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gilfy
Nov 26, 2004, 10:48 PM
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My friends and i are going to be going to Hueco Tanks this winter, and we only have sport gear.
I was wondering, are there many sport climbs at Hueco, (we climb 5.8 to 5.10) and do we have to register or anything to climb. Like i said we don't know much about the area. Any sugestions would be really helpful.
thanks
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granite_grrl
Nov 27, 2004, 1:09 PM
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Hueco has more bouldering than anything else (and what fine bouldering it is!). I guess there are bolts on some routes there, but are old and sketchy. I personaly have never done any of the routes there, maybe someone who has could give a better idea of what the pro is like.
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washufinku
Nov 27, 2004, 1:31 PM
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There is also a sport crag on the other side of El Paso that is surprisingly good, for a day or two. Franklin Mountain State Park.
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lordjim
Nov 27, 2004, 2:46 PM
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Bite the bullet and each of you get a pad. One small (old model dropzone on the cheap) and one large (say the size of a misty magnum). Then once you've seen how much fun bouldering is you can sell your sport rack here.
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climbhoser
Nov 27, 2004, 4:40 PM
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All you rope-less weenies don't know a thing about history! Hueco was found during the roped climbing golden age, and was a worthy destination then...so there must be some roped climbing right?
RIGHT. First off, you do need to have a reservation (or be willing to chance not having one) and pay fifteen bucks to get in. The roped climbing is all on North Mountain, and can be found above the Mushroom Boulder. There was a mini-guide printed in either R&I or Climbing a few years back that detailed just about every good route there. The routes are just as phenomenal as the bouldering, but are, of course, a lot less. If you're into trad, that's what's best. There is some sport, however, but I don't know as much about it, and can't say how new the bolts are or how adventurous it is...just that it's Hueco climbing at it's best on that awesome mottled, pocketed, syenite porphyry that we all know and love. If you need more specific directions on how to find the wall I speak of, just PM me.
Peas
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climbhoser
Nov 27, 2004, 4:40 PM
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All you rope-less weenies don't know a thing about history! Hueco was found during the roped climbing golden age, and was a worthy destination then...so there must be some roped climbing right?
RIGHT. First off, you do need to have a reservation (or be willing to chance not having one) and pay fifteen bucks to get in. The roped climbing is all on North Mountain, and can be found above the Mushroom Boulder. There was a mini-guide printed in either R&I or Climbing a few years back that detailed just about every good route there. The routes are just as phenomenal as the bouldering, but are, of course, a lot less. If you're into trad, that's what's best. There is some sport, however, but I don't know as much about it, and can't say how new the bolts are or how adventurous it is...just that it's Hueco climbing at it's best on that awesome mottled, pocketed, syenite porphyry that we all know and love. If you need more specific directions on how to find the wall I speak of, just PM me.
Peas
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colqueerio
Nov 27, 2004, 6:18 PM
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I'm with climbhoser. Mike and Dave Head, Fred Nakovic, James Crump, all those guys, put up a truckload of great routes on the Front Side and all around the Park in the 1980s. All the Front Side routes are accessible without a guided tour, the bolts *aren't* old and sketchy (Mike Head retro-fitted the routes, with the park's permission, in the late 1980s/early 1990s), and some of the best all-bolt, or pseudo-mixed 5.10s and 5.11s and 5.12-s are on those walls--1 to 3 pitches. The routes used to have sketch bolts, now they don't.
For bolt-only: Fox Tower (both routes) is excellent. Sea of Holes is excellent. The list goes on. Get Sherman's guidebook and check it out. Most of the pitches are long, so plan on dragging a trail line to rap or topping out. Long, sustained pitches on good holds on steep walls. What more could you ask for? Some of the routes are dangerous, but they almost always have an R rating attached to them. You can usually tell from the ground what you're getting into.
Yeah, the bouldering is great, too, but originally, it was a sideshow to the routes at Hueco, which are some of the best in the world when you could access all of them. All you beanie-headed pad-toters need to take the knit caps off and listen to that air whistling through the empty void between your ears--and learn some godamn history. Some of America's best hard sport routes went up at Hueco way back when--Tarts of Horsham, When Legends Die, etc. We used to go down to the park with ropes and go bouldering--both in the same day. What a concept.
PM me if you want a more complete route list.
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gilfy
Nov 28, 2004, 1:21 AM
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Hey guys thanks for all the advise and info, it helps alot. We're planning on staying down there for about a week, is that 15 dollars a flat fee or daily, we're all pretty poor. So we can't afford 15 dollars every day.
Thanks again for all the advise.
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granite_grrl
Nov 30, 2004, 4:01 PM
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In reply to: Hey guys thanks for all the advise and info, it helps alot. We're planning on staying down there for about a week, is that 15 dollars a flat fee or daily, we're all pretty poor. So we can't afford 15 dollars every day. Thanks again for all the advise.
It's $4 to get into the park every day, $5 if you camp at the rock ranch ($4 if you're there for 2 weeks plus), I knew some people who were camping for free in the dessert (can't confirm the legality of this). The other option for park entrace fees is to get a pass. I think it's something like $50, and it's good for everyone in your car.
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andy_reagan
Nov 30, 2004, 8:06 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: Hey guys thanks for all the advise and info, it helps alot. We're planning on staying down there for about a week, is that 15 dollars a flat fee or daily, we're all pretty poor. So we can't afford 15 dollars every day. Thanks again for all the advise. It's $4 to get into the park every day, $5 if you camp at the rock ranch ($4 if you're there for 2 weeks plus), I knew some people who were camping for free in the dessert (can't confirm the legality of this). The other option for park entrace fees is to get a pass. I think it's something like $50, and it's good for everyone in your car.
Everybody in your car? So if I cram 10 people in my truck we all get in free if one person has a pass? That sounds odd. I'm going to try to find a buddy at the Rock Ranch with a pass, then, I guess. :lol:
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cchildre
Nov 30, 2004, 8:13 PM
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Sea of Holes.
First bolt is like 45 feet off the deck though.
Not been on this route but yet but I hear it is awesome. Only been there to boulder once and had some fun. My mouth was watering watching a few crews work up that front face as I worked a few problems wishing I had brought the rope.
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fracture
Nov 30, 2004, 8:42 PM
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In reply to: Sea of Holes is excellent.
All bolts for pro does not a sport route make.
In reply to: Some of the routes are dangerous, but they almost always have an R rating attached to them.
The first pitch of Sea of Holes is 3 bolts in 140 feet. In Sherman's book, that doesn't seem to warrant an R rating.
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granite_grrl
Nov 30, 2004, 8:54 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: In reply to: Hey guys thanks for all the advise and info, it helps alot. We're planning on staying down there for about a week, is that 15 dollars a flat fee or daily, we're all pretty poor. So we can't afford 15 dollars every day. Thanks again for all the advise. It's $4 to get into the park every day, $5 if you camp at the rock ranch ($4 if you're there for 2 weeks plus), I knew some people who were camping for free in the dessert (can't confirm the legality of this). The other option for park entrace fees is to get a pass. I think it's something like $50, and it's good for everyone in your car. Everybody in your car? So if I cram 10 people in my truck we all get in free if one person has a pass? That sounds odd. I'm going to try to find a buddy at the Rock Ranch with a pass, then, I guess. :lol:
Probably has restrictions about how many people max, I don't think we ever had more than 3 with us. So go ahead, find your buddy at the Rock Ranch, maybe offer them a beer (you don't want to be a complete mooch do you?) and have at 'er!
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madmax
Nov 30, 2004, 8:54 PM
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Ahh, Sea of Holes, the quintessential "sport route" in Hueco. Yup, that first bolt sure is ways up; you'd certainly take a nasty digger down the twenty five feet of slab if you botched the last moves to the first bolt. :wink: Don't worry, it's not that bad (faint of heart, however, need not apply). After that there are some runouts--three bolts in the first 140 feet and four in the next 100--but the bolts are just where you need them and the climbing give you a sh@t eating grin the whole way. Consider that Mike Head onsight freesoloed the first ascent of it.
As colqueerio so elequently said it, In reply to: All you beanie-headed pad-toters need to take the knit caps off and listen to that air whistling through the empty void between your ears--and learn some godamn history. |
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jcinco
Nov 30, 2004, 9:12 PM
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Indecent Exposure, Malice in Bucketland, and Sea of Holes come to mind as great routes. I would imagine the fixed gear on many of the routes away from the Front side is in need of replacement, which ain't gonna happen in the modern Hueco era.
In reply to: Yeah, the bouldering is great, too, but originally, it was a sideshow to the routes at Hueco, which are some of the best in the world when you could access all of them. All you beanie-headed pad-toters need to take the knit caps off and listen to that air whistling through the empty void between your ears--and learn some godamn history. Some of America's best hard sport routes went up at Hueco way back when--Tarts of Horsham, When Legends Die, etc. We used to go down to the park with ropes and go bouldering--both in the same day. What a concept.
The roped climbing at Hueco is quite nice. But so is the bouldering at Yosemite.
Having spent a lot of time bouldering at Hueco and having climbed many of the Front Side trad and sport lines, Hueco is the only place I've ever climbed where I could say the following:
Climbing on a rope at Hueco is like whacking off in a whore-house.
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cchildre
Dec 1, 2004, 6:15 PM
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In reply to: Climbing on a rope at Hueco is like whacking off in a whore-house.
No not for this old man!
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gilfy
Dec 2, 2004, 1:35 AM
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terrifying
:shock:
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mikeehartley
Dec 2, 2004, 4:31 AM
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I thought Sea of Holes was one of the least enjoyable routes I did at Hueco. Great postion but mostly runnout repetitive moves. Here are some others that I thought were much better:
Fox Trot (10a). Huge, easy huecos to nice stem corner crux.
Head Fox (10b/c) -sustained and exciting.
Alice in Banana Land (10a) - big fun!
Window Pane (10b). Mostly steep, tricky climbing on big holds.
Hueco Syndrome (10-). Great, technical varied edging.
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gilfy
Dec 2, 2004, 4:44 AM
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ok so i just got word of some news, Hueco is booked the entire time we will be on this trip, any other southern destinations that are warm that you might suggest?
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alpnclmbr1
Dec 2, 2004, 4:49 AM
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There is a first come first served allotment of people let in each day.
The front wall doesn't require a guide or reservation.
You can camp outside the park. (pay)
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colqueerio
Dec 2, 2004, 4:18 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: Sea of Holes is excellent. All bolts for pro does not a sport route make. In reply to: Some of the routes are dangerous, but they almost always have an R rating attached to them. The first pitch of Sea of Holes is 3 bolts in 140 feet. In Sherman's book, that doesn't seem to warrant an R rating.
True enough--Sea of Holes, at least getting to that first bolt, is very R. No sandbag intended. It's been a while since I've done these routes.
As for the "whacking off in a whorehouse" analogy -- not yours, I know Fracture -- I'd say this falls flat. I cut my teeth on the sport, trad and mixed routes of Hueco, and after climbing all over the world for 18 years, I still consider these some of the finest pitches anywhere. I'm not discounting the bouldering at all--I've probably spent 70 percent of my time at Hueco bouldering, but these routes, when the park was entirely open to unguided climbing, made for a stellar experience. Lines like Stardust, Tarts, Max Headroom, Optical Promise, Legends, Dungeons and Dragons, Pazuzu, Tiny Rubber Love, Pigs to Pork, Secret Sharer, Walking Spanish down the Hall, Sun King, etc. are pretty much unbeatable. You can't experience them now the way you once could, but that doesn't mean they've suddenly disappeared or fallen into crumbling heaps of dust at the base of the boulderfields. There is a real legacy of good, hard roped climbing at Hueco that, IMHO, should never be forgotten.
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matttracyg
Dec 2, 2004, 5:04 PM
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In reply to: Here are some others that I thought were much better: Fox Trot (10a). Huge, easy huecos to nice stem corner crux. Head Fox (10b/c) -sustained and exciting. Alice in Banana Land (10a) - big fun! Window Pane (10b). Mostly steep, tricky climbing on big holds. Hueco Syndrome (10-). Great, technical varied edging.
I agree! Those are stellar routes. Adding trad would open up a lot more options as well. I went to Hueco back in 1995 and was freaked out by all the people there at Pete's, but my buddy assured me that they were almost all boulderers. Good for us because we did almost all routes.
Does anyone know if Pete's still in operation?
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