Apparently it sounds more gangster to leave the 'g' off the end of "Getting". I can finally say after being here for three weeks that I have had a good day of bouldering. Most of the days I have left the park tired and feeling worked which was my goal for coming to Hueco but last Thursday I actually had a good climbing day. A day when I felt strong and left the park tired but not exhausted.

Monday was a rest day highlighted by a steak burger lunch at a local El Paso steakhouse. Audrey Morrison flew out in the evening after spending two long days walking around Hueco with a broken ankle, pretty amazing actually. On Tuesday we headed back out to the park and again warmed up at Martini Roof where I started trying to link Right Martini from the bottom. Starting at the bottom adds five or six moves to the crux section but those five or six moves are enough to drain your core, making it harder to keep your body weight properly distributed for the remaining moves. I was able to get to the final crux throw but not able to generate much momentum. After killing my fingers trying Right Martini I decided to play on the bottom of Left Martini. I remember watching Sean McColl on Left Martini last year and he had said he thought it was really hard for shorter people. The way tall people do it is to reach really far between good holds but if you're short you have to pull of some really bad holds. Not only that but one of the holds Sean used had broken so I was left to figure out my own beta. After touching every possible feature I found a few decent holds that I thought I would be able to hold onto and amazed myself by actually getting my hands across the crux section. Releasing my feet and moving the rest of my body across was another issue but it was a great workout just to keep trying those moves. After only about an hour in Martini Roof we left and I was already worked for the day. Audrey was playing on Baby Martini and running laps (pretty much without resting) on the roof part, getting to the final boulder problem. It's only a matter of time before her fitness and confidence is back if she keeps pushing it like that. Derek wanted to head up to Governator while he was still fresh so we hiked up there. It was cloudy today and the sloping holds over the lip felt cool. Derek fired Governator first try and ran laps on it for some photos. Audrey then quickly dispatched a boulder problem on the left side of the cave before turning her attention to McBain, a hard V8 she had tried briefly last year. While Audrey was working McBain, Derek and I threw some crash pads under Predator and although I didn't like the crimpy underclings (hard on my wrists) I surprised myself by sticking the crux move quickly. Fortunately I didn't fall after the crux and while I was still coming down the descent Derek was also finishing it up. Two V10s for Derek in a day! Derek and Audrey then set about working McBain and it took Derek longer to do McBain today than both Predator and Governator combined! Audrey was looking strong on it but couldn't quite link the crux move from the bottom. After that we headed up to Flying Marcel, a V10 with a hard traverse into the classic V7 Babyface, to see if Derek could get three V10s in one day. It was a little colder up there and it took me awhile to rewarm up and actually be willing to crimp along that bottom traverse. Derek was getting into Babyface quickly but it took him awhile to sort out the foot beta for the transition. and that took it's toll on him. Actually it took me awhile to figure it out and tell him what to do... I was still exhausted from the morning workout and was pretty happy to get across the traverse and into the first move of Babyface. The Babyface problem alone took me five or six tries to do today. I was done and we called it a day.

Audrey went out climbing on Wednesday while I stayed behind and worked and then on Thursday we reversed roles with Audrey resting/going to physio while I headed out to the park to climb. It was really windy and the drive out and pretty cold so I was worried about the conditions in the park. When I checked in the ranger at the front desk said noone was out on the mountain yet and it was already close to 10:30. I was alone in the parking lot and hiked up to Martini Roof without any gear just to check the conditions. It was calm in the cave so I decided it was worth playing around on some of the problems there. While I was warming up Derek showed up. I guess it had rained in the morning and was really cold so he headed into town but chose to come back out and try to climb. I felt pretty good warming up but it was cold in the cave and my shoes were frozen and didn't want to stick to the greasy footholds. Slowly it did start to warm up and I began playing on Right Martini. I was still trying to work on linking the crux throw from a few moves lower and for the first time stuck the crux throw from literally one hand move and three foot moves lower. Doesn't sounds like much but I was happy. I also linked from the bottom to the crux throw twice. After wearing out skin and energy on Right Martini I decided to try Left Martini again. I tried it from the ground, moved my hands across the crux section but couldn't release my feet in control. I tried the move a few times and it was really, really hard to keep the left foot on while I moved my right. Once my right foot was back on it was easy but releasing that right foot felt incredibly hard. I decided to just try it from the ground and hope that I could do the move. I managed to do the move the next time I tried it from the ground and then I was facing the long roof traverese, Baby Martini. Fortunately my route climbing endurance kicked in and I felt really good on all those moves, including the crux at the end. I was pretty psyched to do that problem. Honestly that move at the start was probably the hardest single move I've ever done, other than the crux on Badman at Smith Rock. Some other guys were there and one of them did Dirty Martini, a short and sharp V9. In the cooler conditions he said the holds didn't feel that sharp so I decided to give it a try. He lied. The holds still felt sharp but the moves felt pretty good and I did this as well.

While we were playing in Martini Roof, Jean-Hugues and Karin from Montreal showed up. We had seen them around the park but I hadn't had a chance to climb with them yet. Last year while we were in Hueco Jean-Hugues impressed me by trying harder than any climber I have ever met. On his final day here last year, his third day on and after working this problem all morning and falling from sheer exhaustion just over the lip he sat on the ground, summed up the energy and fired off Mushroom Roof. It was awesome. Needless to say he had raised the bar pretty high and I was psyched to see what he was going to do today. He wanted to go try Loaded With Power, a V10 with the crux pretty high off the ground. I offered Derek and my crash pads and spotting services so he could try it. It was a little windy out there but Jean-Hugues was psyched. On his first try he got to the last move and when he threw his right hand up he just barely got over the lip but not enough to hold it. The lip is pretty sharp and he tore a big chunk of skin away from his middle finger on his right hand. Not one to be discouraged he quickly cut the flapper off and taped it up. While he was taping up Derek tried Loaded With Power and made it to the last move but wasn't quite sure how to do it and fell from there. Jean-Hugues stepped up and tried it again this time falling with his right hand too far over the lip, tearing more skin away from farther down his hand. Again, a little tape and determination and he was back on the problem. This time he caught the hold at the lip but wasn't sure what to do with his feet. Quickly improvising he threw a right heel above his hand so he was hanging sideways about fifteen feet in the air. Fortunately he was able to get his left hand above the lip and rock his weight up to top out. Yet another very impressive effort and send by Jean-Hugues. I wish I could try that hard. Derek quickly made an improvised knee pad from a sock and tape to bandage his scraped right knee and did the problem as well. At the final move he said he could feel the sock slipping as each thin strip of tape broke but fortunately he committed to the final move and topped out.

After Loaded With Power we headed over to Chablanke, a problem that was supposed to be easier if you were short and was protected from the wind. I had touched the holds last year but had not tried the problem from the bottom. The crux involves hitting a sharp pinch/crimp from a sloping pinch. It finishes up a V5 and I could barely do that last year. I tried the upper problem to warm up and it felt pretty good so I tried the full problem from the ground. I fell going for the crux crimp so I tried just that move and did it. Fell once more from the ground and then did the problem next try! It was pretty cold out so the right hand pinch felt okay but I was surprised but how stable I could hold myself on it. Derek tried Chablanke a few times and it was almost silly how much harder it was for a taller person to get their feet over the lip. Honestly the problem felt V9 to me but I can definitely see how taller people would feel it was much, much harder. After that I went up and played on Sarah, a boulder problem that I did the top of last year but could never link the bottom moves. After all the climbing I had already done today I was amazed to even be able to pull my ass off the ground but after trying it for awhile I still wasn't able to link the moves. I think I have a good sequence for it though. That was pretty much it for me for the day. I can only hope I feel that good on a few other days.

Friday was a rest day for me but Audrey wanted to climb so we drove out to the park and I spent a few hours working from the van before heading out to take some photos. By the time I met up with Audrey she was already pretty tired. She had spent the morning working two hard problems. We hiked around the mountain but she didn't climb anything else.

Yesterday we climbed again and again I warmed up at Martini Roof. I was pretty stiff from Thursday and it took me awhile to warm-up. Audrey played on Baby Martini and figured out a sequence for the end while I tried to redpoint Martini Right and fell three times going for the crux move. I'm sure I'll get it sometime but not this day. After that we headed up to McBain, a hard V8 that Audrey was trying and we spent about an hour up there. She was tired from the day before and from working Baby Martini in the morning but still looked strong on the problem. After that we walked over to Flying Marcel and both Derek and I redpointed it. He did it first try this day but it took me three tries, including one try where I fell from the top of Babyface. It was weird, my foot slipped and I took the big fall but I wasn't scared, which was reassuring. After that it was over to Chablanke for Derek to try it some more and I played on the bottom, Luthor. To finish off the day I went over to Sarah again and managed to link the bottom moves first try. I actually made it up to the slab three times and on my last burn I fell with my left hand in the pocket! Literally half a move from the top! ;) I was so tired I could barely hike off the mountain and was looking forward to a rest day.

Saturday night we went out to a restaurant called Carlos and Mickey's a fun Mexican restaurant where they have 40oz Margaritas! Last year I bought Jean-Hughues one of these drinks after his impressive ascent of Mushroom Roof and this year he bought one for me. Yum... Tasty.

Today we drove Karine and Jean-Hughues to the airport and then spent the day running errands and doing laundry. Oh yeah, I also got a haircut. Can't wait to feel the power of the haircut on the rock next week!

Bouldering is hard. It's hard on your body, hard on your fingers, hard on your skin and hard on your psyche. Well, hard on my psyche anyways. It's been almost two weeks since we arrived in Hueco and I've only managed to climb five days but at least that's three more days than Audrey has managed to get out. She's been pretty sick with a sinus infection, that combined with a quick trip up to Seattle and her continued physical therapy here in El Paso has limited her climbing days.

On Thursday the 10th I drove out to the park around 7am to get in line for the few walk-in spots available every day. Fortunately Derek Galloway from Canmore was in the lineup as well. It took a few hours for us to get in but by 10:30 we were in the park and trying to warm-up. We played around near the Warm-Up Boulder for about an hour before heading up to Power Of Silence, the hardest problem I actually did last year. Derek wanted to try it and I was game to play along. Neither of us did it this day but I stuck the pocket twice which I was pretty happy about. We then moved over to Dean's Journey where a group of people were trying it. Miraculously I managed to do this problem in a matter of tries. It was hard and I did way too many moves, what can I say? I'm a sport climber. That pretty much finished off the day.

The next day I got out was Saturday. Again I got to the gate pretty early but the walk-in spots were full. Derek and I managed to get on a tour around 9am but we weren't able to dictate where it goes. I had only been on one tour before and unfortunately this tour took the exact same path. I tried some problems that were way too hard with me and all in all I got pretty tired. It was pretty cold in the morning and hard to warm up but by the afternoon the temperatures were perfect.

The following two days were spent working and on Tuesday I dropped Audrey off at the airport in the early morning and headed out to Hueco. I was pretty much able to drive right in, managed to meet up with Derek again and we warmed up then headed up to Power Of Silence which Derek ticked off quickly. We then headed up to the New Meadow area where I did some classic easier problems like Speedbump and Shower Cap. I spent quite awhile throwing myself at these and then we went over to try Barefoot On Sacred Ground, a problem that I can't even fathom doing After that we walked down to The Martini Roof and we worked Martini Right for awhile before finishing up the day on Banana Juice and Free Willy. So today I tried three V10s, two V12s and two V11s. Of course I didn't do any of them but hey, at least I tried and I managed to do two new V9s so I was pretty tired by the end of the day :)

Wednesday was another rest/work day and then Thursday morning I had a conference call before heading out climbing. Again Derek and I met up but this time we started at The Martini Cave where we destroyed ourselves working Martini Right. Fortunately I was able to do all the moves this time and actually did the crux move four times in a row. Hopefully I'll be able to start doing some linked moves into the crux and at the very least it's an easy problem to work and get strong on. After leaving Martini Roof we headed over to The Terminator boulder to try a problem called The Governator. I had tried it last year but didn't do it and didn't manage to do it again this day but at least I felt stronger on it. We then finished up the day on Free Willy again and while I was able to hold the crimps I couldn't move. Derek managed to send though!

Friday was another work day and Friday night we picked up a friend (Audrey Morrison) from the airport and drove out to stay in the campground. Saturday morning we walked over to Mushroom Roof to check it out and indeed it was closed. There are various rumours about why it was closed but the general consensus is that it was closed because of erosion caused by climbers and the discovery of archeological artifacts under the boulder. We warmed up in the Picnic Lunch Boulders before trying to get Audrey Morrison up the chains in her "Robo-boot" for her broken ankle. It was pretty impressive how well the rubber on the boot worked and she even made it up the scramble to Babyface! Audrey Sniezek (my Audrey) was finally climbing for the first time in almost a month and was taking this day as a stretch-out day. She ran some laps on Nobody Gets Out Of Here Alive before heading over and burning herself out on Daily Dick Dose, both routes she had done previously but that are fun to work. While she was playing on Daily Dick Dose I managed to flash Pumped Full Of Semen and then flailed on Rogered In The Shower (lovely route names aren't they). That pretty much finished off our day and we headed back to camp for some dinner and a bottle of wine with a few of our friends from Quebec.

The next day, after a thrilling game of Scrabble that I lost miserably, we started out at Martini Roof again but I wasn't feeling nearly as strong as a few days before. I managed to do all the moves again but decided to concentrate on linking many of the easier moves rather than killing myself on the crux move. We then headed up to The Terminator boulder to try The Governator again and once more Audrey Morrison managed to scramble up some moderate terrain with her broken ankle. It was a little warmer than the previous days but after a few attempts where I was falling at the last move I managed to link all the moves and get it out of the way. While we were up there Audrey Sniezek continued to try and just do lots of climbing to get some fitness back and did a long V2 traverse as well as link all the hard moves on another problem that was called "The hardest V4 in Hueco", after Bloody Flapper in my opinion. We finished off the day by trying Barefoot On Sacred Ground and I donated a bit more skin to Free Willy.

All in all we haven't been climbing a whole lot but at least we've been getting out. In fact I think I can only boulder three maybe four days per week. Three days of hard bouldering takes its toll on my body and I think I'll limit it to that.

I'm starting to slack a lot on these blog updates. We've been climbing quite a bit but nothing major and I've been working quite a bit. In all we managed a few more days of climbing up at the Virgin River Gorge (VRG) in Arizona and a few more days out at Red Rocks but the highlights have been some nights of bowling and playing poker.

Our first trip up to the VRG was cold to say the least. On the Saturday it was so cold I couldn't even warm up. After climbing three pitches I still felt cold while belaying and I decided to call it after that, not a very long climbing day. On Sunday it was a little warmer and I managed to redpoint a route called Don't Call Me Dude that I tried last year but wasn't able to link through the bottom. After that I tried Captain Fantastic and I'll be honest, I was psyched to make it through the bottom section on my onsight. I fell at a big move on the upper section and then it took me awhile to even work the moves to the top. On my second attempt I fell lower than my onsight, never a good sign and we called it a day.

The following day was New Year's Eve and although I was planning on resting it was so nice and sunny out I had to go for a few pitches, that and I had my last chance to go climbing with Calgary's newest celebrity climbing, James Barrand. Once again we started at The Gallery but managed to get Audrey over to Fear And Loathing, a classic 5.12a that usually has a big line on it. Audrey flashed it with style while James and I watched from a precarious and cozy perch. In the afternoon we drove over to the third pullout for Kenny to try Monster Skank. It was pretty cold in that corridor but I went for the amnesia onsight of Sun Splash, a route that I got on once eleven years ago. I remembered it was hard, really hard but I couldn't remember where or why. Somehow I made it through the bottom, through the pockets and then was staring at a big move off underclings, my nemesis. Feeling like I couldn't hang out and sort out any options I double hand dyno for two holds but came up short. Would've been cool if I'd stuck it though. Kenny ticked of Monster Skank and I managed to do Sun Splash next try.

After climbing it was time for some new years celebrations. Our original plan was to head downtown and spend New Year's on the strip but all the smoking in the casinos lately and the promise of shear mayhem was discouraging for some. Instead we headed over to James' hotel to figure out what to do. Kenny and Julie were headed to a friends house for pizza and a party but I felt uncomfortable going where I didn't know anyone. Instead James, Andrea, Eva, Audrey and I headed to the Red Rock Casino for a buffet and some bowling. The buffet was awesome and fortunately there was no smoking in there but even walking through the casino to get to the buffet was smoky. We signed up for two games of bowling and after the first one we barely made it outside in time to watch the fireworks from the rooftop. A bottle of champagne from the trunk of the car, a round of toasts and we headed back in to finish off our night of bowling. For the first time ever I actually beat Audrey at bowling (just one game)!

The following day was a rest day for me and I spent most of the day working. I rested Wednesday as well and on Thursday Audrey, Kenny and I headed back up to the VRG. It was really windy and Audrey decided to hangout in Mesquite for the day. Fellow Canadian Scott Milton was up there working on, and looking strong on, Necessary Evil, one of North America's hardest routes. I made the mistake of getting on Dude, a route with a viscious boulder problem at the bottom that included a mono I couldn't quite get my finger in. I spent two burns on it and was never able to link the crux moves before turning my attention to Fall Of Man, a long classic 5.13 that I had tried last year. I had tried it earlier today as part of my warm-up but didn't go to the top. I 'thought' I had gone far enough to see the top and get a sense of the climbing but I was wrong. On my redpoint I got to what I thought was the last draw only to see chalk leading up and over the bulge up onto the slab. It was another 20 feet or so of slab to the anchors. With wind blowing hard around me, numb feet and cold hands that was some scary 20 feet but fortunately I made it. The forecast called for rain on Friday so Audrey and I went into the gym at the Oasis hotel to get more of a workout. Kenny and I finished up the evening playing poker at the Eureka casino. It didn't rain Friday and after the workout the day before I was pretty sore. I tried Dude a couple more times again, managed to link the bottom boulder problem but couldn't finish the route. Kenny looked strong on Don't Call Me Dude and almost linked the whole thing, falling at a last hard move before a big rest.

Audrey and I were planning on heading to Hueco on Saturday but a storm was pounding down around us. Electing to stay an extra day Audrey did some climbing in the local gym while I did a bit of training in Bill Ramsey's garage. We finally managed to leave Las Vegas on Sunday but not before cashing in some chips I had in my pocket for the Four Queens Casino and coming out $40 ahead in Blackjack. The drive was pretty uneventful except for Audrey ordering a $6 burger at Carl Jr's. I mean really... who orders a $6 burger at a fast food restaurant? Gotta admit... it was pretty good.

Monday was spent in town where Audrey had an appointment with her chiropractor/physiotherapist. Tuesday morning I had a call with work then headed out to Hueco to make some reservations and watch the orientation video again. Today was more work but hopefully tomorrow we can get into the park.