New Mexico doesn't Suck

I'm currently in Hueco Tanks but in all honesty I wish I was somewhere else.  Don't get me wrong, Hueco is great but if the weather was better I'd be heading North to sample more of Northern New Mexico's mostly unknown sandstone boulders.

Ryan contemplates the possibilities at World Wide Wall 

Monster Island Video

Here's a little video from Monster Island.  Hope you enjoy


Monster Island Bouldering from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Pie Town and Monster Island

So I'm back in Sweden and the weather Gods are already mocking me.  I've been looking forward to fall temps and even convinced my good friend Antonio to come for a visit but thus far we've only been rained out.  Such is the nature of Sweden.  One perk the bad weather has afforded me is time to sort some pictures and videos from the trip to the States.  Not sure if looking at footage from drier climates is the way to calm my nerves but it certainly keeps the motivation high.  Here are some pictures from Pie Town.

 Matt, a toe-hook master, on an awesome new roof.  I somehow overlooked this one for year and have Ryan Silven to thank for having the vision.  He did all the work of brushing and finding the beta but barely missed sending before he left.  I went back a couple days later and nabbed the fa but acknowledge that Ryan should get most credit for this one.  I called the problem Cookie Monster to appease an adorable 2 year old. 

Matt got close and helped refine the beta on Cookie Monster

Antonio on Christian Therapy (better know as Prince of Pie Town), an obscure problem that sits off by itself.

No sense in going to Pie Town if you're not going to stuff your face

 

America!!

I'm packing my bags for the annual pilgrimage to the land of the free.  This year Hammie and I will have 3 weeks in which to see friends and family, eat lots of pie and climb lots of boulders.  Our trip will begin in Colorado (we arrive in Denver on Aug 27th) and from there we'll mosey down to Pie Town for the Pie Festival on Sept 8th.  We'll be doing lots of climbing on the way so if anyone has some suggestions I'm all ears.

Here is a video of some of the climbing near Pie Town

 
New Mexico Bouldering: Monster Island from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Monster Island Video

It seems like I'm perpetually behind on videos as I continue to collect footage and rarely have the time to put something together.  Some of it is that I'm trying to create better quality videos and not just throw something together but ultimately it just comes down to not having time (read:  I'm out climbing).

Anyway, I did manage to finish one video from September in the USA.  Here is a short video showing some of the classics at one of Pie Town's local bouldering areas.  Hope you enjoy.

Monster Project

This year I made it back to what is perhaps the best remaining project at Monster Island.  It isn't located at Monster Island proper but a smaller sector about 10 minutes away, which is just far enough that it is usually difficult to rally the pads required to make the landing safe.  This year I convinced some folks to check it out and we spent a couple hours working it, piecing together almost all the moves.  Ultimately there is one stopper move just below the lip that no one stuck but several of us got "close".  The move requires a degree of commitment as sticking the pocket will result in a big swing that could send you flying down the hill.  Even if I muster the strength and courage to stick the single move it would be a whole different ballgame after the 7 difficult moves leading up to it.  Hopefully next Pie Fest I'll be in better shape and make it back for a glorious send.  We'll see.

  

 Antonio sticks one of the earlier moves

 Still some climbing ahead

  Lisa getting set up for the undone crux

More from Monster Island

The Sawtooth Mountains

Highball slab warmup

 Lina stabs the pocket on Frankenstein Left

Antonio on the obscure classic "The Name's Dalten"

Monster Island

As an obsessive boulderer I usually shy away from taking trips that don't include a considerable amount of climbing and wonder what I would do if my parents lived somewhere like Florida or Denmark.  It's safe to say I would not go home quite as often.  But fortunately for me I don't have to choose between slighting relatives and going through climbing-withdraws as Pie Town has quality bouldering about 15 minutes away.

The rock around Pie Town is a volcanic tuff with quality varying from kitty-litter to super solid.  Fortunately the solid rock tends to be concentrated together and saves folks the trouble of sifting through choss.  The heavily featured rock makes for steep powerful climbing and the high altitude and beautiful setting provides a welcome respite from the scorching dessert only an hour away.

Here are a few pictures from Pie Town's most developed and easily accessible area,  Monster Island.

The collection of boulders that is Monster Island.  The bottom half of the large cliff in the background is choss but luckily the boulders came from the solid upper half

 Kim on the classic Frankenstein Left

 Lina gets oh so close on the Frankenstein dyno

 Vampire Roof is quite popular as it offers several steep lines and a slew of variations

Kim on Piss-Ant 

Pie Town

Our first week in the States has been filled with food, friends and family.  We spent a couple days in Albuquerque to recover from jetlag before heading to Pie Town for pie eating and bouldering.  While we have done a bit of climbing I'd say most of our time has been spent hanging with loved ones and eating delicious food.  The annual Pie Festival was awesome this year as tons of good folks showed up.  Already excited about next year.

Here are a couple picture of what goes on in Pie Town the 2nd Saturday of every September.  Plenty more pictures will follow highlighting the bouldering and some of the festivities.   

 Jack uses his hands to stuff his pie-hole

The youth pie eating contest

Toad Race

By now the Pie Fest is old news but I thought I'd post a couple pics from this years Horny-toad race. I don't know what possesses a toad (technically they are lizards but) to run toward a wall of screaming people but it's certainly entertaining. This year's race was the shortest I've ever seen as the winning toad bolted straight across the finish line with no hesitation. It took much of the suspense out of the race but folks still shouted support for 2nd and 3rd place. Good times.

Release the Toads!

The bewildered contestants

The winning toad crossing the line

Pie Feastival

If you come to a Pie Festival you better bring an appetite. The gorging began the second we arrived to Pie Town just past midnight as pie was waiting for the weary international travelers. From there on out it was a constant flow of deliciousness from the traditional spaghetti feast and smashed Jersies to BBQ ribs and Navajo tacos. Good times.

My dad's famous "smashed Jersey" sandwiches

David preparing his "man pie". Meat is gooooooooood

My old man preparing a spaghetti feast that will feed roughly 150 people

Pie was of course the main attraction. I reckon I sampled over 20 different pies in 3 days and my mom further solidified her status as pie queen.

Monster Island

Yet another Pie Fest under my belt, which needed to be loosened a couple notches due to obscene amounts of deliciousness. Good times. When I've got a little more time I'll write a little something about the festival but in the mean time here are a couple pics from the local bouldering at Monster Island.

Jason nabs the FA of a sweet highball named "More Death, Less Rail".

Charlie on one of the area classics, Velcro Kitty.

Jason on the Poop Shoot sit start

Lina on Frankenstein wall

Pie Fest

September is here and on Saturday the 11th we are once again celebrating the majesty of pie at the annual Pie Town Pie Festival. We are flying in from Sweden to gather with the other revelers for a weekend of climbing rocks and stuffing our faces. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

If you can't come this year then mark it on your calander for next year, the Pie Festival falls on the second Saturday in September every year and you know I'll be there.

Here's a short vid from last year and another with a sample of the area's bouldering.

Pie Fest 2009 from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Monster Island Bouldering from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

Socorro, NM

During our 5 months in the States we periodically passed through Socorro and would stop to climb at "The Box" for a few hours. The sharp ryolite make for some pretty good climbing and the local crew is always down for getting out.

Lina warms up on the backside of the "Unbeatable Boulder"

Peter on "Godzilla"

Lina cruises "Pressure Drop"

Jenny guns for a jug

Pie Fest Vid

Here's a brief vid from Pie Fest. Just a taste of the good times.

Pie Fest 2009 from Walker Kearney on Vimeo.

USA Update: Pie Fest

I've passed the halfway point of my two week trip to the States. It's hard to justify flying here for such a short time but with a wife and baby at home it was a hard decision to come at all. This trip was basically just for the annual Pie Festival in my home town of Pie Town as it is an opportunity to see friends and family.
This years Pie Fest was the biggest ever as an estimated 1000 people turned out to feast on pie and race horny-toads. The climbing contingent was also stronger than ever as over about 50 climbers made it out. Good times for all.
Here are a few pics from the festivities.

Welcome to Pie Fest 2K9

"Tell you what"

Getting a toad ready for the race

Gathering for the horny-toad race

Release the toads

Upside down climbing

Coming to the States not only provides brilliant weather but the opportunity to get my roof climb on. So far we've just been hitting up some of the old stomping grounds and repeating some of the classics. Here's a little vid of three roofs from NM and AZ. Enjoy.

Box Canyon and Pie Town

So I have been doing more than just birding here in the States. Here's a few pics from Box Canyon near Socorro, NM and a word from Pie Town.

The recently broken and much harder cow shit cave

Warming up in the steam bed

Lina on the gimme arete

The Dirty Bird and Prairie looking bummed

Why we call it Pie Town

Bosque del Apache

Here's a couple pics from the sunrise with the birds.

The birds waking up

Rise and Shine

Dad imitates Godzilla while snow geese eat breakfast in the background

The Fly Out

Bosque del Apache is a national wildlife refuge outside Socorro, NM. We drove there before sunrise to watch the "fly out". There are usually more birds this time of year but it was still pretty cool.
Enjoy the short vid.