RRC Archives

thanks Mia! I just found out that there is one closer, in Palm Springs. The drive from LA to JT is nice, but I think I want to skip it on this trip.

fly into palmsprings. i actually found cheap flights there from chicago before. I am probably going to miss you there since i will most likely be in portrero then.

i am psyched about climbing there with matt and amy though.

oh and about you not using drugs...i hear you are eating painkillers and drinking alcohol at the same time. that qualifies as doing drugs you hippy.

guilty!

I should do that more often, it was fun.

oh and it looks like JT vs. Potrero because a few days got nipped off the end of my trip and I'm thinking the travel time is shorter to JT. Nothing's set though, not yet, so I'll be hunting you down if plans change. My climbing partner for this trip is open for anything.

So is there an airport near Potrero?

monterray(sp) i think

Just got back from our 2 weeks in Joshua Tree.
It kicked ass for the most part. I found myself hesitant to get on routes near my limit because of the nature of the routes. Mostly discontinuous cracks with bold runouts and trusting friction. Those locals there have some balls. People seem very relaxed when the crack ends and they have 30 more feet of unprotected climbing ahead of them.

Toward the end of the trip I started to get a feel for the friction and understand how people could get comfortable with it. I still can't understand the ratings of some of the boulder problems though. Stem Gem goes at V3 but took me more tries than any V7 I've done. I can see how Randy Leavitt can put up routes like "Book of Hate" after practicing on all of the stemming nightmares that J-Tree has to offer.

Two or three days out of the two weeks were spent wandering around in the desert looking for the route we wanted to climb only to end up hiking back to the car after hours with no success. I expected this so it didn't upset me too much.

The nights were freezing so we didn't have the cahunas to camp. The first night we got there we set our tent up then went into town and bargained for a hotel room. Michelle scored a deal in Twentynine Palms......300.00 for twelve nights. Our tent was never slept in. We had MTV, a fridge, and heat every night.

I'd say the favorite thing I climbed was an offwidth problem called Inquisition. Very puzzling and powerful. Speaking for Michelle and what I saw from her reaction....the favorite thing she did was the Gunsmoke Traverse. It's a looooong and pumpy traverse that can't be missed if you head out there. She was finally able to piece it together with help from a local's "girl beta". This involved grabbing a couple of ugly crimps to get through a section which most "non-vertically challenged" people can reach right past.

We played tourists the last day and cruised around Hollywood and checked out things like Hugh Heffner's mansion and Aaron Spelling's home. So much money.....it's another world out there. Hummers seem to be the car of choice. I will never drive in LA again either.

All in all J-Tree is an awesome place. It's not as pumpy as the Red can be but the routes will make you think harder.

Oh yea.....I've never placed so many stoppers in my life. The routes there just beg for them.

Glad to hear the two of you made it home safe & sound!!!

Awesome man, sounds like a good trip. I enjoyed your vacation too. While you were contemplating run-out friction, I was sitting on your couch, drinking your liquer. (thanks yo!)

So did you attend the fabled J-tree new years party? You got any good climbing photos for us?

Yea, I've got just a few pics. I'll post them later.
We didn't get into the New Years Party at all. Some kids did get busted though for pouring white gas down a boulder and lighting it. I guess it was their way of lighting fireworks.

Thanks for drinking my liquor. You could've at least left some puke in the bathroom Matt Nasty style!