The return to the Red.

The return to the red after a year away has so far been eventful. This year I didn't have swine flu and wasn't traveling for the three weeks prior to arriving so I should be in much better shape for being able to do well. With that comes the extra baggage of expectations. As much as I've tried to avoid creating them they have found their way into the side door. I hope i can manage them appropriately, since i know this place is one of the hardest climbing destinations to prepare for.

There have been a few hiccups so far. We got a crazy taxi driver from Jordan who pulled a classic move of "making a wrong turn then playing stupid to make sure our fare about another 10% more. It was a bit annoying and I hate to profile but I have seen these tricks before in my travels.

So we picked up the car then went over to the airport on Sunday to pick up Pete's bag which arrived at 11 AM. We then change and repacks some bags for climbing at the airport and met Luke, MF and James at Miguel's. I saw the horse race track in the trip and thought of you.

Picture: Leo and I keeping each other warm at the Undertow wall.

We met up then headed to the Drive-By crag with a cool cat named Matt from Portland whom I had met last year at Chek while working on Face the Music. Once at the crag, I found that I had forgotten my harness .... in my other pack and so it wasn't at the crag. So Evan, James and I spent the day trading off harnesses so that i could climb. I warmed up repeating a 10d, then an 11a and an 11c from last year. I finished up the day attempting a 12a called Prima Noctum. I'm feeling much stronger than last year but still realized that the steep climbs intimidate me. I was also pretty tired from the traveling so didn't push too hard. Evan managed to do the same routes I did but attempted the first 12a that I did then tried another one called Check Your Grip which I want to do.

Picture: Luke Zimmerman on Kaleidoscope

James made an attempt on Beer Belly, 13a and made good progress so it looks like we'll be going back there again soon.

Picture: James on Beer Belly, 13a.

Picture: Pete, Luke and James at Drive-By Crag.

I slept light, waking up to the sound of the showers several time and my weekday wake up call. The jet lag was a bit of pain as we are 3 hours ahead. I woke up feeling fairly good at 9 AM.

We all at and headed out to the Motherlode in two separate cars; James, Evan and I in one, MF and Pete in the other. On the drive I noticed that the air pressure low light was on so I checked the car when we arrived. The front left tire was a bit low. So I made a mental note to fill it up when we left. After warming up on a couple 11a and 11b's we went over to the Madness to cave to show Evan but decided that the holds were too humid and moist to climb there so we headed out the go to where MF and Pete had decided to go after coming to the same conclusion.

When we hiked back out we jump into the car and I drove over. After arriving at the parking lot for the new crag I rechecked the tire and found we could hear the air leaking from it and it was super low. I sent Evan and James on their way and drove out to deal with the tire. I filled it at a nearby gas station then drove back to the dirt road that goes into the the climbing area's. Finding a puddle i rolled the tire through the puddle and checked for bubble to find the leak. It seems we had driven over a screw. The leak didn't seem too fast so I drove back into and joined the guys at the new crag.

Evan and James had only managed one 12b in my absences so I was able to join back in with the circuit. I started with the STEEPEST 10d I have ever been on; the name, Girls Gone Wild, Wooo! I nearly pumped out a couple times but managed to pull through from shear stubbornness and some good technique to recover after I made a hard move or two. It was nice to get through an onsite this year which I'm sure I would have fallen off of last year.

I followed up with the steepest 11c I have ever been on. It was a lot of fun but I elected not to attempt to red point it and instead try another 11c in the area. After top roping the second 11c, I was done for the day. Evan was getting beaten up on pretty bad, having to hang dog his way up the 11c that I top roped. He finish the day by doing the 10d I put up initially. He was pretty bagged and so had to go bolt to bolt at the top.

At this crag we met a guy you and I saw in Red Rocks at xmas two years ago; Don Walsh. He is a fairly prominent climbing in his time. He put a famous 13c called Sissy Traverse at the Gallery in Red Rocks. It was fun to chat with him, he was a very humble fellow and offered some great advice.

We packed up and headed home. The car tire only a little bit less full than when I had returned. So we are leaving it over night and will fill it with air tomorrow an get it fixed.