Airing it out on Filthy Sanchez (5.11ish), a beautiful Arete at the Ranch. Photo courtesy Lucas Marshall.
That title is far too negative sounding, but I’m not the one who decided to name the event “24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell” rather than “A Full Day of Horseshoe Heaven.” Big Andy made that call, so I’ll just adopt his preferred nomenclature.
It would be equal parts impossible and boring to recount the entire week, so I’ll save everyone the trouble of skipping over a long post. Needless to say, we had ourselves a good ole time in them thar hills. The Ozark Mountains. Arkansas. God’s country.
The week at the Ranch leading up to the comp held plenty of climbing, partying, mullets, and $3 breakfast specials. As always Kristo and his crew of Patagonia athletes were a blast to hang out with, although it was too bad the Canuck couldn’t make it this year.
The comp itself was incredible. Les and I – “The Shawtay Slayas” – held our own and came in at 6th place. We had decided to try and climb for quality rather than quantity, so the vast majority of our 57 pitches apiece were 5.10 to 5.12. We even sent a 5.12 (albeit a very easy one) on hour 23!
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