Friday December 7, 2007 

I'm sitting in our favorite coffee shop in El Paso, Tx catching up on internet. After the Red River Gorge, Mike and I went south to Tennessee to check out some local climbing and hang out with friends. We climbed a few days at the Obed (Tierreny wall, South Clear wall and Y12 wall). Each wall has different characteristics and something unique to enjoy about them.

Tierreny wall starts a bit slabby and has steep angled roof climbing at the top. There are more slopey and flat holds on the slab parts and cracks, crimps and flakes in the roofs. It's a really impressive wall.

South Wall has more technical climbing but includes an area with completely horizontal roofs. The two notable climbs on that wall are Rage and Maximum Overdrive, both onsighted by Mike.

Y12 had more powerful climbing with steeper angles and is home to the classic prow Born on the 4th of July, also onsighted by Mike. Friends and hosts for our time in Tennessee, Craig and Noel, took us out to Y12 on Sunday. Noel's first available day to climb in 2 weeks. We warmed up on some fun 11's that had real moves on them but otherwise climbed super well. Then, Noel got on her project Barbed Wire and Lingire. She had previously redpointed the line right of it, Tapeworm and encouraged me to give that climb a try so I did. I found the bottom crux on that climb to be really powerful and a bit tricky. When I heard all of the Tennessee girls (that would include Karissa and Jess) had sent it, I was really impressed. Another climb on that wall, Odyssey, was much steeper and had a roof section on it with a short headwall after. Intimidated by it, I went up and to my surprise, made the roof part in one go. Roofs and super steep climbing are not my forte so I was definitely out of element here. What a great place to practice, though! I really enjoyed it and would enjoy going back to explore the place more. Noel tells me there are many other areas and some still to be explored and each a bit different from the others. Very cool! I'm glad we took the time to check it out.

Just after arriving in Tennessee, I had some problems with my neck and shoulders. It seized pretty bad that I very nearly begged a chiropractor to see me for a quick fix. Fortunately, there was a quick fix and that area calmed down, but I was very aware that I needed to get to El Paso and re-start my treatment from last year. I pretty much told Mike I would fly myself there if I had to but I was going to El Paso as quickly as I could. I couldn't put it off any longer. So, Mike opted out of exploring too much more of Tennessee rock and after a brief visit to Rock Town on our way out, we drove straight to El Paso.

This worked out well for us both, in the end. I got in right away with Dr. Muniz, whom I highly recommend if you ever need any physical therapy or chiropractic care. Mike flew out this morning for Vancouver and is headed to Finland for business. I get to start stick to a treatment program and benefit from Hueco Tanks just nearby. Friends Rachel and Jordan are still hanging around so at least I am not alone.

Although we arrived 2 days ago, now, yesterday was my first day bouldering. After the first day of treatment, my muscles literally stopped functioning they were so tired. I was expecting yesterday to be a complete waste but wanted to boulder and to my surprise, I was bouldering really well. Some of my 'projects' from last year felt really easy and went quickly (I nearly sent Mushroom Roof first go!). My muscles were still not responding well and I could tell I was tired so I picked problems I could 'train' on. I was hoping to get my core and biceps working! :) It was a really fun day, just as fun as I remembered it. Mike was on fire as well, sending Dark Ages, a V11 on his 2nd day out.  This was definitely a better start than last year for us both.

Jordan wasn't climbing yesterday due to skin issues and Rachel was determined to give Baby Face another go. She has the entire boulder problem dialed up to her 'crux,' where she falls apart. It's a big move and the last move before the lip. Baby Face is a bit of a highball problem so it may be she is just scared of making the move. I can understand that. Baby Face is really hard for me, even to start on, because I am at full span from the go. I don't think I'll project it, but it is a good line so I may go back to it, esp if she's going to be on it anyway. I'm just lucky she is psyched for this and Mushroom Roof, which she is super close on too, because she wants to extend her stay a few more days to give her more time to get on them again. :) Her skin is pretty bad as well, right now. Seriously, I don't think she or Jordan really rest. I think they climb like every day and I think that's hard core! :)

Last night Mike and I got a hotel room (super good deal for what we paid--two room suite with 2 tv's and pillow top beds) and I may have lost my jump drive with all of the photos from yesterday on it. I'll have to see if I can find it in my things or wait until I can get them from Mike, who has a copy. Otherwise there would be more photos to enjoy.