The Ranch!

I just wrapped up a quick trip to Hueco Tanks and had quite a magical time.  My purpose of this trip was to compete, test my finger out, no projecting, get mileage on moderates, and just have plain fun. Compared to Joshua Tree bouldering, Hueco is much stiffer for the grade, but offers a variety of climbing from vertical, crimpy, big Huecos, slopers, over hung, high balls, and more.

Fun stuff at New Meadow area

At the Hueco Rock Ranch, there were a handful of booths set up. New Belgium Brewery supplied unlimited beer, and the following had booths with products: prAna, Marmot, Osprey, La Sportiva, Adidas, Five Ten, Access Fund, American Alpine Club, and Trango.  Companies like Organic Climbing, Arc’teryx, Asana, and more, sponsored prizes and more for the event.  Overall, great representation!  Daniel Woods did not make it to the Rodeo, but Paul Robinson, Paige Claassen, Angie Payne, and more awesome climbers made up for it.

Beefy Reef

It turns out I connected with one of my readers, Amy and her daughter Victoria.  We were in the recreational category so we decided to stick together.  The night prior I strategized with a guy named Al, we decided one warm up, knock off high pointers first and then the easier ones rest of day.  Not knowing the area, the 3 money high pointers were scattered and all of the problems in the score sheet were not necessarily everything I wanted to do.  After frustration of crowds and lines, we decided to put aside the scorecards and just go and climb whatever and wherever we wanted.  This was nice because I would have passed up Beefy Reef if I was chasing the scorecard, and that was my favorite problems of the weekend.

While folks had bloody hands and cuts, me….its all about X-Chalk by Zen Lizard

Before I get into my experience, for those that have not been to Hueco, here are some simple tips:

• Getting There – Fly into El Paso, Hueco Tanks is a straight forward shot 30-40 minutes from there.
• Where to Stay – No brainer, stay at the Hueco Rock Ranch (http://americanalpineclub.org/p/hueco_rock_ranch).
• 

  Best climbing partner ever

  Food and Goods – There is a Wal-Mart on the way to the Ranch, you can stop there to stock up on goods.   There is also a Target close to the airport.

• Guidebooks – I have the guidebook by Matt Wilder and it is well laid out.  I heard there was a new book coming out, a rumor or true?
• 

  At Warm Up Boulders for some cooling down

  Recommended Problems Under V5 – Here are some problems that are very doable for those coming out of an injury and just easing back in.  There are way more, for instance, the Gymnasium, I hear they are high, but juggy and good. I like high, but not all folks do, so just something to keep in mind.  We started at the Potato Boulders and worked our way down to the Warm Up Boulders.  So basically, we were all over the mountain. You will need a guidebook or map, as these are all scattered.

  • The New Meadow – Gumby Direct (V0), Gumby Traverse (V1), Everybody Wins (V3), Lobster Claw (V5)
  • The Grenade – Nobody Gets Out of Here Alive (V2)
  • Ghetto Simulator – Ghetto Simulator (V2)
  • Mushroom Boulder – Twisted (V3), Local Flakes (V2), Left of Les (V2)
  • Sign of the Cross – Skimmer (V3), Sign of the Cross (V3)
  • 

    Victoria Won!

    Warm Up Boulders – do everything on Warm Up Wall and Warm Up Boulders, all fun, some sketchy top outs

  • The Big Time – Eye Gouger (V0), Spud Boy (V1), Woman of Leisure (V1)
  • Icarus – Hot Wax (V2), Hebro Sausage Variation (V4)
  • Small Potatoes – Do everything here, from V-easy to V5, all doable and good. Around the corner make sure to get on Beefy Reef (V3)

Overall my experience was magical.  The scenery was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and my climbing partners were precious, amazing, and fun.  I am very happy with my performance even though my finger did hurt some.

Organic Pads, Get Yours!

I learned a few things on this trip:

• 

  Victoria on And the Bucket of Parts

  Never underestimate the 8-year-old dynamite – Victoria started climbing when she was 7 years old and at 8 years of age, she demonstrates great technique and sheer will to climb.  At the end of the trip, I gave her a pink journal with all kinds of cool stuff so that she can journal all of her climbing journeys, comps, trips and so forth.  She won kids division in the intermediate category and ended up in a small interview in the local news!

• Company is Money – My trip would have been different if my finger was not hurt.  I would likely have been in a different category and not in the same area as Amy and Victoria.  Frankly, they made my trip.  For me, the memories of this trip will not be my tick list, but all of the fun memories spent with the girls!
• Free Butterfly vs. Restriction – I obviously do not respond well to restriction.  The night prior, I had my problems planned out.  The next morning, when we got to the boulder fields, I was like a child let loose at Toys-R-Us.  There was no way in hell I was going to follow a strict list and pass up anything we passed by that we wanted to try out. The rock in Hueco is just so beautiful!  Amy and Victoria felt the same way and were ready to take off and be free. I was so relieved and happy.  We roamed North Mountain, got lost, got sends, and got lots of laughs in.  So I learned, my character and too much structure do not go well together!
• 

  Slabby approaches abound Hueco

  Jugs Aren’t Always Best – I found that some of the huge Huecos hurt my finger when I transitioned out of them from my right hand and some crimpers I could bear so as long as I was transitioning off of them quickly.   I made it a point to get on different stuff with different holds to give me a good perspective of what I need to do to train for Spain.  I used slopers for top out handholds than some blocky jugs, weird, but that open handgrip was money this weekend.

• My Good Ole Smelly Ketanas Rocked – Because most of what we got on was moderate with decent feet, I did not pull out my pythons.  Rather I wore my smelly, falling apart Ketanas.   I realized my footwork has improved quite a bit, and with all efforts to protect my finger, I was ultra sensitive and intentional with my toe work.  Not relying on shoes that are aggressive made me put a lot of conscious effort on my toe work.

I learned a lot and my #1 goal is to keep healing my finger and start working in getting my grip/finger strength in line with my climbing so that I can get good leads in Spain in late March.  Wish me luck!

Where climbing takes us, beautiful views

What is up next?  Late March, as mentioned, is all about Southern Spain.  Up until that point, I will likely hit local crags, get in indoor gym training, and get my finger in better shape.

When are you and your family going to Hueco??!!??

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I recently did a fun/climbing combo road trip to California and with me recuperating from a finger injury one thing that was important to us was chasing sunsets.  We would get in the car, and let it take us to our next adventure with no real plans, but there was one thing that was set on the calendar every day, and that was watching the sunset, especially with the ocean.

The first time we did it I was anxious to get moving, and was thinking about climbing, or what’s next, etc.  But after a few days, it became my moment of truths for the day, the trip, me, and just a time to enjoy nature.  The hype and stress of ‘oh my, the sun will set soon, oh my lets find the right spot!’ became so important to us.

I have to say, that trip changed me a little, for the good. I went to the gym with one of my good ole climbing buddies who just had twins, she has a toddler plus a house to take care of. She and her awesome hubby are finding their way with their growing family and getting their climbing workout. She was just so happy to climb with a human belayer vs. jumping on auto belay in between feeding or changing or playing with the boys.  And I was totally fine with going in the gym and getting in a climbing session that was not about leading or bouldering hard stuff, we were happy to get on anything or everything and focus on getting stronger, refining our technique, and footwork.  This time last year I would have measured my success on how hard I climbed and did I lead strong and so on. Now, it is more of am I happy with my performance?  What are my objectives?  Did I meet them?  Talking about spectator (partner) and personal highlights after our climbing session.  It is more of an all encompassing journey for me now.  In fact, I just chatted with my Spain mentor and normally I am like “I want to climb the whole time, hard, ok?”  This time I was like, I need a day of coaching, a day of sending, a day for you to have your project and I will belay you and a day where I will help you with your clients and be a rope gun and so on.  I think she was shocked I am not proposing Doris send fests but rather a trip that will make me stronger inside and out as a climber.

Even though I am determined to get back where I was or even better, its not to be picked up by a company to be sponsored or write in a major magazine, but just so I can have plenty of climbing options and continue climbing around the world and chasing those sunsets.  Yes, when I send some of my projects, it will be a happy moment, but what I experienced in California was beyond happy, it balanced me out and made me more grounded of a climber.

So the point to all this other that seeing these nice sunset pictures?  I realized climbing is a very important part of my life partly because of the challenge it presents and the feeling I get reminds me sometimes when I was an athlete growing up. But more important is the journey and places it takes me.  I had some pretty darn big goals last year, but it was wiped out from a finger injury….and I am still here, climbing. I realize that as years pass I will set all kinds of climbing goals, but I should never forget to ‘chase those sunsets’, I want to continue growing in my journey as a climber.  Where do I want to be in 10 years as a climber?  Not a pro-climber, not a 5.20 climber, but a happy and strong climber who has climbed and is climbing in pretty cool spots all over the world…and if in that journey I accomplish a hard grade or boulder problem, kudos to me, but if not, kudos to me, because I am still climbing strong!

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