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Cogito Ergo Sum
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Steep roads, banjos, rocks, and goats.... An AR climbing trip!
Finally made it home from 5 long days in Arkansas climbing with a few friends. I'll try to post the short and sweet and get the pictures up when I get a hold of them. I didn't take many on my camera as the guy I was with had a way nice camera that we were all 3 using....
 Day 1- We were supposed to leave around 9 so of course we hit the road at 11. The main reason for this was the girl that was going was ill. Since her bf is the other we can't leave her behind. We did get on the road though and she didn't hurl in my truck. We drove ~6hrs to Russelville, AR and did some bouldering with some friends that lived there. Didn't climb much but got a scope of the area and had some fun in the 2hrs before dark. We crashed on the floor at their place that night, after eating a killer plate of Mexican food at this little place called La Chiquita.  Day 2- This is where it gets interesting. This was a sort of spur of the moment trip and we really weren't sure where we were going until the night before we left, so we had no reservations. We were banking on it being the off season at both places in consideration. We start calling around up near Jasper, AR and discover that there is a big climbing rendezvous going on at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch and thus all of their Cabins are booked and seemingly every other cabin in the area. We had brought camping gear but that was a last ditch effort. We did find a little hell hole to stay in finally in Jasper for $40 a night(this should be a BIG hint). So we headed north into the hills to start climbing. We got a call on the way up that there had been a cancellation at one of the cabins and we could have in on Friday night.. Whooopee! So we checked into the cheap motel the first night. It wasn't great, but it was warm and the beds and shower were clean and we would only be here one night. The climbing was Superb at Horseshoe. We climb as an odd group. The two I was with are both very good climbers, (one of them placed 7th overall in the 24hrs of Horseshoe Hell if you know what that is) I however am new to the sport running on a borrowed harness and shoes. I had been climbing in the gym so they knew what I could do and we went and hopped on a 5.8 and had some fun. We then moved over to a 5.10 that nearly killed me. We ended up climbing until after dark this night. Climbing 5.9 by headlight is a fun first experience! Day 3- We checked out of the crummy motel at like noon, no one set an alarm so we got some much needed sleep. We went back out to Horseshoe. There is tons of climbing in this area. We chose to stick to horseshoe out of familiarity and convenience. I tried a hard 5.10 and my arms gave out. Then it was time for Morgan to hop on a 5.12!  This is about an ~80ft face with the last ~20ft being an ugly roof. There was a nice ledge around the ~40ft mark so we scrambled the camera gear up a 5.7 route farther down the wall so I could get in good photo position. Watching this climb from that angle was awesome. I have immense respect for this guy and watching this climb was amazing. We ended up climbing a few smaller routes after and into the dark. The cabin was a much needed improvement. I mean sure we had to drive down this gravel road past a creepy trailer shack and deep into the woods, but it was a nice little cabin down there. We kept the Deliverance jokes to a minimum and got some much needed rest.  Morgan top roping the 5.7 to get camera gear up.  View down to the ground. I'll be up here for a bit.  The overhang!  Prepping for the Send!  Cabin in the woods.  Drive out. Day 4- Saturday was the day of the big AR climbers rendezvous. Pack Rat outdoor store was hosting and had setup a shoe demo during the day so back to Horseshoe we went. I am in need of shoes and got to try on and climb in some La Sportiva shoes. We climbed a few more routes and again I got to watch Morgan climb an awesome 5.12 with an ugly roof again. We cut out early to go to the big slideshow and gear raffle. Pack Rat had brought in Peter Croft to do a talk on his climbs which was quite interesting. I am still in awe that someone would climb El Cap and Halfdome both in one day, both of this are multipitch climbs that most people take several days each to do. Then it was time for the gear raffle. They had nice stuff like a rope, a tent, a few harnesses, a ton of lights and water bottles, etc. We spent like $30 on tickets in hopes of at least breaking even. We stood through the whole thing and ended up empty handed. One of the guys we had stayed with Wednesday night was there and we were talking to him after the raffle. A buddy of his walked up with this really nice Petzl Calidris harness in hand that he had won. He mentioned that he had too many harnesses and this one wouldn't fit him anyways. It was my size so I asked him how much thinking I could get a deal on a nice harness. He looked at me and just handed it over, and wouldn't take any money. SCORE! Day 5- We knew we couldn't climb much before we went home so we headed back down to horseshoe and went back to the last wall from Saturday. I bagged another 5.8 and a 5.10 and then the big boys moved back down to the 5.12. Morgan wanted to run it clean and he did. I wasn't behind the camera this time so I could really watch the moves. After a few nice routes we headed for home with ~7hrs of driving in front of us. After a quick stop in town the pickup stumbled on start up and scared me of the infamous weak Dodge injector pump. I made the call that the truck would run nonstop at this point. We had an extra set of keys so it could be locked whilst idling. Luckily we got back home without incident. I will try to add more pictures as I get them. These are all from my phone or the cheap p/s I keep on the hipstrap of my pack. I know some of you don't understand the grades and suck as a writer so go easy.  Oh and I would appreciate it if you kept your mouths shut about the pictures of Tember. I really don't want to explain you old pervs to her if she sees this thread. Last edited by porsche4life; 10-24-2010 at 09:16 PM.. |
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10-24-2010, 09:10 PM
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All I see are photos of some climbing gear on your floor, a burrito, and a road to nowhere. No obligatory chick pics. WTF?
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1987 Venetian Blue (looks like grey) 930 Coupe 1990 Black 964 C2 Targa |
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10-24-2010, 09:14 PM
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AutoBahned
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more pics of blondie
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10-24-2010, 09:16 PM
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Cogito Ergo Sum
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I fixed the photos... Sorry I'm wiped out...
I hope to have more photos of all of us climbing later this week. I will go snag them from Morgan when we settle up who owes who what... |
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10-24-2010, 09:18 PM
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Registered
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Looks like fun.
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Make sure to check out my balls in the Pelican Parts Catalog! 917 inspired shift knobs. '84 Targa - Arena Red - AX #104 '07 Toyota Camry Hybrid - Yes, I'm that guy... '01 Toyota Corolla - Urban Camouflage - SOLD |
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10-24-2010, 09:33 PM
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a.k.a. G-man
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,614
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Looks like a great trip Sid!
Please get more pics of the blonde... 
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Сидеть, ложь, Переворачиваться |
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10-25-2010, 07:28 AM
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Get off my lawn!
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No one cares about your trip they just want pics of chicks!
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Glen 49 Year member of the Porsche Club of America 1985 911 Carrera; 2017 Macan 1986 El Camino with Fuel Injected 350 Crate Engine My Motto: I will never be too old to have a happy childhood! |
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10-25-2010, 07:31 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Houston (The Vintage), Texas
Posts: 4,523
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I see one major no-no.
The blondie needs to be anchored down. When the climber falls she is going to be going up!
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-Tom '73 911T MFI - in process of being restored '73 911T MFI - bare bones '87 924S - Keep's the Porsche DNA in my system while the 911 is down. aka "Wolf boy" |
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10-25-2010, 09:24 AM
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Band.
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 13,328
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Looks like fun, Sid!
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1983 SC Coupe 1963 BMW R60/2 1972 Triumph Tiger 1995 Triumph Daytona SuperIII |
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10-25-2010, 09:28 AM
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Cogito Ergo Sum
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I've never seen someone anchor a belay on a sport climb. He fell several times and she caught him just fine.
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10-25-2010, 09:31 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Reno, NV
Posts: 5,941
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Sid,
NEVER mention goats, AR, and Banjos in the same thread!! You know Squeal like a pig! is the next thing to be mentioned...
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"Todd" 98 Tahoe ,2007 Saturn Vue 86 930 black and stock, 80 930 blue tracdog 91 Spec Miata (yeah I race a chick car) "life"ll kill ya" Warren Zevon |
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10-25-2010, 09:38 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Long Beach CA, the sewer by the sea.
Posts: 37,771
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Quote:
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10-25-2010, 10:19 AM
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Registered
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cool.
light folks can belay heavier people..no issues, in a climbing gym. outdoors is all about balance. and you are climbing in a pair of KEDS?!!!
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poof! gone |
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10-25-2010, 10:37 AM
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Driver
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Quote:
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1987 Venetian Blue (looks like grey) 930 Coupe 1990 Black 964 C2 Targa |
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10-25-2010, 03:42 PM
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AutoBahned
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Quote:
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10-25-2010, 04:01 PM
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Cogito Ergo Sum
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He definitely outweighs her by a bit... Its really not a problem guys....
And thats not me climbing but he is climbing in a pair of cheap slip on Boat shoes.... He did that quite a bit this weekend on the easier routes.... |
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10-25-2010, 04:15 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Linn County, Oregon
Posts: 48,533
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Quote:
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"Now, to put a water-cooled engine in the rear and to have a radiator in the front, that's not very intelligent." -Ferry Porsche (PANO, Oct. '73) (I, Paul D. have loved this quote since 1973. It will remain as long as I post here.) |
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10-25-2010, 04:47 PM
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Feelin' Solexy
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: WA
Posts: 3,790
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Quote:
BRPORSCHE is right... relying on rope drag works in the gym, and works just fine on real rock as well... until there isn't enough drag on the rope or someone takes a big enough fall and all of a sudden it doesn't work. Then you need new teeth, or you commit the ultimate sin and break "the contract" and drop your buddy. That being said, people get away with this all the time; it's the belay equivalent of not checking the torque on your wheel studs before the DE. It's bad form, but as long as I'm not on the rope I usually don't say anything. BTW, congrats on top roping a 5.10! That's pretty darned hardcore for someone who is new to the sport.
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Grant In the stable: 1938 Buick Special model 41, 1963 Solex 2200, 1973 Vespa Primavera 125, 1974 Vespa Rally 200, 1986 VW Vanagon Syncro Westfalia, 1989 VW Doka Tristar, 2011 Pursuit 315 OS, 2022 Tesla Y Gone but not forgotten: 1973 VW Beetle, 1989 Porsche 944, 2008 R56 Mini Cooper S Last edited by Tishabet; 10-25-2010 at 07:56 PM.. |
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10-25-2010, 07:51 PM
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Cogito Ergo Sum
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With bolts every 8-10ft a a major fall was highly unlikely... Short of multiple bolts failing there wouldn't have been enough force....I'm not up enough on this to argue it with y'all... But I will say if Morgan was climbing without her tethered then it was safe... He is very safety oriented and knows what he is doing....
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10-25-2010, 07:54 PM
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Cogito Ergo Sum
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I snagged a photo for you guys... This is still the only one from this trip I have seen. I was behind the lens, however I take no credit for the post processing.
This is Morgan climbing the 5.12c known as Maximus. This is one of the many crux moves on the route. 
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11-01-2010, 07:46 PM
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1986 Porsche 944 2.5l
Ducati
1987 Porsche 930 3.3T
1984 Porsche Targa 3.2L
Carrera
