Friday, January 25, 2013

A week in Hueco Tanks

There isn't much to say about Hueco that hasn't been said before.The bouldering is amazing, the concentration of climbs is virtually unbeatable, and it never rains. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but the strict regulations are growing on me. As long as you get your shit together and make reservations, you're able to climb on some of the most amazing boulders on the planet with virtually no one around.

I've spent more time in Hueco than in any other bouldering area, and I feel pretty good about my climbing there. This week I was able to add two more v11's to my Hueco ticklist:

Climb Grade Year
Diaphanous Sea V12 2007
A. Intruder V11 2010
Dark Age V11 2013
El Techo de los Tres B V11 2013
Power of Landjager V11 2009
Black Mamba V10 2007
Free Willy V10 2007
Full Service V10 2008
Loaded with Power V10 2007
Mojo V10 2007
Power of Silence V10 2009
The Wonder Dyno V9 2007
Dirty Martini on the Rocks V9 2007

Dark Age is a power endurance boulder that starts low and finishes on the classic V6, See Spot Run. This is one I tried for two days in early 2011, figuring out beta that changed the crux from 4 or 5 annoying tick-tack moves to one hard dyno off a miserable crimp. After falling on the V6 topout two years ago, it felt good to put it away quickly this year on my first day.

El Techo de los tres B has been a serious battle for me. Although I did all the moves on a previous trip, I had never felt close to a send. This year was very different. I got through the crux move to the fingerlock a few times, only to struggle with the come in move. After making a change in my beta, I rested and then sent on my next go. It felt really good to send a climb that had always felt so hard in the past. However, even better was the feeling of figuring out each move, staying calm, and then putting it together.

Bloody Flapper v4
Bob on Dean's Journey
I left a few climbs still undone, most notably Scream (close) and Barefoot on Sacred Ground (not so close). Tiffany was also super close to both Dark Age and Free Willy, so we will definitely be back soon. Stay tuned for a longer video with climbing from me, Tiff, Bob, James, and Patrick!

2 comments: