Winter Wonderland

Ahhh, winter in Tucson. While I keep seeing news updates about feet of snow covering parts of the country, we are still wearing shorts. The days are shorter, but the temps for climbing are perfect. Sunny and warm, with a cool breeze giving the air a crispness and the making friction excellent. This is a;so why the town also is filling up with snowbirds, escaping all those places getting hit with winter storms. Old folks rolling into town with Minnesota plates, stepping out of their Town Cars wearing shorts and sandals with socks. Welcome back!

We've been getting more done at Panther Peak, and there are close to 50 problems there now. Along with Panther, I've had a couple sessions out at Hairpin Boulders with kids in tow. Hairpin is about as good as it gets for bouldering with kids. Easy approach, big sandy areas for them to play, and plenty of kid-sized boulders for them to scramble around on. Asher has developed his own bouldering circuit near the Hairpin Roof, and Adelaide likes taking pictures of everyone. They get excited about going there, and have a blast being out there. Fortunately, everyone I've been out there with seems pretty patient and tolerant of them being out there.

Here are some photos from the last couple of weeks.

Panther Peak:

Hairpin Boulders:

Tomorrow we're heading out to Ventana Canyon, another spot with a bunch of new boulders. While Ventana doesn't have as many boulders as Panther, the quality/quantity ratio at Ventana is as high as anywhere in Tucson. More on that soon...

Happy holidays to everyone out there. And if winter weather is getting you down, you know where to come!