HP Slopers - WHAT???

Yesterday we ventured down to Alabama to slap the crazy slopy holds of HP 40. For us northerns, it was a truly humbling experience. We entered the incredibly condensed boulderfield, getting turned around in every direction to try to find our intended routes. However, because of the uniqueness of the wall, we recognized the Millipede wall right away.
All of the guys threw themselves at the classic V3 called BumBoy and got thrown off continuously. Evan and Luke were able to send in a few goes because of their long reaches, but the rest of us needed some extra time. I actually walked away for a half hour or so and tried something else and then came back to send with the next go.
A local helped unlock the beta for the remainder of the sends there and we moved on.
Everyone spread out in small groups trying lines that interested them.
Several of the classic moderates were sent but nothing very difficult. Some of the sends were: Uniball, Sideline, Bumboy, several V2s, and an epic hour+ session of Mortal Combat at the end of the day that ended with Aaron's last-go send.
We all decided that you would need to spend quite a bit of time down there to really get used to the style and climb some hard stuff.

This morning we woke up to a thunderstorm and took the day off. But tomorrow we'll do one more session (our third) at Little Rock City before heading home.

Been a great week down here...despite the 80+ temps.

The Rocktown Oasis

Yesterday we tried to get an early start and beat some of the heat up at Rocktown. Things always take a little longer than expected, but we were hiking in by 9:30 and went straight to the Orb area.
Everyone did some nice warmups and a few of us began working the Orb, others tried Soap on a Rope, Double Trouble and a number of the other super fun problems right there. With shaded boulders and a nice breezy, the day seemed very pleasant. Aaron made incredible progress on the Orb, but with fried tips, Luke and I quickly decided that it wasn't the day for us on that problem.
After we had lunch, we made our way down the hill to Croc Block. As we walked down the hill, it quickly became evident that we were in for a scorcher. The face of Croc Block is over hanging and shaded, however, there was little place to retreat to while you rested or observed. Many of us got up to a cruxy slot move, however, it was Luke's big move beta that unlocked it for him and gave him the only send on it. He was able to latch a wide left hand pinch and launch for a right hand incut sidepull that many use as a left hand gaston.

As we were working the problem, Jess had been exploring a bit and found an incredible pool of COLD CLEAN WATER tucked into a cave. She began shuttling people down to the Oasis and eventually we were all taking turns splashing our faces and dunking our heads and feet. It really refreshed everyone and gave us new life to continue on for another hour of climbing.

We split the group, one to Pythag and the other to Blue. Kyle was able to send his Pythag project that he began on Saturday, but not much progress was made on Blue. On our way out, we returned to the Orb area for Aaron's last few goes and Carly's chance to finish a project from the morning. With absolute style and grace, Carly floated up her project first try and then came down and repeated it. After which she stood atop the boulder and proclaimed, "I own this problem!"

Twas a great day.

It's HOT AND SUNNY down here

Some might enjoy the blazing sun and 85 degrees, but climbers are not quite so fond of it. Yesterday we chased the shade and today we'll do the same back up at Rocktown.
Some great sends went down at Little Rock City and some super progress was made (Evan and Luke on The Chattanooga V12)

We've been enjoying every drift of wind and every whisper of a cloud. Pray for more.

More to come...

We have arrived in the South

After an uneventful 17 hours of driving, we have arrived and the sending has begun.

This morning we woke up to a beautiful VA sunrise, hoped in the vans and rolled straight on down to Rocktown. We completed the twisting, turning hill climb at 1pm, grabbed a quick lunch and then made our way in for some amazing sendage.

Some of the routes that went down for folks were: Nose Candy, Sherman Photo Roof, The Scoop, The Anti-scoop, Pythag, The Hobbit, and Golden Child,

The day was warm and sunny with a few nice cloudy breaks here and there.

Tomorrow we'll head up to LRC

Happy Easter, y'all.