24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell

I've been meaning to post these photos since last fall.  

Cassy and I entered a 24-hour climbing competition in September.  The object of the comp is to lead as many climbs as possible in 24 hours.  Bonus points are given for teams who climb at least one route every hour, which encourages everyone to stay up all night climbing.

Cassy kicked some serious ass in this competition.  Her goal was to lead 24 climbs--one for each hour.  She actually led 50 routes, which earned her 2nd place overall (dudes and chicks included) in the recreational category.  Also of note was her migraine headache at Hour 4.  She belayed me with her eyes closed while hoping the migraine medicine would kick in.  When it didn't, she puked behind a rock, tied in, and led another route.  I was shocked.

Together we led 145ish total routes.  For comparison, we usually climb 4-6 routes on a normal climbing day in Oklahoma.  We had no idea we were capable of this kind of thing before the competition.

The first few photos were taken the weekend before the comp, when Cassy demanded we make the 7-hour-each-way drive to scope out the climbs she could lead.

Cassy on the sharp end

The ranch employs several goat dogs to protect the herd.  It's hard to appreciate how big the dogs are until you realize they could swallow you in one bite.

Eric sends 5.11.

Cassy in training.  She led this again the next week during the comp in the middle of the night and nearly fell off right below the anchors, but she stuck it.

Pre-shotgun start.  There's energy in the air.

A small portion of the calories we carried for our 24-hour send-fest.

After 15 hours of climbing in tight shoes, Cassy opted for the barefooted approach to low-angle 5.5.

With 5 hours remaining, we dropped most of our gear at the cabin and bolted for the other side of the canyon.  Photo by Lucas Marshall.