Mo' Moe's...

Today marks our last day in Moe's Valley before we take off to develop a crack addiction in Indian Creek, Ut.  As with every place this "vantasy" has taken us to, we are feeling mixed emotions about leaving.  Moe's has been  quite enjoyable and it is hard to leave new projects behind.  The soft sandstone here provides our hands with"retirement climbing" that is unavailable in the multitude of other "vantasy" destinations.  In fact, the ONLY complaint I have about our time in Moe's is the heat.  Despite suggestions to climb in the morning/evening only, we attempted to defeat the heat and climb in the middle of the day which left us sweltering.  We have learned our lesson and have been strategically avoiding the heat by waking up late, going to Starbucks until mid-afternoon, and then climbing till sundown or into the night.  Last night was our first real night session and was a great success!  Mike and I both climbed "Is-rail Direct, V8" Mike's first of the grade!  Congrats buddy!!!!  Mike has managed to levitate himself up the ladder of climbing grades, climbing his first V7 & V8 in the same week.  I think I am more psyched for him than he is.

"Linders Roof" V9/10

Last night I tried to finish my 2 projects in Moe's Valley, "Linders Roof" and "Gription," but was unable to link all the moves in either of them.  Nathan Bancroft's new flic "Reach" uncovers what failure means in climbing.  Failure is just part of the process in climbing and it is the 1% of times when you succeed that makes it all worth it.  Failure is a necessary and unavoidable stepping stone in climbing that leads to success.  It is super frustrating leaving Moe's knowing I was so close to sending both of these problems, but in the end it is not truly "failure" because I can always come back and try again.  Although I didn't climb my 2 projects, we did have the chance to climb a TON of other classic problems.  The sandstone slopers seem to be the highlight of many of these problems and require a different technique than any other climbing we have been exposed to.  It is a good feeling to watch yourself progress as a climber and Moe's has lent itself to progression for both of us, as is evident in Mike's huge advancements.  Another interesting aspect of the sandstone here is the random assortment of fossils that is embedded in the stone. For instance this huge chunk of petrified wood is found on the starting hold of "Linders Roof."

Mikes project "Riploid"

We are going to climb one more time this afternoon and then hit the road.  Some friends of ours are in Indian Creek and are willing (hopefully) to show us how to trad climb.  We will spend a few days there and then will be meeting my dad and some of his friends in Moab.  I can't wait to take a shower in the condo after having to covertly give myself baby-wipe showers in the Starbucks bathroom for the past 2 weeks.  From there we will be going to the sandstone mecca of Joe's Valley outside of Orangeville, Utah.  I cannot wait to climb there.  The elevation is higher than Moe's and should yield some cooler temps.  For those of you that don't know, the reason we are constantly trying to avoid the heat is not necessarily because of its effect on us, but rather the rock.  The heat makes the layers and layers of dirtbag hand grease from decades of climbers on the same routes much more apparent.  No fun...

Oh ya.  I have spent hours working on a video of some Moe's Valley climbing and it should finally be posted in the next few days.  Unfortunately it is hard to find a place to upload an HD video without the internet going out, or us getting kicked out before it is done!  Still working on it.

Cheers,
Thomas