Hueco Tanks Bouldering! - Day 2 North Mountain.

Before we talk about all the fun goodies of day 2 of climbing here is some helpful info. Apparently on weekdays it is not too hard to get into North Mountain even without a reservation. All you have to do is come early in the morning, preferably around 8am, and check in. Apparently the reason why it's easy to get in on the weekday is because many locals reserve a North Mountain pass even if they are working that day. It is their, "Just in case I don't go to work..." reservation. So even if you don't have a reservation definitely go check in at the office. Now, on with the show.

the name escapes me at the moment... Let's just call it the fun warm up crack for now...

Day 2 I finally moved up to the upper levels of North Mountain. This area is accessed by climbing up the chains. Once you get up the 2nd set of chains you will see a boulder with a big crack. This boulder is a great warm up spot. It is in the sun so it works great during those chilly mornings.

Animated gif!

Entrance to the Gymnasium. No, seriously.

The next spot I checked out was the Gymnasium. The Gymnasium is accessed by scrambling though a narrow canyon. It is very annoying to get to this place with bulky crash pads but it can be worth it. 

 This place has some fun easy climbs but the top out on many of these problems can be a bit tricky and sketchy. The landing is great though so don't be afraid to just try the problem even if you don't top it out. The Gymnasium does not get much sun so it is a bit chilly but if you climb up the rocks opposite of the gymnasium it's easy to find a warm sunny spot.

Not too far from the gymnasium is a V3 called the 100 Proof Roof. I highly recommend this climb, especially when there are gazillions of pads down as you can see in my picture below.

100 Proof Roof V3

The crux is the top out over the roof. If you have the strength and the stamina you can add 4~5 more moves and do the Mexican Chicken V6. Just remember that you need to save some juice for the last few moves.

Next was the "V2 must" known as the Nobody Here Gets Out Alive. It was a fun climb and a climb probably unique to Hueco Tanks. The holds are fairly juggy and the movements are fun. There are two accepted starts. One is the standard sit start and the other is the "bat hang" start. The bat hang start is easier but definitely more fun. You start with both your feet in the Hueco and do an inverted crunch to start off the climb.

Nobody Here Gets Out Alive V2 - Bat Hang start

Next on the list was the juggy, pumpy, tall, crux at the end V2 climb called Ghetto Simulator. This climb is isolated from most of the other climbs and you do need to do some amount of hiking to access it. If you aren't too crunched for time it is well worth the hike. 

 At the start of the climb...

1/3 of the way...

2/3 of the way...

Just past the crux!

 As you can see the danger factor is slightly lessened by the rock where all the crash pads are placed. As long as you drop your feet first and don't let you hands pop off the holds you should be safe. Let's not even think what would happen if the hands slipped... Also I would highly recommend a crash pad and a spotter towards the top. I'm just glad I got it on the first go because I'd probably be too pumped out to get a 2nd go without a lot of resting in between.

There was one more problem that I tried and was so close to getting... The Adjust Your Attitude V4. I know climbers always seem to have an excuse and I'm no exception. I believe if I did it earlier during the day when I was fresher I think I could have done it. The under cling moves are fun but the top out is as people like to say "spicy". Even though I didn't finish the climb it was a blast working it. Hopefully I'll send the climb before I leave Hueco Tanks. All in all a great day of climbing :o)