Oct 14 2014

Climbing With Kids: Our First Experiences with Travel, and My Return to Climbing

Climbing, Kids, Motherhood, Travel
by Beth

Before Theo was born we had big aspirations to start traveling with him right away. Our friends had taken their 2.5-week-old son to Font, in France, for a month-long climbing trip. Another set of friends had done the same with their 5-week-old son. Naively, I thought I'd be right there with them. "See? Kids aren't slowing them down," I said optimistically to Randy a few weeks prior to Theo's birth. "With your upcoming paternity time off, it would be great to take advantage and do some trips together as a...

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Oct 06 2014

Climbing With Kids: Mamas Baby Steps

Kids, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Travel
by Beth

About seven weeks post birth, I was chomping at the bit to get back to the mountains. Being dwarfed by those magnificent Sierra mountains and their awe-inspiring granite rocks feeds my soul. I even would’ve taken sitting around beside a river or a cluster of boulders and not doing much of anything at all. It was time to get out of the house! Plus, I really wanted to show Theo the mountains and not just inside of our bedroom. I almost felt like I was doing Theo an injustice by...

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Mar 29 2013

Moderate Climbing in Catalunya Spain

Climbing, Travel
by Beth

  I wrote up a short piece for Petzl on moderate climbing in the Catalunya region on Spain. Each of my two trips involved going to areas that had a ton of 5.10's, 5.11's and 5.12's. We all know that there are plenty of 5.15's at Oliana and Santa Linya, but if you are looking for sun filled Spanish limestone, these are some good places to start. Click on the link below.   Moderate Spanish Climbing areas...

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Mar 18 2013

Spanish Five Hang Send

Climbing, Injuries, Travel
by Beth

My two hands crowded the partial jug of the limestone hole, shuffling back and forth trying to gain some relief of a pump. My forearms were full of lactic acid, barely able to close my fingers around the hold. My breath was rapid and my heart was racing. I knew I didn’t have much time before gravity won and I was hanging on the end of the rope. Contradictory thoughts swirled through my head: should let go due to the fear that I would hurt myself again? Or should I...

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Feb 19 2013

Climbing in Catalunya Spain and advice from Granny

Climbing, Travel
by Beth

The majority of my holidays have been spent in the Bay Area. With endless feet of snow in Yosemite and my inevitable knack to catch every cold or flu bug going around, it was a much more agreeable place to pass the gluttony of the holidays. A huge benefit to placing myself in the vastly populated urban center is the close proximity to my family. I carry a huge guilt when it comes to time spent with my family, always feeling that I could be doing more. I wonder if...

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May 07 2012

BlueWater Rope Factory Tour

Travel, Yosemite
by Beth

I recently returned from a trip to the good old south. I love visiting the south. It's absolutely one of my favorite places. With southern hospitality and world class climbing, I can't ask for much more. In fact, I think we should start an initiative to instill "southern hospitality" to the rest of the nation. I pretty sure everyone would be a whole heck of a lot happier if people were inherently kind to each other.   But, alas, that's probably a bigger topic than I can tackle right now...

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May 02 2012

Dairy Free Travel Food

Food, Travel
by Beth

Hi Beth, Thank you so much for your wonderful blog on your climbing/travel adventures and your recipes. I notice that you travel a lot for your work and know that you have some food allergies and restrictions. How do you make sure you eat correctly when you travel so much? Is there a certain restaurant chain that you can always count on? I too have food allergies, so any info you can pass along would be great. Thanks so much. Crystal   Hi Crystal, Thank you very much for your message. Yes, I do travel...

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Jan 04 2012

Chicken Salad (or tofu!)

Food, Travel
by Beth

I've grown to love vegetables. It's been a long, arduous road, but finally I actually crave them. I've come a long way from craving a very diverse diet of different shades of white. My old cravings could have been compared to those never ending track home communities, with differing shades of beige stretching on forever. Mint Milanos, Lays potato chips, and sourdough bread were my go to snack foods. Now, my refrigerator commonly looks like the colorful rainbow leading to the pot of gold.   Unfortunately, I've noticed that when traveling it's...

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The French Laundry

Climbing, Food, Travel
by Beth

As the season for gluttony is in full swing, we thought we'd add one of the most glutinous experiences to our roster of feasts by eating at the coveted French Laundry. It was Theo's graduation trip, which somehow justified the five hours of gorging ourselves on food almost too fancy to eat. Robin's account sums it up perfectly and is head and shoulders above anything I could ever hope to write. Our courses, however, were different, so between the two blogs, you can see almost thirty different courses (minus three of my dessert dishes due to...

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Oct 29 2011

Climbing Takes Hollywood

Climbing, Travel
by Beth

is past weekend I was scheduled to attend the Access Fund's 20th Anniversary party and subsequent board meeting. It was a pretty big deal for the Access Fund and the climbing community, having played such a huge role in perserving climbing areas and facilitating huge access issues for two decades. I am honored to have served one term on the board and this was to be the kick off of my second term.   However, around Wednesday evening I got a Facebook message from a casting agency in Los Angeles. To be honest, I...

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