The first day we went to East Mtn., and with plans for West (and The Feather) the following day, I climbed a few moderates to warm-up. I also made the 3rd ascent of a Sam Davis roof near Man Gum. This is probably in the V9 range, although I thought Bush League (another Davis problem I had climbed earlier in November) was V10, but it is now settling at V8 or V9, so who knows. I repeated Man Gum to warm-up for Sam’s new problem 1st try, and this problem should probably be downgraded to V7. Paige flashed it easily and Neely climbed it not long after.

The second day was back to West. We started off the day by making the trek back up to AKA, an outstanding new problem high above The Bathtub. Trevor gave it some great burns but couldn’t quite get the send.

Trevor Turmelle working AKA

We then marched across the top of West over to The Feather. With the beta still fresh in my mind from a month ago and the temperature 20 degrees cooler, I reclimbed all the moves rather quickly. Seth and I had a great session on the problem and with 20 minutes left in the tour I climbed to the top. Seth fell off the last move in a last valiant effort. It’s obscure and beautiful classics like this that will keep me returning to Hueco Tanks for years. I stood near the summit of the mountain and watched quietly as the last rays of light stretched across the endless desert.

Hueco Tanks sunset

The next day was a wonderful rest day of horseback riding on a local ranch. While The Feather was certainly nice to finish, this may have been the highlight of the trip for me.

Dean, our gracious host, and avid Pictionary player.

The last day was really enjoyable, although I didn’t climb one new problem. I did manage to “climb for the cycle”, climbing one problem of every grade, from V0-V10, (and 18 total problems) including a repeat of one of my favorite problems in Hueco, The French Tickler.

Paige makes a good effort on one of the most impressive lines in the park.

It was a great day out in the boulders and a wonderful, but very short trip. While it’s nice to entertain dreams of staying in Hueco all winter, I am glad to be back and looking forward to starting back to school this spring!

Slashface 8B from Jamie Emerson on Vimeo.

Check out Nalle’s website http://nalle-hukkataival.blogspot.com/

The Machinist V13, East Spur FA Nalle Hukkataival

Andre on Diabolique V13

The Princess Diaries V6 FA Justin Alaracon

One day we stopped to check out a great new problem put up by Justin Alarcon called The Princess Diaries V6, on East Mountain. The problem climbs out a massive roof on sculpted holds, finishing on easy climbing over a bad landing.

Power of Landjager V11

The last day I went on tour with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. Good times.

Jon “Cardeck” Cardwell on Full Throttle V13

Dave Graham on Full Throttle

DG

The infamous Chad Greedy

After another rest day, we went back to Nagual for round 2. This time I made two very good links, getting through the bottom twice and falling at what seemed to me to be past the crux. Unfortunately, my skin was failing on the sharp holds and we never got to go back. Hopefully, I will get a chance to head back down and finish that one. Here are some pics.

Nagual V13

One of my best goes

Later, Angela went over and finished off two of her projects, Purple Flowers V9 and the stunning French Tickler, also V9. Props to Abby Smith who I believe was the first female to do that one. Well done!

The last day we spent on North Mountain. Ange. had spent a few days trying Free Willy V10, and she finally managed to get the send, moving off the same small “intermediate” Flann used. It was nice to see Ange. really get after it as she double clutched the last jug on the send.

Free Willy

Free Willy

We hiked up near the Ghetto Simulator to check out an amazing new highball called To Die For V5, which was put up by Jason Kehl. This is easily on of the best of its grade in the Park. I finished up a contrivance in the Martini Cave called The Litz Problem V11, which starts on the V9 Dirty Martini and then heads left into maybe another V9 or V10 sequence and the finish jug of Esperanza. With the day coming to a close, we walked up to Theatre of the Absurd, a low V10 on the Aslyum. I figured out the moves and climbed to the jug as the darkness crept in. The final move was really desperate as I was pumped and tired from the day of climbing. I think I surprised the whole group, and myself, when I latched it with a wild throw. I decided to topout it out, which was terrifying as it seemed every hold might snap under my trembling feet. Soon I was on top and our trip was at an end. Hueco continues to provide some of the best climbing memories and this trip was no exception.
Here are some more images from our trip.

A first class moderate on East Mountain

Justin Alarcon sends Fight or Flight V4, a classic highball on the East Spur

The next day we went out on a tour to the East Spur. I was psyched for anything new and found myself at the base of the amazing Fred Nicole problem Nagual V13. I quickly did all of the hard moves, save one, and was happy with that effort. I rested until the end of the day. I had tried Rumble in the Jungle V11/12 (a Chris Sharma problem in the East Spur) 3 years ago briefly one day was psyched to give it some effort. I figured out some very good beta and and on what was my 5th or 6th try from the start, I snagged the jug and whipped my heel around. I was pumped and tired and fell on the tenuous slab move. I tried again but my foot slipped and I fell low. Steph and Flann both climbed Better Eat Your Wheaties V8 and Flannery climbed A Good Day for Swiss Crisp Mix V10, for a nice one day effort.

Stephanie Marvez

Better Eat Your Wheaties V8

The next day was a rest day at Carlsbad Caverns, 2 hours east of the Park. I highly recommend a visit if you have an extended trip in Hueco.

I felt fresh and psyched the following day and had one of my best days, ever. The legendary Matt Tschol was our guide and fearless leader. We went straight to Rumble in Jungle. After a mess up burn and climbed it right away. I think this is one of the nicest hard roofs in Hueco with all of the pinches and technical climbing.

Rumble in the Jungle

I then went up to the Mr. Serious Boulder and sent The French Tickler V9. I think it’s tragic this only gets 3 stars in the guidebook. It climbs the middle of an enormous, gorgeously streaked wall. A truly stunning problem. The light was poor and unfortunately didn’t get any good pics.

After a short break, I climbed Dead Serious V10, which is as bad as the Tickler is good. Already psyched on my day and with no expectations, we went over to the Purple Flowers roof. I nearly flashed Flower Power, a grogeous V11 that starts on one of the coolest holds in Hueco. I did it on my second try. Problems like these are one of the reasons I enjoy bouldering in Hueco so much. Athletic movement, amazing sculpted holds, and great rock make for perfect problems.

Randy Puro makes a quick send of Flower Power V11

With a little time left in the tour we hiked over to West Mountain and a problem I had tried a few years ago called The Scream. There are three starts, a V10, 11, and 12 and with energy running out I decided to go for the easiest one. A jug leads to a poor slopey pinch, followed by a hard bump again. I was flailing and it seemed like climbing this last one would be unlikely. However, I figured out a key hip movement and thrutched my way to the top.

The Scream V10

It was awesome day with good friends. So glad to be here! Word.

I have been in Hueco for more than a week and I have been having an amazing time. The weather has been a bit warm but very clear and the evenings have been perfect. Although my goals were a bit less focused this time, I was most interested in climbing Shaken not Stirred aka The Right Martini V12, in the Martini Roof. Although this problem is really low, a traverse, and has a horrid chossy topout, the movement, sculpted holds and history (it is one of the standards for the V12 grade) make it one of the most desired ticks in the park. I do the problem in 23 moves plus the topout.

Saturday was our first day and we went to North Mountain. I warmed up by climbing the classic arete Babyface V7. Flannery also made quick work of this wonderful problem. We made our way over to Power of Silence V10, and after falling several times moving to the upper crack, I sunk my fingers in and topped it out. It was a great way to start off the first day.

The second day I worked out the moves to Right Martini and gave it a few goes from the start, falling a couple times fumbling around in the big Hueco.

After a rest day it was back to North Mountain and the Martini Cave. I thought I had a chance to send but after a few sloppy goes, it seemed unlikely. I took a long rest. Somehow I stumbled my way back to the hole, but this time I mananged the hard move out of it. The door opened up and I saw my chance. I became very focused and moved with renewed determination and the chance to tick one off of my lifetime list. I clamped down as hard as I could and found myself teetering up the chossy top.

Shaken not Stirred V12

My bouldering career is now more complete having climbed this classic testpiece. Afterwords, we made our way over to Free Willy. A few years ago I had climbed an easier variation to this problem. Most climbers reach up to a small slot with their left hand and dyno to the lip with their right. The variation reaches the slot with the right hand and moves out left to the lip. It is probably V9 for this method (called Free Will by FAist Ryan Olson), and hard V10 for the original method. Flann had tried this the other day and had done all the moves on the harder version, moving off of a poor intermediate crimp. She made quick work the second day, for what is probably a first female ascent. Well done. I climbed it immediately afterwords.

It was a great to start the trip off in such a good way and Angie arrived on Monday evening.  More to come…

Here is a longer list of problems I am bouncing off the wall to try, with the above at the top of the list!

Indisposed Heroes V12
Rumble in the Jungle V11/12
Full Throttle V13
Whispers of Mortality V10
Ice Scream V12
Two Days with Gene V11
Li V13
Skidmark V11

The day after Christmas I will be headed to Hueco Tanks for two weeks. I am very psyched, and here is a short list of things I would like to try or finish.

Nagual V13 (still have a flash attempt!)
Shaken not Stirred V12
Power of Silence V10
The Feather V11

Until then, here is some video of Angie climbing Mojo, a lower end V10 on East Mountain, from our last trip. Enjoy!

The last week in Hueco has been incredible. After spending most of my time in the South on easier problems, I decided to put effort into something hard. The obvious choice was Slashface, a classic and historic V13 put up by Fred Nicole in the late 90s. A large jug broke off the end last year and has made the problem a bit harder than before. I used almost the exact same sequence Chris Sharma used to make the second ascent in the film Free Hueco. It took me few days to figure out the moves and yesterday I managed to send it. I can’t begin to describe how psyched I am to climb this beautiful boulder. I am ever motivated to have the opportunity to climb such amazing problems. Here are some pictures.

Afterwards we went over and I climbed Full Service, the first V10 in Hueco, and the standard for the grade. Full Service was put up by Dale Goddard and was originally named Serves You Right. It was probably the first time I had climbed two problems in a day off of my lifetime ticklist, and a good reminder of how hard V10 is supposed to be. It was a great day of climbing with good friends, a gorgeous sunset and a perfect sendoff before we head to Europe. I am ready for Switzerland!