Over the weekend was the Hueco Tanks Rock Rodeo. It has always been a really fun event that they put on and I hadn't been able to get there the past few years, so I made it a must. I drove out with Brian, leaving at 4 on Friday. Of course we hit traffic, and don't show up in El Paso until like 2 in the morning! Waking up at 7 in the morning didn't help too much either, but Brian and I couldn't be deterred. After El Pasito deliciousness for breakfast, we checked in and hit the mountain. First thing was first warming up on the classics like 'Nobody Gets Outa Here Alive' and 'Mexican Chicken' we started our agenda for the day. Brian slipped off on the first or second move, chalked up a minute later then fired 'Dark Age', v11. He is climbing very strong right now, having ticked 'Crown of Aragorn', v13, over the winter holiday. I was having a little bit more difficulty hitting my rhythm, but soon enough I followed as well on the classic. Moving on, we were trying out 'Loaded Direct', v11/12, with some other strong climbers. Group attacks on problems help a lot with keeping the syke up, but unfortunately, that nasty pinch of a starting hold disagrees. Once our friends decided to move on, we got lucky as the sun moved putting all the holds in the shade. Immediately it started warming up to us, and soon enough we topped it as well as the slightly easier line, 'Loaded With Power', v10. It was at that point we decided to take a half time break. We had three down and three to go. We headed over to Power of Silence to give it a shot. Fatigue started to set in, but the syke was still there, that is all that mattered. Then everyone rolled around letting us know how their day has been. Turns out a hold on 'El Techo de Los Tres B', was v13 now v11, had a broken hold changing the difficulty, although the scorecard still had the original points. Hearing that everyone else went and blasted through that was a little demoralizing, enough to make the syke go away at least. After that I simply worried about enjoying climbing for the rest of the day and let everyone else worry about competing. The standings ended up being Paul Robinson in first, followed by Mat Wilder and Garret Gregor. The after party as usual was entertaining at the Hueco Rock Ranch. Bright and early the next morning, it was time to hit the road to get back to Dallas, nothing like over 20 combined hours of driving for one day of climbing!!!
