LV->CO

It was not easy to leave Las Vegas.. I totally fell in love with the place - the community is welcoming, psyched and playful. The climbing in every direction is diverse, difficult and interesting. The lifestyle is fast and energetic and of course, the nightlife is unparalleled. Maybe it's the pace of life there, but I feel like I lived a lot of life in just two and a half months. I'll never forgot my time there, and I'll definitely be back.

The last week has been full throttle as I tried to wrap up my trip in Vegas alongside working long days for Eldorado Walls setting routes at a new Lifetime Fitness facility just a few miles from Red Rock Canyon. With the help of a rad Eldo Walls crew and some towering lifts, myself and fellow BRC route setter Brent (NG) set over 40 routes in a couple days on 35-50ft walls. It was intense labor but it provided a much needed money making opportunity and as always, I love setting routes and dig the reward of climbing your own creation.

I wish I'd had more time to climb but I was only able to manage two days out in the final week of my Vegas vacation. The first day Marisa and I checked out the burly and thrilling 'Rock Warrior' 5.10 R/X on the Black Velvet wall in Red Rock. I'm kind of into runouts, but after some difficult route finding on pitch one I found myself in the no-fall zone on some 5.11, dozens of feet above a lone bolt.. the route eased off (after we were actually on the route), but the mega run outs continued as we crept up this immaculate slab of sandstone. It was awesome!

I also got one last day out sport climbing, and it ended up being a repeat day at the Secret 13 wall due to time constraints. I fired repeats on 'Go 100' 13b, 'You Are What You Is' 13b, 'Where is My Mind' 13c and I also re-opened 'Yoshimi Battles' 13d: after sending the route earlier in the month, I went back to shoot photos with Andy Mann and unfortunately broke off the best and biggest hold right in the crux of the route. I didn't have time to try it again that day, but last week I made use of a rattly finger lock instead of the broken mini-jug and fired the repeat. Originally I thought it may make the route 5.14, but I think I'll stick with hard 13d. Regardless, it's free again, and rad!

Now I'm back in Boulder, enjoying the awesome food, access to these amazing mountains, friends and family that will always draw me back to this place. I'll be hanging around here for a month or so setting routes at the BRC and training before hitting the road again. My trip to Vegas was super inspirational in that it really helped me get a handle on what I want to do with my life and these opportunities that lay before me. I'm cooking up some big plans and preparing for some serious change... stay tuned.