A scary experience in Arizona...

[dan_e]

I just got back from Arizona where my friend Leo and I had a scary experience! We were about to start the fourth pitch of Wasteland (an excellent 5.8 in Southern AZ) when we started to hear a soft hum (we were at a belay station under a big roof) the sound got louder and louder and finally we looked at each other and said "bees"! luckily we did not panic, I told my friend "Don't move, don't even breath!" we both stood there, tied in at the belay station, completely motionless as a swarm of what was most likely killer bees passed over us. There were so many that they blocked out a good portion of the sky! A dark, humming cloud of death is the only way to describe it. A few of them came close to us as if to check to see if we were a threat, luckily they decided to move on and within seconds they were gone. All I can say is this was one of the scariest moments I've had climbing, and I've had many epics. So if you happen to head to AZ to climb in the future, just know they are a real threat!

[Jason_Martin]

"Killer Bees" are a real threat to climbers in the Desert Southwest. Nine out of ten bees in Las Vegas Valley are of the Africanized variety.

The biggest dangers tend to be on First Ascents. Popular routes don't tend to be a problem, but it's a good idea to pay close attention to where you are climbing on a FA.

If there are hints of a bee hive on a route in Red Rocks or any such area, don't do the route. A single sting can excite an entire hive into a full-on attack. Not a pretty picture if you are three pitches off deck at a hanging belay.

 

[Andy_Bourne]

On the topic of climbing and bees, I couldn't resist telling a story of my own. There is a tiny crag outside of the town of Monterry, TN called Bee Rock (no joke) and it is a very fitting name, unbeknownst to me in my fledgling years of climbing. I began my climbing career at this memorable place as it had the best verticle relief within a days drive of where I went to college.

After a trip to the Gunks to learn to place pro I came back to my home state with a vigor to climb cracks. The most obvious line on Bee Rock was this 100 ft dihedral that as far as I knew had never been led. I dragged a college buddy up there who had only climbed a couple of times promising a fun day of learning some new climbing techniques.

I must add that in the summer months, not only is it extremely hot, sticky and humid, but anywhere you go in the woods and especially around rocks or cliffs, there are lots of spiders and spider webs. These aren't the spiders like here in the NW. Think of the biggest wolf spider you have ever seen and then put it in the center of a three to eight foot web of very thick strands, and you have the standard for this area. I also have a bad fear of these things.

As I started up the first pitch, struggling with the weight of the rack, humidity, the fear of first gear leads, and spider webs filling all the cracks I want to place my brand new Hexes. Sometimes I run it out way more than I want to just to find a crack with only small spiders in the way. I establish a belay on a nice ledge and bring up my partner. Both of us are really uncomfortable with all the hanging webs and big meaty spiders all around and just want to get up and off this thing. The start of the second pitch was the crux and the worst area for spiders. A 4 to 5 inch crack left the ledge and went up and left in a dihedral which led to easier climbing and after that, the top. The crack was FULL of spiders. I was struggling with the courage to rake spiders out of the way to jam the crack and place pro, or just to run it out and get quickly to the easy ground above. After 20 feet of climbing with zero pro, save my belay, I decided I better get something in. Arms burning, petrified of monster spiders, and no pro, I reach over to a little hickory bush growing out of the rock, to use as a broom to sweep out an area in the crack. As the branch breaks off a huge swarm of wasps explodes from the branch, which had been harboring a huge nest on the exact brance I broke off. This instant is without a doubt the scariest moment of my life. Miraculously there was no feeling of that familiar pang of the sting, and no sudden jerk of the rope after a long fall. The next thing I remember I was clenching a tree root on the easier ground above, out of breath and desperately trying to find a place for a stopper. A couple more moves and I was standing on top, just ready to get drunk.

My only solace was knowing that my parter was going to have to go through exactly what I just did. As I established a belay and yelled, climb on, I was smiling remembering that if there was ever a person on this earth afraid of bees and spiders, it was him.