alarm goes off and I hear Paul spurt out “F@#*!” He must have been weary about the Mama-priority plan and checked the weather: 100% chance of rain in 30 minutes. And well, yep. Now the forecast was finally accurate and as we sipped our coffee it started to rain. No climbing today.

Back now in Tucson around 1pm, we all decide to rally and salvage the weekend. The kids do some house projects to barter for some video game time while Paul and I attempt to have a “similar to but not quite Hueco” climbing session on the woody. Our buddy John shows up and he and Paul head out on a stellar sunset trail run. And I have the best…woody…session…EVER.

Weekend salvaged. 👍

posted by ARR

posted by ARR

posted by ARR

posted by ARR

I think it’s fair to say that I spend a significant portion of my days in the “highly motivated” category. Lucky for me, I happened to be married to a man of similar motivation. Add the two kiddos and….the psyche runs strong in my family.

Psyche or no psyche, life logistics that threaten to prevent me, excuse me, US! from getting out there on real rock seem to be growing with every year that ticks by. Currently, both boys are in competition gymnastics. The competition season is in winter, which automatically cancels a handful of perfect-weather climbing weekends here in the desert. And now this year Ivan has practice on Saturdays. So what’s a highly-motivated-most-of-the-time climber that is dying to go to Hueco to do?

Leave gymnastics practice on Saturday and bee-line it straight to Hueco, screeching in just before the office closes so we can check in to our campsite. Make a nice dinner and go to bed early. Then wake early Sunday and start climbing as soon as the park opens at 8am. There are four of us, and each person gets two hours max on the boulder problem of their choice. Include transit time, and we’ve got a full but still doable day. Brilliant!

We’ve done this twice now, and all had really good days on our problems of choice, even each of us progressing from last weekend to this one. We’ll head back to Hueco again in three weeks, and in the meantime fantasize about our next two hours of satisfaction.

posted by ARR

Our amazing Yosemite trip has come to its finish. All four of us squeezed in one last good quality send of T-Rex, V3, with Ivan amazing us all with his unique beta on the opening move: go with the left hand??? Whaaaat?!!

All else will have to wait until next trip:

It’s good to have problems to come back for. I mean, how sad would it be to climb-out The Valley?! 😉

Posted by ARR

Our 7th Thanksgiving in Yosemite Valley now, we enjoyed another feast cooked over the fire and Coleman stove: a homemade nut loaf, Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, pickles and olives, bread and butter, champagne, and sparkling cider for the kids. We made a special trip all the way to Oakhurst for pumpkin pie this year so we even had a proper dessert too! All of this goodness was cooked up after a morning of routes and a little bouldering with some new friends we met last year, who also come to The Valley for the holiday. After the feasting we reconvened over a fire, us parents sharing adventures while the kids all playing happily late into the evening. What a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

posted by ARR

I did it!!!!!!  The Hexentric, V7!!!!!  A classic Yosemite Valley boulder problem!!!!!  My primary objective for the trip and quite possibly the YEAR!!!!  (And yes, all the exclamations imply that I am VERY excited about this one. For Part 1, read here).

posted by ARR