Sin City « Alpine Style!

Friday, November 30, 2007

Sin City

After all the flack I took for my rant about the Russians limp ascent of K2, I have been pretty quite for a while. I guess if you have nothing nice to say, then it is better to say nothing at all. Actually, I had plenty of nice things to say, but have been out of communication. BTW, how about those Kazakhs on K2? That was a truly worthy effort.
Recently, I have been trying to get my pathetic and puny fingers back into shape. Expeditions are good for one thing and that is destroying your hard won gains in climbing strength. It is always a hard pill to swallow when you return home and end up making projects out of your old warm up climbs. Another thing that I am starting to realize is that it NEVER hurts to be too strong even when alpine climbing at high altitude. So, I’ve dedicated myself to becoming a rock climber once again even if it means feeling worthless and weak, clipping bolts, using a clip stick and listening to beta being continuously sprayed by some Jack Johnson wannabe at the crag. I’ve even come to peace with the idea of joining the Croc wearing sheeple at Indian Creek. I’ve drawn the line at hacky sack and slack lining, though. Plus, it has been an unusually warm autumn (as a climber, I refrain from referring to the season as “Fall”) here in Southwestern Colorado and there sure as hell hasn’t been any ice climbing going yet.

So, after working on “re-redpointing” some climbs here in Ouray, I decided to get back to my roots and go for some rock climbing road trip action. I decided to go back to Vegas for the first time in almost ten years. I grabbed my shoes, harnesses, chalk bags, QD's, a light rack, a few changes of city clothes, my girlfriend, Cindy and off we went!

The weather was perfect and the climbing good. The Gallery, Sweet Pain Wall, The Pier, The Bras Wall, Straight Shooter Wall: we got our asses handed to us on a plate at the crags, which is just what I wanted. All cragging. No long routes. I’ll save the real climbing for later. I just wanted to get spanked. There is a new guide book to Red Rocks out by Jerry Handren, which is a vast improvement on the older ones. It is very well done.

Another fine reason to just go cragging is to allow your self some time in the evening to sample some of the nightlife. Vegas is great also for the plethora of alternative diversions one can fine when not climbing. It is about as much fun watching all the freaky, main stream American tourists meandering the streets at night as seeing one of the shows yourself. Actually, watching the people is a show in and of itself, but that is another story.
Pain, struggle, fantasy, thrashing, pleasure, more pain and rest. These themes sum up our recent Vegas experience: sport climbing, punishment, erotic performances, heavy metal concert, fine dining, whipping onto small wires, waxing, sweating, S & M shops, burning, sleeping, bewilderment and more climbing.

I do feel like I can climb again, but now it is getting cold and I may have to start ice climbing soon. Another thought comes to mind: rock climbing is far better for your ice climbing than vice-versa. Ice climbing helps your head but not your fingers. Those grips on the tools are just too big.