matt segal

I know this was a while ago, but here are some photos from ABS Nationals taken by Tara Gee

Me on problem 2… I was pretty psyched to make finals!

Alex Puccio

Daniel Woods

Ethan Pringle

Emily Herrington

Lisa Rands

I know… Its been a while… SORRY! Not sure where to begin, a lot has gone down… I had a fun week in Hueco after the epic in Albuquerque. It was nice to finally be back in the desert with no worries, but time flew by and before I knew it we were back in Boulder, competing at ABS Nationals… The first competition I’ve climbed in since 2005.

The Van that could… Hueco Rock Ranch

Alex Honnold under the Speed Bump.

Honnold: enough said

Boulder Mom’s Gone Wild!

Tower and I

Vanessa… Only climbing photo of the trip… I swear I climbed in Hueco… I just don’t look as good in photos…

All photos from Andrew Tower at pimpin and crimpin

I’ve had a lot of down time over the last few weeks and have been reflecting on 2008. Over all it was a good year but one thing I realized is I took and witnessed some of the biggest whippers of my life. So here’s the quick list:

1. Hitting the ground on Kalusa Kline, Peak District UK

2. Whipping on “the flake” on Parthian Shot, Peak District UK

3.Flying off Musta Been High, Elodorado Canyon CO

4. Flipping upside down on Climb of the Century (the warm up) Eldorado Canyon CO

5. Falling on a fixed knot (yes, a piece of rope wedged in the crack) Elbsenstien Germany

6. Bruising both heels on Steady as She Goes, Vedawoo WY
Falls I witnessed…
1. Kevin J taking the whip on Gaia (yes the one from Hard Grit) Peak District UK

2. Ethan P taking the 35+ fall on the Cobra Crack 7 times Squamish BC
3. Will S following my trend and taking the same fall on Musta Been High, Eldorado CO

After days of bad weather and lurking in Boulder we finally made it back to the Rincon Wall… I opted out of climbing and went into full on support mode. I was psyched for Will to send. After his first TR burn I was hoping he was going to walk away and accept defeat because he looked far from solid. But some how he managed to pull it together and TR it clean on his third try. At this point I knew he was going to sack up and lead it, but there was still a nervousness in the air since he was feeling pretty fatigued. He contemplated delaying his ticket to Patagonia so he could have another day on it and even asked for my phone to call…

Before he had the chance to call I noticed “the eye of the lyger” in him and he said “Fuck it, I’m going for it.” The next thing I knew I was holding my breath while he was sketching through the crux… luckily he stuck the crux and placed the bomber nut! I was so psyched for him, he got through the hard part and I didn’t think he would fall at the end like I did since its not that hard. BUT, I was wrong, he took the massive whip, falling the length of the route…

He was super bummed… The route meant a lot to him, like it did for me. For us Musta Been High is a “Bro Route.”  It was established by one of my climbing mentors Eric DeCaria and one of Will’s, Sonnie Trotter, got the second ascent. The routes since been repeated by many climbers most of whom chose to strap on a sticky rubber knee pad to make the route feel more solid a tactic Eric, Sonnie and I chose to disregard, feeling it was a traditional climb and wanted to climb it in the purest style. Style means a lot to Will and he felt so close to the send!

After 45 minutes of debating on changing his ticket or trying it again he decided to go for it. He crushed it! So sick! I think it was the 9th ascent but more importantly it was the 4th knee-pad free ascent.

Will holding the customized nut that Eric used on the FA.

So after a sick day at the Rincon Will and I parted ways, he’s off to Patagonia and I’m trying to get to Hueco Tanks. Key word there is trying since I’m now stuck in Albuquerque New Mexico. So bummed! The van broke down outside of Las Vegas NM on Saturday night and we got towed to Albuquerque and have been a shit show ever since.

Luckily there is a little climbing community in Albuquerque and I called an old friend, Lance, who fully hooked us up with maybe the coolest bivy ever: a climbing gym! Was a super cool wall and we all decided to have a session since we weren’t making it to Hueco. Thanks a bunch to Lance and the people at Stone Age…

Its been two days and the mechanics keep saying its going to take longer and longer… But there is light at the end of the tunnel since we STILL are on our way to one of the best bouldering areas in the world!

Bummin in the van waiting

The sad moment…

Ander breaking it down trying to keep spirits high

Robert waiting it out…

Feeling like the world is caving in on me.

Dealing with the set back of over $1,000

So bored!

The endless walking begins

Tower keeping is head up…

PHOTOS from Andrew Tower, check him out at pimpin and crimpin for more tales from this epic road trip.