Monday January 28, 2008 - Hueco Climbing
Now that I have been out climbing the last week, I have some updates to share. First, during my first weekend back on rock, a friend of mine from Ohio who is living in San Antonio came out for a visit. She had intended to climb but broke her ankle in Horse Pens 40 over the New Year. I was hesitant to recommend she still visit but we agreed if she could weight the foot without pain by the time of her nonrefundable trip, she would still come.
Hueco is a gigantic pile of boulders stacked and
strewn across a huge pile of rocks. There are
boulders accessible from ground level but most of
what was interesting for me and Mike lie on top,
which entails a
hike up glassy rock. Fortunately, there are chains
to assist in the ascent and descent. After showing
her some of the important things at ground level,
like the closure of Mushroom roof, we attempted the
chains. To everyone's surprise, Audrey
made
it up the chains with very little trouble. She was
so solid and comfortable with the hike up that we
tested her further by taking her all over the
mountain: Big Time boulders, Baby Face boulder,
Terminator boulders, etc. She was amazing. And, she
even got in a bit of climbing!
Since my time here is running short, I've decided to
work on my fitness and I picked Baby Martini
and McBain as my goals. Until I get my
fitness back, I've been playing on old projects and
some new, but easier, climbs. Meanwhile, I get to
live vicariously
through
Mike as he tears his way through the park, sending
impressive climbs like Left Martini, Dirty
Martini, and Chablanke (all in one
day). His friend and fellow Canadian, Derek
Galloway, has also been on fire this trip. His
latest one day send list includes Governator,
Predator and McBain.
I am really close to getting McBain and will go back out tomorrow to give it another shot. After that, I'm off to South Bend for my cousin's wedding and back in El Paso the following week. More pictures of this part of our trip can be found on my webshots site.
