Climbing, and Gambling, and Lions, Oh My!

Time for the weekly update!

It was another fun week here in Vegas.  Last Tuesday Juan & I took his friend ArieAnne, her boyfriend Armando, and her friend Kate out climbing.  They were really good sports, considering it was their first time climbing outside.  We went to the Panty Wall and set up some topropes, which all of them tried their hand at.  ArieAnne emerged with a real battle wound, a 4” rope burn on her arm – some souvenir!  At the end of the day Juan & I got on a couple harder routes on that wall, Totally Clips (5.11a) and Viagra Falls (5.11d), the latter of which was my hardest onsight yet!  Thanks for coming out guys, it was fun to have you!

The gang's all here:  ArieAnne, Armando, me, Kate, & Juan

Wednesday & Thursday we rested, and spent more time than usual on the strip.  Doing what, you might ask?  Well, through internet searches for free things to do in Vegas, we heard about what’s called the TV Research Center at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino.  This place sits you down to watch brand new or existing TV shows, then asks you your opinion about them and gives you coupons for free food and such afterwards!  We were expecting to see some new pilot show, but when we sat down we found ourselves watching The Price is Right!  I always watch that with my grandma, and Juan’s a fan, so it was fun.  To make things better, they invited me back for a women-only focus group about that episode the next day, which paid $50 cash!  You bet I did it.  While we were at the MGM Grand, we spent a while checking out their cool lion habitat, where lions frolicked above our heads and played ball with their trainers.

Ahhhh!!!

 I took a ride on the Las Vegas Monorail (pretty cool, but expensive at $5/ride, and they could learn a few things from Portland's MAX) and met up with Juan who was playing some $1 blackjack at the Sahara.  It was St. Patty's day, and we hoped my luck of the Irish might turn $30 into $300 to pay some of our $1400 car repair bill, but let's just say that didn't exactly happen.  At all.  But it was fun and we enjoyed free White Russians, Piña Colada, Guiness, and Bailey's hot chocolates while he played.  To round out the evening we had some drinks at the M, courtesy of Juan's bro Noe.

The next morning, either due to the previous night's indulgences or the sudden appearance of a lot of pollen, I was feeling quite under the weather.  The mild cold I'd had since visiting St. Louis a few weeks ago seemed to have gotten worse.  But that wasn't gonna stop us from climbing.  Our friends Dave, David, and Isaac had flown in from Portland the night before to climb, so we joined forces and headed out to the Black Corridor and Sweet Pain Wall.  The Black Corridor had some really fun warmups, but quickly got crowded, so we hiked up and over to Sweet Pain.  We did a lot of fun 11's there, such as Glitter Gulch, Slave to the Grind, Sister of Pain, and of course, Sweet Pain, a classic that Juan highly recommended and which I managed to redpoint on my second go!  That night, Juan's mom took us and his sister Michelle out to Souper Salad for dinner, home of some of the best salad and soft serve ever...mmm...

David warming up on Burros Don't Gamble (10c) in the Black Corridor

Me on Sweet Pain (11d)

Saturday, the guys picked us up and we set out to climb at the Gallery and the Wall of Confusion.  I think they brought some of Portland's weather with them, because it was cold and windy and even sprinkled at the end of the day.  I didn't have a super strong day, though I got up the pumpy Yaak Crack (11c) with only one whip, greatly improved from the last time I tried it last October.  Isaac really impressed by onsighting both Yaak Crack and A Day in the Life (also 11c), and David and Dave hardly seemed tired from the previous day's 8-9 pitches, going up a similar number of climbs between the two walls.  Juan tried his hand at the Sissy Traverse (5.13a) for the first time, an intense route that cuts diagonally across the right-hand wall at the Gallery, and even after that and putting up Fear & Loathing (12a) for the rest of us, went up a 12b called Promises in the Dark.

Juan huddled in the rope tarp for warmth

 That pretty much brings you up to speed!  This week, I'm taking off to Costa Rica with my dad, sisters, brother, and niece, and Juan's heading up to Portland in a few days for Scott & Holly's wedding (I'm sure he'll see a lot of you!  And congrats to the happy couple!!!), and we are both super excited.  I hope you all are doing great and for those of you on spring break, have a ton of fun!

Hasta la pasta,
Marie