Any technical rock climbers here at this website?

Sidewinder

Group W
Banned!
Do ya live near southeastern Arizona? And are ya interested in doing some long moderate routes at Cochise Stronghold? West Side? There is offroading involved in the approach, and some hiking (though I plan on getting as close as possible to the crags while riding a dirt bike). I'm just wondering if anyone here is interested in this sort of outdoor adventure? It's not for everyone, that's for damned sure, but every day I look at the bad@$$ crags, domes & spires visible from my home and I think about getting back on the rock... not tackling difficult routes as I did before, just doing long multi-pitch moderate routes with climbing gear & hardware. Oh, yeah, I should add that remote camping is free on the West Side of the Stronghold & the Dragoon Mountains, though I intend to return to my home every night, as it's not far away and I already camped out under the Dragoons while waiting for escrow to close on my home. Meh, I might camp out there again, just gotta find someone to look after my cats while I'm gone, I've been meaning to ask my elderly gal neighbor about that whole deal... she may know a younger relative, or be willing to do it herself if I sling some money her way. Any hand here who is interested in climbing at the Stronghold, gimme a holler... I'm doing this one way or another, just gotta find the right people to share the adventure. I have Bok's guidebooks with all the beta or info I'll ever need, just gotta pick up some fresh gear before I enter the vertical world... and my tax refunds are on the way, lol, not to mention further paychecks. CHEERS!!! :rolleyes:

P.S. Spring & fall are the best seasons for climbing at the Stronghold, not as cold as winter & not as hot as summer, temps are pleasant and the sun-warmed rock on the West Side feels pretty good. :)
 
Sounds like a fantastic time, but probably way too long of a drive for me at the moment.....

Just starting to do the Trad again.....
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Nice... runners & quickdraws will cut the rope drag, lol. I was born & raised on Trad, though I've done my share of Sport climbs... I just like the Old School routes & methods, since I was born back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, LOL. You know, CLASSIC climbs, and that includes mountaineering with little or no technical rock climbing, but as a lifelong extreme small craft sailor I've always been drawn to line handling, climbing hardware and the beauty of a clean aesthetic line up a crag or tall cliff. Done some primo free solos as well on nice crags & cliffs up to 300' high, but at my age I'd prefer to use rope & gear for safety's sake. :rolleyes:

Bottom line, I simply love being outdoors and enjoying the magnificent scenery so often associated with technical rock climbing & mountaineering. I reckon there are worse ways to spend one's time: smoking meth or crack, stealing cars & trucks, hanging out in jail, etc., BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Moi, I value my freedom too highly to jeopardize it that way, but I DO like my cold beer, AYE??? Enough said, thanks for yer reply, ya ever make it down here be sure to gimme a holler, because I plan on retiring right here with this bad@$$ view of the Stronghold... run out to the coast every now & then on sailing vacations, WOOHOO!!! Uh-oh, that one hand is gonna think I'm on COFFEE again, better tone it down, LOL. :eek:

P.S. I have some long, lean & lanky friends who climb in the upper 5.12 & 5.13 realm, but I never pulled more than 10d/11a unless I was climbing on direct aid, and I've done some sweet A3s & even one A4, though they were all fairly short (under 100') and not SUSTAINED DIRECT AID ROUTES. I went through a phase with direct aid, it's bad@$$ but it's also a lot of work, AYE??? Some of those 'MASTERS OF STONE' videos back in the day had insane direct aid sequences, I always liked the ZIPPERING clip on the A5 route, can't remember the climber but he was pretty damned funny, LOL. He and his cronies used a loaded haulbag to simulate the climber falling to his death... "GOOD NIGHT!!!" :(

Edit: RURPs RULE!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, $h!t, time for another cuppa coffee, LOL. o_O
 
Ha that line is basically a perfectly vertical route, makes it easy as you don't have to extend all the cams.

Lots of tall vertical cracks....
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I stick to like 5.9 for trads, ill do a bit harder for bolted stuff, but for some reason I just really don't want to fall on a cam if I can avoid it.
 
I copy that... the thing with camming devices, they like to "walk" if there's any rope action on 'em, and THAT is what leads to trouble after one makes a decent placement, UNLESS a climber extends the placement. Damn, I was just looking for a cool climbing shot I had, an old paper photograph, but I couldn't find it... Lord only knows where it is, after all the relocations since I left Coronado. I probably gave it to someone and forgot about doing this, but I know I transferred it to the web so maybe I can find it later. o_O

In the meantime, here's a cool shot I always liked of moi doing a short but gnarly direct aid climb, thing was pretty fun back in the day... I went through a phase and climbed this route 4 times, lol, just dug the single knifeblade piton placement and the thin crack above which took small wired nuts & hexes. The route started with the leader balancing on a rock and leaning toward an old bolt ladder with manky, rusty 1/4" bolts on a severely overhanging spire, some folks I took out there never got past the initial move, yeah? :eek:

I also have a link to an assortment of pics which might show the other shot I wanna post in this thread, it's just a classic 10b or 10c shot with moi doing that number... but first, lemme post this pic and the link, you'll see some other cool shots in the linked thread, shots taken here and there during my travels in a big truck, lol. I used to lose my 53' wagon and turn that 10-ton road tractor into my own personal RV, and of course all my field gear, climbing gear, inflatable raft, etc., were aboard the truck, lol. Those were some fun times back in the day, but things were different then as well... :(

Anyway, lemme post this material, and I THANK YOU for responding in a positive manner... I was never the world's best climber, not by a long shot, but I LOVED being out there on the crags & tall cliffs, ya know? The scenery is MAGNIFICENT... and I was FORTUNATE to climb with some real BAD@$$ hands who could actually knock out the 5.13s and whatnot. Of course, I could OUTSAIL any of 'em while DRUNK & BLINDFOLDED, but isn't that just how life goes? We all SPECIALIZE in certain activities, and pour moi, well, I'm a Jack-Of-All-Trades & Master-Of-None, except SAILING, LOL. :cool:

I CAN SAIL LIKE A CRUSTY DEMON IN THE NAUTICAL WORLD, LOL... SMALL CRAFT, OF COURSE, NEVER COULD AFFORD A MAXI SLED OR THE M5, GUESS I'LL HAVE TO POST THAT LINK AS WELL SO Y'ALL CAN SEE HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! :D

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Meh, first shot is of my cat Tiger, he's a real cool hand... second shot shows my primo 8' pool table, it's a freakin' work of art, LOL. Third shot is a sketchy pic of the photograph tacked to one bathroom wall in my home, I like visitors to see what I've done in the past, aye? Maybe it'll be clearer in the link, lemme try that route and throw in the M5 link as well, if I were RICH I'd be sailing that bad girl and slingin' her around like so much hash, LOL. ;)

OKAY, TIME TO FIND THE LINKS... :confused:

forums.oausa.net/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3072

And the M5 link, this craft would be the tender to my Laser, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! :oops:

youtube.com/watch?v=i7dGFxyM_Aw

She's a bit cramped compared to ol' Laser #2069, but she'll do... I'm sure youse knucklehaids could put her to good use, LOL. If I ever hit the BIG-TIME, I'll hunt down the latest owner and buy the yacht, if only to patrol the beach in my home town of Coronado, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! CHEERS!!! :)
 
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Meh, up early on a Saturday morning, cold beer for a snack before crashing again, all I gotta do later is kick back and knock out laundry... rain in the forecast, you understand. But rain is a good thing, farmers & ranchers here love it, while my four fruit trees (which evidently survived the winter) are showing signs of exiting their dormant state. These are citrus trees too, a bit dicey to cultivate at this elevation, but I wanted fresh OJ and lemonade in the summer, lol. My lemon tree is the runt of the litter, so to speak, just a stick poking out of the ground, but the stick is still green, so we'll see what happens this growing season. The Valencia Orange, Dwarf Honey Orange & Minneola Tangelo trees are all doing well, I'm hoping for good growth this season. All the trees have flowered in the past, but I had to lop a dead section off the Eureka Lemon trunk (or stem) after a hard freeze, I hit it with pruning seal so the remainder is still green. Somehow, this reminds me of a line one older brother used to say whenever the conversation turned to agriculture: "FARMER BROWN... OUT STANDING IN HIS FIELD!!!" :rolleyes:

Anyway, I figured I'd share some guidebook shots of the Stronghold with y'all, just so technical rock climbers understand that there are world-class routes out there, and most of the Stronghold Granite (as it is known to geologists & climbers) is pretty good, more solid on some routes than others, but pretty good overall. There are heaps of difficult ratings out there too, for those hard men & women who enjoy such routes. Moi, I'm past any hope of pulling a sustained 5.12d route (unless I'm using direct aid), my sole intention is to recapture some of my youth by pulling long moderate routes in the 5.6 to 5.8 range, like climbing a natural stone ladder just to get the long views clear past Tombstone & Sierra Vista and into Old Mexico. That'll do, hanging out in an awesome wilderness venue with primo views in every direction... beats looking at Compton, North Philly or the Lower Bronx, that's for damned sure, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Ah, the rain is coming down, not a storm but a nice steady soaker, so my trees and all the other vegetation in the San Pedro Valley will be loving life today... water is always welcome in the high desert, despite the occasional raging storms & flash floods. :eek:

ANYWAY, CHECK THESE OUT, THERE ARE PRIMO ROUTES TO BE DONE AT THE STRONGHOLD, AND THAT AIN'T NO LIE... ;)

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Bad@$$ adult playground, AYE? Cue the late-night TV advertising line: "BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!" o_O
 
Round #2 of pics:

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First beer pic marks the end of the guidebook shots, while the topo map shows ya how bad@$$ the Stronghold really is... guidebooks & topo map can be purchased from the Summit Hut, if anyone is interested. The Stronghold is a really cool venue, and it sits practically on my doorstep... every morning, I look at the West Side and it reminds me of all the good times I had, not just climbing but remote camping and hanging out in the field with good friends (some now deceased due to untimely deaths). So it goes, but the good memories remain... and they should be cherished. :rolleyes:

Did I mention that remote camping is FREE under the Dragoons? At least on the West Side, I know because I hung out there for a week while waiting for escrow to close on my newly-purchased home last February... quite the adventure while juggling two cats, but we all survived, lol. Serious coyote country too, thought I lost Crackhead one night when he didn't return to our bivouac site before dark. Little b@stard meowed in the middle of the night at the flap of my tent, a dangerous maneuver in itself with so many coyotes around... maybe his black coat saved him on the way back to safety. :cool:

Let's see, I threw in those pics of the original overland rig because they happened to be in the same assortment... I might add that this rig could easily make it out to bivouac sites at the base of the Dragoon Mountains, under the West Side of the Stronghold. If my '02 Camry with worn-out shocks made it, this rig could make it, no worries, lol. There's a shot or two of some dinner I was prepping back in June, same time I was drinking those Pacificos with lime wedges... that 'Slap Ya Mama' seasoning is just some stuff I occasionally use in cooking, I think one can buy it at WallyWorld. :confused:

MEH, TIME FOR ONE MORE COLD BEER BEFORE I TAKE ANOTHER NAP... LATER, THE CHOLESTEROL FEAST AS I DO SOME LAUNDRY ON A RAINY DAY, WOOHOO!!! :)

P.S. That "SHOOT 'EM UP" pic is from a movie by the same name, typical Holywad bull$h!t but entertaining nevertheless, if ya like that sort of flick, lol. Oh, yeah, BTW, the 'original overland rig' I mentioned earlier would actually be a prairie schooner, or maybe a travois, lol. CHEERS!!! ;)
 
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No cholesterol feast after all, I got caught up with researching gout and its causes on the Interwebs... I've been drinking unfiltered apple cider or fresh carrot juice all day while pulling this research, kinda like a juice fast, lol. Carrot & lemon juice are two of the most powerful cleansers in the natural world, I remember that from THE HIPPOCRATES DIET... wheatgrass juice is also powerful, but harder to find unless ya grow the flats & have a juicer. Meh, I'll stick to smoothies in the blender, those are simple to make and quite delicious. Might even add a dollop or two of tequila now & then, lol. You see, I'm on the right track already, I'll get that healthier lifestyle going once again, aye? Just backslid a bit over the years... modern "civilization" will do that to a man, no doubt about it. :rolleyes:
 
Okay, I have something to confess... having just gone through some EXCRUCIATING AGONY, the kinda pain that makes ya sweat & holler, well, I've been touching base with my MORTALITY, don'tcha know? And I'm no stranger to severe pain, believe me, my resume reads something like THIS:

1) Hardcore vertical skateboarding

2) Extreme small craft sailing

3) Technical rock climbing & somewhat difficult bouldering

4) Heller offroading & dirt biking, preceded by many years of heller BMX including homemade tracks, parks & pools

5) Getting kicked to the curb by various good-looking women, and sometimes that kicking emptied my wallet, lol...

5) Getting drunk & falling down the stairs head first... the toughest gig of all, since the stairs were metal-rimmed concrete, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

That goldurned metal-rimmed concrete is downright UNFORGIVING, believe me, especially when you're NOT wearing a full-coverage helmet, LOL. Damn, sometimes I slay myself... now, where was I? Oh, yeah, part of this whole self-analytical process I've been going through while coming down from SEVERE & EXCRUCIATING MOTHERF#%NG PAIN has been to look back and put things in perspective... and that includes giving tribute to my idols, the pioneers of extreme sports. I won't include BMX & MX riders in this collection of video links I'm about to post, just refer to the heller good "CRUSTY DEMONS" videos made back in the day, or the Metal Mulisha videos... but I DO remember bad@$$ BMX riders doing foot-plants on the chain-link fence above the halfpipe at the Del Mar Skate Ranch, not exactly an easy maneuver for those site members who have never done it. It's a thing of beauty, seeing an extreme athlete pull a BAD@$$ MANEUVER right in front of your eyes... I know, because I've pulled a few myself and folks have congratulated me afterwards, and it's kind of humbling too, especially if ya just got lucky and pulled it off when ya should've EATEN $H!T, LOL.

But don't tell anyone I said that, lol... here we go with some video links to pioneers of bad@$$ rock climbing, rope jumping, close proximity wingsuit flight, slack-lining, heller vertical skateboarding, etc. Granted, most of these guys are already DEAD, but they leave behind a VERITABLE LEGACY OF BAD@$$ EXTREME SPORT ACTION, and their achievements will be difficult to surpass... oh, some day a younger hand will step up and outdo them, but that remains to be seen, these BAD@$$ MOTHERF#%ERS were living on the RAZOR'S EDGE, no doubt about it. Any site member who feels otherwise, well, why don'tcha post up some of YER heroic videos, LOL... PFFFFFFT. Try strapping on a wingsuit, leaping off a cliff & flying through a 2M hole in the rock at the end of a serrated ridge... might wanna be SOBER when ya attempt this, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Hey, that hand who asked me how much coffee I drank, let it be known that CAFFEINE is off the table for good, "10-DASH-FO'???" As for the rest of youse adventurous overland hee-roes, just know that SOME of this EXTREME SPORT ACTION is actually DIFFICULT to accomplish without DYING, LOL!!! The trick to being an extreme athlete is to take out HEAPS of life insurance, that way yer relatives can [eventually] give ya a decent burial, maybe toss yer ashes at sea...

ALRIGHT, HERE WE GO WITH SOME ACTION VIDEOS WHICH BELONG IN THIS THREAD, HOPE Y'ALL ENJOY THEM AS I DO, AYE???






Oh, there's a limit to video links, go figure... got two more to post after this, including that video of the hand flying through the hole in the rock... back in a moment, AYE???

Edit: Be sure to watch all videos in 'Full Screen' mode, otherwise you're missing details which should be observed, "10-DASH-FO'???" o_O
 
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Here we go with the other two links:



Alright, there we go... any site member who thinks these videos don't fall under "Adventure" can feel free to post their videos, lol. Ya know, I would love to try wingsuit flight, I refer to it as "3-D Sailing" because it has many similarities to that sport, but the close-proximity wingsuit action is a different animal, it introduces other factors & dangers which the wingsuit pilot should be aware of before he ever leaves solid ground. Anyway, these boyz shown in these videos will live forever, no doubt about it... I believe Lance Mountain and the 2M hole dude are still alive, no way for me to know for certain, lol. Honestly, I think Lance Mountain was every bit as good as Tony Hawk, his style is SO SMOOTH as he RIPS GRINDERS, BOARD SLIDES, AERIALS, ETC... but the Birdman was also a heller good skater, both these guys were part of the "BONES BRIGADE" back in the day, 10-4? I just like Lance Mountain's style as he grinds the hell outta that pool coping, lol... I used to grind coping myself, and sometimes for a decent length or number of coping blocks atop the pool, but ol' Lance is MIGHTY STYLISH, and his footwork while grinding is THE BOMB!!! 'Nuff said, lemme post this up and grab another glass of wine, guess I'll be a WINO instead of a BEER-O in the future, YEAH??? CHEERS!!! :rolleyes:

Edit: Same deal as above, view the videos in 'Full Screen' mode to catch the best action, AYE??? Trust me, you'll enjoy the videos MO' BETTAH!!! :cool:
 
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Well, I guess I gotta take these two medications the doctor prescribed, one med's primary side effect is DEATH, go figure... but I gotta tame this foot down to a manageable level of pain. That means I'll be going dry for a bit, and making some changes in my diet, whatever it takes to make this foot problem go away. Anyway, I was watching another wingsuit video, one of those links that appear after ya watch the earlier videos, aye? It wasn't bad, it shows ya how these guys steer by simply aiming their bodies where they want to go... some of these wingsuit pilots say that this form of flying is the most precise, even more so than that performed by jet jockeys aboard military warplanes. So for contrast, I'm gonna post two more links, and I'll leave it to y'all to compare the two forms of flight. o_O

One of these days, when I hit the BIG TIME, I'd love to try this wingsuit action... it's 3-D sailing, and I'm good at sailing, so I reckon I'd make a fair wingsuit pilot. Might not get as close to the wall or ground as some of these 'close proximity' heroes, but I'd like to try it all the same. Jump out of a chopper too, I flew in heaps of helicopters when I was in the Aaaaarrrgghhmy (USA INF), and I'm a climber as well so I have no problem with heights. It just looks like heller fun, probably good for a major adrenalin rush, lol. Anyway, here are two links for y'all to compare... that shot of Wingnut flying over the dam? That would be moi, going like the Hammers of Hell aboard an F-18, lol. CHEERS!!! :D



Hmmm... the close proximity wingsuit action is radical, but the thing about those F-18 Hornets, they go a bit FASTER, LOL. :rolleyes:

If ya liked the Hornet Ball video, that Wingnut dude has made some other videos, including one called 'Strike Fighter Ball 2019' or something like that, now I can't remember the exact wording of the title. Meh, you'll find it if ya want, this video right here has always been a favorite of mine, particularly the second half with the "BULLET TRAIN" soundtrack, some of those 'close proximity' shots are insane... :eek:

GOOD TO KNOW WE HAVE SUCH SKILLED PILOTS DEFENDING OUR COUNTRY, AYE??? ;)

CHEERS!!! :cool:

Edit: Hey, you can subscribe to Wingnut's videos by clicking his image in the upper left corner of that video when it starts rolling... and I noticed I had to cancel out a couple of ads, but I guess that's the price for watching the video. Another reason why this American Adventurist website is good, minimal ads & spam, lol. :)
 
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Riding out some foot pain again, but it's a beautiful day and the Stronghold looks imposing in the afternoon sunlight. This foot problem is only temporary, I still intend to go climbing at the Stronghold this spring... weather like we have here today gets me thinking about such excursions, lol. Soon enough, just gotta take care of this foot issue first... meh, just another injury, it'll soon be a thing of the past. :(
 
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