Monster Rock

With names like “Invisible Slayer of the Mad Arab Abdul Alhazrad” and “Nyarlathotep Arises from the Blackness of 27 Centuries” you can easily gather that the route developer and landowner, John Hogge, is a sci-fi and horror fan. The story behind “Invisible Slayer,” as I call it, is that once one reads this book (or climbs this route in this case) you become possessed with evil demons. After climbing it I didn’t feel possessed with demons, but I did feel possessed to keep coming back and climbing it.


“Invisible Slayer” in my opinion is now one of the best 5.11 routes in the Austin area. Around the corner in “The Pit” there are several other routes that would likely top the charts as well. Actually, there are many other, even harder, routes that have yet to be sent, leaving opportunities for a few first ascents (FA).

The area is small and has limited parking, but is an amazing climbing spot with routes that are sure to become Austin classics. When you walk in you are not horrified by a long approach. It’s actually only about 20 yards. You then make your way down a series of steps and ladders (sorry no dogs allowed). At the bottom you find a small canyon reminiscent of the Black Corridor at Red Rocks. The Pit hosts about 10 + routes on either side ranging from 5.8 – 5.12.

On the other side, facing the river, there is a monster traverse with several exit options and a witches stew (ok, that was bad) of routes ranging from 5.7 to 5.13. And yes, I mentioned river. The area is about 20 yards from the Pedernales River, making this a good spot to hit in the summer. Not only for the swimming, but because the temperatures in the canyon appear to be about five degrees cooler.

What? You only boulder? Don’t worry, there are over 20 boulder problems and likely more development to be had. So, if you want to check it out, visit John’s website and set up a visit. It’s private land so you have to check in with him first.

Web site description:
“Monster Rock (MR) is a private rock climbing area near Austin, Texas, currently hosting day-pass climbing for $5 on scheduled weekends announced on Austin Climbers, Climbing Buddies, and Erock Online forums. The day pass also lets you compete for prizes in a laid-back ongoing climbing contest. Soon, access will be available via affordable annual memberships.”

Link:
http://monsterrock.info/

Sharma on NPR

"Climbing is [an] evolution. Where the standards today are the combination of the efforts of all of us who are climbing right now and all the people before us … standing on each others' shoulders," Sharma is quoted saying in the NPR article (link below).

The article introduces Sharma's new film King Lines and does a good job of introducing readers to the sport via Sharma's words.

Check the article out for more...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15825820

Onsight contest at Monster Rock in Austin

From John Hogge

Please register now for Monster Rock’s Onsight Contest. Simply email me (hogge@pobox.com) with:

1. your return email address

2. phone in case you change emails

3. your highest redpoint in the last 12 months. (I’ll confirm this with witnesses when determining the winners.)

The property is small, so I’ll schedule manageable sized groups (16-20) on weekend days 11am-sundown, until everyone’s done. We can exchange emails to coordinate a day when you can come. The cost is $10 on that day.

If you aren’t interested in competing, register anyway to climb recreationally on your scheduled day. This is a cheap way to preview MR to help determine whether a membership will be worth your money.

Forms and Information on the contest are at http://www.freewebs.com/johnhogge/onsightcontest.htm (but the rules are subject to change prior to the comp).

Information on Monster Rock is at www.monsterrock.info

This is a simple, mellow, two-bit back-woods Podunk one-horse-town comp run by 1-2 people to provide an interesting game for previewing MR. It will look pretty simple compared to those big city-slicker productions Limestoner and Gripper; no freebies such as t-shirts, Cliffbars, or discount coupons. No slide show at the end of the day. No bling besides the rock and some intense fun.

$8 to climb?

I recently moved back to my hometown crag from a near three year “sabbatical.” During that time I was lucky enough to climb on some of the best rock from the Gunks in New York to Bishop in California. For the last year and a half of that time I have been blessed with SoCal weather and access to tons of great rock and route diversity.

I definitely feel like the different styles I climbed and different rock types, ethics, partners, etc. all helped me improve. However, the move from Cali to Texas definitely didn’t help my endurance. I don’t think I have climbed more than a handful of times in the past three months. I don’t even want to talk about my diet.

Regardless, being back at my hometown crag, where I started climbing, has been great. Not only because I have great local climbing partners and tons of limestone to crawl, but because I get to come back to the rock that I have plateau-ed on so many times with a new skill set and a new, diversified background.

The only bad thing is I think the NY and CA prices followed me back. My once $3 entry fee at the local crag is now a whopping $8. But, it was still worth it.

Rest?

A few weeks back I went to Vegas to visit some friends, Jarrett and Crista, and climb some of the area crags. Our first stop was the Roost out at Mt. Charleston.

The area is named after the tourist attraction, Robber’s Roost, which often results in climbing becoming more of a spectator sport. The Roost is one of Vegas’ local summer crags with climbers visiting weekly. The drive is comparatively short as is the approach and many of the routes even have fixed draws to speed up the process, at least when hikers or other climbers haven’t snagged them.

I found a great route, Highway Man, which I thought I might try to flash. This did not happen. I actually didn’t even send it. Best I could guess, I rested too much. The route was long. The crux was at the top. Actually, the top 20 feet out of about 80.

My theory at the time was that I would climb up right below the crux and rest on these two decent crimps. I would shake out for a minute or two, then head half way through the crux before trying to rest again on crimps about half as good for another minute or so trying to get my heart rate and pump down. I hadn’t been climbing much lately and felt my endurance would crumble in the long crux.

This turned out to be my biggest mistake on this route. Although my pump went down slightly and my heart rate leveled out, I still had to finish out about 10 feet of strenuous crimpy climbing. Resting on crimps was not the answer. If the remainder of the route had been steep jugs, resting would have been a good idea, but it wasn’t.

The best thing for me to have done would have been to just bite down and go for it from the bottom up. At the least I should have left that last rest out. I almost always try to get a good shake out before a crux, but that apparently isn’t always the answer. You have to find a balance of resting for endurance yet not resting too much and ruining your power, especially on crimps. Although I didn’t send the route, I definitely walked away with some knowledge.

Review: Black Diamond Momentum Harness

I recently bought the newest version of BD’s Momentum harness. The new harness has several upgrades and technical improvements that made it worth the buy. What I am most excited about is that they added an elastic Velcro band to prevent you from having to do yoga moves to keep your harness on your waste while strapping in. The material is also finer making it much more comfortable and allows it to glide through the buckles with more ease.

Overall the weight of the harness seems significantly less as well. The fabric seems to be much less rigid and the foam more comfortable. My biggest complaint about their previous version was that the plastic “stays” on the waste belt portion that hold the gear loops into place would dig into your waste if you were hang dogging or if you were belaying someone who was hang dogging. That was one of the most annoying things I had ever experienced about a harness. Luckily, this is not the case with the new version.

Although the new version is much more comfortable than the previous, my first day out I took two really big whippers and had bruises on my waste I had never experienced before that lasted about four days. I am not sure of the harness constricts more or if I am just gaining weight.

Black Diamonds description of the Momentum harness:

“The Momentum is functional across all disciplines. The waistbelt and leg loops are padded with seven millimeter closed-cell foam for comfort and lined with BD-Lux for breathability. The anatomically contoured, bullhorn-shaped waistbelt and Y-style leg loops allow unrestricted movement yet still provide support. An excellent, affordable all-around harness, it is equipped with four molded gear loops and a full-strength haul loop, so it’ll hold enough draws for a bolted endurance fest or enough pro for a gear-eating crack.”

I agree with everything except the last statement. That is actually my only complaint with this harness is that the gear loops are super small and really only hold about 5-6 draws each – not ideal for trad climbing or long multi-pitch routes requiring a lot of gear. Also, the main loops connected by the belay loop is smaller and a little harder to work with. It’s not restrictive, but will take a little getting used to.

Overall I would give it a 9 out of 10. Here’s the breakdown:

Waste belt: 10
Leg belts: 10
Belay loop and connected harness straps: 8
Gear loops: 7
Comfort: 10
Weight: 10
Ease of use: 10

Price: Low at $43

Link:

http://www.bdel.com/gear/momentum.php

Rest days in La Bufadora

The area referred to as La Bufadora means blowhole in Spanish and is essentially a marine geyser that spouts every time a wave blasts through an area of underwater caves sending a spray of ocean water and a thunderous roar. According to WikiPedia, “folklore describes a baby whale entering the underwater cave over a century ago and becoming stuck. The spout of water is from the whale’s blowhole.”

La Bufadora is located on the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja, Mexico. The peninsula is just south of Ensenada, Mexico, which is about an hours drive south of the border. Most American tourists don’t make it much further than Ensenada or Rosarito, making La Bufadora a bit of a retreat from the shot bars and pollution.

Jen and I headed from LA down to Ensenada, where we picked up fellow Austinites, Sean and Kristen, and cruised down to La Bufadora to Casa de Candaele(link below). The Casa was this solar-run, U-shaped house that rested on a mountain top overlooking the ocean. It was on several acres and had very few neighbors. We ultimately had the area to ourselves, which included crazy tide pools, lagoons, cliff-bands towering over the ocean, little private beaches and a Bocci court (of course we used it).

The crags were deceiving. They looked like perfect climbing spots, but would crumble in your hands as you applied any sort of pressure. The tide pools were amazing though. They were like little underwater gardens spread all along the beaches. Each pool had its own diverse set of sea life.

Although we only saw a few, in the distance we always heard the constant “barking” of sea lions off in the distance. It sounded like there must have been a beach full of them, but we never ventured far enough to find them. We did go fishing one of the days and caught a fish that I have yet to identify. Stay tuned for that.

The Sunsets were madness. Each night the sky would explode with color over the ocean and the mountains behind us with all the succulent plants would contrast against the brilliant colors. Some of the best sunsets I have ever witnessed.


On the way back, Jen and I stopped by Porto Nuevo to sample their famous lobster and margaritas. If it wasn’t for the heat we may not have ever left.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Bufadora
www.casadecandaele.com