Hueco Tanks Part I

Best of the Best

So I arrived at the Hueco Tanks Thursday night. I hung out with RickyO the legend, Adam Wood, Kim, Jay and Claire, and a few other friends that I haven’t seen in a while. The next day I went on RickyO’s volunteer tour. We went to Belly of the Beast first. I almost repeated Belly of the Beast first try. I was able to do it next attempt. I started working Burden of the Beast. Jay told me some beta that made the crux easier, it involved dropping the right foot and using just a left heel to do the move. I figured out some beta for the post-crux section. It involved turning around and toe hooking in front of me, climbing feet first. After a couple of tries to link the climb, I stuck the crux move and finished the climb. We went over to Star Power and I was able to repeat it. Star Power climbs out a steep roof that is about 30 feet long. It is probably a 25 move super classic. The next day I took out a tour on East Mountain. My friend Marlon came along as a second guide. We started the day out at Warm-up roof and then moved over to Hardman Rock. I warmed up on the climbs in the corridor behind it, and then repeated Dragonfly. I took the group to the Darkheart and climbed on Shake N Bake. I was able to do all the moves, the crux of which felt impossible at first. We finished the day out over at the Blender Boulder. I still can’t figure out Try Harder, but I climbed Hobbit and the Ostracizer again. The next day I took a group from Tucson out to West Mountain. They were pretty cool people and it made for a great rest day. On Monday I went back to Shake N Bake with Dave, Tash, and Bob. I was able to do the crux move every time, but I found the hardest part to be the foot transition into the crux move. It involves smearing on nothing feet on a roof to get a heel hook. I think it will go on the next day. We climbed all over East and the East Spur that day. Bob and I did Ultramega, which climbs like a limestone sport route. Dave and I did Backdoor Man. Bob did The Tall Cool Red One, an impressive highball. We finished the day out on the Egg and in the Gunks. The next day Dave, Tash, Bob, Andy, and I went to West Mountain. We warmed up at Star Power and then went over to Adventureland. We climbed on Best of the Best. I was able to do all the moves with the beta Yuri gave me last year. My high point was one move into the crux section. Best of the Best climbs up this overhang with unique holds. It has a pretty bad landing. It was put up by John Sherman back in the day. Nobody would go up there with him to spot the gently rising rocky landing. So he did it with pillows stuffed in his clothes and a helmet. It is definitely one of the best problems in the park. After that Andy and I showed them Animal Acts, Between the Sheets, and Bodysnatcher. It feels great to have a break from school and not worry about anything for the next month.