Hueco Tanks

Hueco Tanks is an 860‑acre Texas State Historic Site and National Historic Landmark northeast of El Paso, named for the natural rock basins — “huecos” — that capture and store rainwater in this arid landscape. The site’s cultural and geological features make it a distinct climbing environment: concentrated pockets of sculpted rock and short approaches create conditions suited to bouldering and concentrated sessions.

The single film in this catalog, Best Of The West (2005), returns to Hueco with Chris Sharma alongside Boone Speed, Steve Maisch, GP Salvo, Jason Kehl, Mike Beck and Tim Kemple. The piece is framed as mid‑2000s bouldering filmmaking — unfussy edits, sequence‑focused footage and an emphasis on the problems themselves rather than broad narrative. For a viewer, the film provides direct access to movement on steep, often powerful problems, top‑out technique and the way a small crew stages a bouldering trip: beta exchanges, spot‑checks, and the rhythm of repeated attempts.

Because the film documents a small cast of era‑defining climbers, it’s also useful for comparing individual styles and approaches to similar features: where one climber uses dynamic motion another may prefer tension and positional precision. If you’re looking to study specific boulder problem sequences, crowd dynamics on restricted land, or how mid‑2000s climbing teams filmed sessions without heavy production, Best Of The West is a clear, focused record of Hueco Tanks climbing from that moment.