betagraph

The weather has been BALMY lately (50s compared to temperatures in the teens), so my roommate Clint and I cancelled our memberships to the local climbing gym and started rock climbing up the canyon again. This week we climbed The Fairy, Babe-a-lishes, and Prelude to an Illness at the Betagraph crag. While Clint was leading Prelude to an Illness (which was wet from the snow melt), he took a pretty good whipper and the footage is priceless. You'll definitely want to click that fullscreen button in the corner. Enjoy.

Livin' the dream...

Illusions

I've wanted a GoPro camera for years, but just couldn't justify dumping a wad of cash to get one. But, my sense of frugality finally broke down to my carnal desires and...





...I got one.






I love it!


I took it out the other day when me and my buddy Clay climbed in Logan Canyon. I bought the helmet strap, so I just slapped it on my brain bucket and tried it out. I'd say it did pretty darn good. I made this video (first video edit with this software, not the greatest in the world but still stinkin' sweet). Check it out:

                          

This is Illusions 5.10b, Fucoidal Quartzite. You can see a couple times where I forget the camera's on my head and bump it on the rock. Good thing it's indestructible.

There will be many more to come!

The Hobbit Caves and Fucoidal Quartzite

This weekend Todd and I camped-out at the Hobbit Caves (so named for the small caves that pocket the limestone bedrock). There are a couple of bolted, one-pitch climbs there that we worked on that night. A few friends joined us for s'mores and a game of "what are the odds?" It was the perfect weather - a little chilly but not butt-freezin' cold.

The crew in the morning - Savannah, Todd, Mercedes, and Martina

Martina, Mercedes, and Savannah came back up in the morning to climb at Fucoidal Quartzite range on the other side of the canyon. None of us had climbed there before, but the Logan Ranger District sign helped us out a ton:

Illusions, 5.10

We got a couple good climbs in. I am surprised by my ability to lead a 5.10 even after not climbing for two years. Blessings from heaven.

Mercedes the rock eater grasping for crimpers on the crux - just doing whatever it takes.

Hey Todd - what are the odds you'd climb barefoot?

Up the canyon...

This place is simply amazing! I love Logan Canyon. And the best thing about it is it's about 4.28 minutes from where I live. I can see a tint of color in the leaves as the temperatures start to drop at night. I'm only just beginning to discover the beauty of these mountains. I'm looking forward to many more adventures here.

Martina on the Crimson Trail

Todd and me at the Hobbit Caves.

Trailhead shot at the Wind Caves
Wes, Maddie, Emily, me

On top of the Crimson Trail

I JUST LOVE LOGAN!!!

Castleton Tower

Today I climbed Castleton Tower! Brian Hays and I climbed the Kor-Ingalls route, the route that made the first ascent of the tower in 1961. It was incredible! The climbing was fun and fairly easy, but the wind was terrible.

Behind me is the Colorado River, the towers Jah Man, the Priest and the Nuns, and the Rectory.

There are four pitches. The first, second, and fourth were easy. The third pitch was pretty hard, and slick hardened calcite didn't make it any easier. This is Brian at the anchors of the last pitch, about to rappel.

Where is this?

The view of our route before the approach. The tower stands 400 ft above the ground, and it's elevation is 6,656 ft. What a beautiful tower!

What Inspires You?

In 2008 Ueli Steck broke his own world record ascent of the Eiger in Switzerland. The north face normally takes four days to complete. It has earned the German nickname Mordwand, or "death wall," because more than sixty climbers have met their death on the mountain.

I will keep moving, and make progess in my life.

Banff Mountain Film Festival

Monday night I took Ivy to the Banff Film Fest here in Moab. After picking up the free posters and stickers from Petzl, we entered the auditorium and joined the crowds of adrenaline junkies waiting for the show. It started off with two sweaty-palm-inducing, on-the-edge films where you feared for the athelete's life. I got an rush just watching the incredible feats these people accomplish. Dean Potter was featured in the flim "Fly or Die," where he free BASED (climbing with no safety equipment besides a parachute) the north face of the Eiger, a 1,000 ft peak in Switzerland that more than 60 climbers have died on. After successfully topping-out, he leaped from a ledge and flew to safety.

Luckily for my adrenal glands not all the films were this intense. This was one of my favorite films they showed:

I hope someday I can grow a beard like that. After the show I felt like BASE jumping, or treking across a large desert, or something crazy like that. Sponsorships, anybody? Hmm, maybe I can get a camera crew and helicopter to document my float down the daily...

Challenges, stress, confidence, and success.

From the title of this post, you're probably thinking that I've had a rough spot in my life and I'm blogging about it, but this is about a less solemn subject: climbing. Climbing is like no other sport. It is physically demanding, mentally straining, and dangerous. It focuses your mind and sharpens your senses. It offers a challenge that if defeated, brings an incredible sensation of achievement.

"This one seems pretty doable." Kerri, Sterling, and I stood at the base of a route on Wall Street, a beautiful red slickrock wall with many climbs. It might've been the last good-weather day of the year, and we wanted to make the most of it. We looked up with our necks craned, assessing the rock and the difficulty of it. "The book says it's only a 5.8? Let's try it - I'll lead."

"Leading" is to climb a route first, place anchors as you go along, and clip your rope at the top. On most climbs there is a bolt in the rock every 5-10 feet, and if you are about to clip into one and you slip, you will fall twice the distance since your last anchor before your belayer can catch you. So if you climb 10 feet, almost reach the next bolt and slip!, then you're going to fall at least 20 feet. There's a lot of stress and motivation to not fall while you're lead climbing.

And leading was exactly what I was attempting to do. I tied a figure-eight to my harness, squeezed my feet into my shoes, and took off. A little scramble to the first bolt, and I felt sure I could top out. I kicked my brain into hyper speed, focusing on the rock so I could move smoothly and save energy. One... two... three bolts behind me... and then I stopped. I was on an exposed rock fin with the ground a mile away. There were no holds to my right, drop-off on my left, and a small hold above my head about 6 inches too high. I thought, "If I dyno (jump) to that hold, I'm probably going to fall. But I'll try it--it's all in my head, right?" I ran through my plan. Focus, energy to my legs, and... "doh-AH!" I made an involuntary sound with my throat as I fell and swung down on the rope. "I'm going to try again - be ready to catch me!" It took too many tries, and I got tired of gaining all that distance just to fall again. Kerri, my belayer, yelled up that she'd try it, so I came down.

On the ground and trading places, I described the tough spot to Kerri while I took off my shoes and pulled out my belay device. She climbed past the crux and finished, and seeing that it was possible, I tried again. After I had made the difficult move and finished, I realized why I couldn't do it before. I didn't have the confidence in myself to stick that move; I was sure I'd fall--and I did.

Climbing is not only about skill of movement on the rock; it requires concentration to solve difficult problems, determination, and confidence to overcome fear. The process is stressful, but the rewards are sweet: an incredible sense of accomplishment and a good dose of adrenaline. Climbing is something I can't quit, but I think it's a lot healthier than other addicting substances. Climbing is a passion.

Perfect weather... perfect weekend

It's been in the 70's all week! Perfectly beautiful fall weather. On Friday Ammon and I went sport climbing on Wall Street. After a couple disappointing attempts, we finally completed a route. Good practice, but I really need to work on forearm strength. In the afternoon Emily and Karen joined us to set up a slackline at the park. I hadn't slacklined since last year, but I worked and worked at it until I could walk it! It's amazing how much balance and technique it takes. Pretty soon I was jumping on the line and walking! I love it... and it's a cool social tool; so many people walking down the road came over and asked, "Hey, can I try your line?" It's great to learn from different people. I'm getting enough webbing to make my own line, and I'm planning on setting up some posts in my backyard so I can practice anytime.

Later that night, a few of us had a bonfire in rememberance of Guy Fawkes. We also blew up cans of gasoline and aerosol instead of fireworks. Enough said.

Ivy and the Whitewater Kayaking Club from BYU came Friday night, so Saturday morning we floated the daily. It was crazy to be on the river the beginning of November, so late in the year! It was really cool to be floating past yellow cottonwoods and see the fall wildlife. The water was so cold, but the outside air was great. I couldn't go in a whitewater kayak because I've never rolled, but I wanted to try something new besides a duckie. So I rented a sit-on-top kayak... dumb idea. It was huge and heavy, and basically the same as an inflatable duckie, which are easy to roll up and stow in a car. Oh well, I tried something new, and now I know I won't try it again.

After the daily the club ate at Fiesta Mexicana and left town (Ivy hitched a ride back to campus on Sunday with a visiting riverguide).We finished up the night with hot chocolate and "River Wild." Perfect weekend!

Climbing

I climbed some routes at Mill Creek today with some river guide friends; Karen, Scott, Lauren, and Ivy. I learned a couple things... one of them is that I'm addicted. I had climbed a couple times before, but it was mostly just with my scout troop a long time ago and with mediocre gear. I started bouldering at Big Bend, but that's more technical and difficult. I get a bigger sense of satisfaction when I finish a hard climb. I need to work out more and get better on my form and technique. I need a new pair of shoes and a harness, and then I'll begin to slowly acquire my own gear. If anybody has used gear they don't use, I might be willing to buy it from them. I'm learning how to belay pretty well, so if anybody out there wants a climbing partner or if you'll just let me tag along, I'd love to go!