apAdventures

….Hueco reservations, that is. No need for New Year’s resolutions when you’ve got Hueco reservations for the next three months. I will climb more. I will climb harder. I will send only sick projects. – Not because I have incredible will power or the determination of an olympic athlete. Not because I’m willing and ready to make psychotic sacrifices. It’s because I simply enjoy climbing. Dedication is effortless when it’s for something you truly love. And Paul and I just can’t seem to love this sport enough. 😉 Ahhh, the sick sends are just around the next bend…er, uh, weekend.

posted by arr

It’s a good thing we’ve been doing a lot of trail running the past few months because we had to sprint through the airport to catch our connecting flight to Pittsburgh. Thank goodness because the next available flight was two and a half days later due to the Denver snow storm. I guess our luck at the beginning of the trip was a good sign because the entire 10 days we were away turned out awesome!

Click on the photo below and see a short slideshow of a few places we went while in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, we were only able to make it into the climbing gym one time. Unfortunate because we are getting a little out of shape but not so unfortunate since we got to do so much stuff with family and friends. To try and stay a little in shape while eating, eating, eating and more eating we managed to blast out a few “city runs.” Instead of seeing views of mountains or wild animals the city certainly had comparable sights to the mountain trail runs we are used to. The graffiti along the “jail trail” (which actually leads to the Pittsburgh jail) is full of beautiful colors and hidden messages (like f**k the police). Also, we always managed to keep a nice fast pace because of the need to dart past cars in traffic, crossing streets at the “right” time, bums asking you for money, and just plain weird people you don’t want to talk with. Overall it was a blast and I loved being back in my home town. I shouldn’t convey that the entire time running was full of city excitement. On two of our runs we managed to escape the noise and crowds of people by hopping on the trails in Frick Park and Shenley Park.

One of the biggest highlights of our trip and probably a favorite by both April and I were the two hikes we took with my parents. We visited Cooper’s Rock State Park in West Virginia and Linn Run State Park, about 1 hour outside of Pgh. The weather was perfect both days. Actually, that depends on how you view perfect. I think of it begin near what I consider the perfect temperature for climbing. But, not perfect when you think that it’s December! What’s going on? Where’s the snow? Check out the photos to see what I’m talking about.

Actually, the snow was in Tucson (so we heard)! And…it snowed at our house!

Wow. We’ve been busy. I also nearly forgot how to post an entry since it’s been so long. Recently we haven’t been up to much climbing. Just hanging out with family and working on our never ending porch project. Last week April’s parents visited us in Tucson! It was a blast. In every minute away from work we managed to squeeze in some hiking, working on the porch project, eating and relaxing. Soon we are off to visit with my parents and family in Pittsburgh. The fun continues!!!

Here are a few pictures of our porch project and April’s parents. Yes, we cheated and opened some gifts early but that’s because we are going to Pittsburgh this Christmas and New York next Christmas.

Our Thanksgiving weekend was spent chillin’ in Utah with good friends, good food, good scenery and most of all GOOD CRACK(s). We maximized our short time getting schooled on some of the most amazing crack climbs in the country. It was awesome and we’ll definately be back for more. Click on the photo below to watch a short video documenting our fun adventure.

Just a few updates on some things. Over the past week, Paul and I have made substantial progress toward deciding on our dream car that we’d like to get soon: A campervan! A Sportsmobile, to be exact. The perfecto climber-mobile. For the obscene amount of climbing roadtrips we rack up per year, I think it’s the general consensus that we’re long overdue on this one. We’ll keep ya posted.

Last weekend we actually decided to bail on Hueco (gasp!) and headed up to Flagstaff instead for some Priest Draw bouldering. We left late Sat morning and got up there around 3pm. With only a few hours of daylight left, we had decided to take along some warm clothes and our headlamps with us for a little ‘evening session’ of night-bouldering. It was quite pleasant – the woods were all quiet, the air was crisp and the stars were amazing. For those of you that have bouldered with us at the Draw over last two summers, you’ll be pleased to hear that I finally ticked off Badass. It’s about time!! 🙂 Paul gave some good sending go’s on The Receptionist, but was sadly shut down once again – falling after the “answering the phone” move. I again worked Anorexic. I’m able to link up all the moves, but not start-to-finish. If we would just spend a few consecutive weekends at the Draw, I might be able to report some more exciting sends to you. Ah but alas, so many projects, in so many places.

We’re running again. Neither Paul nor I had ran a step since the Grand Canyon Adventure . The minute our feet hit the final south rim of the canyon back on October 1st, we jumped head first into climbing-mode and let the running fall by the wayside….the Grand Canyon being our grand finale for the year. But that has now slightly changed. Just slightly though. We’re still in full-on climbing mode, but we kinda sorta just want to do some running too. On the side. Like icing on the cake. Little runs. For fun. Cause we like it. 🙂

And here are some crazy upcoming plans of ours that will surely knock your socks off. Due to ridiculous airfare prices this year (and our lack of pre-planning), Paul and I will be staying west for the Thanksgiving holiday. We’re a bit bummed out by this one. Ok, a lot bummed. Nothing quite compares to spending the holidays with family. :-\ So to cheer ourselves up, we’ve of course made some sort of climbing plans. That’s what climbers do when they have a 4 day weekend and can’t go home, right? Now, where to go, where to go…..Hueco?…nah. Joshua Tree?….nah. Flagstaff?…nah. Indian Creek?! WHAT?! Hold up. Did you say Indian Creek??!!!! As in, sandstone splitter cracks? Handjams? Trad gear? No crashpads? Yep.

These two boulderers are going crack climbing this weekend. Stay tuned….

Paul and I are volunteer tour guides at Hueco Tanks. Back in the late 90’s, restrictions were put into place to protect the delicate natural environment and rich cultural history of Hueco. Part of these restrictions include “guided only” areas of the park, which means the only way one can climb (or hike, birdwatch, etc.) in these areas, is to be taken out by a guide. The volunteer tours are limited to 10 people max and they are free (just need to pay the regular $4 entrance fee to the park). Anyone can sign up….just call the park and reserve yourself a slot.

Paul and I have guided many tours over the past couple of years. And people often ask us, ‘how is it…guiding strangers…people we’ve never climbed with before?’ ‘Are the tours usually pretty fun?’ ‘Do you ever get any real demanding a**holes that stomp their feet and throw a tantrum cause they can’t drag the entire v0-newbee tour participants to their v12 project for the entire day?’ Haha, no, no demanding a**holes….yet. However, Paul and I have guided enough tours that it’s easy to distinguish, right off the bat, if today will be a “Good Tour Day” or a “Bad Tour Day”. And this last weekend, we had both. Saturday, I guided the Good Tour. And Sunday, Paul guided the…well, not so good tour.

The Good Tour Day vs. The Bad Tour Day:

1. A Good Tour Day is when the tour starts off hiking to the first destination and the tour participants are literally on your heels…psyched to get to the boulders and get climbing ASAP….forget the beautiful scenery, forget the wildlife….we’ve got boulders to get to and projects to send…..being held back only by the guide in front of them. A Bad Tour Day is when the guide actually needs to STOP AND WAIT for his/her tour to catch up. Not once…not twice….not three times….but the WHOLE STINKIN’ DAY. Come on people! What the heck is going on back there? Did some birders accidentally sign up for a bouldering tour? This is like trying to walk a kindergarten class to the cafeteria!

2. A Good Tour Day is once we get to the boulders, the pads open up, the chalk is out, and the shoes are on. Stretching? Bah. Too impatient to stretch. This v0 warm-up will stretch me out just fine. In a matter of minutes the climbers are on the rocks and “sick dude” is being uttered at least every other move. A Bad Tour Day is once we get to the boulders, everyone stops, asks if ‘we’re here’, throws their pads down, and then sits. Just sits. And just kinda stares at the rock. And each other. Maybe this is some sort of pre-climbing meditation-type warm-up?…..just sitting…staring…not really saying a whole lot….just kinda sitting, really.

3. A Good Tour Day is when there is a decent amount of heckling going on. Fart jokes, fat butt jokes, puny forearm jokes, big kahuna jokes, small kahuna jokes, etc. All good fun all day long. A Bad Tour Day is when you think one of your tour participants is playing a funny joke on everyone when he decides to sit down, put his head on his knees and pretend to fall asleep under the crux move of this big roof problem the other 9 participants are trying. Only….he’s not joking. He’s sleeping. Really.

4. A Good Tour Day is when a tour participant sticks the crux of the climb he/she has been working and the crowd goes wild: In unison, “YEAH!!!” Or when the climber blows off the finishing jug that he/she has been so desperately lunging to grasp for the last hour and the crowd goes even wilder: “NO!” The roar is loud enough to scare away small animals and turn the heads of climbers across the mountain to see who sent what sick line. A Bad Tour Day is when a tour participant sticks the crux move and the crowd says nothing. Falls on the finishing jug and the crowd says nothing. SENDS THE PROBLEM and the crowd says nothing. Now if that’s not motivation….

5. A Good Tour Day is when the end of the day comes and we all cheers with a beer, head out for some margaritas and mexican food, invite one another over to chill at our campsites, exchange emails/phone numbers, or at the very least find out when the next tour together is going to be. A Bad Tour Day is when the end of the day comes and you mutter to yourself ‘Thank God’ (with no worries of anyone hearing you b/c they are all lagging way way waaaaay behind again anyway). You wonder to yourself if everyone was just having a bad day…not enough sleep….maybe didn’t drink enough espresso shots that morning? Does it really matter? No. Not really. This is Hueco and it’s hard to spoil our day in The Mecca. We don’t mind. Just as long as none of them sign up on our tour again. 😉

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month now that Grit and Manu arrived here from Germany. Time flys when you’re having fun and now their trip is coming to an end. Manu left for home last week. And Grit is on a final solo tour of more Joshua Tree and Bishop and will head home next week. I think I can speak for them both in saying that they indeed had a great visit. They climbed it all: Hueco Tanks, Joshua Tree, Bishop, Red Rock Canyon, Priest Draw, and even some local Tucson climbing at Milagrossa Canyon. Their tick lists are amazing. Paul and I were fortunate enough to be able to squeeze out some time off from work to join them climbing at a few places. And we all had great times just chillin’ here in Tucson – bouldering on the woody, drinkin’ Tecate, cooking good food, watching climbing videos, and just plain hangin’ out. Paul and I, yes, are a little bit bummed that the Grit/Manu visit is nearing its end. However, at the same time we are still psyched. Psyched because we know the fun is going to pick right up where it left off. Next spring. We have another Fontainebleau, France trip in the works….and guess which two Germans are going to be there….

Awe yeah. 🙂

The events of last weekend were quite a surprise…..a surprise to my parents, that is. Myself, Paul, sister Michelle, brother Joel, sister Katie, sister Holly, Holly’s boyfriend Joe, and family friends Sonny & Peggy and Dale & Tans put together a huge surprise party for my parents on their 30th wedding anniversary. And I’m pleased to say, the surprise was a success!!

Around 6 months ago, the idea of the surprise party originated between Holly and myself. Plans were made, invitations were sent, and we all kept our mouths zipped shut…tight. So tight in fact, that my parents didn’t think twice about scheduling an operation on my dad’s back for Friday, October 20th, 2006. Noooo!!!! That’s the surprise party date!!! Crap. Oh yeah, and let me point out that we found this out on Wednesday, October 18th. Uh yeah – 2 days before the party.

On to Plan B: So we somewhat break the news….kinda…to my parents. Through a few convincing lies we tell them that we have a little something special planned for them on Friday for their anniversary and that my dad HAS to reschedule:

“No really, this is BIG…VERY BIG…and you MUST reschedule. (The cake has been ordered!)…We’ve bought you tickets…yeah, tickets!…tickets to an event…..(We can’t cancel – I don’t have phone numbers on all these guests!)….very, very, VERY expensive tickets….(hell yeah, expensive tickets – the price to fly from Tucson, AZ to Syracuse, NY for 2 days ain’t cheap!)…..that are non-refundable, non-negotiable, non-transferable….(what if some out-of-town guests are already on their way!)…..You will be soooooo disappointed if you have to miss this. (I am never throwing a surprise party again)….You MUST reschedule!”

So after about 10 pleading phonecalls and 8 nail-biting hours later, my dad says “ok, let me see if I can get the doc to change the date of the operation.” (The planets have aligned, the sky has opened up to the heavens above, and the gods are giving me a chuckling slap on the back – no worries, April!) Whew.

Game on. Places everyone. Places, please.

We decide to all throw a few more fibs out to my parents too while we’re at it, so that they don’t get any wise ideas on what we have planned:

“Paul and I are heading to Bishop, California this weekend with Grit & Manu from Germany to climb.”
“Holly has to stay at school and study.”
“Joel has to work.”

So here we are now, about an hour or so before show time. Katie is at the house with my parents, standing stealthily by the phone – awaiting their departure from the house so that she can telephone myself and the other party planners that the coast is clear and we can come over and start setting up. The agreed upon plan is that Peggy and Sonny will be taking my parents out to dinner for Sonny’s birthday. They are the decoys. It’s around 6:00pm. Guests arrive at 7:00. Parent’s are expected back home at 7:30. Holly gets the phonecall from Katie:

“Uh. We’ve got a problem here. Mom, dad, Peggy and Sonny are climbing into the hot tub.”

WHAT???!!!!!!! Does Peggy have her calendar days mixed up or something?! She is the DECOY. It is her and Sonny’s JOB to get my parents out of the house!! There’s no way they will have time to head out to dinner and be back by 7:30! It’s ruined. It’s all ruined. No. Stay calm. Have faith. Maybe uh…they’ll only sit for like 2 seconds and then jump right in the car to head out to dinner – bathing suits and all. Yeah! Maybe that’s the plan! :-\ Holly decides to take control. She calls back to the house and gets my mom on the phone:

“WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING THERE!!!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE OUT TO DINNER RIGHT NOW!!! YOU HAVE PLACES TO BE. THINGS TO DO. YOU’VE GOT A SCHEDULE TO KEEP!”

My parents are soon out the door. We get the official coast-is-clear from Katie and we all race to the house. It’s now 6:50pm. Well, guess we’ll just have to put the party guests to work when they arrive. 🙂 And we do.

Alright. Now, nothing more can possibly go wrong at this point. The guests are here, the decorations are up, the food is out, the alcohol is being drank, the mood is merry. It’s 7:30…hmmm….no parents. 7:40…no parents. 7:50….no parents. Is this a cue to start stressing again now, or what?!

Haha, thank goodness, no. Finally, around 8pm some headlights start coming up the road. Lights out! Quiet! Shhh!!!

“SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 40 guests cheer!

First a look of surprise, then confusion, then smiles and tears. We did it. 🙂

So yes, I am very, very, VERY pleased to say that our classic surprise party was indeed a success. A few hiccups along the way, but nonetheless, a genuine surprise. My parents were beaming all night. This was the best feeling gift any of us had ever given.

We took Grit and Manu to Joshua Tree last weekend. It was sweet. Check out the video.

Grit is back. Back in the USA. This time, she’s brought her boyfriend Manu with her. And this time, she’s here not to work or study….but to climb, climb, climb! Grit and Manu arrived from Germany last week and they’ll be here all month; chillin’ in our guest house, drinking margaritas, and roadtrippin’ to the country classics of climbing: Hueco Tanks, Joshua Tree, Bishop, Hueco again….and maybe again. 😉 So without too much persuasion, Paul and I have now put our days of trail running on hold for a bit…just a bit…just for maybe about the next 5-6 months….cause the temps are good, the itch has returned, and the HUECO SEASON IS ON, BABY, AWWWWE YEAAAAAH!

News flash: On Grit’s first day back to Hueco, Friday, October 6th, around noon, with myself, Manu and Paul as her witnesses, her project that she’s been dreaming obsessively about for 1 whole year went down, effortlessly, smooth as butter,….2nd try: LOBSTER CLAWS (v5). Yeah Grit. Nice.

Get psyched.