Hueco Christmas and a Hueco New Year

I am a horrible, selfish person.  Instead of flying home to Seattle to see my family for Christmas, I chose to go climbing in Hueco.

Einar on Brittany in a Blender V9.

OK, I am not a horrible person, but something must be wrong with me.  I would rather drive 12 hours in my shitty car, than fly 3 hours on a shitty plane.  I would rather pay to live in a slightly ghetto RV, than sleep in a nice house for free.  I would rather hang out with filthy strangers and friends under a cold rock, than be cozy and warm with my family in the living room.

Jon Linhart on The Bathtub V9.

I felt guilty about skipping out on my folks, but it's hard to hear your conscious when you are in such a sacred, and beautiful place.  Hueco vibrates with history and culture.  It's easy to imagine ancient people living among the boulders that we recreate on.  A perfect oasis from a harsh desert.  A perfect oasis from modern life. 




Life quickly get stripped down to the basics.  Eat, sleep, climb, repeat.  

Our beloved camper.

Besides my first trip to Hueco in 1998(wow, that makes me sound old), before all the rules, this was by far my most unrestricted experience in recent years.  Mainly because I went with my friend and commercial guide, Rob Guinn.  Thanks Rob!!!

Rob.

Many adventures were had.  Lots of problems were done.  Skin was shredded.  Holds were fondled.  Limits were pushed.  Muscles got sore.  Unfinished business was left.

Ida.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end.  So back to real life, the obscure tour, and choss mongering.  Until next time Hueco!

Goals for 2013

Last January, as an experiment, I posted my climbing goals for 2012.  I wanted to see if making my goals public would provide some extra motivation and help me stay focused.  Well, 2012 has come and gone, the dust has settled, and I have to say it may have been my most productive year of climbing ever!

I definitely didn't achieve every goal on the list, but I traveled a ton, sent more stuff, and most importantly, maintained an extremely high level of psyche for training, and climbing all year.  I know it's not solely because of the list, but I certainly found myself referencing if throughout the year as a helpful reminder of what I wanted from my climbing in 2012.

Beyond helping one accomplish things, a goal list can also be a helpful tool for analyzing weaknesses and patterns in your climbing.  As I stare at my 2012 list, a couple of things pop out.  First, I didn't achieve any of my outside sport climbing, trad climbing, or bouldering goals.  After being honest with myself, I have to admit that I never really tried because I didn't project much last year.  I spent the year happily sampling crags, and ticking things I could do in a couple of tries.  Not a waste of time, but this approach definitely didn't help me reach my goals.  So in 2013, I plan on being more disciplined and projecting more.

The second thing I noticed was that I accomplished almost every gym goal I set- including the long term ones.  This isn't surprising, considering I go to the gym three days a week and consistently put time into projects and training.  It's not that the gym is my strength, it's just the only part of my list that I methodically hacked away at.

Obviously,  my #1 goal for 2013 is to have fun, but climbing is more fun when you are improving.  So here is my attack plan for 2013. 

Sport Climbing
Short Term
Second Go 13c
Onsight 13a


Medium Term
Redpoint The 7PM TV Show 14a- my 5 year nemesis.
Climb three 13d's this year- Mordred- 14a

Long Term
Onsight 13b
Climb 14b

Bouldering
Short Term
Do a V10- The Infinite 1/26/13
Onsight V8

Medium Term
Do a V11
Onsight V9

Long Term
Do a V12
Be able to do V10 in a day.

Traditional Climbing
The Wasp 13a

Gym
Overall gym plan is to primarily boulder, but also rope climb once a week.

Short Term
Onsight 13a 2/21/13
Climb two 13a's back to back
Boulder V10
Hangboard with 57.5pounds
2-4-6-8-10 on A with 10
Front lever for 10 seconds- wide arms
20 pullups

Medium Term
Climb 13a and 13b back to back
Climb 13c
Boulder V11
Hangboard with 60 pounds
2-4-6-8-10 on A with 12.5 pounds
Front lever with 2lbs for 10 seconds- wide arms
20 pullups with 10lbs

Long Term
Boulder V12
Hangboard with 65lbs
Front lever with 5lbs for 10 seconds- wide arms
20 pullups with 20lbs
Win the world cup!

Travel
Try to make a destination trip at least once every 3 months.  And visit 5 new areas.

Newlin Creek
Red River Gorge
Hueco


Logan Canyon

For fun, I will try to return to this list and highlight the goals I accomplish as the year progresses.