The City

The City of Rocks in Almo, Idaho is one of the most amazing climbing destinations in the world, the amount of international climbers you meet in The City of Rocks proves this. These huge granite spires rise from the ground everywhere in the valley to give you the feeling that you are in an abandoned city. The building like spires that tower above you make great for long routes, and some single pitch rope stretchers that keep your heart racing as long as your arms can hold on. The routes themselves sport some of the most enjoyable climbing because of their amazing features. One of these features is the hard patinas that form everywhere and make for killer crimpers and jugs, that seem to show up at just the right time when your killing for a good hold. The sport routes are known for their huge runouts, and if you have ever have been on Scream Cheese, you will know what I am talking about.

You can't afford to miss the Classics of this area, one such is Bloody Fingers. This 5.10a is a splitter crack that starts hard and leads into an amazing right tilted crack that stays challenging for around 80 feet. The top becomes a little run out, but nothing to keep you off this Classic. A few others are the Classics on elephant rock like: Rye Crisp, Wheat Thin, and Colombian Crack. These 3 moderate routes go at 5.7 and 5.8 and will have you smiling the whole way up. Just to name a few more Classics for your tick list: Thin Slice - 10a, Sky Line - 5.8, Intruding Dike - 5.7, and the notorious Crack of Doom - 5.11c. The picture up above is from the top of Too Much Fun and the climb that you are looking at is on Flaming Rock. If you get a chance to go to this amazing place GO and dont miss the Classics.

How to Climb 5.12

While reading the popular book How to Climb 5.12 I stumbled on an amazing quote:

"Motivation is the foundation for all accomplishments. Natural talent, great genetics and all the time and money in the world will get you nowhere without motivation. Many great human feats are achieved by modestly talented, even disabled, people who posses heroic levels of motivation."

The Cypher Firefly

If you are looking for a light wire gate draw, this is it. These are the Cypher Firefly draws. The biners that make up this draw are one of the markets lightest, weighing in at 28 grams. This lack of weight does not mean a lack in strength because they are still rated at 24kn. The action of the wire gates are firm and clip quite nicely for when your trying to make a hard clip.

One of the less than minor problems that I have had as I have been testing and climbing with them is that every once in a while the wire gate will get hooked up on the groove of the biner. I noticed that it happened when I first started using them; however, once I had logged in some climbing time with them this problem faded away. This quality of quickdraw also comes with pretty heavy price tag at $17.95 a draw. Taking all of this into consideration, these are some of the best draws I have climbed with and I am eager to get my hands on a few more.
If you are interested in this product or would like to review this or another product please contact at haulline@gmail.com

So It Begins

HEADWALL RESEARCH

Why Climb?... A question frequently asked, but rarely answered. What drives a person to risk their body or life to walk the edge of uncertainty only to reach a brief victorious moment? Why does reaching the summit, making that last clip, or finishing the unsolved project push people to tear their skin, suffer frost bite, or be racked with exhaustion? This question is best answered when the individual experiences the aura of the journey, that takes man out of the world of comfort and security, to a world of soaring aspirations, accomplishments, and the sweet silence of the unknown.

Headwall Research is dedicated to that intense feeling, and helping climbers conquer the unknown. We will be your one stop shop for the latest gear reviews, and reviews/stories of routes, all from local intermediate and advanced climbers. Our aim is to get the fire of adventure going.

We encourage participation, if you have any cool stories that you would like to share or would be interested in reviewing gear for us please email us at haulline@gmail.com.