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A Farewell to
Hueco: Another Climbing Area Is Gone
by Ben Tiffany
Bouldering means different things to different people. For some, it’s a
way to build power. For others, it’s all about quiet time along. I
don’t climb much anymore. But when I did, it was all about not wanting
to work.
After college, I spent a year living out of the back of my truck,
traveling around the West, climbing wherever could. After five months
of wandering, I saw that winter was coming on. So I followed some
hippies down to Texas to check out the world-class bouldering
at Hueco
Tanks State Park. I brought enough food to stay for a week and ended up
staying six months.
The Tanks was perfect for me. Back in Montana, my friends had become
too interested in pursuing careers or showing up to class. It became
difficult to find partners willing to hang around the crags all day and
eat out of dumpsters at night. The Tanks was different. The climbing
community consisted of a group of tents in a sand parking lot beside
Pete’s restaurant/grocery store. But it was more than that. It was an
international sub-culture bent on drinking beer and killing time…oh,
yeah…and bouldering. Sure, pros would pass through. And some amateurs
took it very seriously. But most of us were just looking for another
diversion, another way to put off life. And the stunning beauty of the
park made our home a paradise.
Unfortunately, that sub-culture has all but disappeared. Because user
impact had become too great, the winter crowd has been forced to
shuffle on, to find something better to do. The rangers needed to
protect ancient rock art. And they had their hands full keeping El Paso
kids from spraying artwork of their own. Picnickers weren’t’ big on
using trashcans. Climbers were occasionally caught climbing near rock
art. And chiseling (chipping) holds on classic boulder problems was not
unheard of either. One problem on the famous 45-degree wall was
chiseled by a couple of fools who wanted a more user-friendly handhold.
We ran them out of town.
But that wasn’t enough. Most of the park has been closed to bouldering
and climbing because the pressure was simply too much for the park
rangers to handle. So a winter-climbing Mecca is not out of reach.
Hueco Tanks isn’t the only are being taken away from the climbing
public. Little Cottonwood Canyon has some world-class climbing and
bouldering. But unlike Hueco, the powers that be aren’t shutting us out
to protect the resources. The powers that be are actually removing the
resources. The LDS Church has re-opened the quarry in the Gate Buttress
area and is dragging the granite away to build and assembly hall
downtown. Worse yet, there are new unconfirmed reports that the granite
isn’t even being kept intact. It is being crushed and mixed to form
granite blocks. Meanwhile, 75 percent of the granite needed for the
project is being trucked to Salt Lake from Pennsylvania. Makes you
wonder why the church didn’t just truck 100 percent of the granite from
Pennsylvania. But that’s Utah. Our boulders will serve a “higher”
purpose.
In this issue, Mike Beck touches on the Little Cottonwood dilemma in
his article, “The Roots of Bouldering.” He not only provides a history
of our sport, he describes how our own Little Cottonwood Canyon fits
in. he’ll even let you know how you can help keep its boulders intact.
We have a bouldering product review and a guide to bouldering in the
little know area of Joe’s Valley. Plus, this is the debut of the
Training and Fitness and Travel
Departments.
I guess next month’s offering could be called the water sports / beat
the heat issue. Count on a high altitude mountain biking article and
I’ll throw in my two cents on fly-fishing the High Uintah lakes.
Natalie Bartley weighs in on the much celebrated “Eskimo roll.” And
there’s plenty more. Much of it offensive, I’m sure. Enjoy.
...more Ben Tiffany articles here
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