Rope climbing quadruple

Part of the Overlook crag, White Rock, with an overview of the Rio Grande canyon.

The last four days I have been rope climbing outside. Thursday was the first time we went outside for the weekly climb previously held at the YMCA. We went to the Overlook where the mountaineering club also had put some ropes. I climbed some 5.8s to 5.10s with with Walt and Jess. I pumped out completely on the Holy Wall 5.10a as the sun set.

Friday I joined Yoshi and Caroline at the Dungeon, which is very close to town and even closer to work. We worked the climbs at Trash Tower and they were nicer than the name indicates. Especially, Weenies Go Like This 5.11b was nice with a pumpy lower section and tricky sequencies to get to the top. The after climb beer at Canyon Bar was really nice.

Friday evening Jae told me that a group was going to the Overlook to climb Saturday morning before their softball games. When I left home it was quite windy and a bit chilly but at the Overlook it was so warm in the sun. Jae and I warmed up on Cholla Wall 5.10a/b and we had to have several takes each. It is a nice wall that I would like to do clean. I also worked on Holy Wall and managed to get to the top after some struggle. Another nice wall I would like to do clean.

Sunday started lazy. I was tired after last night's bbq at Walt's. My original plan was to drive down to Ponderosa to go bouldering but something kept me in the chair. In the afternoon Walt called me and we went to Las Conchas and the Cattle Call Wall. We did La Verga 5.9, Cud for LuLu 5.8, Bovine Inspiration 5.9, and finally worked on Cow pies for breakfast 5.10d. I enjoyed the bouldery start of Bovine inspiration and Cow pies for breakfast was nice too with a desperate dead-point move.

Afternoon at the Pond

Forest road 10 was open today so I took the dirt road down to Ponderosa. It was a bumby ride at several places. I was able to locate the area Peck's Peninsula but did not check it out. I guess it would be possible to find the Spider area also if one drives north from Peck's.

It was warm today at the Pond today. I think I have to check out the areas in the woods soon to find shade and hopefully lower temperatures. The first stop was at the 20 minute boulder to warm up. The V2/3 left of Ichiro was checked out but the start is very weird with two underclings and then it goes up left of a prow. No success there. The V2 arete left of 'King for a day' got a few tries but the dyno felt scary to do on my own though I had two pads. The last stop of the day was at the Wave boulder and I spent time on the V1 slab with pockets there. Got some beta from some locals that were there two weeks ago as well. It did not help and I tore the skin on a finger on the fairly sharp right pocket. I guess that problem needs lower temperatures since it is exposed to the sun all day. After the failure there I did a few tries on Catherine slab but that was also warmed by the sun so I gave up and headed home.

Catherine slab at Ponderosa.

Las Conchas, NM

Today we headed to the Jemez mountains and the Las Conchas area where we set camp at the Gateway Rock. This was my first outdoor rope climbing in probably five years. I warmed up on Green Thumb 5.8 which was lichen-covered and not very nice. The next route was nice - Woof Toof Noof Roof, 5.10d. The start was pumpy and with my present endurance I was not able to climb it clean. The last route of the day was Drive By Shooting, 5.10a/b which was long (to my bouldering standards) and with the only crux at the start. 

I soon realized how convenient bouldering is compared to rope climbing. I will not change my opinion about that anytime soon. However, rope climbing with friends is nicer than driving more than an hour away to boulder on your own.

Premier at Ponderosa, NM

I went to check out the bouldering by Ponderosa in the Jemez mountains last Saturday. A group of four Americans, one Swede, and two dogs headed down from Los Alamos. The boulders consist of the volcanic rock tuff. It is the same type of rock as in Hueco, which means a lot of weird structures and holes to use. Unfortunately, the only topo is part of a guide book over the rock climbing in the Jemez mountains and it only includes a very limited part of the areas around Ponderosa and moreover there are no updates posted anywhere, except a topographical map with indications of where the other areas are found and some notes (search for Ponderosa). However, there is a bunch of pictures posted on 0friction and a few videos on YouTube.

Goumas on a nice sit-start on the C boulder.

During the first visit we only climbed on two boulders and had a look at a few other by the pond. Today I returned on my own and walked further up to the Nascar boulder and tried and looked at some nice problems. The upper deck and the newer areas are still to be explored so there are lots of problems to climb.