For the past 8 years I've competed in 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Every year, I've tried to up the ante by doing more routes, getting more points, or just improving my score. But this year caught me an my partner David Carpenter in a tough spot. David and his wife had just had their second baby in early September, I had had just closed on a new house and moved the weekend before Hell. So needless to say, we were not as prepared as we would normally be. So we put any plans for big numbers, and multiple routes on the back burner and set our sights on another goal that had never been done. Our mission was to climb at least one route in every section of the ranch, at the same time not repeating any routes as is allowed in the rules. And since we didn't really care about how we did, we dubbed ourselves "Team Honey Badger."
But being the glutton for punishment that I am, I also decided to compete in the 12 hour competition the day before 24 HHH. And since David Carpenter had to work that day, I hooked up with David Harrison who was in need of partner as well. Harrison and I talked strategy on the drive to HCR and quickly agreed on one that worked for both of us. He wanted to go for 100 routes in 12 hours, and I just wanted to be there climbing. So I spent the day catching Harrison on 105 routes and slipping 14 pitches of my own while he rested. It was a great low stress day with very little crowd and a good chill vibe. A great warm-up for the main event 24HHH.
Friday dawned bright and sunny and I was still feeling fresh from the previous days climbing. We geared up and got started with the shot gun blast. It was fun to not be in such a rush and head to new areas that we don't usually see during 24. We started off at Magoo Rock and the quickly made our way to Orange Crush picking up a few open routes along the way. Orange Crush is the tallest pitch at HCR clocking in at 90 feet and 14 bolts. After knocking off this end of the horseshoe, we headed north and picked up a climb at every section all the way to the Goat Cave. This was a fun part of the day because we spent several hours climbing by ourselves in the areas that seldom see much traffic during the competition.
We made it to the Goat Cave just in time to enjoy the hottest part of the day with little to no shade. It was my first time to visit the Goat Cave which is home to a large roof and several intimidating climbs. So after watching David string up a good 5.10c, I soaked up all of the beta I could I flashed it in the blazing sun, and was glad to be done with half of the horseshoe.
From the Goat Cave at the top of the horseshoe, we continued southwestward toward the Land Beyond, the North 40, and most of the competitors. Much as we expected, the North 40 was pretty busy already, so we breezed through quickly and continued on our grand tour. We accomplished our goal of visiting every area by 10 p.m., only 12 hours into the comp. We tagged 21 different areas, logged over fifty climbs each, and hiked countless miles! But along the way we got see lots of old and new friends, drink some beer, and have plenty of fun. I can't wait to see what the 9th annual 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell has to offer next year!
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