One of the best parts of our annual sojourn to the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell – aside from seeing all the Oklahomies, climbing bullet sandstone, and partying with the goats – is getting to hang with the Patagonia crew. Kristo always rounds up a solid group: last year it was Sonnie Trotter, Jonathan Thesenga, and Brittany Griffith; this year it was Brittany, Kate Rutherford, Colin Haley, and Mikey Schaeffer. You’d be hard pressed to find a radder, more laid-back group of athletes (well except maybe the TNF gang, tough call).
Anywho, the ‘Gonia folks were good enough to piece together an entry about the week for Patagonia’s blog The Cleanest Line, and they even gave a little shout out. Check it:
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!
Saturday will mark the 4th annual 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell, a 24 hour climbing competition started by some friends of mine a few years ago. Basically you climb for 24 hours straight, trying to do as many single pitch routes as possible without sleeping and taking as little breaks as possible. Its rad. Last year my partner and I did decent, we’ll see if the new partner and I can improve upon last year’s performance.
Like anything its important to get the lay of the land ahead of time, get comfortable, and connect with your surroundings. To that end I’m heading out this morning; I decided that the first three weeks back to Gtown have been rough and a week off was in order. It’s also a great opportunity for the Oklahoma boys to reunite, pour one out, and get a little crazy.
Not only does Horseshoe Canyon Ranch offer the beauty of backwoods Arkansas, the local flavor ain’t bad either. Spots like the Ozark Cafe still serve up a hearty $3 breakfast special, and you never know what you might find at a local yard sale.
So saddle up your climbin shoes, grab a few draws, and come join us at the Ranch!
That’s what these aspiring filmmakers are calling themselves, strange as it may be. Nonetheless, they were at the 24 Hours of Horseshoe climbing competition with some video cameras, generator, and work lights. Here’s a little trailer they’ve put up.
Well, the results from the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell are in, as well as some awesome photos (courtesy of Lucas Marshall)! The new software Andy used was able to do some crazy things with the numbers off our scorecards; not only can you view a straight up ranking of winners, it shows average routes per hour, average points per route, etc.
White People Can’t Dance pulled off a top 10 finish, which I’m pretty psyched about considering that a) we are not professionals, and b) had not climbed at Horseshoe in years.
Many props go out to Big Andy, Lucas, Sonnie, BAG, Kristo, JT, and all the Oklahoma Boys who have spread ourselves around the country but managed to coalesce for one glorious weekend!
The last couple of days here at the Ranch have been a blast! The Oklahoma Crew is all back together for the first time in years (a few stragglers are rolling in tonight). We’ve spent the last few days wandering the sandstone cliffs with the Patagonia boys and girl, getting a feel for the place in anticipation of the comp tomorrow.
Life is good here in Arkansas. Greasy spoon breakfasts, solid sandstone, and good old (and new) friends – does it get much better?
While most of us have been wandering around trying to get a sampling of all the different cliff lines, Andrew, Adam, and Sonnie got psyched on The Prophet; a 5.14a that Chris Sharma put up in one day while he was here a few years back developing the bouldering (the same trip featured in Dosage III). They’ve made some really solid progress, and while Adam and Andrew will have plenty of time to try it Saturday and Sunday since they’re not competing, Sonnie has even mentioned giving it a few goes during the comp on Saturday!
It’s about time to go snag my spot in line for the free pasta dinner and Fat Tire, then hit the hay and rest up before the gun goes off at 10 AM tomorrow morning. Get psyched!
This coming weekend marks the 3rd Annual 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell! Originally conceived under the influence of significant libation as a personal challenge among a few Okies, 24HHH is a different kind of climbing competition. Competitors team up with a patner, line up at the starting line Saturday morning at 10 AM, and have until 10 AM on Sunday to complete as many routes as possible.
At this point, I know what you’re asking, and the answer is: yes. I’m flying out tomorrow to hang and climb with some of the boys prior to the comp, and come Saturday I will be teaming up with the magic Columbian (hopefully) to form Team White People Can’t Dance. We haven’t worked out a strategy, but I’m thinking something complex like: sleep = bad, GU = awesome.
One of the best parts of our annual sojourn to the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell – aside from seeing all the Oklahomies, climbing bullet sandstone, and partying with the goats – is getting to hang with the Patagonia crew. Kristo always rounds up a solid group: last year it was Sonnie Trotter, Jonathan Thesenga, and Brittany Griffith; this year it was Brittany, Kate Rutherford, Colin Haley, and Mikey Schaeffer. You’d be hard pressed to find a radder, more laid-back group of athletes (well except maybe the TNF gang, tough call).
This coming weekend marks the 
