Colleagues are a climbing

Finally, after two years I have managed to get some of my co-workers to come climbing with me. Katie Mabie and Teresa Yan each want to go and check out the new climbing wall in Everett (Metro Rock Gym). This new gym blows away the other gyms in the area and it is creating interest in the climbing community. I love bringing beginners to the gym for the first time, it is always exciting to watc.

Viva Chile!

The stream below us
Less than four weeks had gone by since I had first arrived and I was rushing to meet "Red" downstairs. Two days prior he had said on the phone that in order to beat the Santiago crowd we'd have to leave early, which was fine to me because I wanted to beat the hot sun as best as we could. I figured he'd have me meet at the end of one of the subway lines at 7am so that we

Return to Whiteside

High up on Traditions
    For an entire week prior, the feeling in my stomach alternated from queasy fear to unbridled excitement. It was finally happening. I was going back to Whiteside but, this time, to the imposing Southeast Face, an eight hundred foot quartz diorite monstrosity known for its bold run outs. “SF” had set up the plans. We would leave from Athens Saturday night, camp on nearby

The New (All About Commitment)




The New River from Snake Buttress
 My speedometer cruised at the speed limit on my first West Virginian Deliverance road despite feeling uncomfortably five-miles too fast. The hilly, single-lane road was the short way to Fayetteville according to my GPS, and since I was trying to save money, and since the shortcut was only five minutes longer by time, I took the road less travelled, which

In the Shadow of Giants

The North Side of Looking Glass It was a cliff I had only seen in vague pictures. Random snapshots showed immaculate, laser-cut granite. Daring aid lines, hard free climbs, the North Side of Looking Glass has both. This six hundred foot, overhanging shield of rock has been toying with me for the last few years. It stands as an

Twelve Days in the Northeast

Hi folks,

The most recent trip report is posted here on Climbing.com. I'm no poet, but I took a shot at writing a poem anyway. Because of the way the text wraps around the photos, it doesn't quite look as I submitted it, but that's OK. I really have no clue if it's any good or not. Here is the beginning to give you an idea:

Upon the passing of Hurricane Earl;
he flew in just before
we drove

Confidence is Key

I had grand plans for that day, more accurately, delusions of grandeur. “Fearless Leader” and I headed off to Foster Falls, Chattanooga's sport climbing hub, but I had more than just a few quick draws in my pack. Influenced by John Sherman's article “Its Big, Its Bad, Its Retro-Trad”, I had lugged my entire rack with me. I was going to show sport climbing who was boss, or something like that. I

Consecutive Days and I'm Ready to Go?

It was only a week or so before when I awoke after my first day of climbing after contracting Lyme Disease that getting out of bed was the crux of the day. I rolled my feet to the floor, stood up, and immediately felt as if a truck had hit me head on. My swim session later that day was the slowest I'd had in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to eat the house out of food. I didn't, of course, but if

Review- Stone Summit Climbing Gym

The Stone Summit
Stone Summit is the talk of the town. Ok, maybe not the entire town, but you get the picture. Every climber I speak with, even if I haven't seen them for months, only wants to talk about one thing, Atlanta's new uber gym, the largest in America. At first I was dismissive. Despite evidence to the contrary, I prefer not to view myself as a gym climber, and I certainly don't want

The Body Fights Back

In summary, I got sick bad a few weeks ago on my final day in Acadia. It was Lyme disease, and I fought what I thought was a feverish flu for five days until I finally went to the emergency room in search of help. The comeback has been slow but noticeably progressive. I started with slow 30-minute swims every other day and, over the course of a couple of weeks, have built up to medium-paced 60-

Warming Up Is Hard To Do

It was a trip that had been bouncing around my head since I got home from the Gunks. According the the guidebook, the North Face of Whiteside is the premier summer crag in all of North Carolina. The 5000 foot elevation, due north facing cliff sounded like a paradise compared to Athens. For the last month, the thermometer had flirted with the hundred degree mark every day without fail. Opening the

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - The Weird Season: Part 2

The Good



The Bubbles from Jordan Pond
(photo by Melanie Hall)
I waved good-bye to my four-year-old niece and my mom as they pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the airport and back to California. It had been a nice week with filled with lobster cookouts, skipping rocks, ice cream on the Village Green, gossip, and the laughter that comes after old ghosts are drawn out of closets long

The Weird Season: Part I

CCK (5.8)
If you're a regular reader then you'll remember my "retirement" post from a few weeks ago. It's silly to call it a retirement because I never was making a living as a climber, but that trip to Red Rocks did change things for me as a climber. It killed all ambition I had to challenge myself on routes, and it turned my attention to more serious matters such as writing and taking

High E at Night

"Five hours later, when we had quit in the afternoon's heat, and after we swam in the chilly pool at Split Rock, we slept in the shade, read in the sun, gazed upon the shivering women who, upon exiting the cold water, were wet and glistening in the sun, and, after we had eaten at the campsite, we headed to do Arrow (5.8) as our warm up to a 5.6 classic just a few minutes down the path."

The

The End Game: Epinephrine

"Jello" on the start of P2
“Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word. The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!” – Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (written in prison).
When the day finished, I wondered what the crux really was. The past two days had been hard, and not just physically. I

Preparing for Epinephrine: days one and two

When a turkey decided to fly into my windshield a few days before I headed west for three weeks, it never crossed my mind that Dreams of Wild Turkeys (5.10a) might not be the best route to start my Red Rocks trip. Our goal was Epinephrine (5.9 IV) - that towering classic in Black Velvet Canyon with the intimidating chimneys and the descent that has forced many into an unplanned bivy - so we chose

Living and Climbing in Maine

I've been away for too long, and yet it sometimes feels as if it isn't long enough. My roots are firmly planted in Downeast Maine, but I haven't watered them for years. When I decided to go halfway home - to the Midcoast instead of Downeast - I walked away from the young, dynamic, and fast atmosphere in Boston to the slow, easy-going pace that settles one's soul into a peaceful lullabye of

Guidebook: Camden, ME - Charlotte's Crack (5.7), The Web (5.6), Harmonic Convergence (5.7+), White Streak (5.9 R),

Camden, Maine - Barrett's Cove

Approach: From the parking lot off Mountain Street (Rt 52) in Camden, which is a large, paved pullout across the street from Lake Megunticook, take the path on the right side of the parking lot (if facing the cliff). Follow the path up to the left to get near the base. For climbs on the left side, continue left. For climbs in the middle, head up right on a

Good Partners

A snippet:

"Wow," I said. "That looks tough."

"Yeah, and I don't see where there's gear at all going over the roof or around it."

"There's gotta be something," I said. "It's not 5.8X."

"I don't even see the bolt that protects the crux!"
 
Click here for the rest of the story on Climbing.com
 
Click here for all Red Rocks 2010 photos

A Weekend of Debauchery

It was to be a one-day assault on the 'Gunks. Saturday called for beautiful sun and Sunday called for rain. There was a hint of flirtation in the air and enough childish innocence amongst the gathering of thirty somethings to make gizzard blush. But we weren't there for anything but the climbing...or were we?- "Caboose": So "Blow"'s at a bachelor party down at Foxwoods.- "Ratherbe": Is he going