Crag Searching

Life in the desert is not at all like what I'm used to.  The Bay Area, and the Northwest both seem to be more 'alive' at first glance. But the mountains surrounding Las Vegas and Saint George offer something different. More often than not, they're FULL of rock of all shapes and sizes, styles and types. Whatever you're in to, you can find it here.

 

The Phalanx of Will

 

My friend Benjit arrived in Saint George from Seattle on December 15. We were both excited to check out as many limestone sport crags as we could so we wasted no time. It was cold...too cold to climb comfortably at many of the best developed areas so we sought sunshine! Benjit had driven his Subaru Outback down here for the sole purpose of getting us to some of the walls that require a high clearance 4WD vehicle to access. Our first stop: a unique limestone tower in Arizona called 'The Phalanx of Will'. The rock is crazy! The downhill face rises over 160 feet out of the ground and the rock is littered with gritty Chert band intrusions that made for some excellent and unique face climbing on a gently overhung wall. It was a great first day of his journey...sort of...

 

 

Departing shot, right before we started driving the 8+ miles of dirt roads

 

The road to get to this formation is a little rough but not too extreme.  We drove about a mile through a sandy wash with a few small rocks in the road. A Subaru with aftermarket lifted suspension like Benjit's should destroy the drive with no problems whatsoever. CLANG! We were smoothly trekking out of there when we hit something on the undercarriage of the car.

 

 

Snapped sway bar...how is that even possible?

 

 

Benjit going right to work to remove his broken sway bar

 

After the first pit stop to remove the dangling piece of sway bar we continued down the perfectly smooth and well maintained gravel road. One mile later the smell of burning rubber had us pulled over again. Somehow the rear tire opposite the side with the snapped sway bar was cambered in a good inch and the tire was now rubbing hard on the strut. Out came the tools again, and off came the tire. Thankfully his spare tire is not quite as wide and he was able to drive back to town without the spare getting destroyed too. 

 

 

Thai food dinner after that 'adventure'

 

 

...And bowling too!

 

The next day we dropped Benjit's car off at a local auto shop for some repairs. He got his car back after a hefty $565 tab to replace several suspension parts and re-align his rear wheels. The moral of that story is, either don't go to The Phalanx of Will, or walk an extra 30 minutes to avoid driving through that wash. The road really is pretty mellow...we were both blown away that any damage was caused from a drive like that one...

 

The next day the weather was questionable and cold again so we headed to low elevation to check out the infamous Virgin River Gorge. As everyone who has ever climbed there has said, the climbing and rock quality at the VRG is AMAZING and certainly some of the best limestone in the USA...the hang, however, is tainted by the roar of passing semi trucks on the I-15 which was conveniently constructed a short 50 - 100 yards from the walls. As much as the noise detracts from some of the things I love about climbing, I will definitely go back there...probably more than once!! It's seriously THAT good!

 

 

The BEAUTIFUL view from the Mentor Cave at the VRG

 

 

Warming up on 'The Mentor'

 

 

The Blasphemy Wall and the famed 'Necessary Evil'...SOOO GOOD (minus the highway)!!

 

 

Tom M. and Benjit hiking out of the Mentor Cave

 

 

Tyrolean to access the 'Sun Wall'

 

There were a couple different days when the weather was too gnarly to climb (that's saying a lot considering we are both from the wet, cold Pacific Northwest). Those days were not wasted though. One day we hiked around the Mormon Mountains in search of some new(ish) crags and for walls to possibly bolt.  The canyon we checked out was pretty cool and littered with limestone walls on all sides! It was a cloudy, cold day and we didn't find the wall we were looking for but we did see some cool stuff that Chris Lindner had established and enjoyed the adventure in the hills nonetheless!

 



'Ballin Alley' in the Mormon Mountains

 

We also checked out some other areas in the Utah Hills on a snowy, FREEZING windy day.  I haven't been as cold as I was on that day for as long as I can remember. It wasn't the 35 degree air temperature that was tough to get through, but the 30 mile an hour wind gusts that made our exploration almost unbearable!

 



 

Benjit chipping away the snow and ice to cop a feel inside a perfect pocket at the 'Soul Assylum'

 

 

In search of the 'Sunset Alley'...the huge wall in the background is the 'Beaver Dam Wall'

 

 

Impressive HUGE cave at 'Sunset Alley'

 

After one week of looking around, I've concluded that the desert limestone and the adventure in this region is endless! I can see the appeal of living near Las Vegas if you enjoy climbing and or establishing routes!

 

 

 



The Present and Recent Past

I've never had the opportunity to take an extended climbing trip. Before this journey began, the longest one I had been on was a trip to Andalusia in the south of Spain for fourteen days...two of those days were spent travelling and two of those days I was extremely sick and unable to get out of bed. My personal life has always molded around my professional life, but not without thoughtful planning and a whole lot of (perhaps too much) motivation.

I may go crazy without having something I have to do. I'm still not used to the fact that I no longer have appointments to make, emails to respond to and quotas to meet. For the past 18 months I've never been separated from my work blackberry. I was always on call, always available and always pulling out my phone to see if that little red light that let me know I had received a text, email or voicemail was blinking. When working in sales, month end had the potential to produce two very different Kyles: I could be relieved and happily coasting along with confidence having already achieved my budget numbers, or, I could transform into a ball of stress and hopelessness if I was behind. I could hardly wait for those feelings to go away; the idea of freedom, just climbing and serious 'me time' was an exciting one. Now, 13 days into my travels and I'm already in search of stimulation apart from the rocks. Reading books, internet-ing, writing again, training lightly, cooking, watching people go about their lives, climbing, resting, watching movies, etc, etc, blah blah blah...I have moments when I miss feeling like I'm a 'responsible adult'.

At any rate, since this blog is 'for climbing' and since I'm in the midst of another day of rest, I thought I would share some of the ways that I attempt to speed up the recovery of my skin and my body from the demands of lots o' climbing and life on the road. The best thing to do for recovery is be less than 25 years old and weigh less than 130 pounds...then your skin can't get thrashed and you won't get sore, ever...

1. When my skin is thin, I slice garlic cloves and rub them on my finger tips...not scientifically proven but in my experience this helps my skin recover better than any of the many hand salves on the market.

Garlic!!

2. Also for thin skin - try holding your hands close to the campfire at night for a while. Fire dries your tips and hardens your skin!

Healing!

3. If you get a cut, split, or scrape on your hands, use neosporin and band-aids and cycle 30 minutes - an hour with medicine and band-aid on, 30 min - an hour off. Dr. Noah Kauffman taught me this trick. One time I put it to the test and religiously switched 30 min on, 30 min off for eight straight hours. A bad flapper was healed enough to climb on it in less than 24 hours...crazy!

4. Try to consume a diet that is high in protein and good carbohydrates and low in crappy sugars and fats. Eat well, climb well! Check out 'Seeds of Deception' by Dr. Jeffery Smith for some in depth info on how important it is to monitor what we put into our bodies. It's amazing to see how quickly a plant can be affected by lack of nutrients and or water consumption...I like to think we are no different.

5. Do oppisition exercises on rest days like push ups, thera-bands, reverse forearm curls, etc. 100 push-ups per day (4 sets of 25) (maybe every other day) is a great goal and it will help your climbing.

I know, I clearly have too much time on my hands if I'm composing and publishing useless info like this...take it or leave it. Maybe all you need to climb that project of yours is a little garlic?! It's actually quite good when you put it in your food too. 

On another note, browsing through my pictures from this past summer brought back some fond memories worth sharing...

Cole Allen on one of his spectacular new problems 'Quantum Mechanics' at the Chaos boulders

Twice this past summer I visited my home land in Washington state. Somehow my travel dates fit perfectly into the finicky Northwest weather windows and I had some amazing climbing days. Leavenworth holds a special place in my life. Not only did I learn how to climb there, it also helped me realize why I climb. The setting, the rock, the variety, the people, the solitude, the adventure...it's all amazing in WA.

 

Cole on the first ascent of the 'Wave Dyno' on Mt. Home Rd.

 

 

Drew creatively crossing the creek to get to new boulders off the Colchuck Lake trail

 

 

Jens on 'Wingspan'...BEAUTIFUL granite cragging at the Miller High Life crag

 

 

Cole grappling the crux sloper on 'Hamburger Helper', Smithbrook Rd near Stevens Pass 

 

 

Amazing problem I called 'Traumatized' across the river from Mad Meadows

 

I'm ALWAYS surprised at the amount of quality new climbing there is to enjoy in Washington state. Kelly Sheridan's upcoming updated guidebook will include a plethora of great new problems and areas! I still consider the NW my home and I believe I will settle down there again in the near future.

 

It's been raining pretty hard here in Vegas for the past 24 hours. I happily welcome it. It's kind of a treat to be in a rain storm in the desert...besides, forced rest days are the best rest days! I hope everyone has wonderful holiday/vacation plans in store...perhaps I'll see you out here! 

The Valley - San Francisco - Viva Las Vegas!

 

My 'road trip' is officially under way!  I can't decide if time seems to be slipping by too quickly, or if it feels to have slowed down...

 

My employment with Polar Electro ended on November 30th.  I climbed and visited The Valley as much as I possibly could while I waited patiently but excitedly for my big 'last day' on the job.  I knew I would be leaving California immediately after I handed over the keys to the company car and the sponsorship gas card to Shell that accompanied the job. 

    

 

Cosmic Debris...is hard

 

Yosemite Falls from the Cosmic belay

 

 

Fritz, wondering if taco bell could be part of our rest day

 

 

Kona warming up with me at Camp 4

 

 

Alex and Thirza in the meadow

 

 

Wick prepping for some Diesel Power

 

 

James adjusting his 8a.nu scorecard at C4...apparently he's kind of a big deal

 

 

Thirza and Alex demonstrating the beta on the 'El Cap Lie-back'

 

My final climbing days in Yosemite this year were amazing...one could even categorize them as perfect!  Temperatures finally cooled and it dried out enough for us to experience a couple of those special Valley days with pretty dreamy conditions.  It was the best way imaginable to end my time in CA and amazing to have been able to climb with such great people in such a majestic place. I can't wait to return next year. 

 

As November 30th came and went, I followed the lonely straight road to Las Vegas in search of good weather, countless new routes, desert limestone, and some notable little rocks to try and summit as well. Upon my arrival, I met up with my friend Jenny from Leavenworth and we spent the first six days of my Vegas experience exploring the endless walls that weave throughout the Red Rocks. We fitness-ed through five amazing days in the warm (sometimes hot) sun where we climbed as many routes as we possibly could.  I can't thank Jenny enough for being willing to follow me around to all the short, steep, thuggish routes I wanted to try even though she was more called to the long routes!

 

 

The lonely straight road to Vegas

 

 

Jenny tying in to the sharp end at The Gallery

 

 

Hiking in to Juniper Canyon

 

 

Nightlife near the 'Strip'

 

 

Stand and Deliver - a perfect problem in every aspect

 

 

Could not have sent without sharing body heat between attempts

 

 

Clouds over the desert

 

 

Big tree way up in Juniper Canyon

 

 

Fun and pretty problem called 'Abstraction' in Gateway Canyon

 

 

Desert Sunrise

 

 

Desert Sunset

 

The coming weeks here in the desert are going to be a blast!  I'm finally warming up a little bit to climbing on sandstone (and in need of rest) and I'm looking forward to having a go on all of the beautiful climbs around here that I have yet to try!!