Nalle Hukkataival Instagram – Last year I opened this project in Red Rocks and after putting in the work was close to climbing it – falling off the last move. Then frigid winter temperatures claimed the canyon. Even sticking around for two more months trying to seal the deal, I never got a fighting chance.
Returning for a rematch this winter I routinely worked my way back to where Iād been – hoping to get an actual shot this year. It was really refreshing to finally session the boulder with someone. @jwebxl and @dawoods89 had teamed up earlier this winter to take it down. Their beta however was of no use for me. Ultimately the boulder is about a friction sloper crux with a barely-there bicycle to gain the slot crimp. Jimmy and Daniel both had the arm-span to bypass this sequence so I was alone fighting my own fight.
This low percentage, friction reliant sequence – combined with my skin issues in the desert – made for low odds to catch the conditions I required. Half the āclimbingā days consisted of just showing up and not being able to get any grip on the rock. Or do any climbing.
It all boiling down to weather watching and very little actual climbing put a big dent in my motivation and made me question whether itās even worthwhile to keep dragging myself out there day after day.
Yesterday I sent it. It was quite anticlimactic. It didnāt seem like anything that I hadnāt already done 10 times. My skin just didnāt fail me that time. Iām happy it didnāt.
All in all, stoked!! Also a lesson to be learned about how not every battle is necessarily worth fighting. I struggle when climbing becomes all about managing external factors and very minimally about the actual climbing.
Just hours later another winter storm put an end to climbing here for a while. Youāre bound to get lucky every now and then! Yes!! š°š¾ In-depth video piece coming from @mindframecinema
@blackdiamond @lasportivagram | Posted on 03/Feb/2019 04:50:49
