#5.12a

In an unexpected turn of events I found myself in New Jack City for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I had planned to be in Red Rock Canyon but alas this was not meant to be... it seems that most events I plan are doomed to the same fate of an inconveniently timed and unattended affair. Nonetheless It had been a while since I returned to this barren waste land littered with intrusions of highly featured Basalt rock (commonly referred to as New Jack City but also called Sawtooth canyon.) 

The conditions at New Jack were perfect and spirits were high as I arrived with good friends Bryan, Julien and Marianne. As I alluded to earlier I had climbed at this location before and loosely had my mind set on hoping on two routes: Crossfire (5.12a) and Freakshow (5.12a). I had never been on either route before and wanted to use them as a measure of my progression in skill.

We hit a couple warmups and then it was time to tackle Crossfire. My first try on the route was quite horrible - Bryan told me he was going to hang up the quick-draws for me earlier but some how convinced me to step it up and do it myself.  Needless to say this added a certain air of anxiety, which I thought I had matured out of as a climber...

The opening moves on Crossfire are very tenuous/ balancey as you clip the first bolt then head up a slopey rail on slippery feet and gently hit the second bolt. This leads you into a pumpy section with large pockets and over hung features. From here you hit a massive in-cut depression where you can cop a knee-bar and rest (I had a hard time finding the right position for this and had to sit on the rope.) Exiting the rest is somewhat of a thrill and can be a heart-breaker as you are lead into a section of thin climbing on small foot holds and crimps. Next you have to negotiate a fun mantle and then sprint to the chains on some fun moves of moderate difficulty. As I mentioned, the first attempt was pretty awful with me saying "Take" at pretty much every other bolt - I was frustrated at my seeming lack of progression and thought I would have to work this route to get the send. How pleasantly wrong I was...

My friend Marianne ran the route next and flashed the thing effortlessly - watching her climb was the key to my unsuspecting victory. Marianne never looks or looked stressed on a route, even though she most likely is, and that's because she has phenomenal technique and foot work. She never makes a move unless her feet have the majority of her weight on them and yes, of course she has quite the grip. I simply tried to climb with her movements in mind and giddily found myself clipping the chains on my second try! Lesson learned (or relearned): foot-work and milk the rests!

Next up was Freakshow (5.12a). Riding high on the confidence of my recent efforts I charged this next obstacle head on... The results were once again surprising and I found myself clipping the chains on my first try after a long fight. Unfortunately though, as much as I would like to take the credit for flashing a 5.12a, that day will have to wait. Because while I didn't fall, it became clear to me that I had climbed off-route when I saw my friends try the route - their path took a more logical line, worthy of the 5.12 grade (and incidentally robbed me of my ego boost :P.)

Last weekend I made a day trip to Joshua Tree National park (for the first time in over a year) in search of rumored sport routes and "a palm sweating good time." Joshua Tree is an insanely beautiful and unique location with a geology and vegetation unlike anywhere I've seen before. In terms of climbing, this place is steeped in history with many of the routes established in an era where grand and seemingly reckless feats of bravery on the rock was the name of the game. Each route established being increasingly more run-out or daring than then next with tenuous and complex movement on the smallest of holds.

The location itself lends very well to this tough mental approach to climbing and conquest of the seemingly impossible. Joshua Tree is blessed with many crack formations due to the nature of the type of erosion that goes on here which, in turn, draws traditional climbers and boulderers from all over the globe (with scary run-outs and highball top outs a-plenty.) Alas, as a climber I belong to neither of these two categories nor am I motivated by the attributes they entail. So when my friend told me about some rumored sport climbing in the park (that wasn't bolted in a shitty/arse puckering way) I was quite excited and anxiously awaited my return to this awesome place!

Speaking of 12a at the Red....