Cool day of climbing at Joshua Tree with real snow in the desert!

Beautiful scenerey from a fresh coat of snow on Joshua Tree as we arrived in the morning. Spent the day on a single 5.7 route (Spaghetti & Chili?) where Andre practiced placing trad gear while I toproped. A single crux involving undercling holds on a big flake made the route feel much harder than a 5.7, but good practice and plenty of rest in between climbs. Rappelling down from the ~75ft pitch added some reward to the ending.

Watched a nearby group toprope a 5.10d on a longer route - looked kind of fun but probably v challenging. Enjoyed views of the snow-covered Joshua trees and boulders from the top of the crag. Called it a day after 4 or so climbs.

While packing up, a passing climber informed us that someone had died on our route a few years ago - hit his (unprotected) head on a shelf after a piece of gear slipped...yikes! Joshua Tree lead climbing is for pros only! I'll stick to toproping there.