Parents in Las Vegas!

This past week my parents flew to Las Vegas to join us in some classy fun in the flashy city. Mom and Dad were staying on the strip so we did our share of exploring the sights found within walking distance...

Water show at the Bellagio Hotel

We went to Paris and saw the Eiffel Tower! Cross that off the bucket list.

"Bond Girls" in front of Casino Royale

As Graham and I have been exploring the more "natural" places in the south west states, we took the opportunity to tour them through some of the areas we find pretty neat.

FIRST, we took them to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam

Cute breakfast diner in old Boulder City

Touching the waters of Lake Mead

That's one DAM big penny!

Connected across different states and time zones! (Mom is in Nevada, Dad is in Arizona)

On our second adventure day we took my parents into the scenic loop in Red Rock Canyon, one of the places we love to sport climb. This was their first experience getting to see us climb outdoors!

The Calico Hills

Mom tried her hand at scrambling

Me and Papa! <3

We did our thing and they handled it well :)

We did the big drive out to Death Valley National Park on the final adventure day. It was very hot, and we ran the car PRETTY close to empty on the stretch between gas stations....but we survived!

Pretty hills

A hop, skip, and a jump down down the "salt river" at Badwater Basin: 282 feet below sea level

Coloured minerals in the hills along the Artist's Loop

hmmmmmm...

Standing on the salt crusts at Devil's Golf Course

We had a great week but of course the fun ended all too soon after it had started... come see us again!

There is more to Las Vegas than meets the eye....

Four weeks go by…

We’ve been desert hopping our way through Arizona, Nevada and California, and have just rolled back on in to Las Vegas.

Desert toes

We left Arizona on January 17^th and headed north west to Red Rocks just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Over two and a half weeks we had quite a few rain days – and rain on sandstone means no climbing for 48 hours. Fortunately, we had met back up with Sam and Steph (our friends from Bishop) and met some awesome new friends as well: Ruth, Chris, Jared, and Rosco! We established a small climbing commune on some BLM land and had plenty of fun together, climbing and otherwise…

Our climbing commune

Our climbing community

I hardly climbed in Red Rocks as my finger was still feeling pretty bad, but I eyed up some lines to add to my wish list when we return. Graham snagged a few awesome sends and spent some time working his wish list item, Monster Skank (5.13b). Unfortunately though, my slowly healing finger was too good to be true for us, as Graham injured his pinky finger A2 pulley on our third day there. He’s been on the road to recovery for nearly 4 weeks now…

Graham flashes New Wave Hookers (5.12c)

Finishing up the final moves on Monster Skank (5.13b) - hoping for a send next time!!

On February 4^th we headed back to Bishop, California. We spent a day in Death Valley National Park on the way through…

Graham tests his balance on the salt crystals in Badwater Basin (282 feet below sea level)

Mmmmmmmm tasty

Dune Master #1!

Dune Master #2!

We reunited with Steph, Sam, Ruth, Chris, and Jared in Bishop, and many other new and old friends. We were also so lucky to get to spend time with Yannick, Emrys, Alison and Cory as well as a bunch of other crushers from Victoria and Vancouver!

The injured fingers turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we used them as an opportunity to climb many three-starred problems and explore areas more thoroughly without focusing on projects. On Sam’s birthday we all hiked up to the Druid Stones – a heinously steep approach to a stunningly beautiful area. 

The Druid Stones

Graham and I did a “big day” in the Happies one day, where we cumulatively climbed 101 problems in a single session. WOW this is exhausting, even at V0 and V1!

Despite the finger injuries, we also both finished our 10 days in Bishop with new personal bests. Graham sent Return Jedi (V10) in just two goes – his quickest send at that grade yet! I also sent my first ever V6, The French Connection – a beautiful, balancy climb that doesn’t require a left ring finger crimp! Woohooo!

Graham sends Return Jedi (V10)

Kim sends The French Connection (V6)

And of course another highlight has been … PUPPY CUDDLES TIME!