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BoulderingFilmTrip Journal

We’ve Got Video

By March 16, 2012January 30th, 20144 Comments

Fantasizing about going on a road trip across the country was easy. Planning for the road trip and getting ourselves to Hueco Tanks, Texas (our first stop) proved to be much more difficult. We knew it would be a lot of work, and we knew that we had to plan for the unexpected. We thought we knew a lot. Reality check: Byron, Spenser and I knew nothing…but we sure are learning!

Spenser praying to the gods for colder temps

The original plan was to have our first video dose to come out after about 2 weeks on the road…we quickly realized this was unrealistic. Before even starting off on the road, nothing went as planned (see: Blog Post #1). Having Neal, Matt, Daniel and Zack staying with us in Hueco was amazing, but it did not allow us any free time to start editing our first video. Oh yea, and we also wanted to climb. That does happen to be the top reason we decided to venture on this road trip.

After the Hueco Rock Rodeo, things around here calmed down and we were finally able to get organized and establish a proper work flow. The Hueco Rock Ranch doesn’t exactly cater to business travelers, and is lacking in certain amenities that we need to make our blog and video goals into reality. We ended up buying a generator so that we can have juice to power our trailer (the solar panels installed by Byron’s cousin, James, are amazing, but sadly not enough to power all of the equipment we use). We also had to figure out our climbing/work schedule…each of us have other responsibilities in addition to being climbing bums. Byron has weekly schoolwork he needs to get done, I still pick up organ donation shifts to make ends meet, and Spenser is trying to make some money on the road by using those magic hands of his (ahem, massage therapy).

We were finally able to start the process of pouring through all our footage for the first video on Monday, March 4th. It was a formidable task as we had more footage than we knew what to do with. One of Byron’s dreams has been to film everything. Well, he accomplished this…but we needed to figure out what to do with all this footage. Not to mention, how to make it watchable and interesting for you all. As you will see, a LOT happened during out journey to get to Hueco Tanks. We hope you enjoy this first installment and are looking forward to bringing you more regular videos that will include much more of what we have been to chasing all the way to Hueco Tanks: climbing.

Figuring out our poses for The RV Project Facebook photo.

Since the season here in Hueco is winding down, we have had to say goodbye to quite a few good people recently (including our close friend Courtney Miyamoto). This also means that the park is running extremely low on guides, which makes back country access more difficult (and expensive) and, on top of that, it is currently Spring Break, which means crowds and intense competition for the limited spots on North Mountain. We’ve met a lot of great campers that climb way beyond their years, but let’s just say they leave us feeling a bit old. Nonetheless, Spenser took advantage of the crowded situation and made a good amount of cash dishing out massages to the Spring Breakers this past Wednesday night.

Courtney crushing Girls of Texas (v5)

We were also pleasantly surprised to meet some fierce climbers visiting from Colorado, who are looking to take on Hueco Tanks’ most vicious crack climbs: Justin Edl, Brad Jackson, Chris Van Leuven, and Adam Papilion. Our next video will include an awesome roof crack FA on North Mountain by Justin and, hopefully, more from these badasses. Watching these guys climb has reinforced the meaning of climbing with true grit.

In other news, we have our very first sponsor! Yes, we are legitimate…at least Primo Chalk seems to think so 😉 After trying out their chalk, we think it’s the best and are stoked to be able to join forces with them. Check out our Sponsors page for a breakdown of why we love Primo Chalk and take a look at their website to learn more about the company and their great product. Thank you so much to Angela and the entire Primo Chalk team for their support!!

Lastly, our Facebook page is hot off the presses. You know the deal, hit like for updates and let us know what you think!

Enjoy!

4 Comments

  • rebecca mayne says:

    i loved being able to see it all in video…i didn’t really get how disastrous the car situation was. my lorred.
    but the video is great, byron, and it was great to laugh at some of Spencer’s quintessential reactions when he was frustrated. Vik, hope you’re feeling better!
    You’re all looking strong with the little climbing footage I saw. My fave part has to be the man that towed you…it’s good to know there’s still some good ol’ country hospitality and that people have time for one another!
    Anyway, stoked on it all and for y’all.

  • finchplucker says:

    Hey B, thanks for the kind words! It was quite a tale of vehicle woe, and we didn’t even include the stop in Palm Springs. Anyway, we made thanks to Carroll, who is by far the hero of the trip. Or, at least, the best story!

    New video (mostly climbing this time) is on the way!

  • Nick Harris says:

    Great video and glad you’ve soldiered through numerous obstacles! Your poor vehicles lol. Best of luck with your rides and I look forward to seeing all the places you climb (and trying my hardest to live vicariously!).

    • victoriag13 says:

      Hey Nick, great to hear from you! Thank you for the wishes…we definitely hope to have a smooth ride from now on, but certainly do not expect it 🙂 Hope you’re still crushing back in the Bay!

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