matt lutey

Hotline 12c (pseudo flash) @asengmavong and I took advantage of a little break from the heatwave and got out to Alternative Crag after work. I last climbed here in Dec 2021 and I may have tried this one. I honestly don’t remember. I just remember being miserably cold and numbing out immediately. Def didn’t have that problem today! I did the 11b to the right on that cold day which shares the same 5.10 intro to Hotline, so any true flash is gone regardless. Stoked either way. I was absolutely bricked by the time I clipped the chains and had a small flapper on my palm from that first jump.

Quick hit after work to try the new @raviolibiceps rig on the west saddle into Gateway under the yin yang crag. Spent about an hour refining beta and not resting enough, then with light fading I managed a bit of a hail mary. Happy to send and to not have to hike up there again in May. Rust V10

Owl at the Moon 🦉 FA, Kraft Mountain Came across this surprisingly freestanding block wedged in a gully halfway up Kraft Mtn. It looked cool but I wasn’t sure it’d be worth hauling pads back for. Glad I reconsidered and hit up @ryan.lieberman who is a no stranger to slogging pads up mountains. A couple of small hold breaks and the ledge behind the landing made me back off going ground up that first evening, so I returned yesterday with a rope to check for choss and dial in the upper sequence before giving it a go. It’s definitely more committing than it is hard. Grade wise, prob V3, maybe V4. The name is a reference to the owls we saw coming out as the sun went down.

An ext. to Ode. Not the first to do it, and not even the furthest it’s been extended (s/o to @ral_dogg ). Some of the coolest moves on a roof in Red Rock. It’s like doing a wilder version of the crux of Ode straight into the crux of Ode. I had no beta going into working out the opening sequence and it took me 4 sessions just figure out how to hold the foot cut! It’s brutal but so fun. Thank you @asengmavong and @littlebetabird for joining me on a couple of those sessions and hauling pads. Most sessions tho it was just me and Honi. April temps were perfect out there. Grade wise it feels harder than all the 10s of similar style I’ve done in Vegas. I could see it being hard V10 / easy V11.

Weekend in Bishop 🤍

Flat of Angles, the best V8 in red rock? I can’t think of one better. Fun athletics moves that flow from start to finish. Great rock, perfect height, decent landing. Thank you @editsends @ryan.lieberman @zachwhocantdecideonausername @kenzieclimbs for joining me! This was last Saturday at the start of the current all-time heatwave. The airport hit 96' this day (prob 10 cooler where we were), but we were hoping a little cloud cover and wind would make it tolerable. We got a little of each but definitely could’ve used more #hottestknownascent 🫠

Tokyo 🌸

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Vile Smile V8 Highlight send from our recent weekend in Bishop. I was immediately drawn to this climb when I saw it in a 15 y/o Vimeo vid of the FA that @dyno_guru sent me just before our trip. My goal for the trip shifted to make it a point to see something new and try this climb, especially considering how many times I’ve been to the Happys and Sads. This boulder sits in a small cluster of erratics deep in the volcanic tablelands with incredibly good rock. The climb is really two in one - a balancey comp slab that finishes on a sideways facing incut, and then a committing lip traverse high off the deck. Setting up the rope was key since there was absolutely no chalk and lots of lichen on the boulder, and to suss out beta for the final sequence. I highly doubt I would’ve sent with the original reachy beta that was used in the FA. The opening slab shut me down for the first hour until friction suddenly and magically improved and I was able to finally lock off using the first sloper on the lip, sending on that attempt. You can also traverse in from the right, which seems like a more logical start, except you have to use what is for sure the most heinously sharp two finger pocket I’ve ever felt. Plus the FA used the comp slab beta anyway. It’s a really good climb! Thanks for filming and supporting love @littlebetabird !!

Fallen Light V7 FA The right intro into Attosecond, and the last of the firsts I put up at calico tanks summit recently. It swaps the one hard low percentage opening move of Atto for sustained crimping and a pumpier finish, and ends up at pretty much the same grade (not another 7!) Shout out to @joshblocs for the psych and good times that night. Sure beats climbing in the dark at the top of a mountain alone! 😆

Skin and Bones V1 (first known ascent) The climb is easy enough that I’m open to the possibility that some passerby could’ve hiked it in approach shoes, but the amount of rock I cleared from the base to make the landing flat and the number of loose holds I broke off the top make that seem a little unlikely. That said, this thing is a beauty and it’s awesome that it even exists. The pretty slab to the left is Temporary Blindness (V8+) that @joshblocs put up recently. Calico Tanks Summit, RR, NV📍 Camo @organicclimbing blubber keeping me safe in incognito mode 😎

K on the third ascent of Pyramidia V5, and credit to her for seeing the obvious low start that I had somehow missed the first time I climbed it solo. Another addition to the long list of Vegas lip traverses. While it’s definitely easier than the likes of alexisizer and mr moran, it has those two beat in terms of length, and is just a really good climb imo. There was a large lens shaped rock perched near the upper edge of the boulder. A light push slid it right off, leaving that cool scoop feature at the end of the climb.