Horsepens 40

I have been in Horsepens 40 for the last few days. Nic and myself drove down all day last Tuesday (Oct 30) and arrived early Wednesday morning at about 5:30 AM. We got checked in and found a campsite and went to sleep on our crashpads under the stars. We got up about 2 hours later when the sun came up and hit the boulders that are literally right there next to the campsite.. Impossible to sleep in with that.

We started by heading over and checking out Slider - a classic V9. I tried it once but decided it wasn't for me at this time. Nic set to work figuring out the moves on that and I moved on to a fun V4 right next to it called Cuts Like a Knife. It is a couple of really crimpy moves up to a classic HP40 slopey top-out that was a good intro to the area for me.
Slider:



After this we headed over to look at some other classic problems Ghetto Superstar and Thief but neither of us tried these. We did both end up doing a fun V5 called Popeye. It felt really hard for me until I figured the moves out and it clicked into place.

Finally, we checked out the Millipede area and did Bug Boy - a really slopey V3 that felt really hard. We both tried Millipede V5 as well but just couldn't do it.
Here's Nic on Bug Boy, Millipede is on the far right:



The next day (Thursday 11/1) I tried a V6 called Boomslinger that's on the Slider boulder but couldn't do it and then later tried and did a really cool V5 called Hammerhead. It climbs up a roof arete to the hardest topout I've ever done. Felt like I had to use every ounce of energy I had to top it out.
Hammerhead:



Friday was a pretty light day. All I tried was Redneck - a hard V6 - a few times which Nic ended up doing and hanging out the rest of the day. Nic also did a pretty cool looking V8 called Short Long that climbs out of a steep roof.
Short Long:



This morning I headed back out to Redneck and ended up doing it. Pretty fun problem that climbs up an overhang using a lot of crimps and a key heel-toe cam. Pretty fun climb that is unlike most things at HP40. Nic went back to Slider to try to finish that one early this morning as well but unfortunately fell off the last moves several times.
Me on the 1st move of Redneck:



The rest of today we wandered around as spectators watching the Triple Crown Bouldering Competition and it was pretty inspiring to see a lot of really strong climbers who'd come into town to compete.

I'm quite impressed with Horsepens. A high concentration of great sandstone boulders. It's a different style of climbing than I've ever done before and quite difficult to get used to.

We're in Atlanta now and will be heading to a Lifetime fitness tomorrow to set routes and then after that will head on to Rocktown...