Thursday, May 20, 2010

Limestoned - Priest Draw Day 2

My closet and a little tribute to my better half.

Minko the Bulgarian crushmaster.

I slept little, woke early, ate breakfast and shot off on a whirlwind tour of the Draw with Minko.

Staying at each zone less than five minutes we managed to make it from the Puzzle Box Roof to Mars Roof in just over an hour, stopping only briefly at Bat Roof to warm up. The roofs were too much for me to take in. Minko sprayed a half-beta for each, and commonly said, "There is a trick, but I forget what it is."

I was still processing when we reached Mars Roof. The gem of the area this behemoth boasts a sea of pockets, mind numbing sequences, and nothing easier than V10. A true testament to hard bouldering I found myself instantly intimidated, simply staring at the roof as Minko put his shoes on to give his project Suplexing Navajos, V10 a few burns before hitting the road.

Navigation of pockets
Suplexing Navajos, V10

Minko left without a send, and I decided to hike back with him to collect my thoughts and plan out what problems I wanted to try first. I was also anticipating the arrival of a pair from Vegas later that afternoon.

After eating lunch I went out again to try a couple problems on the Floor Pie Roof. I managed to thug my way up Twister, V7 and was messing around on the Egyptian, V11 when a woman and a dog walked up the path below me. When she took off her sunglasses I recognized her, but couldn't put a name to her face. After introductions I learned that she was local strong woman Carrie Cooper, a climber I featured on the blog a few posts ago climbing The Receptionist, Cosmic Tricycle, and Black Hole, all V10!

After hiking Floor Pie, V8 and giving me some key beta, we moved on to the Monster Roof where I managed to send Thin Man, V6. And a little contrivance Carrie pioneered dubbed Carrie's Invalid Salad..

We talked of mutual acquaintances, favorite compression problems, the excitement of naming a new boulder, humming birds, lizards, and how satisfying the curiosity of a three year old like a second undergraduate degree. It's very inspiring to meet strong people like this in the climbing community who have such a positive attitude toward climbing, and lack both ego and entitlement. I had forgotten how great it can be to climb with such people.

After another trip to the Mars Roof I was completely burned out. Carrie helped me to find my way through the pockets of The Receptionist and I surprised myself by doing all the moves and linking through nearly half of it. Meanwhile Carrie spent more time upside down working Suplexing Navajos than resting. Her endurance is amazing.

As the sun slanted off the polished limestone and the Mars Roof glowed orange it was time to head back.

Along the way I spotted the duo from Vegas: Craig Berman and Andrew Spencer. I decided to split with Carrie and tag along with them instead of sitting at the campsite alone.

Andrew made short work of the ultra-classic Anorexic, V7, and sussed the moves on Carnivore, V9 before heading to Mars Roof to stash pads and rediscover beta.

Mars Roof three times in one day. I'd been out in the Draw for over 12 hours. Lips chapped, body aching I ambled back to camp, ate without tasting anything, started a fire for distraction, killed it, and fell asleep.

This photo is for Carrie's daughter Ava (and to some extent Carrie). Thanks again for showing me around!

-BLOCHEAD

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