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| On the road again. |
Back in February we loaded up the van and headed south to Vegas. Tommy has spent some time in Red Rocks before, but this would be my first time checking it out. My only other time around Vegas was a super quick stop to see the strip in the middle of the night on the way to Yosemite last fall. I reluctantly put $5 into the slot machine and out came $215 (I decided that would be my last time to put money into a slot...my luck was used up). This trip we were prepared for whatever - we had crash pads, a desert rack, sport draws, and ice climbing gear and skis for a quick stopover in Telluride. The van makes it a bit too easy NOT to go light and fast. We showed up in Telluride just in time for a big dump, and after a day of leg burning powder and TC spending some time working with Clay Wadman on a topo we were ready for some sunshine.
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| Alex crushing (I think it was a V12). |
We started driving south and made a quick stop at Arches National Park to dig our lugs into some red dirt and get the blood flow back in our legs. Tommy was hopeful we could climb in Zion or at the Cathedral, but some fresh snow made warm Vegas win out. When in Vegas we got in touch with friends Alex Honnold, Chris Weidner, Heather Robinson and Jonathan Siegrist. We had a blast bouldering, TC and I did some sport climbing and enjoyed a mellow day up Dream of Wild Turkeys. TC and Jonathan also had an exciting day on the Buffalo Wall.
I was itching to jam my hands into some cracks and TC wanted to cover some ground so on a warmer day we decided to make our way to Zion National Park (which wasn't all that warm in the morning). Alex happened to be heading that way, too and asked Tommy if he wanted to join for a quick run up Monkey Fingers (12b) before Tommy and I were going to start up something. Alex wrote about this on
La Sportiva's Blog. After Alex and TC braved the cold and literally ran up the route Alex soloed up Monkey Fingers and we had decided to climb it as well. It was super fun, but I was quickly humbled on the splitter face crack realizing I need to learn to thumb stack (it's now on my to-do list). I ungracefully made my way up the crack with a tight belay, and on we went. The forecast for the next few days looked unpromising so we got back in the van to drive back to Vegas.
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| TC and Alex after topping out Monkey Fingers |
After TC and Alex had some fun climbing together they committed to heading to Yosemite this May to have some fun on the big granite walls we all love. Today is Tommy's 4th day in the Valley and they've already climbed a couple of big walls and are heading up for some more. Tommy has been so focused on his Dawn Wall project for the last 5 years that he hasn't gotten to just climb lots of pitches in Yosemite except for my
25th birthday on the Salathé. He seems SO psyched to be covering ground and is having a blast with Alex. I personally think they could be a big wall dream team!
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| Smiling before I'm about to get my butt kicked on the splitter. |
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| Trying to figure out thumb stacking. |
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| TC and Chris before heading up to the Buffalo Wall one early morning. |
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| PORKCHOP! So fun!! |
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| The Bathtub - I was psyched to do this! A V5 - Lynn Hill did the FA. |
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| TC sent! |
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| Gotta love our vacation home. |
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| Dream of Wild Turkeys |
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| I'm crazy about this guy!! |
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| Beautiful! |
Back in February we loaded up the van and headed south to Vegas. Tommy has spent some time in Red Rocks before, but this would be my first time checking it out. My only other time around Vegas was a super quick stop to see the strip in the middle of the night on the way to Yosemite last fall. I reluctantly put $5 into the slot machine and out came $215 (I decided that would be my last time to put money into a slot...my luck was used up). This trip we were prepared for whatever - we had crash pads, a desert rack, sport draws, and ice climbing gear and skis for a quick stopover in Telluride. The van makes it a bit too easy NOT to go light and fast. We showed up in Telluride just in time for a big dump, and after a day of leg burning powder and TC spending some time working with Clay Wadman on a topo we were ready for some sunshine. 
Great post & photos! Nice to see what the Dream Team is up to. I used the 60 Minutes story on Alex Honnold as well as TC and Kevin's BD Dawn Wall video for a science lesson on forces & motion. Students loved it. Great to see them climbing together for the first time.
ReplyDeleteBecca - thanks for the update. Question for you - looks like you have a Coleman stove in your rig. Any concern about cooking in the rig? Just open a window or two for ventilation?
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Fantastic post and photos! It's interesting to see what the Dream Team has been up to. For a science lecture on forces and motion, I used the 60 Minutes piece on Alex Honnold as well as TC and Kevin's BD Dawn Wall film.
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