It's been one week since my second trip to Joe's Valley, and I still haven't quite got the words to describe it. But, since I want this out of my head, the quickest way to describe it was that "every cloud has a silver lining."
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| Near Page, Arizona |
I mostly came into the trip with pretty much very bad conditions. I wasn't quite sure how dry the climbs were going to be, since I've seen reports of snow and ice in Utah the week beforehand, and the cold nights didn't make me feel much better. I also came into the trip with pretty bad skin conditions, as Tide Turner in the Fortress had ripped several big tears in the skin. In addition, I was still recovering from my wrist injuries. Finally, I remembered that Joe's is about 3000' higher in elevation than Phoenix, which meant that general fitness would be tough since I wasn't used to the thinner air. My goal for this trip was to finish Water Paintings, a notoriously (and possibly sandbagged) boulder that is athletic, beta-intensive, and cruxy. I didn't know how that was going to go, especially since some of the holds were not good for my wrist injuries. I vaguely remembered my beta from my very small session on my first trip, but there were a few extra sequences I wanted to figure out, and I wasn't sure of my chances. 
Nevertheless, eager to leave Phoenix and the heat, I left at 1PM after class on Thursday, and began the 10 hour drive north. I vaguely remembered that the drive is quite straightforward, but what I didn't recall were the copious amounts of deer running around at night. After my first experience grazing a deer's side last summer, I wasn't too eager to repeat the experience as I drove through the winding roads of Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park in the dark. Luckily, I managed to avoid any incidents with deer, but I've learned that they sure like to test your focus at 12AM when you're quite tired. I arrived at the Airbnb where I was staying with Justin and his friends from Colorado at 1AM and promptly crashed.
Day 1
A brief amount of sleep (~5-6 hours) later, I awoke on Friday and began my first day of the trip. Since Justin wasn't here yet, I warmed up with his friends Dane and Kelsey, and we hit up the Crack boulder. Being a full on neophyte at crack climbing, I wasn't able to do the V0 off-width jam near the top of the boulder, but we managed to scrape our way up the V2 Wash Out, which is quite high and a bit slabby, with quite the adventurous (read mantle downclimbing, which I'm sure my wrist was thrilled about). We then went to check out Dane and Kelsey's goals for the trip, which were Jason Kehl's Gurkha Knife and Dead/Black Sea. Gurkha knife is a sick boulder in the shape of a Gurkha Knife and Black Sea is a crimpy mess of a boulder. On the way there, the strap of one of my crashpads broke, so carrying gear quickly became a big pain in the ass.
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| Basically the same shape |
I hadn't touched a crimp in like two years (thanks, limestone pocket roofs!) until this winter, or any Jason Kehl lines so I gave them some goes. I got halfway through Gurkha Knife before I decided to stop and save my skin and energy for Water Paintings.
That afternoon, I went to Water Paintings and began my epic of sussing out all the beta with a local named Mark. I managed to figure out the initial start sequence to place my heel, which involved a nice little right foot toe cam, and a double bicycle, but fell at the second crux, a very particular right heel-toe cam placement. To my surprise, I managed to solve the first crux, which was a way to cut loose from a double heel-hook position. The solution was in the form of pointing my toes downwards and scumming the shoe. I decided to pack it up and rest my skin and body for the day, as I still had a few days left.
Day 2
Day 2 was a dark day. The plan was for Justin and I to quickly put down our projects, Water Paintings, and Scrawny and Brawny, and then meet up with Justin's friends, Casey and Connor at Left Fork. Needless to say, it didn't happen. I punted at least 5 times from the beginning on Water Paintings, with copious amounts of skin ripping and a new crux at the end (the right heel-toe cam), while Justin slipped out of the crimp on Scrawny and Brawny at least the same number of times. With our spirits a bit discouraged, we went and did our consolation prize, Dyno Time Low, which clocks in at around V6/7. Dyno Time Low is a very athletic climb that starts on a decent undercling edge and busts out to a slopey left hand, and then has a big sideways move to a brilliant right hand flake that can be static'd or done with a dyno. Afterwards, a nice big huck upwards to a jug. That problem saw a variety of ascents, from the young competition climbers one arm campusing with a noticeable lack of footwork, to those in our 20s with a bit of both, and to the older folk with the most mind blowing, standing-on-nothing, sport-climber like footwork I had ever seen to reach the jug, only to miss the jug several times. Only sport climbers, I swear! I say this mostly in jest, as the older gentleman did it in fine style quickly soon after.
Here's my junky video:
At the end of the day, I decided to hop on the classic Fingerhut, the first V10 established in Joes Valley, and surprised myself by holding a few positions and almost making one of the three hard moves on that boulder. As mentioned before, I hadn't touched a crimp in like two years or so until this winter so being able to hold anything sharp and incut was a surprise to me. Perhaps next time, I'll try and actually train on a moonboard so my fingers will be ready. I hadn't tried a boulder where establishing was a crux in so long.
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| PC: Justin Taylor |
That evening, we then went to support Casey on his project, Beyond Life.
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| Casey working Beyond Life at a night session with Connor on the spot |
Day 3
Justin and his friends were planning on on Sunday, so we hit up New Joes, where Justin and his friends tried a few new climbs and other variations of lines they had done before.
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| Connor on the flash of Pocket Rocket |
For me, my skin was still utterly and completely shot, so I planned on resting that day in order to give myself the best chances on Water Paintings on my final day. In order to facilitate this plan, I wore jeans and a large hoodie in order to prevent myself from getting on the rock. It was partially successful, as I was only persuaded by Justin to climb the jean's boulder (as I was wearing jeans). the boulder is sick, as it is a nice, gently overhanging crimpy boulder, and has a cool puzzle-ly like holds for the topout. I flashed Bad Genes, and Pimpn' Jeans, the two classic lines on that rock. I then headed over to support the crew on Planet of the Grapes and Chips. Afterwards, I went to Water Paintings to try and suss beta from those trying the line and watched a bunch of people from France, Australia, Russia, etc... all try the line and fall off. I didn't manage to figure out my beta then, but I knew that the line was quite hard, as the crushers all mentioned that it was "quite involved for V7/8". I then went and and stayed with Josh and Maddy, two other folks from Denver who graciously offered me a place to stay. That night, I still had not figured out the complete beta for the end, but I tried my best to visualize possible scenarios as I fell asleep.
Day 4
The final day of the trip, I awoke, muscle and skin still aching, and decided that while Water Paintings wasn't meant to go at all this trip, I would still go and give it a few goes in order to figure out the beta. With two cliff bar's in hand, and basically two equivalent cups of coffee in the form of Celsius drinks, I trudged alone to the boulder. I arrived at the boulder at 8:45AM, just as the sun was peeking out and shining into Right Fork, and I prepared for my goes, altering between warming up in the car, and shuffling pads and brushing holds in the cold. My warmup was pulling on one of the portable hangboards, and figuring out the crux for the end. I soon figured out the solution for the crux, which basically amounted to a very painful right heel-toe cam match that can be quite strenuous on the knee. Funnily enough, I felt much better this day, and I think it was finally due to my body getting acclimated with the higher elevation. With somewhat higher spirits, I pulled on for the first burn, where disaster struck. My right foot got stuck in the initial toe cam drop knee, and as I was pulling it out, it got stuck, and I heard a very audible *crunch*. However, I kept on going as stopping would've lost me any valuable information I still had to gain. I fell on the topout sequence. To my other horror, the skin that I spent the last day and a half healing sustained a big flapper right in the place where I needed to initiate the first crux.
The second go was not much better, as I got flashed pump and fell topping out. On the final go, I wasn't sure how it was going to work out, but I gave myself the best chance for success. I rested a full 15 minutes in the car while warming up periodically on the portable hangboard and hydrating. On the third and final go, it came together.
The celebration at the top wasn't so much for how thrilled I was that I did the boulder, but more in disbelief that through all the various misfortunes that happened the week before and during the trip, how elusive this boulder was being to all those who tried it, things still managed to worked out with all the tactics and various injuries. My knee definitely hurt on the ride back, and for the next few days, which kinda sucks, but I sent! Hopefully the other projects don't go like this. I'm planning on checking out some things in Sedona tomorrow, and hopefully I can return back to Mars Roof in decent shape.
