climbing in sin city

so yeah, i got ditched by the two indian creek crews, so instead of sitting on my ass, i went to vegas!

the idaho alpine club, based in idaho falls, takes a yearly trip to red rocks, a huge crag near las vegas, nevada. the routes here range from 30 to 2000 feet long. almost seemed to me like a combo of joshua tree and indian creek in a way. lot's of sketchy trad routes, aka my favorite kind of climbing. plus, there was no snow! kinda nice after digging my car out of 2 feet of snow and ice up in montana. plus, with trad climbs, you have to take every route on it's own terms, as 5.8 can be the scariest thing you've ever done, and even though you may cruise 5.10 on a regular basis, you may run into sketchy pro on bad rock and not be prepared at all. the most common accidents tend to be strong 5.12/13 gym climbers fucking up on easy terrain.
(photos courtesy of julie g.)


check out my rad shades! i found these on a rock after crawling through some bushes to the base of the willow springs wall. i kinda got lost... oh, and that's bruce, staring off into the magic that is rock climbing.
there were a pair of sketch fest 5.8 routes here that were really fun. or at least, i thought they were fun. the better of the two is a dead vertical route, with no cracks for the first 30 feet or so. all you get is some big huecos and pods to pull on. i hear you can find a shitty cam placement in these pockets... but the most solid piece i found pulled right away when i tested it... so after thirty feet i found a stopper placement that was pretty bomber, not going anywhere. from here i found 3 more iffy to decent placements to protect the last twenty feet. although the climbing was easy, it was a total mind game dealing with the serious consequences of this route, a game made harder when climbing with a large group watching you. definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but i really enjoy it.


tami-loves belaying at the black corridor. a pretty kick ass little crag in a 8 foot wide corrdor. lots of good easy routes.


julie g. steppin it up and placin' pro! leading a 5.4 at the moderate mecca crag. I hear this route was pretty sketch.
the route directly left was one of the scariest slabs ever, with horrid mank being passed off as bolts (as in a steel bar that had been bent into a hook and riveted to the rock, and there was maybe 3 pieces of protection in 80 feet), loose flakes for footholds, and required creative use of stoppers to add some sense of safety.


dunno what route this is, but the climber is one matt L. who is a total bad ass.
later in the trip, matt and i climbed a route at willow springs called "ragged edges", which is superb. no photos as we were the only two there. i took an alternate start on the first pitch that upped the grade from 5.7 to 5.9+, and it was brilliant, best climbing of the whole extended weekend. anyways, at the top of this pitch, after the finger sized crack died out, is a ridiculously smooth ramp that slants down to the right to join the main crack and the second pitch. not gonna lie, it was pretty tough. matt's limit is somewhere around 5.9 or 5.10, and i was belaying him, standing above on the good holds he was gunning for. he totally pulled it! then he went on to lead the offwidth second pitch, which was really just run out face climbing with a few huge cams plugged in the crack.


jesus, hardest thing ever! i have no idea what this route is called or rated (5.10?), but it was hard. it's an off-hands roof crack, that is, it's too big for solid hand jams, and too small for fist jams, requiring some awkward finagling to find something to pull on. at the lip, you throw a heel over, find a left arm bar, and try to mantle up over until you hit a good hold. pretty burly. the last 70 feet or so is super easy, and due to rope drag created by climbing a roof into a slab, i pretty much soloed the rest of the climb.

but yeah, i also saw the strip for the first time. so outrageous. i've been all over to big cities(mostly in europe), and even with all the pomp and circumstance of those places, nothing is like the strip. crazy taxi drivers that can't do math, huge water cannons in front of the belagio, a courtyard inside the venetian that looks like it's outside... so ridiculous. plus i got to see cirque du soleil preform "LOVE" which is all about the beatles. it was pretty rad, but i think if you were to spend that much on beatles' music from itunes you'd get more enjoyment. still though, it was bad ass. tami-loves even beat vegas on the slots at our hotel, 'the orleans'. she totally won two dollars! WOOT!

turkey day surprise

shafted! no indian creek.

I could emulate stephen colbert, and give a big wag of my finger to two individuals, but hey, hating isn't my game so i'm gonna move on... except, i guess i kinda did some hating by even bringing that up... oh well! :D

...and where am i heading off to?

VEGAS BABY!

stay tuned.

( in case you don't know what ":D" is, it's a big smiley face thingy)

to piggy back an older post

“I can believe that I'm a wizard, that I can do everything with my mind, and I'll be strong as all hell... I just need to be confident.” -Dave Graham

At some point things just click. Specific focus isn’t needed; things just happen. Confidence, weakness, focus, whatever, the brain begins to recognize sequences of movement faster and more efficiently, always looking ahead. When to bear down on that razor edge, reel in, and lunge for that next hold. Pace --rhythmic breathing, anticipation-- comes together, speeding up when the moves are difficult, slowing when they let up, always looking ahead. All parts of the body do exactly what they need to be, “PSAAHT!!!” The difficulties are over, the puzzle deciphered. One last move. Then the mind realizes what is going on. Other thoughts begin to drift in, excitement from climbing through this heinous problem, anxiety thinking that this may just be the day that you send, fear from being so high off the ground... all this swirling round and round, killing your focus, disrupting your breathing, and then, a small error leads to a foot popping off, throwing everything out of balance... you try to correct, but a split second later, you crash into the pads, roll down the hill, and lie huddled in the dirt. Defeat.

This failure is all too common in climbing. Falling is part of the process. If you never fall, you aren’t trying hard enough. Like any orchestration, it’s nearly impossible to play the notes right on the first go. The process of projecting a climb, working it over and over to figure it out, can be the most frustrating yet rewarding experience for a climber. You see, when you do figure out the individual pieces, when you figure out the very best way to do something, when you can finally sustain sound focus, strength doesn't seem to matter as much.

The notes are there for all eternity, and the musician has to unlock them perfectly to make music. There is a path in your mind that shows the sequence, the moves, and what to do to adapt to each movement. When things move perfectly in motion there is brilliance to it. Climbing is a strange game of body positions. A game of engrams, of muscle memory. It’s a game of occupying space, keeping everything together, feet, hands, fingers, core, whatever... you need it all together. There is a kind of fluency, and the climbing language develops. With dissonance gone, harmony follows. It takes a strong body to pull the moves, and a stronger mind to ultimately realize success.

The sun falls behind the mountains, the rock cools down, and you’re back, walking the trail you know so very well. That boulder is still there; this time, it’s revenge. The breathing pattern begins, steadying on the inhale, executing on the exhale.You reach for that tiny quartz crystal. Then the physical disappears. You grab the sharp grainy hold, set your feet, move your hips, slap the pinch, bump your hand again, inhale, then “PSAAHT!!! AHHHAAAH!” Keep it together! pull the lip, and bam! you’re sitting on top just as the last light fades and stars appear. The cadence dies down, the number fades. Victory.

------------------

earned myself an A with this paper. not too shabby. needs a better title though, the original was "Strength Of Mind vs. Strength Of Body", apparently that isn't lyrical enough to fit with the paper. i agree.

but yeah, i'm happy with it.

and upcoming....

we got like 18+ inches of snow over the course of 12 hours on thursday.

totally going cragging tomorrow.

should be way bad ass.

also, plenty of dorm shenanigans and pokemon madness.

stay tuned.

climbing and dancing in the rain

due to it's awesomeness, i'm surprised this crag is so quiet.

natural bridge and falls

about an hour and a half out of bozeman, down a long and windy dirt road, there is a humongous waterfall and a raging river. At least in the summer, that is. during the fall the water level drops, and a jumble of boulders appear. The walls on either side are 90-100 feet tall, and along one side where the river still flows is a massive, maybe 200 yard wide cave. pretty damn impressive. there is so much rock in this canyon. so why is it so quiet?

well, everything is so damn hard. at least all of the good stuff anyway.

in the riverbed there is a giant 50 foot boulder with bullet proof limestone. i believe the easiest route on it is 5.12d. the bottom 10-15 feet of this boulder are under water for a good portion of the year, and the rock looks like all the crazy shit you see in pirate movies. in fact, all the routes on the boulder are named after sea type things.

further down, there is a 20 foot bloc. no, not a typo, bloc, no 'k', is another word for boulder problem. anyway, this has one line on it, a 3 bolt 5.13b which should probably be rated V8 or so.

and then, the madness.

along the other side of the river, the side opposite the huge cave(choss), is a massive wall that holds a single route, which just happens to be the hardest route in montana, as well as a project put in yesterday that is likely to run 5.14/+.

so very good. i wish i had some photos to share. don't despair! andrew has a friend that really enjoys hanging in a harness taking pictures(weird huh?), so i'm likely to get some cool photos on here.

oh yeah! why the title? you can climb here all day while it's raining, and raining hard. so good.

cacti update

remember back in late september i showed a picture of my "Veggie Tales: The Ballad of Little Joe Cactus Kit Learning Garden"?

planted on 9/25/09, the box said that seedlings would appear in 7 - 56 days. i had 5 seedlings after 5 days... and now:

11 little beauties after 38 days!

still no idea what types they are, or when to take them out of their little green house thingy. plus, they have spines now! haven't watered em yet, it's still pretty moist in the green house.

but yeah, if anyone has any ideas or knows more than i do about cacti, let me know.

oh and don't you worry one little bit, i plan to keep you updated on these babies.

(edit: it'd be super ridiculous if these were peruvian torch cactus... i'd have to wonder about the veggie tales people and what message they are sending to kids... maybe.... we'll see...

oh and if anyone wants to see the TeNgaiolator in a gorilla suit. look no further)