Desert Warm Up Weekend

Well Technically, last weekend was my first climbing weekend in the desert. But it wasn't really a good warm up, for a few reasons.

In the planning stages, it sounded like a solid weekend - climb Fine Jade and Kor Ingalls on Saturday, and then head down to Indian Creek for a day of cragging on Sunday. In reality, we saw a band in town Friday night, got a late Colorado start on Saturday, and finally got to the top of the first route of the day by 4:00 PM or so. Then we learned that Zac carried a case of PBR up the considerable approach. So we bailed on the second route, and instead set our minds to killing the case before we got back down to the cars. And we sent the hell out of that little challenge.

Needless to say, Sunday didn't turn into a sendfest, unless you count breakfast at the Chinese Buffet in Moab.

So I wrote that weekend off, and considered this one the first real trip of the season. And it was great - perfect weather, good friends, and a few sends here and there.

I still feel like I'm warming up for the season, which is alright, but I'll have to get over that soon. Climbing above gear felt scary, and I definitely wasn't pushing it hard enough to whip. Getting back outside is a humbling experience.

It's making me remember that there's more to climbing than being strong in the gym. Realizing the the ground I have to cover, mentally, makes me want to work twice as hard with my training.

A few quiet dirtbags were hanging around the creek, as usual, ticking routes and taking falls with no drama. No egos, no spray, (no blogging), just climbing. The picture above is one of them, Mike from Orem, warming up on Anunaki - a super steep 12- of hands and fingers.

Climbing with people like that, in a place like Indian Creek, is pretty inspiring. I couldn't be more stoked for the season.