Sand in my Crack

Hello Comrades.
Leeroy here

Its been a while since our last real update, probably about a week ago and we have been busy since then.  We went to LRC in Tennessee, and then down to Alabama to Horse Pens 40, a beautiful bouldering area with some of the best sandstone around.  We sent quite a few problems at both and were shut down on just as many others.  I managed to send my first v7 at LRC, which i was totally stoked on.  As far as horsepens is concerned, i sent a few v3s and v4s including mortal kombat, a beautiful arete layback on smears, topping at about 20 feet;  Super exciting.  I left a lot of projects there so i have the perfect excuse to head back to the southeast very soon. 

On friday, we got a wild hair up our asses and headed straight to El Paso, TX at 6:30.  We drove all night, passing through Mississippi and Louisiana rather quickly, and hit Texas.  I was like "all right that wasn't so bad..." only to realize we would be on rt. 20 for another 800 miles to top off the 500 we already drove and a new landscape is interesting but only for so long when you're driving straight for 800 miles. We made it to the Rock Ranch at about 4:30.  And stepped out of the jeep to a beautiful 70 degrees.

The desert is pretty awesome and im enjoying it, yesterday it was super windy (50 mph gusts) and my entire tent was covered with sand but that probably helped it from blowing away.  its dry and warm; perfect as far as i'm concerned. 

We rested saturday, and climbed sunday.  There are some awesome climbs and its taking a moment to  understand the rock.  Its interesting, but it seems as though for most problems there is some trick beta or its just really sandbagged.  either way its polished and i was wishing for that southern sandstone.  but i'm learning how to climb this strange brown granite, and hopefully will put down some projects before our time here is up.

EZE E
Yeah, so sandstone compared to granite? Sandstone for the win...so far. I definitaly miss the southeastern bouldering mecca but i feel that the more i get on the granite the more i will like it. I hope. I have been getting shut down and humbled by all tough problems but i have no doubt that i will be able to send my projects by the time we leave this place. Despite the frustrastion of the climbing the vibe and community of the Hueco Rock Ranch are pretty sweet. Every one here from France to California to Alaska and New Zealand, are so friendly and very down to earth. Its great climbing with different people everyday.

As far as being in the desert goes. . .it sucks. Im pretty sure the only thing i like about the desert is being able to climb a rock. The Texas desert especially is almost my hell on earth. Not spending my time on the snow is a frustrating switch for me this winter and i am keeping it on my mind that i will be in some deep pow pow soon. Although i am gaining new respects for rock climbing and the dedication it takes to be as strong as some of the climbers here are. At least the weather is nice and i can work on my beach bod tan. . . CTD (climbing, tanning, drinking).

Hello, hello. So it seems I've sprained a tendon that runs from the middle of my palm to my forearm. Its not bad but it could get worse, and worse could mean the end of my climbing (for the trip). So I have to take more days off then days on, and when I do climb I can't exactly push myself. So it sucks but I'm still glad to be here. Were meeting some very cool people here at the ranch form all over the world; people doing what they love. The desert is beautiful, way different from the landscape at home. Open flat land, littered with massive 500-1000ft tall hills, from certain point of views the sky goes as far as the eye can see. We've had perfect whether, sunny and warm. Except for yesterday which was certainly some of the wildest whether I've experienced. We were on a rest day heading to Walmart, the wind was blowing a consistent 35mph, soon enough it was snowing. As we drove along, to our left was clouds, snow, and dust? To our right sunny skys. The tents got a good dusting but its all gravy, shake that shit out and go to sleep. I like it out here, it's relaxing.

Here is a video that a friend put together from climbing in the southeast awesomeness:
The Dirty South

Latin for Daggers (photos: Eric)

Eric working Crack of Doom

John on the Kind Flake

Lee working the Morgue at Hueco (Photos: Eric)

Eric working T-Bone Shuffle