Partial TR about the 24 hours of horseshoe hell - more about an old man's journey

Trip Report

Wednesday January 23, 2013 7:33am

This is really a shout out to the talented lady that based her college video project on a old man at the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell. Thanks to Chelsey Rogers. For a guy that is a pretty mediocre climber, I think she captured what I get excited about and shows some of the festivities at the 24HHH competition.

Fun times in Arkansas

If you want to seem more of the crazy antics at the 24HHH, check out the Patagonia video here. I make a brief appearance in the third match (the only one with grey hair) and again at about 1:40 (crazy hair cut)

24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell arm wrestling 2011

Finally a wrap up by one of the members of the winning team, Sonnie Trotter

Sonnie Trotter's blog about the 2012 24HHH

Trip Report Views: 1,168

thedogfather

About the Author
thedogfather is a climber from Las Vegas.

Comments

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10b4me

Ice climber

Soon 2B Arizona

Jan 23, 2013 - 08:19am PT

Very cool.

Riley Wyna

Trad climber

A crack near you

Jan 23, 2013 - 09:14am PT

I need to hit this next year!!

thedogfather

Trad climber

Somewhere near Red Rocks

Author's Reply

Jan 23, 2013 - 09:21am PT

Riley, it fills up in about 20 minutes each year. The demand is way greater than the available slots. Pay close attention to the day entries open and be ready. I think they are making you sign up as a team this year so be sure to be partnered up. I think there will be a 12 hour mini-comp the day before for those that don't make the cut but still want to be part of the event.

More info here: 24 HHH home page with results and information on signing up for this year.

jopay

climber

so.il

Jan 23, 2013 - 09:40am PT

My climbing partner has done the 24HHH twice and I have been tempted but being an older climber I thought it best left to youth, now I'm not so sure. Enjoyed the video.

thedogfather

Trad climber

Somewhere near Red Rocks

Author's Reply

Jan 23, 2013 - 05:26pm PT

jopay, I have consistently been the oldest competitor but there are a couple in their 50's and a few more in their 40's. The bulk of the climbers are obviously in their 20's. We welcome more "master" aged climbers for sure.

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Jan 23, 2013 - 05:59pm PT

hey there say, thank you for the neat trip report info...

sounds very interesting, i will try the links, soon as i can...

god blesss and happy supertopo eve to you...
got to run, now...

Leggs

Sport climber

Is this a trick question?

Jan 23, 2013 - 06:00pm PT

"climb - a film by chelsey rogers"

~ speechless.. that was so good. watched it twice today.

thank you for sharing.

~peace

thedogfather

Trad climber

Somewhere near Red Rocks

Author's Reply

Jan 24, 2013 - 08:51am PT

For those not familiar, it is one of the few places that I have been able to climb right next to Alex Honnold, Matt Segal, Tommy Caldwell, Sonnie Trotter, Brittany Griffith, Kate Rutheford, Jeremy Collins, ... To name a few.

micronut

Trad climber

Jan 24, 2013 - 09:05am PT

Wonderful vibe and portrayal of the climbing spirit.

I lived in Georgia and Alabama for 13 years. I live in California right now, but sometimes I miss the smell of Southern sandstone. HP40, Tallulah Gorge, Sandrock, Linville, Looking Glass....man the south has some good stuff. Thanks for a great share.

le_bruce

climber

Oakland, CA

Jan 24, 2013 - 09:42am PT

That was great! Cheers to the filmmaker. I agree with Riley - looks like a nice scene, something that anybody would want to be a part of.

John Butler

Social climber

SLC, Utah

Jan 24, 2013 - 09:58am PT

way, way cool :-)

Ron Anderson

Trad climber

Soon to be Nipple suckling Liberal

Jan 24, 2013 - 10:14am PT

Stellar,, and stupendous !

JEleazarian

Trad climber

Fresno CA

Jan 24, 2013 - 10:20am PT

Very cool! I particularly loved your comments up thread about "master climbers." As someone only a few months away from buying my $10.00 Golden Turkey, I never expected to find so many people my age and older still at it.

Thanks for the share. Looks like fun -- after you stop!

John

thedogfather

Trad climber

Somewhere near Red Rocks

Author's Reply

Jan 24, 2013 - 12:02pm PT

JEleazarian, believe it or not, you go through some rough patches around 1 or 2am but when the sun comes up it's like you are a new person. I have done over 100 routes in three different years and my 48 year old wife has done it twice. You find out that if you don't ever stop, it makes it much easier. When you average 4 routes an hour each, that is someone leading a route about every 7 minutes so you can't afford downtime. One of the important things to train before the comp is the toughness of your tips. That and cramping up are often the determining factors in being able to continue to climb hard. 44 people climbed 100 routes this year with one team climbing 155 routes each and Sonnie and Tommy doing 151 routes each.

mooser

Trad climber

seattle

Jan 24, 2013 - 12:47pm PT

Fantastic! A really nicely done film about a climber passing on his stoke. Thanks for bringing us along!

cultureshock

Trad climber

Mountain View

Jan 24, 2013 - 01:45pm PT

Glad you posted this. Saw it earlier and was psyched to hear more of your story.

Met you at 24HHH this past year at the first routes of the comp, and managed to keep running into you. My partner and I flew out from Cali especially for the comp(one of only three teams from the state). Thanks for the tips and all your other write ups. Taping your fingers was key as was having musical encouragement in the 1-3am time frame. Such a good time.

Luke (Team High Sierra Kitten Rescue Squad)

labrat

Trad climber

Auburn, CA

Jan 24, 2013 - 02:37pm PT

Cool!

looking sketchy there...

Social climber

Latitute 33

Jan 24, 2013 - 03:45pm PT

Inspirational to say the least.

Been going through a rough patch with climbing the last few years and it is posts (and stories) like this that help prod me out of my lethargy.

Thanks and Congratulations!

Ezra Ellis

Trad climber

WA, & NC & Idaho

Jan 26, 2013 - 09:29am PT

Awesome dog!!!

Bowser

Social climber

Durango CO

Jan 26, 2013 - 10:01am PT

Right on! We had some fun at Horseshoe way back when it started.

Great sandstone climbing!

TB

GDavis

Social climber

SOL CAL

Jan 26, 2013 - 10:51am PT

One of my all-time favorite TR's. Hope to make plans to head out there! Seems like a really wonderful place to be :D

Naitch

climber

Seneca area

Jan 26, 2013 - 12:45pm PT

Dayyyy-ummmnn - now that's one Dick that's get'n it on!!!

Hats off to you to fo sho! You're a year older than me and I'd be lucky to get half that.

J. Werlin

Social climber

Cedaredge, CO

Jan 26, 2013 - 01:34pm PT

So who won the arm wrestling comp?

That was awesome, Dick. Great post and congrats!

thedogfather

Trad climber

Somewhere near Red Rocks

Author's Reply

Jan 26, 2013 - 01:57pm PT

The arm wrestling got a bit out of control on the men's side. The people signing up weren't all climbers and wasn't restricted to those that competed. So by the third round of the men's comp I think all the climbers were out and large farm-boy types were left. I talked to one briefly and he was a college football player. It got rowdy with shirts coming off and everyone hitting the whiskey bottle that was placed in the middle of the table. One funny match had a guy bring his own bottle and his opponent reached over and took a swig. During the match the owner of the bottle took a swig and then promptly lost. Too funny. I don't know who the overall winner was since it wasn't a climber. I at least got to the second round by being matched with a climber that was about 20 lbs lighter than me. But, it took a very long time. Second round I was against a 200+ lb guy that made short work of me.

The ladies comp seemed to be all climbers and got quite intense (first prize or men and women was about $400-$500 worth of Patagonia clothing). Natalie, my future wife got second in the ladies division.