Extra-car-ricular activities

The rain, snow, and generally lousy weather has continued making outdoor activity minimal. I did manage to put in a few hours of climbing friday down in Sedona, which did help with my sanity, because I have been a little under the weather lately and have not been running either.
So what do I do with all that extra time I have on my hands, you may ask? Well I spend it with Mark, working on his latest project the Shelby Cobra. He bought the kit a few months ago as a project car, and what a project it is. He did not by it from the manufacturer, but from another guy who was trying to built it. Lets just say, "Some people should NEVER be allowed to work on cars." Everything, and I mean everything, that this guy touch he did wrong. So for the last month all we have been doing is correcting that moron's mistakes, and acquiring the extra parts we need to put it all together.
It's been a fun and educational experience so far. We have had some help from one of Mark's cats, Ben, who finally discovered that he has a voice and loves getting in the way, even if torch is involved. (see below)
I also discovered what happens when your drilling metal and the bit blinds up, and at the same time the trigger sticks, and you lose your grip on the handle. (see 2 down) You have to run to the wall and unplug the thing to turn it off!
I'm sure that in the end this will all be worth while, mentally and financially, but for now I just want the sun to stay out so I can get back on the rock!!!!!

The verg, aka, The VRG!

That's right folks, we managed to find a dry place to climb after 2 weeks of snow and rain. The VRG, Virgin River Gorge, in northwest Arizona. Although it is only accessible through Utah or Nevada. We chose Utah and camped at the Moe's Valley bouldering area, check out the view that we got to wake up to.
The VRG is a fairly narrow Limestone canyon that has the I-15 freeway passing through it, this creates a lot of noise but the rock quality is so good that it is totally worth the hassle.
I think that it was originally Kim's idea to go because she wanted to send a classic route called "The Mentor" 12b. I got a few shots of her working on it. It is definately one of the best routes in the country for the grade, and it is no gimme, it's VERY solid at the grade. I got a few shots of her working it that I've posted below.
I didn't send anything new this trip, but I had a GREAT time and can't wait to get back. I started working on "Subterfuge" 13b, because it looks steep and I am usually better at steep stuff, but all the really hard parts of the route are on the vertical stretches. But the moves are so great that I am hooked and just love climbing it.
Sammy worked on a few different things. Below is a rendered photo of him on "Hell comes to frog town" 13d. He's looking forward to getting back there asap also!