Before the snow fell last week, Yosemite had a long stretch of beautiful weather. It meant high sierra peak bagging, long routes off the Valley floor, and mellow cragging days. One of my favorite adventures of the summer/fall was our trip up Mt. Starr King. I wrote a short story for Osprey on our adventure - enjoy! Mt. Starr King short story ...
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[caption id="attachment_20691" align="alignnone" width="768"] The Brazilian – epitomizing the spirit of adventure.[/caption] For some years now climbing has been more than the actual act of climbing for me, it's been about the people in the community. Going climbing with good friends, traveling the world meeting new people, or taking first timers out to the crag or gym. These times can be as rewarding as sending the hardest thing possible. The turning point came for me while working on free climbing the Nose of El Capitan. The crowds and clusters on the Nose...
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Ever since my second year of climbing, I've had a home climbing wall. I grew up no more than two miles from my local climbing gym, making it a far cry from hardship to make it to the gym. But, there's something about having a quiet, personal place to climb. It literally brings climbing into the backyard. Gone are the arduous two mile treks to the gym, a long drive to the crag, or climbing in a sweaty, chalky, crowded environment. So this summer I built (or I should say...
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Ah the joys of banging your head against the wall on a project. Projecting can be frustrating at times, but with a bit of work, it can be more than worth it in the end. I wrote a piece for Outdoor Research on tips and suggestions that I have learned over the years. Hopefully these help you break through a plateau you are having. Please send me a message if you you have any other questions. The link: Projecting Tips...
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I love slab climbing. I feel like I’m in an anonymous group, and that should have been spoken in a hushed voice. But, it’s true. I’m one of the few people left in this world who actually loves slab climbing. With the onslaught of huge climbing gyms, massive sport crags, and desperate boulder problems, it seems that slab climbing has become something of the past. I grew up in a climbing gym with 90% vertical or less than vertical terrain. It was one of the first gyms in the country, and...
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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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It seems that every year Yosemite gets a little gift from the weather gods and is graced with a stint of Indian summer. Usually, it's a time when I feel like being a local is cheating. Spring like conditions provide shorts and t-shirt weather, with hardly a soul in sight. Some years it is more welcome than others, but regardless I can't remember a year when I haven't gone down to the Cookie in January or February and cursed myself for overdressing. Last year I learned my lesson when I met...
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All in all it's been an amazing fall in Yosemite. Yes, we've had some rain and snow in the valley, but it's nothing like last year around this time when we were graced with several feet of snow before Thanksgiving. Along with cragging, I've been enjoying wrestling the granite boulders of Yosemite Valley. This past weekend I had planned to meet up with friends at iconic Camp 4. Arriving in the jumble of boulders, I was surprised to find that I had accidentally left my cragging shoes in my pack. Normally not...
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Fall has come in full force here in Yosemite. We are definitely experiencing an amazing stretch of Indian summer, spoiling us with comfortable consistent temps and endless options for climbing. In continuing with my "year of travel" theme, I've been in and out most of the past two months. After returning from a great extended trip to Colorado, I immediately went up to Skaha and their first annual climbing festival. It was great to meet the local climbing community up there and I even snuck in a few pitches with my...
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I've been getting a CSA box for almost two years now. It's a pretty amazing way to experience new fruits and vegetables that I would never seek out at the grocery store or farmers market if left to my own accord. My only wish is that they would have remote deliveries or pick up locations, so when on climbing trips or events, I could stray from the canned soup and bagel for dinner and actually eat nutritious food. For those of you who don't know what a CSA is, it...
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