The Tickler

The French Tickler is one of the best lines in the Tanks.  It is a bit intimidating and when I went there to support some friends I opted not to repeat this great problem.  Here are a couple pictures of the Tickler

 Antonio wishing he had a little more foam.  It's hard to see but the landing is slanted and sky-hooks are used to keep the pads from sliding.

 Nuno using a heel to reach the left gastone

 Antonio focused 

Wobbly Pop

Anyone who follows the blog knows I like to develop.  The excitement of exploration and creating something from nothing is a major draw for me and even when I'm in well established areas I find myself scrabbling around looking for something new.  Fortunately Hueco Tanks has any number of nooks and crannies and some of the climbs waiting to be found are high quality.

Last season I brushed up and worked a cool roof climb on West Mountain and this year I made a point of going back to finish it off.  After a couple days of effort Wobbly Pop was born.  Of the 20 or so problems I've established at Hueco I think this one is the best.  It involves all you'd expect from a cryptic Hueco problem, toe/heel-hooks, a knee-bar and some power endurance to finish it off.

Here are a couple pictures.

Keith Allen sticks the first move of Wobbly Pop

The crux sequence revolves around a small crimp/pinch.  We discovered a knee-bar that helps you easily get the crimp but you then have to make a long pull off it to the lip.  Here Byron reaches for the crimp.

Keith Allen gearing up for the big move to the lip

It's not over when you hit the lip as you still have to core up and pull a toe-hook.

Back-up Karaoke Dancer

It's normal to make new friends on climbing trips as there are plenty of good folks in the climbing community but sometimes I meet a special climber that endures themselves to me.  It wasn't Bryan "Hand-job" Smith's climbing skills that sets him apart but rather his blatant disregard for proper etiquette and his lack of shame.  When I saw him back-up dancing for a friend singing karaoke I new I make a new friend for life (you hear that Bryan, for life....).  Thanks Cal for introducing us.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures documenting Bryan's dancing skills but here are a couple of him climbing.

Byran on the new roof problem called Wobbly-Pop

Getting into the Bathtub

Slapping the slopers of Scream

Hueco Cranks

I've been down in the Tanks for  a couple weeks now and things are pretty good.  There are the constants that make this place special to me (friends, weather, rocks) but I never know season to season how psyched I'm going to be on the climbing.  Last year was pretty productive for me as I was in good shape and a fair number of projects went down.  This year I assumed it would be slim pickings as I'm not in the best shape but I've been scraping my way up some new problems and even ticked a couple old projects.  I've got roughly a week left and if my elbow doesn't flair up I might even manage a few more.

There is also a Swedish invasion in the Tanks this year.  My girls arrived recently and I've ran into several other Scandinavian comrades and there are more on the way.  Looks like I'm not the only one wise enough to leave the darkness.

Here are a few pictures from a West Mountain tour with a couple friends.

 Andrew cruising Disposable Heroes.  This is a classic Hueco highball that doesn't get that many ascents.  The lack of traffic is partly due to it being in the back country but has more to do with the height and the terrifying rock in your back.  

 Bryan on the Well-site Dyno.  According to the two spectators in the photo this is an easy tick if you know how to dyno.  I unfortunately do not. 

 Andrew on the Bathtub.  The giant "bathtub" feature is pretty cool and makes this a traverse that is actually worth climbing.  

Andrew sticking the first sloper on Scream.  This short power problem is no gimme and was the only problem of the day that bouted  Andrew. 

Broken

Lina has been back in Sweden for almost two weeks and her psyche for climbing was high.  This is always the worse time for an injury and unfortunately disaster struck as a bad fall has left her with a broken foot.  She is currently getting a screw in her ankle and we are sending good vibes and hoping for a quick recovery.  Hammie and I wish we could be in Sweden for take care of our princess but we still have a little over a week in the land of the free.  We love you Princess.

 An unbroken Lina sending in Hueco Tanks.  

Slip it In (Chong Li)

Scott get a tentative hold on the shallow pockets of Slip It In.  

Snake-Charmer and Whispers

 Jim on Snake-Charmer

Finishing the high slab topout on Whispers of Mortality 

My Life in a Tank

Our time down in Hueco Tanks has been good.  Both Lina and I have managed to tick off projects but we've certainly left a few undone.  I've managed to maintain a fair degree of psyche and it actually feels good to leave the Tanks before getting sick of the climbing.  I'm already looking forward to next year.

Here are a few pictures.

 Katherine on her project

 Coming back from a day of climbing

 Lina crimping on B-Flat

 A painted mask

 Prairie gearing up for the big move on T-bone Shuffle 

Another Hueco Video

Here's another video of some classic problems in Hueco Tanks thrown together with some old footage.  I'll try to give an update/photos of my recent happenings soon.  Until then, hope you enjoy the video.

Hueco Tanks Video

Been back in the Tanks for a couple days and still pretty psyched.  Hopefully I'll be able to tick off a few projects in the next week or so but I'm just glad to be climbing in the desert with good folks.

I've finally got around to sorting through some of the footage from Hueco I've taken over the last few seasons and decided to just throw together a few short videos.  Less production value but at least something gets created.  All the footage from this short is from past seasons and you can expect more in the near future.  Hope you enjoy.

Natural Disasters

Looks like I left the Tanks just in time as I hear from friends that it's snowing.  Glad I just arrived in Las Vegas where it I'll be climbing in a t-shirt.  

Here are a couple picture of one of the cooler new problems I managed to do in the Tanks, Natural Disasters.  

 Walter sets up for the dyno after roughly 10 moves of climbing

The cool rail feature of Natural Disasters

Lisa reaching of the finishing jug

Big Boy Climbs

One thing about the Tanks is that it is chalk full of difficult rock climbs.  That generally mean that even the strongest will have a hard time climbing out the area.  I've managed a few supposed hard climbs but there are many many more that I have little or no chance of doing.  Here are a few pictures.

 Brian works the dyno on Yellow Diamond, a problem that has only been done by Daniel Woods and Jimmy Webb.  I will most likely never do this boulder problems.

 Jimmy sticks the crux on Slashface.  Maybe I'll be able to climb this one someday.

Andy trying hard on Power of Silence.  I hope to send this one this winter.

Life in the Desert

The Tanks just got busy as the Christmas breakers are down in full-force.  Gone are the days you could waltz into the park at 10:00 and get straight to climbing as now you best start lining up at the gate 6:00am to ensure a spot on North Mountain, especial during the weekend.  Fortunately I've got plenty of hookups and I've been spending most of my time on tours with friends to the "guided only" areas of Hueco Tanks.  The perks of being a "local".

I've been climbing some almost everyday and my body feels like a train-wreck.  Amazingly I've been able to scrape myself up something almost everyday but the big-time projects are not the 4th-day-on variety so it looks like I'll be taking a real off day before my last day.  I've got one day to grow skin and one day to send everything in the Park.........we'll see how it goes.

Here are some numbers from my time in the States thus far
Days in USA: 13
Days climbing: 10
Days climbing in a t-shirt: 5
New Problems ascended:  9
Percentage of meals that were wrapped in a tortilla:  85%
Flappers: 2
Showers: 1 (I'll be taking number two in a few minutes)
Compliments on hair:  1 (I'm pretty sure she was being sarcastic)
Skype sessions with Lina and Hammie in Sweden:  5
Girls I'm desperately missing:  2

Here are a few lifestyle pictures from the Desert

 Neighbors

 Shepard's Pie with a bacon-lattice.  Amazing

 Andy, Guide extraordinaire and the mastermind of the bacon-lattice 

 Sisters

 The Tanks, aka my backyard

 Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

 Desert plants

Sunset

More Pictures from the Tanks

Prairie grabs the left-hand crimp on Loaded with Power

Lisa knee-barring on Loaded with Power

Andy on the classic Better Eat you Wheaties

Lisa on a newish roof called Bush-league 

The Desert

Four straight days in the Tanks takes a toll on the body.  I haven't been able to control myself as it's so nice to be in the warm (relatively speaking) desert among good friends and epic boulders.  I'm reminded why I love the Tanks and have high hopes for this season as I'm in better shape than the last two years.  I don't want to jinx myself but I think I could possibly send some long-term projects as some of the lesser ones have already gone down (The French Tickler and Chupacabra).  We'll see how it goes.

Here are a few pictures from the Tanks

 Gustavo runs a lap on Jigsaw Puzzle

 Antonio on one the the more beautiful problems in Hueco, The French Tickler

 Cal on Mexican Chicken

Lisa sticks the sloper on Chupacabra

Adam on Loaded Direct.

More Hueco Tanks From the Archives

We are down to our last week in the States and we finally made it to Bishop. The forecast didn't call for bitter cold so we cruised up from Malibu to join Prairie, David, Chris, and Antonio. I've only got a few days of warmth before heading back to icy Sweden and I plan to make the most of it by climbing every day and I reckon I'll be doing a lot of retro-posting after returning home.

In the meantime, here is an old video I put together from Hueco Tanks.

From the Archives: Hueco Tanks

Until I post a proper update from Las Vegas here's another video from some old footage. Some of this was shot five years ago but I think most is from 2008.

Enjoy

Two from the Tanks

Here's a little video of Lina doing a couple classics in Hueco Tanks last year.

Enjoy

Hueco Pictures

Nick topping out See Spot Run

Allen tries Power of Silence

Chris running a lap on Moonshine Roof

The Egg

The Egg is one of my favorite problems in the Tanks and was Prairie's main objective for a couple days. Prairie was close to sending but couldn't put it all together. Next time.

For now I am off to Pie Town to hang with family and then I'll head to Vegas to explore the bouldering around sin city.

Here is a couple pictures of The Egg

Lisa on the first move of The Egg

Nuno finding purchase on the slopey finnish