We're Really Up Here

Summer Road Trip - Part I

2009-06-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

So we're off! After a late start, and mandatory photo sesh on the salt flats, we were screaming across NV at at least 150 MPH. I know you want to call BS cause my car can't go that fast, but we were in Caroline's car, so there.

Next thing we know, we're somewhere on the East side, meeting up with dear friend Craig for beers at some kind of concert at the East Side Moblie. Those guys know how to throw a party. We camped out on the East Side that night, and it was really really cold! Like in the 30's. LOW 30's, probably. This should have tipped us off, cause our first stop was Tuolumne meadows. That was about to change.

Turns out the Tuolumne campground was still buried in snow. So we made a quick decision, and headed down to Yosemite Valley. Not ones to waste any time, we hopped right on the ultra classic Nutcracker. We styled up in a party of 3 (Craig was still in tow) despite the looming clouds, and serious wind. "The climbers appeared to be aware of the dangerous weather conditions, but chose to continue climbing higher." Good thing it only drizzled.

The next day, we got some honest rain. There was a break in the afternoon, so we went out again, and got skunked again. 0 for 2. Nice move, Yosemite.

Team Caroline & Kevin came back with a vengence the next day, when we smoked up the Royal Arches. 15 pitches of crack & slab fun. Luckily the weather held, and we survived the North Dome Gulley walkoff.

Day 4 - Munginella. Surprisingly good line, despite the name.

Oh man. Day 5. I guess that's today. We climbed the Central Pillar of Frenzy on Middle Cathedral. Why hadn't I done this route before? It was fantastic - 5 pitches of 5 star crack 5.9 climbing, and an easy rap off. Fingers, hands, offwidth, chimneys, slick stemming, you name it. Brilliant.

Pics: Carabiner sign post in Yosemite, Caroline on pitch 12ish of Royal Arches, Caroline on pitch 2 of CPoF.

Next? You'll just have to wait and see.

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinQuaderer/Summer2009#

Or here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2383366&id=6216663

The second link should have captions. Let me know if it doesn't work.

Summer vacation is finally here.

2009-06-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

I started teaching elementary school this year. I've loved spending time with the kids, but as they say, there are 3 main reasons to be a teacher: June, July, and August. (All joking aside, teaching is sweet, the kids are amazing, and I can't wait to see them all again in August. But we all love vacation!) Here's the rough plan:

Go to Tuolumne. Climb domes. I hear it's sick.
Visit the SF Bay area (fly back to SLC for a few hours for an interview)
Go to Yosemite. Climb free routes. Long ones.
Partner swap Zac for Caroline. She's cuter, but he makes good breakfast.
Climb big wallz? Hope Zac doesn't get scared.
Go to Canada. Climb free routes in Squamish. Sick? So I hear.
Come home to SLC, then fly to VA to see family.
Climb at the NRG in sweltering heat.
Return home, and resume climbing on weekends in some of the greatest locations on the planet, but restricted to ones within 5 hours of SLC.

Partners in crime. See the connundrum?

So there you go, that's about 10 weeks worth of fun in the sun. Makes me wonder how I ever survived on just 2 weeks per year. Oh yeah, and I still get paid all summer.

Life. Is. Sweet.

Sports Style Rock Climbing in American Fork

2009-05-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

Tons of fun sport climbing in American Fork today. Now sport climbing is not exactly my forte, especially on polished limestone, but I always try to get out to AF at least once a season. I figure it's good for my head. Or at least, it helps me appreciate all the other places I climb that much more.

We went up to the Billboard today, which was a bit of a hike, especially in flip flops. And ESPECIALLY if you have huge blisters on the bottoms of your feet, because you read a book about barefoot running the day before and decided to give it a shot. (Sidenote - barefoot running might be a cool idea, but 3 miles on hot concrete and asphalt is probably not the best way to break into the sport.)

Anyway, it was nothing a little (or a lot) of climbing tape couldn't fix, and I proceed to fall off a bunch of the coolest routes in AF. The Billboard really is a sweet crag, if you don't mind a bit of a walk.

I recommend going on a day when you find yourself without blisters.

Here's Phunk working on one of the 12's up there. Don't remember the name.

City of Rocks with Team Under Cover Brother

2009-05-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

We ventured up to the City Of Rocks in Idaho this weekend to escape the heat in the valley. Everything in Idaho seems a bit more chill, including the weather, so it was a good call. And being only 2.5 hours from SLC, even the drive to the city seems chill. It's a fun place.

Upon arrival, we hooked up with a crew that I'm dubbing Team Under Cover Brother. They're effing strong, but you'd never know it by the way they act. It was wild to hang out with these guys for the weekend, as they casually onsighted 5.12 (bolted and gear lines, it didn't seem to matter.)

I think the coolest part of the weekend was the attitude. Everyone was just having fun, heckling (my favorite line of the weekend: c'mon you piece of dogshit, pull like you want to get to the top!) being equal parts asshole and cheerleader. Half of em were running on 2 hours sleep, the other half on beer, and the other half on super strict performance diets. So it was a diverse crowd, but they were psyched.

I didn't hear a single complaint, even as people were pulling holds off climbs and chucking them into the bushes, or being cooerced into doing another lap for the camera.

At one point, we found a roof crack that had possibly seen an ascent, though we weren't sure. It looked impossible - a good hand jam half way up, but then the crack slammed shut for like 4 feet, only to open up to tips. And it was at least 50 degrees overhanging. Impossible. But I watched Pete rack up, get psyched, and all of a sudden he had figured out the move. It didn't go, yet, but it will. Crazy how "possible" can be so subjective.

The pic is Mr. Strappe onsighting just another 5.12 roof crack.

New Indian Creek Guidebook

2009-05-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

I figured this was worth coming out of retirement for - I got this book in the mail a few weeks back - it's the long awaited second edition of the Indian Creek guidebook. Figured I shouldn't post a picture of it till it hit book stores, so it should probably be out by now. Anyhow, when you get your copy, be sure to check the photo credit for the cover. Cause it says my name. That's right baby.

I was going to send an autographed copy to Andy Burr, but they're only giving me a few copies. Sorry Andy.

Thanksgiving in Bishop

2008-11-30T11:28:00.001-08:00

Even though I can get spanked on world class granite boulders about 15 minutes from home, it's way more fun to get spanked on world class granite boulders in California. So that's where we decided to go for Thanksgiving.

I'd never been to Bishop, so I was pretty psyched to see what all the hype is about. The first thing I knew about Bishop is when you go there, you're supposed to take pictures of boulders with mountains in the background, and use depth of field in some clever way to make the picture more interesting. So, here's my take on that whole thing.

The second thing I knew about Bishop is that the bouldering is phenomenal, which turned out to be true. We only had 2 days, but that was more than enough time to get thrashed and see some of the classics. Shanghai has to go down next visit, and I want to get stronger so I can take a better shot at High Plains Drifter. What an amazing problem.

Caroline mostly played Mandolin all weekend, giving us a nice soundtrack to enjoy our surroundings even more. As a side note, Officer Troy of the Nevada Highway Patrol is very polite and professional. Thanks for bringing it down to 75 in a 70 Officer Troy, you saved me $150!

Sweet T Shirt of the Month on Backcountry.com

2008-04-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

Backcountry.com has a new t-shirt design every month, and they usually revolve around skiing. I generally think the designs are pretty sweet, but not being a true hardcore skier, I'm hesitant to rock one of em.

Someone might call me out - "Hey nice t-shirt, jerk. How many days did you get in this year?" This season, I think I could show them how many on one hand.

This time, when someone says "Hey nice t-shirt, jerk, how's the crack climbing coming?" I can just give them my best 1000 yard stare, and let my gobies do the talking.

You wouldn't believe how talkative they can be.

It's weird.

Sports Climbing in Saint George

2008-04-02T17:02:00.001-07:00

My gobies from last week needed some time to heal, and my buddy Phunk got a free weekend, so we lined up a trip to Saint George, UT. It didn't hurt that the forecast looked beautiful - 70's and sunny. So we packed up the car and motored down there.

On Saturday, we went up to climb some limestone in the Utah Hills area. Here's a picture of Genevieve on the first route we tried that day - a cool 10c at the Soul Asylum. The start was kinda wild stemming up through this tube type formation - definitely unique for limestone. Even though the rock was sharp and hurty, we had a good day.

On Sunday we went out to the Chuckwalla wall. Soft rock and big pockets offered a bit of relief for our skin, which is still baby soft this early in the season. Chuckwalla is a place I probably shouldn't like - it's grid bolted, crowded, close to the road, and full of gumbies. But I had a real hoot there anyway. Here's a rare picture of yours truely, screwing around on an 11b. Shortly after I got off this one, a climber came over with all his draws racked up on one side of his harness, ready to lead a climb. He was just wondering if we could remind him of how to tie a figure 8, because he knew "it's the most important knot." We wanted to leave so we wouldn't ruin our clothes carrying his bloody body out of there 15 minutes later. This is the kind of thing you should expect at Chuckwalla.

And this is the kind of thing you should expect if you try to get into the tent when Phunk is blogging. Apparently there's lots of WiFi around Saint George.

Desert Warm Up Weekend

2008-03-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well Technically, last weekend was my first climbing weekend in the desert. But it wasn't really a good warm up, for a few reasons.

In the planning stages, it sounded like a solid weekend - climb Fine Jade and Kor Ingalls on Saturday, and then head down to Indian Creek for a day of cragging on Sunday. In reality, we saw a band in town Friday night, got a late Colorado start on Saturday, and finally got to the top of the first route of the day by 4:00 PM or so. Then we learned that Zac carried a case of PBR up the considerable approach. So we bailed on the second route, and instead set our minds to killing the case before we got back down to the cars. And we sent the hell out of that little challenge.

Needless to say, Sunday didn't turn into a sendfest, unless you count breakfast at the Chinese Buffet in Moab.

So I wrote that weekend off, and considered this one the first real trip of the season. And it was great - perfect weather, good friends, and a few sends here and there.

I still feel like I'm warming up for the season, which is alright, but I'll have to get over that soon. Climbing above gear felt scary, and I definitely wasn't pushing it hard enough to whip. Getting back outside is a humbling experience.

It's making me remember that there's more to climbing than being strong in the gym. Realizing the the ground I have to cover, mentally, makes me want to work twice as hard with my training.

A few quiet dirtbags were hanging around the creek, as usual, ticking routes and taking falls with no drama. No egos, no spray, (no blogging), just climbing. The picture above is one of them, Mike from Orem, warming up on Anunaki - a super steep 12- of hands and fingers.

Climbing with people like that, in a place like Indian Creek, is pretty inspiring. I couldn't be more stoked for the season.

The new purpose of the blog

2008-01-30T16:57:00.001-08:00

The first chapter of this blog tracked my winding road trip across the country, starting about a year ago, and ending around November. Since that little outing, I've settled back into life here in SLC with a new job, a new gym, and some new clothes. During this whole settling period, I've had some time to reflect on the next big plan.

But first, a little back story.

Andy, who lives in Jackson Hole, showed up in the valley this fall after not really climbing all summer, and crushed heads. He was leading solid 5.11, which is nothing to sneeze at in Yosemite. Especially if you're doing it consistently, from wide stuff to fingers.

I asked him wtf and how he trained for that. He told me he'd been working out at a gym in Jackson called Mountain Athlete, (click on that to check out their website, it's pretty sweet.) And they had him doing stuff like this:

Looks hard core. But you can't argue with results. So when I got home to Salt Lake, I looked up a local gym that was supposed to be of the same flavor. I found Gym Jones via the internet, and dropped them an email to see if I could start training.

None other than legendary alpinist Mark Twight answered my email with a series of piercing questions about my training goals and motivation. I replied that my ultimate goal, as of right now, was to climb The Nose in 24 hours with my buddy Andy this summer. (This one's been hanging over ours heads for a while now.) I was curious if he thought the workouts at Gym Jones were specific enough for my climbing goals. Here's his response:

"Plenty of climbers have done the Nose in 12 hours on a
diet of climbing and general fitness only. A solid foundation of
general fitness is achievable at Gym Jones.

If you require a more specific program to achieve a more difficult
objective it is another story entirely."

Whoa, a more difficult objective? Fair enough Mark, screw The Nose in a push. (Or 12 hours.) We'll go climb The Nose, and then we'll climb Half Dome too, all in 24 hours. How do you like me now?

I updated Andy on our new goal, and he responded by going back to the gym to do this some more:
So while he was getting strong in Jackson, I started going to Gym Jones.

It's been a trip over there - the emphasis is all on building a solid foundation of core strength, and building everything up from there. I thought I had core strength, but the first time I tried to do a big deadlift, I understood. And ring dips, geez.

But at the end of the day, it's about honest hard work. The feeling I get from Gym Jones workouts can most closely be compared to offwidth climbing, or hauling on a big wall. You just work till you think you might puke, and when you think there's no way you could do another move, or rep, you do. And then you do another. Take another look at Andy's photo. When was the last time you worked that hard?

I think this training is going to work.

Dave Turner opens new grade VII in Patagonia, solo.

2008-01-29T23:17:00.001-08:00

Valley regular Dave Turner finished his new grade VII solo in Patagonia, solo. It's the first time a new grade VII route has been soloed, in alpine style. Wow.

(Routes are given roman numeral grades based on the length of times they take to complete. A grade I would just be a single pitch, grade II would be a few pitches, grade III would be most of the day, grade IV is a very long day, grade V is multi day, grade VI is multiple nights (most El Cap Routes) and a grade VII is a grade VI climb with an expedition style approach, and much more commitment. Phew that was a big parenthetical.)

The new route's called Taste The Paine, and it goes up the wall in the picture. Unbelievable feat of suffering and badassry. Here's the typically understated Dave Turner, posting on Supertopo.com:

"wow! so much has happened for me in the last two months. i have fufilled my climbing dream of over six years a few days ago. standing on the top of cerro escudo in the torres del paine region of southern patagonia was anything but sane. i opened a 1,200 meter (4,000ft) overhanging big wall route in some of the worst weather i have ever experienced! i was on the wall for a total of 34 continous days, saying screw fixed ropes and siege style climbing, and went for it in pure alpine style continously moving the camp up as i went. showing up with my one haul line and two 70m lead lines might have been a bit crazy, but thats my way. the how is as important as the what. the climb was very difficult on all aspects, gear got thrashed, ropes got cut, rocks came through the ledge, whippers were logged, screamers blown, and of course the weather, oh the weather! i got absolutly pummeled by the patagonian storms! there is so much i want to talk about, but first i need to fill my stomach with real food, eat lots of ice cream, and cut this hair! i will be back to fill in a few details."

That should inspire us all. Read the thread for a more detailed account of the ascent:

Click here for the full thread.

Way The Hell Up There

2008-01-29T17:28:00.001-08:00

Alright folks we're back, again. This blog has gone through a few life and death cycles, but that's natural. I changed the name to give it a more edgy feel, because this season we're taking things up a notch. We're not just up there any more, oh no. We're Way The Hell Up There. And you will be too.

The picture has nothing to do with this post, I just threw it in there because blog posts without pictures are boring.

And that's the new high standard of quality you can expect around here.

Okay.

Authentic Climbing Pants for Sale

2007-10-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

The Carharts have survived another weekend of offwidthing and rolling around in the dirt. They're getting pretty worn - both knees are completely blown out though the first layer, and the second layer is wearing fast. The butt is about to go too, which will be problematic.

At this point, I've decided they're more of a Dirtbag Fashion piece than functional clothing. So if you need to impress some chicks at your local rock climbing gym, and you wear 30-30, just let me know and I'll sell you these pants for $150. I'll even wash them before shipping, but then you'd lose the "I've Been Sleeping In The Dirt for Weeks" look that so many posers strive for. Your call.

Costume Weekend. It's gonna be hard to top this one.

2007-10-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

To everyone who was in Indian Creek this weekend, and wasn't part of our group, we'd like to apologize for the following:

1. Keeping you up late every night with our screaming, tree climbing, bowling, drinking, bluegrass playing, manhunts, and naked fire leaping.

2. Crowding the following crags: Way Rambo, Res Wall, and Battle of the Bulge.

3. Showing up in obnoxious costumes, some of which were offensively tight or revealing, with some offenders sporting multiple costumes throughout said weekend.

4. Sending so damn hard in said costumes, flaunting superior crack climbing skillz.

5. Posting inappropriate materials on the bulletin board.

6. Getting so much blood on Big Baby.

7. Making you question your choice of company, wondering what our group had that your group was lacking which made us have such a good time.

Thanks for your patience and forgiveness, and keep in mind that this will probably happen againthis time next year. My advice - avoid the creek, or come with booze and some wigs.

Back in SLC

2007-10-15T11:14:00.001-07:00

About this time every year, the weather starts to break up in Yosemite. Storms will roll in and climbing will be shut down for a day or two. How many storms you wait out is a measure of how hard core you are. This year, I didn't feel like moping around in the caf for endless hours, so I bailed at first sign of weather. Which puts me back in SLC, where the weather is beautiful, and I'm trying to get my life back in shape.

Apartment hunting tonight, job interview on Thursday... And in the mean time, checking out the incredible fall colors, and hitting my favorite local crags with the homies. Life is sweet.

Astroman like whoa.

2007-10-12T11:29:00.001-07:00

I've been wanting to get on Astroman ever since I learned that it wasn't a Japanese cartoon character, and was in fact one of the sickest free climbs in Yosemite valley. It's 10 pitches of super sustained climbing up Washington Column, capped off with a sketchy descent down the notoriously steep and loose North Dome Gully. What else could you ask for?

I had no plans to do the route this trip. But one evening, as I was wandering around camp 4 with a few King Cobras in me, I heard my Spanish buddy talking about how his Astroman partner bailed on him. Mostly because he was afraid of the Harding Slot, a notorious squeeze chimney half way up the route.

A quick word about the Harding Slot, from Mountain Project: "Competitor of the Hollow Flake for THE imagination seizing Valley pitch. Many strong climbers have melted down here. There are a couple of reasons for this: first, it requires a style of climbing that is rarely encountered outside of the Valley and avoided in general and second, most average and large size people don't believe they can fit through the slot."

Being something of a glutton for suffering on grovely pitches, and being a chimney connoisseur, and already having done the above mentioned Hollow Flake pitch, (finding it to be one of the most significant emotional voyages of my adult life) I've always wanted to see what this Harding Slot is all about. Now was my chance.

I staggered over to my Spanish friend, and stammered that I'd love to go up Astroman, as long as I got to lead the slot. He was overjoyed, and it was a partnership made in heaven.

Two days later, as I was trying to wedge my body in a downwardly flaring slot of granite so tight you can't ever turn your head inside, with my feet kicking flaccidly into 500 feet of air below me, I once again cursed the power of King Cobras. This wasn't the first tight spot those evil beverages had gotten me into. I wish I could say it would be the last, but I think we all know that's not true. Here's a picture looking up into the slot, but it's hard to appreciate the sinking sense of dread that the feature exudes unless you're hanging right there in its shadow. I suggest you go experience it firsthand.

In any event, once I got into the slot proper, the rest of the route was amazing. One clean crack after another, everything from fists to fingers, plus some face climbing. I've never been worked so hard by a single day of climbing. Stupidly, I didn't tape my hands, and today it looks like I tried to fish out a nickel that I dropped into a tank full of caffeinated piranhas.

So today I'm resting, and trying to get a job. Who knows what else will happen on this trip, but it'll be hard to top the excitement of yesterday.

So many SLC friends in the valley...

2007-10-09T17:03:00.001-07:00

Even though today was a rest day, I ran out to shoot Elliot cruising Catchy (10d.) Sometimes I think I should take pictures of people other than Elliot. But I've been wrong about a lot of stuff in the past, so who knows.

Valley weather keeps getting better

2007-10-09T11:41:00.001-07:00

Well the weather here in the valley just keeps getting nicer. We're cragging mostly - went up to Pat and Jack's Pinnacle yesterday for some fun routes. I almost took a big fall when blindly bumping a #4 camalot in a pumpy undercling out this big roof. Exciting times.

Here's a random view of the valley that I stumbled upon while bouldering the other day. Left to right it's North Dome, Washington Column, Mt. Watkins (I think) and of course, Half Dome.

Bouldering in the Ditch

2007-10-07T15:54:00.001-07:00

Fall in the Valley means shorter days, beautiful foliage, and cooler temps. Which isn't so great for wall climbing, but makes for perfect bouldering.

Chris Mac just published a new Yosemite Bouldering Guidebook, and now it's super easy for hacks like me to find classic problems. I met up with some SLC friends today, and we ventured over to the Candyland area, where as it turns out, everything is really tall. Undiscouraged, well at least only mildly discouraged, we managed to send anyway.

Here's Christine on Once Upon A Time - a beautiful V3 stemming problem with a high finish. Possibly the best problem I've climbed in the Valley so far.

So after an awesome day, my hands are shredded and I couldn't be more content. The leaves are just starting to turn, so hopefully I can get some good pics of those. Stay tuned.

Yosemite revisited. Or relived. Depends on how you define it.

2007-10-02T19:52:00.001-07:00

Can't seem to get away from this place for long... Your fearless author is back in the Awahanee, living the reports, posting the dream, and drinking the King Cobras. Something like that.

I haven't found any of the usual dirtbags yet, but they're bound to be lurking in the shadows around here somewhere. And I've only been here about four hours.

We've got some big plans, some not so big plans, and some stuff in between. Wait for this blog to get interesting again...

For all my East Coast friends, sorry I had to bug out and come back West. For further explanation, see the picture above, which I took about an hour ago. That probably says it better than I can...

Back in the saddle

2007-09-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

Alright blog fans (both of you.) I'm sure you've been waiting in eager anticipation for me to start posting again, and I'm never one to dissapoint, so here you go.

The summer at Philmont was awesome. I didn't do very much rock climbing myself, but I got to live out in the woods for another three months, and do a lot of relaxing. Didn't save as much money as I had hoped, but that's how it goes sometimes.

Now I'm back in Virginia, in Blacksburg to be exact. The van is still in Pahrump, and I'm back to climbing rocks as much as possible. We went to the New River Gorge last weekend, and I was pretty impressed. Hard to believe I lived here for four years while I was in school, and I never made the two hour trip over there. I'd put the quality of the climbing at the New up against anything - the bullet hard sandstone offers tons of unique holds, and has everything from slab to big overhangs. Sounds like a blurb from a tourist pamphlet... But seriously, the New is sick.

That's a shot of Tom on some 5.11, which he onsighted in good style, downclimbing the crux sequence twice before he figured it out.

So long Yosemite, and thanks for all the granite.

2007-05-19T18:33:00.001-07:00

Another incredible visit to the Valley. I probably crushed more King Cobras than hard pitches, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Met some new friends, hung out with a lot of old ones, and basically had a blast.

I have a renewed passion for this place, and can't wait to return stronger in the fall.

Till then, it's back to SLC for a few days, then out to Philmont on Monday for Phase II of this adventure...

Here's a night time exposure of El Cap. Headlamps and stars...

Greg on Cookie Monster

2007-05-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

On my final day of climbing in the valley, I shot Greg on Cookie Monster - a pretty sick 12a sport line at the Cookie Cliff.

After The Storm Cleared

2007-05-19T18:05:00.001-07:00

I ran around the valley taking these shots as the sun was setting one evening...

More Nose Pics

2007-05-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

Get it? Never mind. Here you go:

Picture of the topo - photo by Andy.

A little bit of exposure. Photo by Andy again.

Yours truly on the summit. Andy took all the interesting photos, I guess.

Here's Elliot contemplating our situation, with the help of a King Cobra, from Sickle Ledge. And I actually took this one. Take that, Andy.

The Nose, round 2.

2007-05-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Jugging a free hanging rope 2,500 feet above the valley floor will get your blood pumping. When you swing out from the wall, you realize that you're not often that far away from the rest of the planet.

After getting bouted on our In A Day attempt on the Nose, Andy and I were thirsty for a re-match. Elliot had just arrived in the valley, and he was all psyched up to do some hard aid climbing. I've lost my taste for pure aid over the years, so I convinced him to join me and Andy for a wall style three man ascent of the Nose.

When you go as a team of three, one guy leads, the second guy jugs the lead line and cleans the gear, and the third guy gets to jug a free hanging line. When the wall is steep, which it is for the last few pitches, this leaves you dangling in space. It's exciting.

Overall, the climb was a lot of fun. The team of three led to a lot of laughing at the belays, instead of spending all that time alone. Most hanging belays turned into epic clusters with all the ropes running everywhere, but we managed to stay sane. The climbing was unbelievable and classic, as it always is. Once again, I want to go back and do more of it free.

Standing on the summit was a great feeling. Andy and I had finally ticked the Nose together, and I had climbed El Cap with Elliot, which we'd been talking about for months.

So now I get to recover for a few days, then I get one more shot at something big before it's time to leave. I've got a few climbs in mind, but if anyone had any suggestions, I'm all ears.

NIAD - We gave it our best shot.

2007-05-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

I feel bad when I open my bear box at 2:00 AM in Camp 4 because it sqeaks really loud. But there isn't much I can do about that - and hopefully I didn't wake up too many other climbers as I munched on my pop tarts and canned peaches on Sunday morning. I have a hard time getting breakfast down on the morning of a big climb, and this was going to be the biggest climb I'd ever attempted. Andy and Tony's headlamps were shining over by their bear boxes, and after a few minutes, we silently met up and walked over to the parking lot.

The 15 minute approach hike to the base of the Nose is just steep enough to break a sweat if you're carrying gear, even if it's only 45 degrees out. We had Gnarles Barkley pumping out of our little Big Wall Speaker, which was the luxury item for the climb. Music was going to the be key for our success.

Tony and I had both done the route before - each taking 3 days on our previous climbs. Andy has a few wall routes to his name, but none of us had ever done anything in a push before. Climbing a wall in a push means you don't bivy on the route. You climb through the night, into the next day, and sometimes into the next night too. It's pretty grueling, but you save a lot of effort because you don't have to haul a 60 pound bag with all your food, water, and bivy gear.

My block of pitches was first, so I tied in and started climbing right at 3:00 AM. The first few pitches of the Nose are very polished, awkward, and feature the aid crux of the route. I had us up to Sickle ledge in about three hours, as the sun was coming up. That wasn't as fast as I had hoped, but wasn't terrible. Sickle is 4 pitches up, and the time it takes you to get there is supposed to be 10% of your total route time. 3 hours to Sickle meant 30 hours on the route, probably. So far, so good.

I haded over the lead after Sickle, and Andy got us up the Stovelegs Cracks. They're named after the pitons Warren Harding used to nail up them on the first ascent, which were forged from some old iron stove legs. Fortunately, we free climb them now at about 5.9, which is a lot faster than nailing.

Warren Harding blew everyone's mind when he first climbed the route in 1958. He spent 47 days up there. The second ascent went a little faster - they did it in about 6 days I think. Minds were blown again in 1975 by the first in-a-day ascent by John Long, Jim Bridwell, and Billy Westbay. These days, climbing the Nose in a day, or NIAD, is something of a benchmark for valley climbers. Plenty of people have pulled it off, but it's still an accomplishment. You've really got to be comfortable moving fast, and have your system dialed with your partner.

Unfortunately, we couldn't really get our system dialed with a party of three. The belays were always a mess with ropes running everywhere, it took too long to clean pitches, and we couldn't get the leader off the belay any faster with the third man. I'll try the climb again at some point in a party of two.

We arrived at Dolt Tower right at noon, 9 hours after leaving the ground. Dolt is pitch 11 out of 32, but the climbing gets slower up higher, so it's really only 25% up the route. Our total projected time had slipped to 36 hours, which was a little more than we were prepared to endure. 30 hours is a pretty long push. 36 hours is getting a little crazy. So we ate most of our food, stashed the water we had left for future thirsty parties, and started rapping to the ground.

The climb wasn't a failure - 11 awesome pitches in 9 hours makes for a good day of cragging on the big stone. As a collective first attempt at a big wall push, I'd say we did alright. We learned a lot, and now I have a new objective to keep me motivated. The climb will still be there when I'm ready for it.

Plus, it's always good to get humbled. That way, you know you're trying.

The Weatherman Lied

2007-05-04T17:43:00.000-07:00

He said this storm was gonna break, but it's been raining and snowing for the past two days. My buddy Tony took this shot in Camp 4 this morning. Now they're saying it should clear up tomorrow, so the rock should be pretty dry by Sunday...

Our current estimated blast-off time is 12:00 PM on Sunday. If everything goes according to plan, we should be pulling our last rope up the last pitch of the Nose at 11:55 AM on Monday.

Wish us luck.

Going up.

2007-05-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

As soon as the rainy weather breaks... possibly tomorrow. Watch our progress here.

K not really, but at least you can watch the conditions, and try to imagine how we're doing. We'll probably be doing well, more or less. So you can imagine that. Us doing well, I mean.

I'll tell you all about it when we're down.

Starting to look up at the walls...

2007-05-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

I've been here a little over a week now. We've been having a blast free climbing, bouldering, and partying every night in C4. It's been the highlight of my trip so far.

Now that a few old partners are showing up, it's time to start thinking about walls. Elliot is showing up in a week or so, and is stoked on Zodiac. I walked up to scope the route when I first arrived - here's a picture I snapped of some guys braving the spray from Horsetail falls. It's a lot drier up there now.

But another old friend showed up, and wants to get on the Nose. That's a tempting offer... We'll watch the weather and see how it looks. It's been a few years since I've done that route, I'd love to try it again and see how much will go free.

Chillin in Yosemitizzle.

2007-04-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Faithful readers:

I'm sure you've just been dying for an update. I've been pretty busy climbing the last few days, so I haven't had a chance to post anything.

It's been a killer good time so far. Camp 4 was surprisingly empty when I arrived, and at firs there weren't too many climbers running around. But people have begun to show up, and now I have a steady supply of climbing partners.

I've been doing some cragging, longer routes, and even some bouldering. I've never been much into bouldering here, but yesterday evening we ran into a big crew working on some problems, and had a lot of fun cranking with them. Then we all went to the Pizza Deck in Curry, paid way too much for beers, and had a good time.

We had a little adventure the other day - we started out on a casual climb up the Nutcracker, 5.8, and ended up getting way off route, slabbing off into nowhere on dicey terrain above bad bolts. That was the second time I got off route on that climb, which is probably in the running for one of the most obvious lines in the park. Go figure. But we went back the next day and sent in good style.

With good climbing, good weather, and meeting new people, this valley trip has been everything I was expecting so far. Geez this place is fun.

We have arrived.

2007-04-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

And by "we" I mean "I." We even got a spot in C4 right away. Everything's still a little wet, maybe the cookie will be dry tomorrow...

But it feels good just to be here, finally.

(Edit: I went and took a better shot today to replace that bad one. Never should have posted that...)

Meet the new ride

2007-04-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

So far, life in the Saturn has been pretty sweet. Shockingly, I can fit everything that was in the van into that little car. The Rocket Box on top of the roof rack helps quite a bit, but I still can't believe how much space I have. I completely removed the back seat, so now I can even bivy in the trunk, with my legs stretching out into my haul bag, which is positioned in what was the rear passenger seat. So basically how I'm sleeping on that ledge in the picture, but in the car...

Pretty cush, and way stealth. The only problem is climbing out of the trunk when I get up in the morning... Hard to do that while looking nonchalant.

All in all, it uses less gas, fits all my stuff, and I can still sleep in it. Why did I buy that van? Oh well.

I've been having a great time in the Bay Area this weekend, visiting friends, climbing at Touchstone, and visiting my Uncle and Aunt. But tomorrow, finally, I'm going to Yosemite. And the weather forecast looks awesome.

The van is dead.

2007-04-20T00:48:00.000-07:00

The van broke down last night on I-15, just north of Vegas. It's a long story, and it's 2:30 in the morning, and I've been driving for like 9 hours, so I'll get into more detail in the morning. But right now, it's sitting in Pahrump, NV. And I'm back in SLC via a fast little rental car, courtesy of AAA. I'm gonna load up the trusty ol Saturn tomorrow, and continue my trip as if nothing ever happened...

Alright it's morning. Time for the full story: So there I was, cruising along on I-15, just North of Vegas, headed to LA to visit a buddy of mine. When all of a sudden, and sudden realization started to sink in: the gas pedal doesn't work any more. Crap. I pulled over, and the engine was dead. After a few failed attempts at resuscitation, I whipped out my trusty AAA card.

"Hi, it's me."

"Oh hey Kevin, is the van broken down again?"

"You bet."

"What's your 20?"

"Just outside Vegas. Send a tow, some strippers, and a shrimp cocktail."

"Shrimp's not covered under your policy. Shell fish allergy premiums spiked last year."

"Alright forget the shrimp. Just come get me."

I settled in and cooked some dinner, did some reading, and took pictures of this little critter, who came and hung out with me for almost 20 minutes. I think he was a baby coyote or something.

"Looks like your pretty broke down, mang."

"Uh yeah coyote, I'm broken down. Not sure what the problem is."
"You got gas in that ting?"

"Yeah, should be move than half full."

"Oh mang it's probably your timing chain."

"No the E250's have meshing gears, no timing chains."

"Whatever esse. Hey have you seen a delivery truck go by? I ordered a shrimp cocktail and it's been like more than an hour."

"Sorry Coyote, I haven't seen anything. But i'll let you know."

And with that, he took off into the night.

So eventually the tow truck arrives, and takes me into Vegas. At least I got to see Vegas at night, which is always impressive. He dropped me off outside a garage, and I went to sleep in the van.

In the morning we pushed her into the garage, and a few hours later I had my diagnosis.

"$1033 if it's the timing chain, $1600 if it's the cam shaft. Which it might be. *Serious look.* It might be."

"Wait, I thought the E250's didn't have a timing chain?"

"Oh. Right yeah, there's actually meshing gears. $1033 for those too. If it's those. Which it might be."

"K lemme make a few calls."

I got on the phone with my Uncle, who's rebuilt his old van a zillion times. The thing's probably a 76 or something, and I think it's been his main ride for as long as I've been alive. He agreed that the guy at the shop was probably full of it, and that I should tow it to his property, which is coincidentally 70 miles away. Even though he lives in New York.

A few hours later, I was having a really hard time keeping the rental car under 90 mph. When you're used to driving a 12 year old half ton van, a 2007 Corolla feels like a Corvette. And they're surprisingly roomy - I fit everything that was in the van, and my haul bag didn't even have to ride shot gun.

So now I'm back in SLC, getting a little work done on the Saturn, which will become my ride for the rest of this trip. It won't be as comfortable as the van, but it'll work just fine. Meanwhile the van will chill in Pahrump, NV until I can get down there to fix her with Uncle Tom.

I'm psyched to get out to California, if the gods ever will it to be.

So long, and thanks for all the splitters.

2007-04-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Rad sunset image of the South Six Shooter by Elliot Barcicowski.

On Saturday, we were up at the Cat Wall, having another typical day at Indian Creek. The weather was perfect, the crowds weren't bad, and we had a big posse of stoked climbers sending tons of routes. A few friends were down for the weekend and we were all enjoying ourselves.

Towards the end of the day, the shadows were creeping into the canyon, and a few folks were already cracking beers in the parking lot. I was pretty tired, but Elliot was still stoked, so we walked over to check out one final route: Desert Moon. It was one of the most beautiful hand cracks I'd seen on the whole trip - beautiful hands splitter high up on a blank face. Everyone was pretty stoked to get on the thing as the last lap of the day. Everyone except me.

It was kinda weird - since the first time I sunk my hands into a perfect sandstone splitter, I've never been able to get enough. But looking up at that crack, instead of feeling inspired to rack up and send, I just felt a little hungry and tired. I realized I was done with Indian Creek.

After climbing hundreds, if not thousands of feet of the best cracks in the world, I'm ready for something new. In the fall I'll probably be super stoked to get back out in the desert sand and sun, but for now, I'm calling it quits.

But the timing couldn't be better! Yosemite is just about in season, so I'm heading West on Friday. I'll visit some friends and family in the Bay Area, then motor out to the valley to begin the next chapter of this trip.

Tomorrow, I'll hit the two month mark for this trip. So far, it's been incredible.

A final shot from Indian Creek

2007-04-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

This will probably be the last Indian Creek photo you'll see on the blog for a while. Stay tuned for the change of venue...

Adam getting some goodness on Scarface.

Every Other Orange

2007-04-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Check out this blog, every other orange, by Porscha Doucette.

She's a Salt Lake climber, takes really good pictures, and has a way with words as well. Good stuff!

More LCC bouldering

2007-04-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

I've been having fun over the past few days climbing locally, and I'm slowing rediscovering the joys of bouldering in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Wandering around yesterday, we ran into a posse of pretty strong climbers - some of em were locals, but some were traveling. I was a little surprised to hear that Little Cottonwood was a destination for boulderers on the road. I guess sometimes it's easy to take the climbing in your back yard for granted. Especially if it's bouldering, and you're not really a boulderer.

I also finally found a problem that really appeals to me. Well two of em, actually - a 3 and a 4. Scott's styling the V4 in that photo to the left. Most of LCC bouldering is heinous, slopey, and painful. But here's a problem that actually has good edges, and good feet. Shocking, I know. Too bad I was just resting / taking pics yesterday. I'll have to go back and give that thing a try.

After messing around a little on that boulder, we hiked way up to Prime Rib with the crew. It's a pretty stout problem so I had no illusions of trying it, but the guys were nice enough to let me take a few pictures of them working on it. Ethan is climbing, and Issac is spotting.

Good times bumming around in LCC...

Beautiful day in BCC

2007-04-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

I always forget how much I love climbing in Big Cottonwood Canyon. You could ask for a better crag 15 minutes from your house, but then you'd be getting greedy. I know it's not the best stone in the world, but there are so many good routes hiding up in it's chossy looking cliffs.

I met up with Adam and Genevieve in the parking lot, and we started out with a visit to the Psychobabble wall. This was a perfect choice cause it was pretty crowded in the canyon, but I've never seen anyone else up at Psychobabble. It's probably because the routes are stout, and the approach is a little hairball. Naturally I was wearing flip flops, which makes the fourth class approach pretty exciting.

Adam sent Psychostemmatic in good style, and I got a beat down from Psychobabble. Must have tried that crux sequence 6 different times. Too bad I didn't get it until attempt #7, after a hang...

Then we headed down to the Slips, and got Genevieve on her first lead. I always love getting people out on lead for their first time, and Genevieve handled it with aplomb. She can count the amount of climbing days she's had on one hand, and she's absolutely killing it. This chica will be muy fuerte very soon.

A quick clipping lesson...

Then she floats her first lead with no hesitation.

A little change of scenery...

2007-04-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

If there's one place in the lower 48 that's the exact opposite of the quiet, dry, dusty Utah desert, it's probably Disney World in Orlando, Florida. And I'm in a unique position to make that judgment - I doubt too many climbers have spent a few weeks in the desert, and then have all of a sudden been blasted out to the heat of Florida for a week-long vacation. The two destinations are not exactly on the same circuit.

But I was there this past week, running around in the Magic Kingdom, lounging on the beach, and hanging out with the family. The usual hilarity ensued when a bunch of us get together - people got lost, others were forced to do "I'm a little teapot" renditions in front of an entire restaurant, and I got sent on a few henchman missions to steal lounge chairs from other groups on the too-crowded pool deck. My mother set a breakneck pace, determined to see every attraction at every park we visited. With drill sergeant precision, she plotted a course on her map and kept us all in line. It was brutal.

All in all it was a blast, and a great break from the climbing bum lifestyle. My hands had a brief chance to heal, and I'm ready to go back and hit the desert with full force.

Meanwhile I'm in SLC, because the transmission on the van died. It's gonna set me back about $1200, which I'm not too psyched about, but what can you do. It should be fixed by Tuesday, at which point it's back to the desert!

Still working on these night exposures...

2007-03-29T17:10:00.000-07:00

Haven't quite nailed it yet, maybe next month I'll have better luck... But at least you can see the flowers that were blooming this week. Pretty wild to see a big field of flowers like that in the middle of the desert.

Snowed Out.

2007-03-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to an inch of snow, and another inch fell while I was cooking breakfast. I took it as a sign, packed up the van, and headed back to SLC. I had to be back by Friday anyhow, as I have to catch a flight out to Florida to meet the fam at Disney World.

So I'll be taking a long-overdue week rest, and soak up some Florida sun. Then it's back to the Creek for a last show down with a few remaining projects, then off to the Valley...

Photo contest... Me vs. Me vs. Me.

2007-03-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

For every picture you see posted here, there are probably 60-80 that don't make the cut. Granted I'll take 50 pictures of one person on one climb, and I'm only hoping for one or two good ones, so the constant failure isn't too soul crushing. But it's still a lot of work sorting through it all. And sometimes it's hard cause the shots can be real similar, and maybe I have a top three, but I can't decide which I like the best.

Hopefully you all can help. Take a look at the three pics below, all of Nate on Wigglin Worm. You've seen one of them before, but the other two are new. I like them all for their own reasons, but let me know which one is your favorite. (Let's assume for a second that I can photoshop my stupid foot out of the first one... Give me a break, I'm still learning.)

Another Week in the Desert

2007-03-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

Another week in the desert... I've discovered that unless you're here, there isn't much exciting news. We climbed a lot of cracks, had a few campfires, and met some more weird desert folk. I managed to finally send Way Rambo, which I've been looking at for a while now, so that was cool. Here are a few more shots of the action:

Nate looking at the roof on Wiggling Worm. Manos perfectos! He fired it.

The crew hiking down from the Way Rambo wall.

Can't seem to get enough photos of Swedin Ringle... Here's Megan cranking.

Update: Carhartts 6 Month Challenge

2007-03-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

So far, the Carhartts get a mixed review. It's been a no-holds-barred month of climbing on them, and yes, I've managed to wear them every day. (But they've been washed a few times, so don't worry.)

The knees are seeing most of the wear, and sadly, they're already starting to fail. The sides of the knees have three layers of canvas, and I've already worn through the top two.

After half a dozen offwidths, the sides of the knees don't look so good...

The fronts of the knees are already getting threadbare! Bummer...

But they've been super comfy after they broke in, and it's been a pretty intense month, so you gotta give them some credit for that. Right now they're at a 3.5 out of 5, but I really can't seem them going the whole six months. Could any pair of pants? Probably not.

Rainy Days are Rest Days

2007-03-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

It's raining here in Moab, which means some much-needed rest time. My muscles need time to rebuild, my gobies need time to close, and my knuckles need time for the swelling to go down.

Yesterday we climbed some finger cracks at the Battle of the Bulge, and I found a new project: Digital Readout. It's pretty tight fingers, but there are some feet, and it's short. Which is good. I'll grab some pics next time I'm over there.

In the mean time, I'm sitting in the Mondo, drinking too much coffee and reading fark.com...

Only 8 Days Left

2007-03-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

This trip is flying by way too fast. It seems like I've only been out on the road for a week or two, but the one month mark came and went a few days back.

So far the weather has been mostly great, the climbing has been excellent, and the company has been prety killer as well. Good to see a lot of my SLC friends down here in Moab.

But I've only got eight days left in Indian Creek. That's pretty wild - I've still got a few outstanding projects. Tomorrow we're going up to the Way Rambo wall, and hopefully I'll tick two of my remaining projects. Then, it's off to my super secret proj... wish me luck on that bad boy, and if I manage to send it, I'll tell you all what it is. Oh and here's another picture of Elliot working on his outstanding project, Sweedin Ringle:

More Desert Fun

2007-03-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

So I've decided since I'm not going to send anything hard this trip, at least I'm going to get pictures of other people doing so. I spent the last few days with a bunch of strong climbers, and got a few shots that I kinda like. Check em out -

This is John on the Serrator - it's fun 5.11 offwidth to about 40' of easy but kinda scary climbing up the "serrator" feature. It's a little hard to protect, and even if your pro held, that serrated rock edge might just snip your rope...

Here's John on Slice and Dice - 5.12 green camalot finger stacks. This is a super rad route, but I was having trouble getting a good angle to shoot it. There's a little bit of lens distortion in this shot, but it really is steep right there.

Here's Paul cruising Layaway Plan - 5.11 red camalots through a big roof. I was bracketing, and this shot came out overexposed, but it snapped at just the right moment, so I did what I could to fix it. The result is kinda interesting, but I wish the exposure had been correct the first time.

Another climber named Mike in roughly the same spot. Different day though.

Mike taking a little ride at the crux...

Then sending in style on the second go.

Stay posted for more pics...

Working my way back up

2007-03-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

I ran into two climbers named Michael and Christina on this last creek visit. We had a good time chilling together in the beautiful desert weather, and we even got a little climbing in. Both of them are strong climbers, and it was their first visit to the Creek. They both killed it, and I have photographic evidence...

Left to Right: Michael sending Supercrack, Christinia on the first moves of Coyne Crack, and Michael fighting the good fight on the upper section of Coyne Crack.

Starting my outdor season at Indian Creek has been a test of patience. I ended last season climbing fairly strong (unless you count that last trip with Elliot, Zac, and Ashley where I didn't redpoint a single route...) After bouldering in the gym all winter, I had hoped to come out of the gate even stronger this spring. And if I were climbing at a sport crag, that might be true. But not at the Creek.

The endurance required on these super physical routes is just unreal. And there's no practical way to train for this stuff, other than just getting out and doing it. It's been hard to get my rhythm going in the Creek - the only other place I've climbed full-time is Yosemite, and it's a bit harder to work yourself into the ground there. But in the Creek, you can completly toast yourself in two or three routes. It's awesome.

My body is slowly remembering how to do this "crack climbing" stuff, and my muscles are slowly adjusting to the punishment they're getting almost every day. I'm also learning how to take more down time, and give myself a chance to recover fully.

Meanwhile, I'm learning more about this new camera. A few lessons from today:

It's hard to get an even exposure in direct desert sun.
My new wide angle lens is so frickin wide, I have to crop my feet out of most of the shots
Pay attention to where that pesky autofocus is focusing...

If It Was Easy, It Wouldn't Be Fun

2007-03-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

I was joined this weekend in Indian Creek by SLC friends Elliot and Bonnie. It's always a good time hanging out with those two, but whenever Elliot comes down to the creek, I'm gaurenteed not to send anything. I had a big "excuse gumbo" going on this weekend, including, but not limited to:

This crack is frozen
My hands are frozen
All my drinking water is frozen
I skied too hard on Friday
My tape is coming off
My hands are busted
This crack is too big (small) for me to get good finger locks
I should be resting today

So yeah, it was a killer good time. I'm coming to terms with the fact that all the gym bouldering I did this winter really doesn't help my crack climbing at all. But that's cool - if it was easy, it wouldn't be fun.

Midnight Shot of the Bridger Jacks

2007-03-05T08:43:00.000-08:00

Took this one on Friday at midnight under a huge full moon. It came out a little blurry because I was balancing the camera on some books on top of my van instead of using a tripod. But I still kinda like the shot, and I hope you do too cause it was really really cold lying on top of the van.

Soft Landings at Alta Today

2007-02-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

If I had known he was going to do this, I would have brought the nicer camera along... Leave it to Phunk.

T-Shirt Weather in February

2007-02-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

Finally, I've put some solid days in at Indian Creek. The weather was (more or less) beautiful, and the place was deserted. We were climbing in t-shirts in February, it was crazy. We also got snowed on a little bit, but you can't have it all. On Sunday, we were the only car at the Supercrack buttress parking lot. That was a little surreal.

We took advantage of the opportunity by getting lots of mileage in on handcracks to get back in shape for desert climbing. (Normally all the good handcracks have big crowds, but not this weekend...)

fortunately, we could get on whatever we wanted, because there was no one there. Unfortunately, I got a little too enthusiastic and kinda tore up my hands. Fortunately, it's snowing in the Wasatch, so it's time to go heal and ski some pow.

Life is pretty good.

Rest Day

2007-02-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

Like any major change in lifestyle, it takes a while to adapt to life as a full-time climber. As my mind starts to unwind a little bit, it's surprising to see how twisted up it had become running the the rat race of the "real world."

Life can get pretty crazy. When I'm working full time, and trying to stay active as a climber or skier, I'm pretty much firing on all cylinders, all the time. As soon as I leave my desk, I'm usually off to the crag or the gym. Or I'm cutting hours of sleep to squeeze in a few laps in the backcountry before work. Weekends are even worse - How fast can we get to Zion? How many pitches can we do this weekend? Why can't these guys in front of us hurry up, don't they know we only have 19 hours before we have to be back at work?

And in the spare moments when I'm not working, or climbing, or driving to one or the other, those random moments of silence through the day, by comparison, seem empty. The silence seems louder than a car dealership commercial. So I fill it with TV, radio, iPod, computer, cell phone, anything. So long as it's not silence. If I'm not constantly stimulated and entertained, I'm bored.

Which bring me back to today. Today, I'm finally reaching a point where the silence is tolerable again. I took a hike in Arches. I made a few turkey sandwiches. I sat outside for a little while and watched Nick work on a home made bike trailer he's building. I can feel the shift starting to happen in my thinking.

Nick working on his project.

It's a rest day, and I'm finally able to start enjoying a little silence.

Back in Moab

2007-02-21T19:43:00.000-08:00

After a few days skiing sicky powpow in the Wasatch (to give my shoulder adequate rest) I'm back on track with the climbing trip. We climbed outside Moab today up in Long Canyon, on the Dead Man's Buttress. The route pictured is a 5.10 called Program Director - it was 190 feet of mostly wide hands to fists. Ugh. Maybe now I can actually start getting back in shape for this kind of climbing.

The shoulder felt good though, so we're headed to Indian Creek tomorrow to really get this party started. Enough screwing around with bouldering and skiing. Let's get down to some real climbing.

I liked this little cactus, but it couldn't figure out how to like me back.

Goodbye, Del.

2007-02-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

Today I noticed my food bin was getting pretty full. I took a few things out, and unearthed a few bits of food that probably haven't seen the light of day fr a while.

I think we probably all have one or two of these - some sturdy non-perishables that you don't really want to eat, but can't bring yourself to throw away. You know you're in trouble when you're actually taking them with you when you move. This was the case with a particular can of creamed corn, who I've named Del.

Del has been with me for quite a while, as you can see from the rust on his lid. I'm pretty sure I picked him up in the dented can outlet in Oakhurst, CA, in the beautiful summer of '04. He's been with me on road trips before, and when I set out on this one, it was good to know that Del was riding shotgun. You'll notice he's the Creamed variety, which I chose because I was hoping it would taste like the creamed corn that my mother makes for Thanksgiving.

But tonight, I decided it was time. We'd been together so long, and at a certain point, something's gotta give. Del looked confused when the can opener came out, but I think on a certain level, he understood. I sobbed as I ate, with creamed corn on my chin. The world is a slightly sadder place now that Del is no longer in it, but now there's one more creamy angel up in dented-can heaven.

Another shot of that Hueco Sunset

2007-02-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

With all the time I'll be spending in these amazing places, I should probably learn how to take better pictures...

My 24 hour fling with Hueco Tanks

2007-02-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

So I was hanging out in Moab about three days ago, looking at the weather forecast. It was calling for rain and snow for the next two days. Someone I know was headed down to Hueco Tanks in El Paso, TX (once hailed as America's Bouldering mecca) for the week, and the weather looked great there. Since my current residence has wheels, I fired it up and rolled down.

I was a little concerned, just because my rotator cuffs in my shoulders have been giving me problems for the past few weeks. And bouldering can be very rough on your body – it's a good thing to avoid if you're trying to heal, for argument's sake, a pair of rotator cuffs. But I'd been doing some exercises for them, and icing every night, plus I'd been bouldering in the gym and they felt strong. What could go wrong?

The drive wasn't bad - it really helps to be able to sleep wherever you want. The van is working out great so far, it's currently winning the Gear of The Trip award. (The Carharts are in close second.)

When I got down to Hueco, I checked into the Hueco Rock Ranch, which is just a few miles outside the park. That place is pretty sweet - they've got camping, and a building to hang out in with a shower, wireless internet, a fusball table, and some couches. It's the perfect spot to chill on a bad weather day. Outside they have another little building where everyone stores their food and does their cooking. Fantastic setup, wish I could have stayed longer...

The climbing access in Hueco is kinda weird - it used to be an open door policy, but back in 1998 they restricted it due to environmental impact. Of the four main climbing areas, only one remains open to the public. You can only climb in the other tree with a guide, who you hire for the day. So these days, in order to climb, you must either:

Have reservations
Be one of the first ten people in line in the morning to walk-in
Take a commercial "guided tour" for $20
Show up at noon, when they let in whoever's standing around, in place of anyone who had a reservation, but didn't show.

Confused yet? Yeah, me too. And of course the reservations were all booked through the end of the month. Basically the beta is this: show up at the gate in the morning. If that doesn't work, go back at noon. You'll probably get in.

Luckily, I got in on my first day. They made all us first-timers sit through a little orientation video, which talked about the environmental concerns in the area, as well as the acheological history. (Basically it was a popular spot in the desert back in the day, because water would gather in the big "Huecos" or pools in the rock, hence the name Hueco Tanks. ) After the video, they set us loose on the North Mountain area.

I met a guy named Corey in the orientation, so we headed out together. The park is a little confusing, cause there are boulders EVERYWHERE. Go figure. But we found some landmarks and managed to locate a good warm-up area. After a few problems, it became apparent that I am still not a very good boulderer. The grades at Hueco are stiff for sure, definitely not a place to go inflate your ego. I was feeling pretty challenged on the V2's.

The rock at Hueco is amazing. Everywhere you look, there are tons of problems. I probably climbed about 20 problems that first day, all of which I'd call good to excellent quality, and we didn't move more than 100 feet. It's unreal.

Most of my experience with bouldering has been a bit like this:

Thrash through the woods for half an hour looking for some killer boulder a buddy told me about
Give up on finding it
Find some other boulder with two crappy problems and one that looks alright
Realize I lost one of my shoes somewhere back in the scrub oak
Try the problem anyway with only one shoe
Cut myself on a sharp crimp and call it a day.

But things were to be different at Hueco. My day turned out more like this:

Find some pretty sick problems
Flail on some pretty sick problems three grades below where I thought I'd be cranking
Randomly run into a buddy from SLC
Try one last crimpy problem at the end of the day, and tweak the hell out of that rotator cuff in my shoulder.

Everything was going great until #4.

I limped back to the ranch to get an ice pack for my shoulder, and to go sulk in defeat. The sulking felt good, but the shoulder got worse. I braced to see just how bad it would get, and it looks like this is pretty much the worst I've ever tweaked it. It's my left shoulder, which is weird cause that one hasn't been a problem till now. I guess that's good news – my right shoulder must be healing nicely!

Since any more bouldering was absolutely out of the question, and there's nothing to do in El Paso besides boulder, I decided to leave. It was a fantastic 24 hour fling with Hueco Tanks, but it just wasn't meant to be. In my short time there I met some cool folks, and got some fun climbing in. And I have this swollen rotator cuff to remember it all by.

A Texas Sunset, as seen from the van.

So right now I'm back in Moab, taking a few days rest with lots of icing and ibuprofen. Hopefully that'll get my shoulder back in shape, and I'll be able to trad climb again, which was what I was supposed to be doing anyway.

Hueco sunset in the rearview.

The Crack House

2007-02-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

First stop in Moab: The Crack House. This place is pretty wild - it's a cave/boulder in the middle of nowhere, which just happens to feature an 80' hand crack running across its roof. The whole climb, except the highball topout, is completly horizontal. I'm not sure if it was a good warmup, or a brutal awakening to the fact that my edurance has really suffered this winter. We had a good time playing around on it, but no one sent this time...

Finally On the Road

2007-02-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

First stop: Moab, UT. The weather looks a little cloudy at the moment, but we'll see how it shapes up...

The One-Pair Challenge.

2007-02-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

One time I was going out into the backcountry for a 23 day trek. Due to a little packing oversight, I only brought one pair of boxer shorts.

It was quite a trip.

This challenge is along the same lines, but hopefully won't give me a rash. I just bought a pair of Carhart Double Front Work Dungaree.

Most of the "climbing" pants I've ever owned should come in six packs, cause I go through them so quickly. The knees just can't take the abuse.

These pants have something of a cult following. I've never owned a pair, so I decided to see what all the hype was about. I'm going to put them to the ultimate test.

The One Pair Challenge: To wear one pair of Carharts, every day for the entire six month climbing trip, or till they bust.

If they survive, I'll be pretty impressed.

And don't worry, I will wash them regularly. Stay tuned for updates.

The Ride

2007-02-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

In 2004, I lived out of a Saturn for about five months. It wasn't that cool. For this trip, I decided I needed to roll in a little more style. I needed a van.

After watching craigslist and the local classifieds for a few weeks, the perfect van popped up. I called the number, and no joke, this is the story the guy told me:

"Yeah alright, the van. So it's parked on a vacant lot in Sandy. But it's not exactly vacant, cause it's my brother's, well the lot is, and the van is too, and he's letting a guy live there and do autobody work cause he's got medical problems. So you gotta go there. And the last guy that went there, the guy on the lot said the van was his, and he should pay him for it if we wanted to buy it. But that's not true, so don't pay that guy nothin, just get the keys from him and go take a test drive."

I hung up.

A week later, an even more perfect posting came along. A 1995 Ford E250. I knew that this was to be my ride.

The deal was dissapointingly un-sketchy, and next thing I knew I was rolling around in my new home.

But there was lots of work to be done. First to go in was the bed platform. Then some shelving, an end table, floor mats, some storage bins, a few hooks, an inverter, lots of bungee cords, and a trip to Cabella's for some other redneck camping essentials: propane heater, camping table, big ol water jug.
Before and After photos, left and right.

This ride is now officially Pimped Out, and ready to live in for the next six months. I slept in it Saturday night, and the neighbors were only a little weirded out when I stepped out of it in the morning, yawning and stretching, as they were getting in the car headed to church. This is gonna be awesome.

This is seriously bitchin.

2007-02-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Super high-res photos of Yosemite. Check out the one of El Cap in the middle. It's almost like you're up there yourself. But less windy.

Tips for making the transition from 9-5er to Dirtbag

2007-02-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

There are few ways you can more radically alter your lifestyle, possibly besides having a kid, or getting plastic surgery. But just like those two events, this transition can be a little rocky, confusing, but exhilarating all at the same time. Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the past few weeks:

Get a van. Living out of a car is possible, and I’ve done it before for a few months. But just because something is possible doesn't mean it’s a good idea. See: Human Powered Hydrofoil.

“Living out of my car” has a certain rustic, stoic appeal to it. People admire the sound of it. “Living in a van” does not. And don’t try to stop your friends from all doing their Chris Farley impressions, cause you can’t. Let that run its course.

The most psyched about your decision will be:

Close Friends
Other Climbers
People who wish they had done the same thing at your age

The least psyched will probably be:

Your Mother (you know your mother. she worries.)
Anyone you’ve broken up with in the past few months (They’ll think it’s about them. Let em, everyone can use a little ego boost.)
Anyone you’ve just met (They’ll think it’s about them. Sit them down and listen to Freebird together.)
Your Redneck Neighbors (Hey you should put a shower in that thing, if you’re gonna have a real camper.)

Temporary Health insurance isn’t as expensive as you might think. There are plenty of plans out there, just google it.

Sell anything you can before leaving. The things you own own you back twice as hard.

Watch climbing videos to stay psyched. As soon as you decide to go, the days just can’t seem to go by fast enough.

Know that while some things about this trip will be great, and others will suck, you’re about to have one of the best experiences of your life.

That was Easy.

2007-02-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

I decided to quit my job, and go live as a climbing bum for the better half of next year.

It was weird, because it was easy.

Now it's never really a good time to leave a job you enjoy, or a place where you're comfortable. Dropping what you know is always a little scary. In a lot of ways, I'm just getting settled in Salt Lake. I've been here two years, and that time has been fantastic.

But once I started getting things set up, everything fell into place in an eerily painless way. My boss sounded stoked for me to go travel. I'm not in a lease. Old travel friends I hadn't talked to in years suddenly got back in touch.

But why go, now? That's a tricky question, and to be honest, I'm not exactly sure. There are a bunch of obvious reasons, like “it'll be fun!” and “chicks love guys who live in vans, right?” But as far as deeper reasons go, real reasons... I'm still having a hard time figuring that one out. I guess it's part of the mission here.

1. Figure out what I need to figure out.

2. Figure that thing out.

Easy, right?