Red Rocks and Bishop

My horizons have been expanded yet again.  My trip to Red Rocks and Bishop this last week was total bliss.  Aside from the fact that we were there for a week of near record highs, I can say that the trip was perfect.  Oh, did I mention my wacky travel plans?  I don’t know how it always happens like this but I was doomed for another early bird departure.  Why do they even make 6:30am flights?  We, as in all 15 students and chaperones, had to wake up at 4:30am to get to the airport by 5:30.  ???  That is soooo early!!!  Then fly to LA for a 4 hour lay over.  Sheesh.  Live and learn. 

Anyway, we flew into Vegas for a two-day stay to climb at Red Rocks.  I have to say that this place climbs very similarly to some areas in the south.  The fine grain texture felt familiar but seemed to produce more edges and crimpers than the home crags….not my strength.  After an initial warm up and refusal to death crimp in acknowledgment of the week to come, we went to find some more friendly climbs of the area, and these were the JAM!  My favorite problems from Red Rocks were the Slopey Traverse, Bubble Butt, and Caliman.  No pics of Bubble, but the slopey traverse and Caliman are shown below. 

Arriving in Bishop felt like I had just plopped down on the couch of the Sierra kings.  I was in their house now and would worship the creations of rocks for the next week straight.  I hadn't been bouldering much leading up to the trip so I had no expectations or any sort of tick-list, which was nice.  Walking around choosing the most appealing lines made our climbing days way more fun and productive.  Sure, we all acquired projects after the first few days, but we were all psyched to be there and try everything.  I have to say that being in such a vast expanse of open terrain is totally new to me and bouldering between 12,000ft peaks was a trip that I never got sick of. 

I will spare you all of a day-by-day run down by saying that between the Happys and the Buttermilks we spent 5 days bouldering and never stressed which we were going to.  The climbing here is so good.  From what I saw, this area remains in tact and has not seen much degradation of the climbs from traffic (Hueco, HP40…).  That is the one thing I don’t like to see when I visit a destination.  You know?  I want the same experience as the first few had.  The environment was fresh and pristine.  Props to the locals and the people who do there part to keep it clean.  I will be back…..for sure!

Favorite problems from Bishop:

-Fly Boy sit

-High plains drifter

-Seven Spanish Angles

-Every Color You Are

-Sucker Punch

-Solarium

-and so many more that were left undone (Toxic Avenger and Disco Diva especially). If only I could go back and prioritize…

Big thanks to Mike Bacon, Chattanooga strong man and CCS teacher, who put the trip together and led the way and Chandler for picking up the camera when I couldn't.  

EORA

The winter trade show season has come and gone.  Unfortunately, I didn't get out to SLC for the OR show, but I did attend the EORA show in Greenville, SC.  Between Kurt Smith and myself we rallied to assemble a beautiful display of the best climbing gear on the market in just under 8 hours (two sessions of course).  The focus of the whole week was work, whether it be meeting with retailers or brainstorming on our own strategy for the spring/summer season.

The highlights for our booth, which is always the best, were the new products from Metolius, Evolv, Sterling, Entre' Prises, and Salewa.  Metolius has a brilliant new pad design that will change the way we direct falling climbers to the pads below.  Behold....The Shield!!!

Evolv has come out with a solid selection of approach and casual footwear.  These are the best looking and fitting shoes from Evolv yet.  The first is The Bolt, a rugged approach shoe with super sticky Trax rubber for rock scrambling.   And if you haven't seen them yet, The Cruzer, a simple canvas shoe for any approach or decent or your casual go anywhere do anything shoe, available in four colors with more to come.  Behold....

New from Sterling is one more hot color added to the Fusion Ion2 line up.  Sterling has also added 10mm and 19mm dyneema dog bones in various lengths for your sport climbing needs, which I failed to get pictures of but can be seen at bottom right of the second picture below.  Also, you will start to see Sterling Rope's new packaging this Summer.  Finally, the best ropes on the planet will have the best labels and wrapping as well.  Be.....yeah you get it.....

Salewa has taken the technical footwear market by storm.  With an ever impressive selection of light weight, rugged, and functional stylings the Salewa line is far superior to the rest.  Here is a peak at the Salewa fall colors, as well as the new Snow Trainer.  The Snow Trainer is an insulated gore-tex boot with a proprietary vibram ice-friction sole (groundbreaking!).  Like I said, very impressive.....

Last but certainly not least, Entre Prises has basically doubled it's catalog of handholds.  Unfortunately, we did not have any samples of the new shapes. So please check out the website and browse the new selection here: epusa.com

Well, there you have it folks, the hottest new products on the market.  Keep your eyes peeled at your local retailer for your chance to get up with the Jones'.

Oh yeah, I leave for Red Rocks and Bishop on Friday!

Holler at me!

Cheddar.