Tuesday, January 20, 2009

RED ROCKS

After Josh and Liz’s wedding most of the crew headed down to red rocks for a week of warm winter climbing. The climbing was amazing and temperatures were in the high 60’s, we were searching for shade by 1 in the afternoon almost every day.
The trip started off well with Joey getting pulled over on the drive down and then getting let off. We have discovered from previous climbing trips (smith rock in-particular) that when you start a trip with a speeding ticket the trip usually doesn’t go as well as planned.
First day of climbing we headed to the Gallery, me and Justin decided to warm up on yack crack 11d and both got the onsite which was a nice way to start the trip. Shanel, Joey, Joey, Hannah and Stevo climbed the 9’s and 10’s on left wall of the Gallery. Climbed a bit more at the Gallery then headed to the Black Corridor, after doing a few routes in there Justin and I headed for “California 12a.” We have been looking at this climb for about a year now, its rated 12c, is extremely steep and fairly short (just what we like). We rigged up a sweet stick clip because if you fall before the first bolt you are gonna land straight on your back from about 15’ up. We each got on it twice or so, just climbing to the second bolt, it was awesome. The sun was going down so we left one of my draws there and planned to come back later in the trip.
The nights consisted of whiskey drinking, rummy, monopoly, hot tubbing, and eating fine foods (crab, salmon, and shrimp) courtesy of Charlie and Donna. Brandon and Breanne showed up night 2 making our crew total 9 for this trip.
Day 2 consisted of more climbing, Brandon, Justin and I all on-sited “Sweet Pain” 11d. Once again me and Justin warmed up with this climb, we decided we weren’t gonna pump ourselves out on anything that wasn’t worth our while. We then headed over to Tsunami wall to try out a climb called “Poseidon Adventure” 12c. This climb is short and steep with two big dyno’s in it, just like we love. This climb presented more committing moves than I have ever done while lead climbing it was awesome. We projected this for a while, no one got the red point, but Brandon did make it to the top clean with the first 3 bolts stick clipped.
Day 3 we headed to the third pullout to the “Wake Up” wall. Day 3 was a bit of a day off for us so we decided to climb easier stuff. Joey Peterson almost got his first 10a onsite but slipped when his hands were 2 inches from the anchors. Joey Dragon did get his first clean 10a lead outside that day (props to both Joey’s). We then headed to the Twinkie wall and set up some top ropes. We then began to discuss the dinner situation and Charlie said he was gonna stop by Costco on the way home, pick up some salmon and He and Donna were gonna make salmon stuffed with crab and shrimp we all erupted when he mentioned this. Later that night we indulged ourselves in one of the most amazing meals I have ever eaten.
Day 4 we split up in the morning with Joey and Joey heading to the “black corridor” with the rest of us going to “Stone Wall”. I hadn’t been to stone wall before and its absolutely sweet. We all climbed a few 10’s, then it was time to head back to “California 12a”. As we were projecting it a rouge desert fox attacked Hannah and Stevo’s back pack and stole away with a full bag of chalk, it was actually pretty entertaining except that the fox got away with a full bag of chalk (to bad for Hannah and Stevo). We climbed all afternoon on California, no one got it clean, but we did make it to the top with a take or two. California 12a is probably the best climb I have ever done outside it starts in a huge roof filled with hueco’s and big moves. I can’t wait till next year or this spring to go back and get the red point. Night 4 was the last night so we made sure to get a little more JD before heading home. Ate pizza and burgers, played more monopoly, and finished the festivities with a slide show on the big screen of all the pictures we had taken on the trip.

1 comment:

Josh Dragon said...

That story is sick! Wish I had been there. Can't wait for the next one.