The start of the Orifice crag season is a physical adjustment, albeit it does happen just slower than one would like. One of Southern Arizona’s premier overhung walls it caters to the endurance junky and knee bar aficionado and it ‘sports’ a selection of routes in the 5.11-5.13 range. A majority of the best quality routes falling in the 12-13 zone. Every year that I prepare to head back to the orifice I’m constantly reminded of my lack of abs and steep foot technique. The body tension required for holding knee bars to give sore forearms a rest is also pushed to the front of my mind as my body craves oxygen rich air. The orifice is also located roughly at 9,000 feet of elevation and is noticeable for us low land Phoenicians.
The steepness of course is the crags leading feature and a rarity to come across in most of Arizona. The granite of Phoenix is generally slabby in nature with discontinuous cracks and it will occasionally veer into near vertical terrain. The Orifice crag is best known for it’s projecting potential, unless you onsight at 5.13, and usually has a great cast of friendly supportive locals. By it’s nature projecting can be a somewhat self deprecating process that on many occasions can lead one to blurting a list of expletives. Yet , it’s what Devin and I were seeking this season to develop more discipline and focus in our climbing. In the previous years we had both sustained injuries that threatened to put climbing out of our reach. Devin had suffered a compound fracture of her ankle and ruptured several of the ligaments due to a indoor bouldering accident. Then, due to aggressive training techniques and maybe unfavorable genetics I had tore my short head of my bicep at the shoulder. The series of unfortunate events led us to recovering and slowly reintroducing ourselves back into climbing over the years. I’m thankful to say we’ve made our recoveries and we may climb differently than before but it hasn’t hindered our journey as climbers.
As of late , we have both zeroed in on our respective routes and have been attempting to keep the demons of complicity at bay in regards to training. Devin is working the uber classic Hard Day at the Orifice (5.12) and it’s reputation for a bouldery start precedes itself. Devin has been making good links and has pieced together good beta for the start (in video above, at the end). In previous years I had been able to get much of the main amphitheater routes done (Orifice Politics, Cou de tat, In search of Silence, and Granite of the Apes), but Heel-A-Monster had always scared me off. It’s reputation for a heel hook required boulder problem and position out on its lonesome discouraged me. Regardless of these reservations I jumped on it and started working out the sections of most difficulty(also in video above).
We’re excited to see where this season will lead us and also contemplating visiting a couple other crags in Northern Arizona (Hobo Jungle, Peaks, Paradise Forks). It’s hard to choose one crag in this state and let alone one climb, but it’s good to pick couple projects you can jump from to keep the motivation high. It’s probably not the best tactic in regards of completion but it keeps it fun. At the end of the day the fun part is what’s most important and we’re just playing on rocks. If you see us out at the crag feel free to say hello and we always reciprocate in a good lead catch!
-Hugo
GraniteGrinder 