Nalle Hukkataival: The Machinist

I've had some good climbing days here in Hueco even though the weather has been really hot for climbing. The other day we climbed at North Mountain and I did Right Martini V12, Black Mamba V10 and at the end of the day flashed Barefoot on Sacred Ground V12.

Next day we went to East Spur to finish Coeur de Leon V13 which we had tried earlier in the heat. I did it quite fast that day but it did feel hard I must say. Next thing we went to Focus but I was too tired to even try it. After that Andre was psyched to try Full Monty so I decided to give it a go even though I was really tired. I amazed myself and probably everyone else by flashing it! It was the first flash for this problem. I was psyched! After that I still managed to do Windy Ass which I would call V11 no matter what the guide book would say.

A few days ago we chalked up this sick project on East Spur. It's a long problem that climbs out a big roof with long moves. Moves on it are just awesome. Yesterday me and Jon started working on it and at first it felt really hard. Figuring out the beta took a long time since it's a about 25 moves long. Despite the warm weather I managed to do the first ascent and named it The Machinist. Jon quicly made the first repeat. We both felt it's a pretty solid V13. It's a very physical climb and both of us got really worked from climbing on it. Hence the name Machinist.

So, today is a restday. El Paso isn't exactly the most exciting place to hang out and spend a rest day and going to across the Mexican border to Juares seems kind of scetch after hearing about the 17 000 murders that take place in Juares every year. It's not easy trying to rest here but I can feel my muscles need rest to recover for tomorrow. There's still a lot of great projects and classics to climb and the Rock Rodeo is coming up next weekend!