Last March I spent two weeks in Hueco. It was a great roadtrip and just thinking about it makes me want to go back. In fact, I’ll likely spend the first three weeks of December there this year! During that trip I redpointed a problem called Rumble in the Jungle, a V12 on the softer side, in my opinion. Nevertheless, it was a huge confidence booster for me. It felt good to be climbing strong again. Lev Pinter was there with a camera and he got it rolling just in time to capture my redpoint send. Check it out:

You hear my good friend, Rich Kupskay, encouraging me in the background. If you want to send a problem, have this guy nearby. He’s been with me for all 5 of my most recent hard sends! Isn’t that a great stat? Rich’s extra energy helped me send Dark Age, Rumble in the Jungle, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Black Magic, and Vince Pinch. Thanks, Rich!

Monday was my last full climbing day at Hueco. Rich and I got a late start; we didn’t head into the park until 11am. Lev and Rich Castillo tagged along. We warmed up near Bloody Flapper, but none us actually sent that horrible problem. I then tried Free Willy once, but the last move didn’t go down. Plus it was kind of painful so I didn’t bother working it. We then hiked to the top of the chains where we had planned to meet Louis, a French-Canadian dude who is great company. Him and I were going to try Dark Age, V11 together. However, he didn’t show; he ended up taking a long nap back at the Ranch. Rich was taking a rest day and Lev and Castillo went to film someone on Babyface so I worked Dark Age on my own.

On my last trip I tried the first few moves of Barefoot on Sacred Ground, which shares the start to Dark Age. The sequence I had come up with before didn’t really apply so I had to come up with entirely new starting beta. For the first 20 minutes I couldn’t figure out the initial moves. Do I go left hand to the next hold or right hand and cross the left up to the sidepull-pinch? The latter sequence made it hard to pull to the hold around the corner so I settled for the former beta. It took me some more time to figure out that I needed to do a scrunchy heel hook to get established on the left hold and ready to move out right. I then tried various sequences to get to the holds on See Spot Run (Dark Age finishes up this high ball, but classic V6). After about an hour and a half of working out the moves and resting I gave it a redpoint burn. It didn’t go because I mistakenly turned my right heel to a toe for the throw to the See Spot hold. It was something that just felt right while I was climbing, but turned out to not work. Sigh… So I rested for a while before my next burn. I knew I’d do the problem, I just had to wait. Then a bunch of school kids showed up, making a bunch of noise. They left, but then the sun started to send blinding light through the corridor making it impossible to see the hold I had to throw to. So I waited some more… After more than an hour I was able to get on the problem again. I cruised through the bottom moves and hit the See Spot hold well. I hadn’t been on this terrain for a long time. I got myself into a position where I couldn’t reach a right hand crimp. I was on a worse crimp just to the left of it which felt very unsecure. After some fighting, I managed to top out. Phew!

Out of nowhere I managed to tick Dark Age on my third day on, which was also my last day in Hueco. I’m actually quite proud of this send because I basically arrived at the problem with no beta and barely able to do the first few moves. I had to unlock the sequence entirely on my own. And then after only a few hours of work, I muscled an ascent. I think this is the first time I’ve sent something that hard in that short of time. What a great way to end off my trip to Hueco.

Now that I’m home, I’m already thinking of getting away again. There are still plans for Rich, Gary and I to rent a house in Squamish for the season. I can’t wait for that to happen.

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post. Hopefully the video will do you good enough. And if you still want more to look at check out Gary Foster’s new blog. He’s known for his bad grammar, but it reads quite well. Take a look.

We’ve had some good weather over the last few days. It’s cooled down quite a bit. On Tuesday we got to the park at 8am because I wanted to make sure Diaphanous was in the shade. We warmed up at the Warm Up Boulders and then played on T-Bone Shuffle, V4. This problem is a lot easier doing the throw instead of the heel hook beta. After that Rich and I sessioned Diaphanous for an hour. For me the second move is really hard. After that I can set up for the throw pretty easily. I half-ass stuck the throw from standing, but didn’t hold on long enough because it hurt too much. With only two climbing days left I think I’m going to abandon this problem for projects that I’m more likely to do. We walked up to the Sign of the Cross area and spent a few hours there. Gary flashed Sign of the Cross, V3 and Sarah repeated it. Then the two of them worked on Choir Boys Light, V7. I’m pretty sure both Gary and Sarah can do this problem if they had a few more days on it; they’re both really close. I got on Chablanke, V11 again because Rich wanted to get some footage of it. I surprised myself by repeating it first try. Of course Rich wanted another angle so I got on it again and did it with just a little bit more stuggle than the first time. Like I said, the temps have gotten better. So this encouraged me to try Luthor, V12, which begins on Choir Boys and finishes up Chablanke adding about 8 moves. It’s a bit of a low ball, but the moves are actually kind of fun. I didn’t have any beta, but with some time I figured out a cool sequence. I’m pretty sure I’ll redpoint this if I get another day at North with cooler temps. Even though I haven’t sent this problem, I’m pretty sure it’s V12 at best. The majority on 8a.nu call it V13, but that seems ridiculous to me since there is no move harder than the crux of Chablanke. And I’d call Chablanke a soft V11. So I guess I assert that Luthor is probably either a solid V11 or a soft V12. All of this without even climbing the problem!

Rich warming up.

Sarah on T-Bone Shuffle, V4.

Gary flashing Sign of the Cross, V3.

On Wednesday me and Rich were feeling super trashed so we took a rest day, but Sarah and Gary wanted to get on Babyface, V7 and Daily Dick Dose, V7, respectively. Both of them got really close on these projects but in the end there was no sendage.

Yesterday, Thursday, was Sarah’s last climbing day. We had a tour booked for East Spur, but Sarah really wanted to redpoint Babyface so she decided to get on it before the tour started at 10am. We got up super early to make sure we were in the park as soon as it opened. We hiked up the chains, Sarah warmed up and then prepared herself for her project. On her first go she cruised it all the way up to the 2nd to last move, which is a bit of a throw to a jug, but she just missed it! Sarah spent another 5 or 6 tries but none of the burns were as good as her first. Her very last burn got her to the same high point, but by then she was too tired to complete. It was her 3rd day on after all. I guess this just means we’ll have to come back again, right Sarah?

Sarah warming up for her early morning attack on Babyface.

Our tour on East Spur turned out to be a great day. We warmed up at the Maze. I sent Better Eat Your Wheaties, V8 on my second try. On my first try I didn’t really commit because the last time I was on this problem I popped my pinky finger tendon and now that finger doesn’t straighten. We watched Rich commit to the throw on Jingus Bells, V5 and Gary sent Trubblemaker, V4 and Meat Maker, V5. Sarah got on Wheaties and did the first move on her 2nd try but didn’t really work the problem because she was already spent from her session on Babyface in the morning. Eventually our group migrated to the Gunks where Gary redpointed New Religion, V7 and both him and Sarah flashed Big Dick Jim, V3. Rich and I got escorted to Rumble in the Jungle, V12 because we were both psyched to give it burns after seeing Sean McColl’s flash ascent on YouTube. Sean’s beta worked perfect for me. Actually I guess it’s not his beta at all, because he flashed, but whatev. I already knew I could do the crux move, I just had to sort out the rest of the problem. The exit scared me because it looked like something that I could potentially fall off of when pumped. I figured out a sequence for that and then gave it a redpoint burn. I had no expectations at all, I just wanted to get a feel for the problem from start to wherever I ended up. This state of mind really worked for me because I got through the crux and 2 moves from the jug over the lip. I felt fairly pumped afterward so I decided to rest for a good 15 minutes. I still didn’t think I’d have it in me for two reasons: pump factor – I don’t have much endurance and the slab finish still intimidated me. In the end all turned out well because I redpointed it my next go! Lev happened to just show up with a camera so he got it on film. Hopefully I’ll have a video posted in the near future. If you compare that video to the one of Sean on YouTube, you’ll probably see that we did the moves exactly the same way. We ended the day off with some burns on Power of Landjager, V11 then Rich and I did Uncut Yogi, V6 and Gary and I did Left Donkey Show, V5. Both of these problems are super classic.

Rich making his way toward the final dyno on Jingus Bells, V5.

This morning wasn’t very routine. Our plan was to drop Sarah off at the airport and then chill at Kristoph’s for most of the day. However, while Sarah was checking in we found out that her flight to Dallas was cancelled because of snow. Fortunately they got her on a flight at 6pm. Sarah tossed around the idea of going back to the park to attempt Babyface again, but she eventually decided to save it for another trip.

In my last post I promised myself that I’d travel to Hueco again. I needed to get back here; there are too many problems left unclimbed. I stayed true to my word so here I am again at Kristoph’s Coffee shop in El Paso, Texas. It’s the preferred rest day destination for climbers taking a day off from climbing at Hueco Tanks. I just finished a peppermint mocha and it’s now time to update you guys on my last three days of climbing.

Sarah and I arrived late Thursday night. We woke up at around 8am in our sauna of a tent. The sun was shining and it was already around 20 degrees. While we made breakfast, Rich Castillo comes from out of nowhere to say hi. Him and Lev Pinter (see the latest Urban Climber article by Sonnie Trotter) are in the park for the next few weeks to film a video bouldering guidebook sponsored by Flashed Climbing. We set out to North Mountain to warm up and try some of the classics. Rich and Lev needed footage for their video. We got on Nobody Gets Out of Here Alive, Babyface, Daily Dick Dose and Seka’s Speciality. Then we finished the day off with attempts on Diaphanous Sea and Power of Silence. Diaphanous is one of my projects. It felt hard, but I’m blaming it on 6 hours of sleep a full day of sun and the first day on. I’m gonna try it again tomorrow morning, I’m hoping it will feel a bit easier.

Sarah getting her Daily Dick Dose, V7. She crushed this thing.

Lev Pinter, gathering footage for the Hueco Video Bouldering Guide.

Rich Castillo, doing what he does second best.

That night we drove back to the airport to pick up Gary Foster and Rich Kupskay. Gary was to arrive first. He was waiting outside of the airport, but Sarah and I drove right past him because he was wearing a cowboy hat. I just figured it was some Texan local waiting for his ride. After some text messaging back and forth we finally found each other. It’s Gary’s first trip to Hueco Tanks so the next day we gave him a tour of some of the great problems at North Mountain. We got on Ghetto Simulator, the best V2 I’ve ever climbed. Near the end of the day we checked out Baby Martini then settled at Loaded With Power. I got on this problem in November but didn’t return for the redpoint. The sun had gotten to me and I wasn’t feeling very energetic, but with some enthusiasm shone onto me from Rich I gave it a try. It took me a go to remember how the big cross-over felt. My second try I hit the painful left hand crimp then moved to the right-hander, but the holds hurt too much so I jumped off. I sent on my third go. While I adjusted on the left hand crimp it suddenly felt good and not so painful. I grabbed the next hold perfectly. I had been in this position before in November, but I didn’t really know what to do with my feet. The concensus beta is to throw in a huge drop-knee knee-bar, but that never felt good to me. This time I stabbed my right foot on a hold out to the right. I did a rather large back-flag, committing most of my weight on my right hand. I went up left hand to a bad pinch. At this point I was feeling a little unsecure. All I had to do was throw to the jug, but I was a little nervous of the left pinch blowing off. Rich was screaming “You got this, Jamie. I’ve got you spotted. Get that shit, get that shit!” Without that encouragment I wouldn’t have sent. I tossed and snagged the jug just barely. I actually didn’t hit it on the right spot, but it was good enough to match on the lip and mantel over for the send.

Gary Foster climbing Ghetto Simulator, V2 in his gay looking cowboy hat. Check out those pretty beads.

Sarah Austin looking good on Ghetto Simulator, V2.

Gary Foster on Seka’s Specialty, V2.

Jamie Chong redpointing Loaded With Power, V10.

Yesterday we got on a tour to East Spur. The six of us headed to the Gunks for an eight hour session. We spent some time on New Religion, V6/7 and Fight or Flight, V4. Castillo and Pinter wanted video of these two three-star problems. After lunch Rich and I played around on Rumble in the Jungle, a V12 roof that Sean McColl flashed a few weeks ago. Sarah and Gary redpointed High Pro Glow, V6. Our guide took us down to Jigsaw Puzzle, V5 which took Sarah, Gary and I five tries combined. After that, I got on The Egg, a four star V8/9 nearby. Rich sprayed me down with some beta, which almost provided me with a flash. I settled for a redpoint on my third try. Lev, with tall person beta, also redpointed it fairly quickly. Our session was over.

Sarah Austin not quite sticking the lip on Fight or Flight, V4.

Gary Foster working New Religion, V7.

Sarah Austin making short work of Jigsaw Puzzle, V5.

Jamie Chong climbing Hueco’s version of The Egg, V8/9.

Last night we had planned to make dinner at the campground because we were gonna be in town today anyways. But as the sun went down the wind picked up. Another notorious dusty wind storm was just beginning and we just didn’t want to deal with that so we headed to town for a Taco Cabana dinner. During the drive we witnessed dozens of Texan tumble weeds cross the highway in front of us. From above it probably looked like a game of Frogger. After dinner we chilled at Starbucks where Rich consumed a Budweiserappaccino then headed back to the barn for a few games of Foosball before bed.

Gary and Rich playing with Texan Tumble Weeds.

Rich enjoying his Budweiserappaccino.

Lev beat Gary 10 – 0.

These guys are pudgy mother-fuckers.

I ticked one of my projects a couple of days ago. It’s called Chablanke, V11. I had worked out the moves last Tuesday and even came close to sending it. I rested on Wednesday and then attacked the problem on Thursday. Most of our crew headed over to the Martini Roof area while JJ, Sarah and I went to the Sign of the Cross area so I could get on this problem. I asked JJ to video all of my attempts just in case I sent. I’m glad I did that because I sent first try! All morning I had rehearsed the moves in my head and basically just got myself psyched to send. It paid off for sure. I hit every move near perfect. Check out the YouTube video below.

Today is another rest day and tomorrow I don’t have a reservation, but I’m going to try to get into the park anyways. I want to redpoint Loaded With Power and Flying Marcel tomorrow. I’m close to doing both. We haven’t gotten to East or West mountain yet because there have been no volunteer guides. We could do a commercial tour with the Rock Ranch, but it costs $20 per person! It’s pretty expensive, but I may have to cough up the cash because my trip is quickly coming to an end.