It has been a crazy 4 weeks but I am now back to where I began, sitting in my bed back in boulder, co. I began my winter trip to Arkansas where I repeated a bunch of the classic hard lines that the areas had to offer. Then it was off to Las Vegas to see the infinite potential of the area. I made it to Vegas and my first day of climbing was in the kraft boulders with some perfect overcast skies. I felt very fatigued after having driven 1400 miles in the past 2 days but I was psyched to be in a new area!

 

 

The first day was not a complete success climbing wise, however, Alex and I explored the area and the psyche was high for the rest of the trip. The next couple of days I managed to complete a few of the lines that my friend Pete Lowe had established in the weeks/months prior to my visit to Vegas. The lines including, “Pit and the Pendulum” V13, “Book of Nightmares” V12, and “Lethal Design” V12 were amazing and it was great to get the second ascent of all of them! But now it was time to search out and find my own lines to do. Pete pointed me in the right direction of quite a few and it was now up to me to complete them.

 

 

The first one that caught my attention was a right exit to an already existing v10 called “Vigilante.” I first climbed “Vigilante” and started chalking the holds that would soon make up the right exit which I named “The Grand Hustle” and graded V13. The line begins with a few crimpy movements on “Vigilante” and then continues to break right to make a hard six move sequence for the finish of the climb. The final crux sequence is very reminiscent of the crux moves of “terre de sienne” in hueco tanks, just a slightly easier version! 

 

 

The next project that I came across was this amazing tiger striped wall that my friend Pete told me all about. The line is gorgeous, one of the best I have ever seen before! I tried it one day, making a few good links and getting close to a few of the crux sequences. The next day I came back with a rope and figured out the entire top sequence. The next day I tried the line, I finished it up from a stand start and was psyched to have opened a line on such an amazing boulder. Since it was my last day in Vegas, I was not able to finish the low start however I am extremely psyched to make a return and hopefully finish the full line! I truly think that the full line will end up being one of the hardest in the country and it would be amazing to get the FA of it in the next couple of months if I can squeeze in a return visit!

 

 

I am now back in Boulder and begin school tomorrow for my last semester before I head off to South Africa and Europe!