Friday, October 29, 2010
On the Road with Ethan Pringle
Touchstone athlete and rad rock jock, sent an update about his whereabouts recently. After winning the Nor' Easter climbing comp, Ethan flew to Las Vegas, where Tungsten, Ethan’s brand new Element was waiting for him.
Ethan and Tungsten
He ventured to the sandstone outside of the casino lights and climbed in Red Rocks on the 5 mile loop with Jessie Martinez, a 22 year old Mission Cliffs climber who did her first lead climb in the sport bolted Black Corridor.
Jessie at the Black Corridor
Ethan’s leg was injured taking a large fall at the comp and when it healed, he made some trips to the 8,000 foot limestone crag of Mt. Charleston. “The high altitude (around 8,000 feet) and the bouldery and pumpy nature of the routes make it a perfect place to train and get strong, and the relatively short approach made it easy for me to hike up there,” said Pringle, who began climbing there at the age of 12.
Ethan climbing in Vegas
Ethan attempted Hasta La Vista (5.14c) at Mt. Charleston’s the Hood but didn’t have enough time to send the route that was redpointed by French uber-frau Liv Sansov for one of the hardest female ever. Leaving behind the project, Ethan made his way to meet friends at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. “The rock here just seems to be formed for climbing. There are obvious lines of pockets and huecos and edges up striking overhangs that make your arms swell with blood and your head dizzy from the ridiculously steep angle. As always in an area like this with so many good routes, another phrase comes to mind- too much rock, not enough time!”
Most of Ethan’s time has been spent trying to nab the second ascent of the Golden Ticket on the Chocolate Factory wall. At 5.14c/d, the route features hard crimpy moves on a steep wall. The temps in the Red have been too warm for serious efforts and Ethan has had to bide his time exploring the wonders of Kentucky while the weather cools another 20 degrees.
The Golden Ticket at the Chocolate Factory
Derek Powell, a San Francisco climber, and Ethan recently checked out one of the great wonders of the Southeast- Beattyville, “Home of the Woolly Worm Festival.” Ethan described the scene there saying it was full of “morbidly obese people stuffing their faces with funnel cake and burgers, evangelical sounding dudes on megaphones trying to sell us kitchen knives, and booth after booth hocking useless chochkees and canned, pickled things and honey.” After stuffing his face with funnel cake, he checked out some of the Wooly Worms on their race track.
The Woolly Barn
For his stay, Ethan has been sharing a cabin with other San Francisco climbers Karl Augilar, Audrey Bodisco, Louise (Wheezy), Ross Broughton, Mick Pets, Stephanie Ko, and Debbie Wallach. Ethan added that the bay area crew is crushing. He exclaimed, “415 Represent! It’s a take over. Be afraid.”
The Red
Also taking over the area, there are more climbers at Miguel’s, the classic pizzeria at the Red, then ever. Ethan noted the change stating, “Now there are twice as many cars there on the weeknights than there were during the week five years ago! It’s a zoo… but that’s the price an area pays when the climbing is this good and the media swarms… All you can do is respect the land, try to be quiet and pick up some trash on your way out.”
Ethan will be killin it at the Red through the fall season and hoped the same for all the bay area climbers. “Stay safe people. May temps be in the low 50s, and may your fall projects succumb to your death grips! Al muerte!”
Ethan and Tungsten
He ventured to the sandstone outside of the casino lights and climbed in Red Rocks on the 5 mile loop with Jessie Martinez, a 22 year old Mission Cliffs climber who did her first lead climb in the sport bolted Black Corridor.
Jessie at the Black Corridor
Ethan’s leg was injured taking a large fall at the comp and when it healed, he made some trips to the 8,000 foot limestone crag of Mt. Charleston. “The high altitude (around 8,000 feet) and the bouldery and pumpy nature of the routes make it a perfect place to train and get strong, and the relatively short approach made it easy for me to hike up there,” said Pringle, who began climbing there at the age of 12.
Ethan climbing in Vegas
Ethan attempted Hasta La Vista (5.14c) at Mt. Charleston’s the Hood but didn’t have enough time to send the route that was redpointed by French uber-frau Liv Sansov for one of the hardest female ever. Leaving behind the project, Ethan made his way to meet friends at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. “The rock here just seems to be formed for climbing. There are obvious lines of pockets and huecos and edges up striking overhangs that make your arms swell with blood and your head dizzy from the ridiculously steep angle. As always in an area like this with so many good routes, another phrase comes to mind- too much rock, not enough time!”
Most of Ethan’s time has been spent trying to nab the second ascent of the Golden Ticket on the Chocolate Factory wall. At 5.14c/d, the route features hard crimpy moves on a steep wall. The temps in the Red have been too warm for serious efforts and Ethan has had to bide his time exploring the wonders of Kentucky while the weather cools another 20 degrees.
The Golden Ticket at the Chocolate Factory
Derek Powell, a San Francisco climber, and Ethan recently checked out one of the great wonders of the Southeast- Beattyville, “Home of the Woolly Worm Festival.” Ethan described the scene there saying it was full of “morbidly obese people stuffing their faces with funnel cake and burgers, evangelical sounding dudes on megaphones trying to sell us kitchen knives, and booth after booth hocking useless chochkees and canned, pickled things and honey.” After stuffing his face with funnel cake, he checked out some of the Wooly Worms on their race track.
The Woolly Barn
For his stay, Ethan has been sharing a cabin with other San Francisco climbers Karl Augilar, Audrey Bodisco, Louise (Wheezy), Ross Broughton, Mick Pets, Stephanie Ko, and Debbie Wallach. Ethan added that the bay area crew is crushing. He exclaimed, “415 Represent! It’s a take over. Be afraid.”
The Red
Also taking over the area, there are more climbers at Miguel’s, the classic pizzeria at the Red, then ever. Ethan noted the change stating, “Now there are twice as many cars there on the weeknights than there were during the week five years ago! It’s a zoo… but that’s the price an area pays when the climbing is this good and the media swarms… All you can do is respect the land, try to be quiet and pick up some trash on your way out.”
Ethan will be killin it at the Red through the fall season and hoped the same for all the bay area climbers. “Stay safe people. May temps be in the low 50s, and may your fall projects succumb to your death grips! Al muerte!”
Labels: Chocolate Factory, Ethan Pringle, RRG
¶ Friday, October 29, 2010
