Metro Weekend Warrior

The Second Pullout

Originally I had plans to meet up with Elija and Justin over the weekend. We wanted to check out Mt Charleston, but the Jesusita Fire had different plans for us. Stuck in the middle of the insanity they opted to stay in town and help out where they could. Good on ya mates! Alison already had big “girl time” plans with her friend who came to town, so I looked to the east for a partner in crime. Steve was psyched on meeting up in Utah, but after explaining to me that he was a 6 hour drive away I bailed on him and tried my luck in Vegas solo.

I haven’t done much bouldering this past year. I think my 27th birthday challenge may have something to do with that. However, sandstone can make for some really nice problems and Red Rocks has an abundance lying around so I woke up early Saturday in hopes of beating the heat and drove to Red Springs to check out the small bouldering area there. I used to consider myself a fairly powerful climber. I practically learned to climb at 911 East Canon Perdido and my first half decade climbing was almost exclusively bouldering. Well, lets just say things have changed. I could barely muster the energy to get up a few V3’s. Even the warm-ups felt hard. In fact two V1’s completely shut me down. I couldn’t get off the ground. However, the main boulder of this area houses some nice problems of all levels and I was able to get a nice session in. As midday approached, I escaped to my car and drove back to our climate controlled home.

Jugs Stand VB - flash.
Jugs Sit VB – flash. got me pumped and breathing hard.
Sun Dial V0 – flash.
Spring Board V3 – second go. Very nice.
Cherry Garcia V3 – flash. No jugs on top. Felt a little Santa Barbara-ish. Maybe that’s how I managed the flash.
Unnamed V1 - flash
Jugs Left Sit V0? - flash

Alice celebrates her redpoint

Alice on in a sea of edges on Slave to the Grind 5.11b

After some lunch I decided to drive into the scenic loop to take advantage of the weekend climbing photo opportunity. There were two groups climbing at the Sweet Pain Wall so I wandered over said hello and started snapping photos. As we got to talking I discovered that we had a shared acquaintance. Wouldn’t you know, the group from LA were old friends of Mr. Steve Edwards. I can’t say I was surprised. Sitting around I eventually got motivated, tied in and managed an onsight of Sister of Pain 5.11b.

Alice on Punch Drunk 5.11c

Tim on Punch Drunk 5.11c

Clip and move!

Some guy climbing in the Black Corridor

Alice going for it on Glitter Gulch 5.11a

I must have been on good behavior because my new friends Alice and Tim invited me along on Sunday as well. We started off in the Black Corridor. I wasn’t very psyched on the climbing there but I really wanted some photos of this hyper popular area. I set myself up near the top of the wall and ended up getting some nice shots.

Nightmare on Crude Sreet 5.10d – onsight. The crux was a bit of a battle for a warmup
Foe 5.11a – onsight. More like 5.10c. No stars in the guide but I’m giving it one.
Glitter Gulch 5.11a – repeated this one to get a good perspective for some photos.