Hueco Tanksgiving

Rumble In The Jungle

I made the trek down to The Hueco Tanks for Tanksgiving this year. I had spent the previous 4 Thanksgivings at Hueco until last year when I decided to do something different and go to Bishop. This year there wasn't a huge turnout in comparison to earlier years. I think this has something to do with the redesigned reservation system, in which a person can reserve spots using a parks pass instead of a credit card. It seems that North Mountain is easy to get into because any unclaimed reservations are given to the general public at 10 AM. I climbed on Rumble In The Jungle this trip. I finally made progress on my high point for the first time since I started working the climb my 4 winters ago. I fell slapping the jug on the lip, so there is a definite possibility of finishing this one off this season. I modified my beta slightly with AO's heel toe cam beta. Pat nearly did Better Eat Your Wheaties on this trip, but had to stop trying it after he tweaked his finger. Sam and I climbed on Shake N Bake on our last day. Shake N Bake climbs a sloper compression roof with foot smears to transfer heel hooks. We were able to fine tune some beta, but I think it needs to get dryer and colder before I attempt to link it. I'll be back down there guiding in 10 days.

Some more from Willow

First Ascent of Wapiti Cave

Elk Graveyard Project

I climbed at Willow Canyon on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sam did a new highball line called Waterfall on the left side of the Blimp Roof with a heinously sloping landing. I put up a new climb called Revenge of the Holly on the right side of the Blimp Roof. Revenge of the Holly climbs a tall technical face with a flat landing(after 5+ days of effort to level the hillside). I'm getting closer to sticking the throw on the right exit for the roof. The lip exit starting at the throw is a feasible project, but starting all the way under the roof and climbing into the throw may be futuristic. I climbed in a new cave on Saturday. I established a short roof climb in the center called Wapiti Cave. Eric and I started working a new line from the right that climbs out 2 and 3 finger pockets on a horizontal roof called the Elk Graveyard Project. This project has a similar difficulty and style to the climbs on Mars Roof. The climb is sharp, but perhaps it will clean up a bit better with time. I hiked through a few bends in the canyon yesterday searching for new stone. I found plenty of limestone and some sandstone, but I didn't find any spectacular lines. Hueco season is coming up, as well as winter, so development will probably be slow during the next few months.

Cherry Canyon

My philosophy class this morning was cancelled so I decided to do a mid-day Cherry Canyon session with Sam. We went straight to the bulge and warmed up in the cold. I climbed on Dain's Big Bulge and finally stuck the slot throw move. I'll have to go back to link the moves together.

Here is a link to a video of Sam Tingey Crushing the line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcBgmxBX8-I

New Limestone

New RoofLimestone we encountered during our detour.

I headed out to Willow Canyon again with Pat, Sam, and Cody. About 10 miles from our exit in Winslow there was a pileup of semi-trucks on east bound I-40. Apparently there were numerous deaths caused by the wreck. The line of cars and semis was over 4 miles long, and with helicopters in the distance heading towards the scene, we chose to bail and find an alternate route to our destination.

We took some random forest roads to link up with the forest roads near the Mogollon Rim. The forest in Northern Arizona is badass because there are many roads that link up together allowing for many different routes to a single destination. Most forest roads are well maintained, but sometimes out of nowhere they will turn into heinous 4WD roads. Not only that but there is an amazing amount of rock here, particularly limestone. If you drive down many forests roads long enough you are likely to encounter more rock. After 70 miles on dirt roads and an extra hour of driving we finally made it back to the Blimp Roof.

The landing for the Blimp roof has been built up enough to do some of the boulder problems. Pat and I climbed on a sick new roof near the end of the day, but we were too tired from the day's work to put up any rock climbs. The sequence on the right exit of the Blimp Roof is starting to come together. It is one of the hardest climbs that I've ever tried, likely harder than Big Worm at Mt. Evans.

Willow Canyon

Sam on the FA of the Duck Bill.

2nd Ascent of the Duck Bill. Photo by Sam Tingey.Pat and a massive swing. Photo by Sam Tingey.

Photo by Sam Tingey.Photo by Pat Fitts.
Photo by Sam Tingey.

FA of Lost in the City of Madness. Photo by Pat Fitts.

Sam on the FA of Aliens.

Sam on the FA of Sleeper Hit.

Sam, Pat, and I have been developing a sector of the New World called Willow Canyon. Yesterday we put up some first ascents. Sam did the FA of a short limestone bulge. The bulge starts on a face and pulls a short roof of about 4 feet on jugs. The climb then moves onto some good edges with an awkward finish over the bulge. We walked along the side of the canyon through the trees and found more limestone along the rim. We built up the landing to a project at the Flying Saucer cave. Unfortunately the cave is mostly blank choss, but the left side will lend itself to a couple of scary highballs with a drop off landing. While Sam was trying the project at the Flying Saucer, Pat investigated a sandstone feature in the dried up riverbed of the canyon. The feature turned out to be a lone sandstone prow with a sandy landing by the riverbed. Pat and I did the joint first ascent of Lost in the City of Madness, which climbs the right side of the prow up to a tall flake finish. Sam put up a climb on the left arete called Aliens. I did the second ascent of this one. We built the landing up a bit to make it level for the center line climbing the prow. Sam did the FA of this line, which is called Sleeper Hit. The problems on the sandstone prow are just as good as anything in Kelly Canyon or the Ozarks. Work has continued on the landing for the BLIMP roof. I continued working on a potential exit for the Blimp roof project. I have a sequence leading out the roof to the massive throw to the crimp. I can touch the crimp, but I haven't managed to latch it. This climb could be the hardest unclimbed roof climb in the Flagstaff area. More to come.

Willow Canyon

Projects at the New World.

Blimp Roof Project

Sam on a Project at the new sector.

Pad Stashing Arizona Style

All Photos: Sam Tingey

More from the New World

Centex Roof Project
Photo: Andy Klier

Blimp Roof Project

Photo: Sam Tingey

Sam on the Centex Roof Project.

Andy Klier on the Blimp Roof Project. Photo: Sam Tingey

AO on the Centex Roof Project. Photo: Andy Klier

We need way more crash pads!