Day 1:
We arrived Thursday afternoon after a long and semi-stressful drive
full of “deep” conversations. Leaving LA county after eleven a.m. was
a bad idea due to the lunch traffic and construction on the I15 North.
After making a quick late lunch stop and picking up more road munchies
we arrived at the pit and luckily had multiple free sites to pick
from. Time flew and we did no climbing, good for me since I was
exhausted from all the driving. I almost never go to sleep before
midnight, but this time my body would force me to do it.
Day 2:
I was anticipating a really cold night so I double bagged it with a
zero and thirty-five degree bag. I think I only woke up once in the
middle of the night because my face and ears were really cold because
of the occasional rolling around. I woke up after ten hours of amazing
sleep. After a quick breakfast we headed down to the Happies for my
first day time bouldering session in Bishop. My last visit to the
happies was at night after a long sport climbing session at Owens
River Gorge.

We had a quick warm-up sessions before we jumped on Solarium and The
Hulk. My buddy George sent his project, The Hulk after a few
attempt’s. Maybe next time I will send it. I had better luck on
Solarium, I stuck the lip hold, but had no luck getting my left hand
on the jug. Definitely going to project this one. Feeling a bit more
stoked we moved onto Serengeti. I managed to catch the sharp left
handed crimp, but by then had lost plenty of skin and became too much
to hold and bring up my left hand. Day one would come to an end with
no hard sends for me. Perhaps day two will be better.

Day 3:

Woke up a few hours earlier today to get an earlier start and to meet up with some friends in the Buttermilks. First stop was at Starbucks for some breakfast and a quick look at the results for the ABS 13 Qualifier round. Unfortunately Dan Bealle and Kyle Owens didn’t make it to the semis, but plenty of Madrock athletes did.

Exactly one year ago I wrote about my first traditional(Trad) climbing experience. It was an awesome adventure and I’m glad I got to experience foot and hand jams. I’ve even purchased my own full rack of cams, nuts, slings and what-not. Flash forward one year and I have now several trad leads under my belt.

My first lead was sometime in August of 2012 at Castle Rock area in the San Bernadino mountains. It was a bit terrifying at first, but the route itself was really easy. The most challenging part was placing gear. The first route I lead with my own gear was The Bong in Joshua Tree. I believe this route was a bit more challenging than the route I lead at Castle Rock.

Since then I have lead several routes including the classic Joshua Tree routes, Toe Jam and Sail Away. My favorite Joshua Tree climb thus far is Right On. This multi-pitch climb on Saddle Rock was a bit more exciting starting the first pitch with the offwith variation. Right On was more of a training route for my Red Rocks trip in late November.

Our goal for Red Rocks was to do Epinephrine, but the temps were too extreme and we did Cookie Monster and Dark Shadows instead. Two really fun routes for my first Red Rocks visit. My goal is to someday climb even bigger walls. For now I will continue to train in Joshua Tree and occasionally in Red Rocks until I can someday try my skills on routes on El Capitan and Half Dome. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for part three.

-Die Spinne

Chirp, chirp, chirp, rustle and silence. Just a few soothing sounds that one hears and doesn’t when outdoors in nature, away from the city. For most of us getting away from the city even if just for a day is a mini vacation. You get to relax, enjoy your time away from the office and work, the city noise, the climbing gym and most of the drama back home.

Now imagine whilst approaching a drama free crag you run into a group of climbers and one of them asks you about a missing comrade. Hopefully the majority of people reading this post would be willing to pause that extremely “important” conversation, help and not be smug and nonchalant about the interruption. That decision could mean life or death for someone or in this case shame for the leader of the group.

Getting back to a less extreme situation that won’t save your life unless you need to be heard a great distance, but unfortunately happens too often when not. The unfortunate part that is happening more often is the typical gym sculpted climber of several months that ventures outdoors for some real rock climbing and brings the gym mentality and rowdiness with them. I enjoy the camaraderie of having my fellow climbing buddies pushing me with positive vibes and some words of encouragement as long as it’s not extremely loud. If other parties can hear you several miles away, then you need to either stay in the gym or keep it down.

Yes your shrieks of joy, excitement and frustrating pain surprisingly carry for large distances especially in the mountains. So if you’re a frequent visitor of any crag, other locals and frequent visitors will be able to recognize your irritating voice. The other thing that needs to stay at the gym is the loud music. That tranquility experienced outdoors is fading away with climbers that believe they climb harder with the loud bass of overplayed dubstep or any loud music. Climbing should never get a bad reputation for having loud people!

That satisfying feeling experienced in the mountains.