Had another tour out at the East Spur yesterday. A big crowd of about 12 people with some very strong climbers. Chris Sharma couldn't resist the lure of Hueco and is back down after a week or so away.
I really wanted to get back on Nagual and it didn't take much to persuade Chris that he should have a go too. From my point of view the more the merrier. The landing is pretty bad and you really need a lot of pads but between the 12 of us we had plenty! I worked out the final moves which I hadn't done the other day then sat back and watched Chris try and flash it. This was very impressive and really quite inspiring. I was really sorry when he fell on the last move which although hard is probably the least difficult of them all. It was a fine effort all the same. It's a viciously fingery problem and seeing someone as big as Chris haul himself up those edges is quite a site. He really seems to be able to notch it up a gear when the going gets tough. Watching him make the first few moves I was thinking "No way, he's going to be off in a moment" but he just kept on pulling. He tried so hard and came so close but it wasn't to be.
After that I gave it a few tries but only managed to get through the crux once and then split my finger. Arse!
Sammy Davies (another really strong climber) also came close falling on the final move.
There were plenty of video cameras around (but not mine) so look out for Chris's effort some time in the future.
10 / 02 / 2024