Desert Sandstone

*Updated on 11/3 with the write-up. 

Went to Red Rock with Halo, Noah, Chris, and Kyle the weekend of the 22nd. We primarily spent most of our time hanging around Kraft Boulders and Gateway Canyon, since I have never been there, and everyone else hasn't tried most of the lines. 

First of all let's get the important business out the way with the photos! 

Potato Chip

Noah crimping down

Halo showing us how it's done on Pork Chop

Not a roof, but somehow I haven't fallen off this go...

Chris simultaneously resting, asking for chalk, and getting a photo out of it. A true multi-tasker

Getting started on Monkey Bar Traverse

Moving through the holds

Rad corner bicycle

And now, for the write-up. 

So it's been two weeks since the trip, and so I now have some time to think and reflect upon the experience. 

First of all, driving from Phoenix to Vegas is about a solid 5 hour one-way trip. It's not too bad, but when you arrive in Vegas, it feels like you're still in the East valley, and that if you drove 30 minutes east, you would be home already. Unlike Phoenix, Vegas did feel a bit cooler. We drove past Lake Mead and we could see how much more shallow the lake was in comparison to what it used to be, so that was a very sobering realization on the state of the planet. Anyways.. on to the climbing.
As mentioned above, we spent most of our time at Kraft boulders. It is the direct opposite of climbing at Priest Draw and the Hinterlands. There are three primary differences. The first is the environment. There is not a lot of grass at Kraft, and as such the primary surface is loose soil. This can lead to nice flat landings, but this also means that with decent wind speeds, say 30mph or so, dirt, soil, (and pads!) can start flying around. Having pads fly up when climbing was not a rare occurrence. The second is the crowds. In Flagstaff, seeing 3-5 cars at the parking lot is usually a sign of a busy day, but at Kraft, 15 cars is a sign of a light day. There are pros and cons on each side, but more often than not, I found myself wanting to gravitate towards boulders less climbed on. But then again, we were there on a trip to try all the classics, so here we were. The final thing about Kraft that I noticed is the accessibility of the boulders. Kraft felt very much like a gym, with the crowds hanging out at the boulders as well as the smattering of pads. However, the thing that struck out to me the most was the sheer variety of styles, which ranged from warmup circuits to vertical crimp fests to sloper traverses and to overhangs, and heights, from lowballs to highballs. If there was an outdoor gym, Kraft would be it, and the climbs that I was able to send or project matched accordingly. 

The group did quite well. Noah was able to take down the Hyperglide problem, Halo and I were able to come away with Pork Chop, I was able to finish off the Pearl, and Chris and I got mighty close to Monkey Bar Traverse. Kyle had an injured foot so he was able to get some circuiting done. 

Overall, would I go back? Sure- but maybe at a time with less wind and fewer crowds. I found myself missing the roofs and quiet nature of the bouldering around Flagstaff after the weekend. 

And now, the uncut video footage that most definitely HAS NOT been posted somewhere before: