Beating The Heat

On our recent climbing trip to City of Rocks and Castle Rocks temperatures were in the low to mid 30's every day. Add to this the heat of the desert sun radiating off the rocks, the crags, the ground, even yourself, and you have some pretty hot climbing conditions.

Our tactic was to get up at 6 am, have a quick breakfast (paleo, of course) and head out to start climbing by 7.30 to 8.00 am (depending on how far we had to walk to the crag). We would climb until it got too hot, which, depending on the day, varied between noon and 3.30 pm, and then walk back - in the heat of the day, unfortunately - to hide in the shade at camp.

Amazingly, we saw relatively few other climbers doing this. In fact, in the couple of weeks we spent at City/Castle, we only encountered other early climbers twice. On one particularly memorable Saturday when temperatures were well into the mid-30's and there was no breeze, we started climbing at 7.30 am and quit at noon, when temperatures were intolerable. As we staggered back to the parking area, dizzy with heat, we were astonished to pass dozens of other climbers heading out to start their climbing day.

Not only do your hands and feet have less friction with the rock when climbing in these ultra-hot temperatures, it's just plain unpleasant to be sweating and greasing your way up a pitch in the baking sun. I won't say that getting up day after day at 6 am made for a relaxing vacation, as it certainly didn't (particularly as it was so hot it was hard to sleep at night), but, compared to the alternative, it certainly made sense. 

 Early morning on top of Lost Arrow Spire