Summer Adventure 2012: Phase 1

We are back from phase one of our summer adventure 2012 and it was AWESOME!! We have been going to the Priest Draw the last week in May for the last three years and we love it. We wish we could go a little earlier in the year, because the hot summer temperatures are not ideal for climbing, but it's nice to wait until I'm through teaching so we can have a nice, long, relaxing, beginning of summer celebration! I would say this year was our best yet, mostly because we had plenty of time so it was easier to pace ourselves and get some great sends. We quickly got into a routine of waking up early to climb, then killing the hot hours of the day playing chess, watching movies, soaking our feet in the lake, and hiking, then climbing again in the evening! It was all very enjoyable.
Here is some of the video footage Casey edited for your enjoyment!


As you can see, Casey tore the place up! He sent several classic problems V5-V10. My best send of the trip was the Coffin V3 which gave me a little more trouble than I expected this year, but it is such a great climb that I didn't mind spending more time on it. So fun! One of the best things about climbing in the Draw is figuring out the unique body movement required to send such steep, slopey, pocketed problems. Toe hooks, drop knees, heel hooks, knee bars, bicycles...you name it! It seems like it takes us a few days to get into the groove before we can really start seeing success. We were tempted to stay another week because of that reason. I got really close to sending a great V5 called the Hermit our last evening there. It's hard to leave something when you come so close! Hopefully we'll be able to make it back soon.
Here is a bucketload of pictures we captured during our week!

 We like to stop at Marble Canyon for lunch on our way down. It's a cool place and this time we even spotted a few California Condors!

We always start our warm up on "the Brain." 

 The Hermit. A V5 on the Puzzle Box roof.

Setting up for the double toe hook on the Coffin.

This roof is so neat. It's perfectly horizontal with no features at all except for a hueco shaped like a baby coffin. You start the problem with a double undercling, make a big throw to a pocket right under the lip, get a double toe hook to bring your left hand out to the lip, then the tricky part for me was bringing my right foot out by my hand without my left foot falling and hitting the pads. 

 The highlight of the trip was definitely Casey's send of Cosmic Tricycle. It is an incredible climb! He was able to figure out the best beta and work his way to the top even in the bad conditions. My husband rocks!

Casey on "Our God is Neither."

Tomorrow we're packing up and hitting the road again on our way to Maple Canyon!  Stay tuned for an update of our next week's adventure.

Back in business!

Great news. We finally got a new laptop!! We are so excited. Especially because Casey gave me photoshop for my birthday in May and now we can finally use it! Yeah!!! So to make up for our lack of pictures over the last few months we are going to give you an overload!

Rewind to May again. My birthday is May 24th, I finished school on May 25th, we drove to Flagstaff to celebrate on May 26th! It was the perfect start to celebrate the wonderful season of summer. We only stayed for 3 days, but since it was just the two of us it was about the perfect amount of time.

 Marble Canyon AZ

We love spending time at the Priest Draw. The bouldering is so much fun. I got a little out of climbing shape in the spring but I even had a blast on the V0-V3 problems. Awesome features and amazing moves at every level!

 Some easy but very fun V0s.

 My favorite problem I worked on is a V3 called The Coffin. The roof is completely horizontal with no features except an amazingly good hueco that is shaped like a coffin. You have to use some crazy toe & heel hooking beta to get out and around the lip. The really tricky part is keeping yourself from dabbing! I loved it.

 Casey sent a V8 called Cosmic Bicycle and got really close on the V10 sit-start, Cosmic Tricycle. He said it's the best roof problem he's ever tried. I agree. It looks so cool.

 He also sent Pufferfish V7, another cool problem just to the left of the Cosmics.

 And I sent another V1/V2 with a really cool mantle. Seriously, the easy grade may sound lame but it was a blast!

 Another amazing line Casey sent. Move 'n Groove Barbie V8.

 Still Movin' and Groovin'.

 A nice, flat approach. With a trail! Something we appreciate a lot more after trying to find new bouldering in the Cedar City area.

 We had a nice relaxing half-rest day getting frozen custard and visiting Upper Lake Mary. One thing I love about Flagstaff is that you can feel completely secluded in the mountains and only be 5 minutes from downtown and all it's ice cream amenities!

 Yet another fun V1.

Back to the Coffin.

 On my future tick list is this fun V5, also in the Puzzle Box with Cosmic Tricycle, which Casey easily onsighted.

 And to finish it off, Missionary Position V-debatable. Hard V6? Once again, in the Puzzle Box. This roof is CLASSIC!

the Priest Draw

The main destination of our road trip: the Priest Draw! Definitely did not disappoint. The amazing rock with awesome features, the trick beta, the crazy roofs...we loved it all! The two days we spent bouldering there only left us thirsting for more. We had a blast camping, exploring, working the problems, and meeting other climbers.

Casey and Bryce working Anorexic Nerve Dance

Kestri and I climbing the right face of the Anorexic roof.

Casey on Twister. So steep!

Funnest warm-up boulder ever! Amazing that a boulder can look like this! We kept ourselves entertained with unique warm-up variations.

Bryce with the "Eye-Candy" variation. Probably his best send of the trip. :)

Climbing the Fin. So fun!

Casey and Bryce on the Black Roof.

Casey edited a sweet video of some of our road trip sends so we are working on uploading it. Stay tuned for some sweet climbing!