For a month anyways.

My girlfriend and I arrived in the bustling city of Bogota just before midnight on December 3rd. Our flights from Maine all went smoothly and we were excited to spend the next month traveling through this beautiful country. In the weeks before my departure, my wonderful mother kept emailing me newsclips and old magazine articles of the dangers of traveling in Colombia. If you typed, ¨ is Colombia dangerous¨ into Google, your responses would look like my inbox! I decided to see for myself what Colombia had to offer. I assured my mom that I would be fine and snuck out of Maine just before winter took over.

I have now been here for about a month and I have had nothing but amazing experiences! The people of this country are warm and welcoming. The landscape is lush and mountainous, the food is delicious and there is a well established infrastructure to accomodate foreigners.

From Bogota, we traveled north to Villa de Leyva. Villa de Leyva is considered one of the finest colonial villages of Colombia, and was declared a National Monument on December 17, 1954 to preserve its architecture. It is located in a high altitude valley at 2,144 m. We were lucky enough to arrive in town just before the annual festival of lights. This is an amazing festival with singing, dancing and tons of fireworks. Each building was covered in Christmas lights and thousands of candles light up the sidewalks and the plaza. After a wonderful night of festivities, we once again headed north to the small city of San Gil.

San Gil is referred to as the adventure capitol of Colombia – complete with caving, bungie jumping, white water rafting and parasailing; it is a perfect destination for those looking for some adventure. We spent about four days in the area doing a lot of hiking as well as an amazing trip into a huge cave. The cave is seven kilometers long and most of the time you are in murky water up to your neck.

Our next stop was Medellin, the city of eternal spring. As Colombia’s second largest city, I assumed it would be similar to Bogota: loud, crowded and dirty. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Medellin is a lively and modern city filled with parks and plazas and wonderful people! Home of Pablo Escobar, Medellin use to be the most murderous city in the world. Fueled by drug money, the city was quite lawless up until Pablo was gunned down on a rooftop by Colombian officials in 1993. As if to prove itself to the rest of the world and to rid itself of its bad reputation, it seems the people of Medellin have worked very hard to make the city what it is today. I think they did an amazing job.

From Medellin, we took a 19 hour bus ride to Santa Marta. Santa Marta is a small city on the Carribean coast and is a jump off point for the smaller towns and parks on the coast, the closest being Taganga. Once a tiny fishing village, now the streets are filled with board shorts, dreadlocks and sunburn tourists drinking fruity drinks. After enjoying the beach for a few days, we decided to go on a trek. We chose to do a five day trek through the jungle to visit an ancient lost city – Ciudad Perdida, or the Lost City. Ciudad Perdida was built in the 11th century by the Tyronians and it wasn’t rediscovered until the 1970′s by treasure hunters. Compared to Peru’s Machu Picchu, Ciudad Perdida is still relatively undiscovered to travelers. We signed up for our trip with a company called Expotur. They provided a guide, a cook and transportation to the trail head, which included some very rugged four wheeling in an old Land Cruiser. Also, in our group were our buddies from Colorado that we met in Villa de Leyva, two French Canadians and a young French couple. Everyone was very nice and we all got to know each other quite quickly as we were all stuffed in the back of a Land Cruiser and tossed around like shoes in a washing machine.

Our guide was a young and enthusiastic Colombian from Santa Marta. Fresh out of the army, he still had the demeanor and looks of a soldier with the dog tag and crew cut to boot! He was a good guide, knowledgable, kind, efficient and helpful. The first three days were spent hiking. First, through beautiful farms cut into steep hillsides, then through thick jungle with every inch of ground covered in greenery, mud or bugs. We crossed many rivers and by the end of the first day we were all soaked head to toe. On day two, we saw our first sign of the indigenous people that live in this jungle. The Cogi people are short and skinny with long dark hair and sharp features. The only way to tell the boys and girls apart is by their attire. The men wear rubber boots and carry a small woven shoulder bag. The women are always barefoot and usually wear their native jewelry. The men also chew coca leaves all day, which leaves them with very rotten teeth or none at all. They live in small circular huts made of mud with woven roofs of palm leaves with two poles on the top that represent the two hightest mountains in the Sierra Navada. We skirted their tiny village with only a small glimpse into their amazingly simple and beautiful way of life.

Each night we slept in hammocks and ate delicious food prepared by our cook. On the morning of the fourth day we woke just before the sunrise and quickly began hiking. We hiked for about an hour following the river bank until we came to a mystical set of stone stairs rising steeply 1,000 feet above the valley floor. We climbed the 1,200 slippery stairs to the entrance of Ciudad Perdida. It was a very powerful experience walking around the ancient city and learning about the Tyronians and their way of life. We explored the city for a few hours and then descended back to the valley floor and began our hike to our world of wi-fi, traffic and cheeseburgers. The hike out went smoothly and it was nice to once again lay on the beach and sleep in a bed.

Christmas was spent in Taganga hanging on the beach with friends and itching our bug bites. At sunset we hiked a steep hill and watched the sun disappear over the Carribean. Not my usual white Christmas but an amazing one nonetheless.

I am now in Cartagena and my time in Colombia is coming to an end. I would highly recommend visiting this beautiful country.

I landed in Las Vegas to old people smoking butts and playing video poker. I quickly retrieved my bags and went out to the arrival zone to meet Pete who had arrived a few hours earlier and picked up the rent a car. Our first destination, Red Rocks National Conservation Area, located about 20 minutes outside of the madness of the Vegas strip. With stable weather and endless climbing opportunities from single pitch sport routes to 30 pitch adventure climbs, Red Rocks is one of the best winter climbing destinations in the US.

We quickly drove out to the desert, set up camp, and went to sleep. The following morning was cold and clear and we packed up for our first climb. We climbed a beautiful route called Cloud Tower which is a 7 pitch crack climb located in the Pine Creek  Canyon. Every inch of the route was awesome.

The next few days were very cold with rain and snow so we stayed close to the ground and enjoyed some steep sport climbing. Our next objective was to climb the Rainbow Wall. The Rainbow Wall is a 14 pitch ultra classic up one of Red Rocks biggest walls. A long approach, sustained climbing, and an amazing view makes this the must-do climb of Red Rocks.

The climb took us 10 hours from car to car and was everything we look for in a free climb, long, clean and challenging. Pitch after pitch of well protected corners led to a sunny summit. It was a great day and a perfect stepping stone for our next goal… The Moonlight Buttress!

After the rainbow wall we drove to Zion National Park and set up our camp a few miles outside the park boundaries. Zion is often referred to as the sandstone Yosemite. With hundreds of beautiful walls towering above the Virgin River, Zion is truly a climber’s paradise.

Our goal was to free climb (climb from the bottom to the top with no falls and with out weighting the rope) the moonlight Buttress. This is a true test piece for sandstone free climbing. A beautiful finger crack stretches for 1,100 feet from the valley floor. Out of the 11 pitches 6 of the pitches are 5.12a or harder. The climbing is physical, technical and sustained. This would be the hardest climb we have ever attempted by free climbing standards.

On November 11^th we were up well before the sun peaked over the desert towers. We were soon in the car and on the way into the park. The approach to the climb is very short but involves wading across the freezing Virgin River. We left the car at 6:00 am and were quickly wading up to our knees in the river. With frozen feet Pete accurately stated “now that’s one strong cup of coffee.”  As we regained feeling in our legs we racked up at the base of the route just as it was light enough to see. Pete and I split the leading up to work best with our strengths and weaknesses. Pete has huge gorilla hands that make a lot of the wide crack climbing easier, and I have skinny fingers, which meant all the thin climbing was for me.  From the first pitch all the way to the top the climbing was amazing. One finger crack stretches the entire 1,100 feet to the summit with the crack size only changing and inch or two the entire way.  Although Pete and I tried our hardest on every pitch we were unable to achieve our goal of climbing each pitch with out falling. Out of the 11 pitches we were able to climb 8 of them with out falling.  We reached the summit in just over 6 hours and we were overwhelmed by the quality of climbing. We can’t wait to come back and give it another try!

After a day of rest we climbed an amazing route called Shune’s Buttress. This is another must- do climb in Zion with pitch after pitch of perfect crack climbing.  The following day we climbed our final big route of the trip called the Monkey Finger. This is a 9-pitch classic with lots of wide crack systems.

Sore and tired we rested the following day and drove back to Vegas to catch our flight the following morning.

It has been a wonderful couple of weeks in the desert and we were able to do a ton of classic climbs. For me the thing I love most about these climbing trips is the simplicity. We wake up with the sun, we climb during the daylight hours, we eat as much food as we can, and we sleep when it gets dark. We have everything we need, and nothing we don’t, and for me that is perfect.

It is now 7:00am and I am back in the Las Vegas airport surrounded by old people smoking butts and playing video poker.  It is time to go back to the great state of Maine and spend some much-needed time with my family and loved ones. I hope you all have a wonderful winter and a Happy Holiday season.

This color could describe many things that are taking place here in Eastern Kentucky.  The trees in this massive deciduous forest are turning beautiful oranges and reds. Our fingertips are a painful red after only a few days of climbing on this impressive stone.  The stone itself has a beautiful rusty reddish hue due to the limonite that holds the sandy layers together.  However,  when I say, “The Red,” I am referring to one amazing place… The Red River George!!

Situated about two hours south of Cincinnati, Ohio the Red is an accumulation of hundreds of horseshoe canyons that host thousands of world-class  rock climbs.  For over 30 years the Red has been a climbing mecca. The solid and well-featured corbin sandstone makes for steep, spectacular climbing. The red has some of the worlds best steep sport climbs as well as classic single pitch traditional routes.

The forests here are much different than the familiar woods of Maine. The canopy is filled with huge pines, hickory, silver maple, and poplars. Some of the smaller trees and shrubs include rhododendron, magnolia, mountain laurel and Elephant’s ear. One can also encounter a diverse collection of wildlife here in the Red including bobcats, flying squirrels, copperheads and timber rattle snakes, as well as many beautiful song birds.  The Red River George is one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen in the US, and having some of the best climbing in the world is a big plus!

I am lucky enough to spend a month here climbing and camping with two of my good friends Henry Marchetti (aka Hanky P) and Josiah Glover. These two individuals could not be more different if they tried.

Just like Bonnie and Clyde.....kinda.

Hanky P is super tall and lanky 19 year old who has been climbing seriously for three years. He is a terrific climber and is also shaping in to a great guide.  He may be shy and quiet, but extremely motivated and organized. Aside from climbing he enjoys pottery, fly fishing, and skiing. Hanky is a terrific person to climb with as he is always up for a challenge and always seems to be on a quest for knowledge.  In the past 10 days of climbing we have been choosing our power animals, and Hanks is definitely a stork!

Hanky P, the great stork

Josiah is 10 years older than hank and about  half a foot shorter. He is built like a UFC fighter and has a strong wrestling background to go with it. He is very confident, outgoing and expressive.  But don’t let the looks of this brute fool you. Josiah is a wicked smart wizard. He got a perfect score on the math section of his SAT’s and graduated from CSU with a Mechanical engineering degree. He now makes a living as a metal fabricator and sculptor in mid-coast Maine.  Josiah was one of the people who taught me how to climb.  I imagine if he had never taken me climbing on some of the tiny rocks in the Camden Hills when I was 15 my life would be very different than it is today. Back then Glover was one of the strongest and boldest climbers I had met and I certainly looked up to him. In the past 10 years Josiah has fallen in and out of climbing periodically and this trip marks is his first real extended climbing trip.  As an engineer he is always looking at things differently than I do and this has helped me keep an open mind in most situations.  Josiah’s power animal is definitely a gorilla!

Glover looking more like a pirate than a gorilla

The three of us are living the life of a full time climber. We wake up around 7:00am shower and eat breakfast,  pack up our lunches and climbing gear and head out climbing for the day.  Usually on a climbing trip, whether or not to put honey on my peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the most stressful part of my day. Here at the Red there are about 40 different crags to choose from, all areas are unique in style and in difficulty and are, in general, amazing. So now choosing where we climb during the day takes the cake for the most stressful decision of the day. We climb until the sunsets and than we return to our campsite, eat and sit in front of the fire.  We are off to bed shortly after it gets dark.  We repeat this process for two or three days until we require a rest day so we can grow some more skin on our fingers.

Amarillo Sunset, One of 2,000 amazing rock climbs!

I feel very fortunate to be able to spend this time climbing in a beautiful place with wonderful people.  I will finish my trip to the Red by running a three day AMGA Single Pitch Instructor course, followed by a weekend of guiding with a wonderful family from the Carolina’s.

In early November I am flying to Las Vegas to meet up with Pete and spend two weeks of climbing in Red Rocks and Zion National Park.  Our goal is to climb one of the worlds most beautiful crack climbs called Moonlight Buttress located in Zion. Stay tuned for more entries from the road!

Any ideas for my power animal...?

Climbing at Otter Cliffs

Below is a brief but awesome blog entry from Mike Pillows. Mike is a talented photographer who came to Acadia with the Maine Media Workshops while taking a course on how to shoot  extreme sports. ACS co-owner Pete Fasoldt acted as a model for the group during the photo shoot. Many great shots were taken and fun was had by all. A big thanks to Mike Pillows and everyone else at the Maine Media Workshop!

“RELIVING THE MOMENT”

 

“Hangin On The Coast”

Adventure photography at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport,ME. How do you transition from the static life of a landscape photographer to the fast paced world of shooting outdoor sports? That question bounced around in my head, on the drive north, many times. Many of my questions were answered during orientation when I met Michael Clark, our instructor and exceptional extreme sports photographer. The sports would be running, mountain biking, sea kayaking and rock climbing.

For the first shoot we hiked half way up a ski slope. Carrying lighting equipment and myself proved to be a test. I was fascinated by how intricate strobe lighting can be to set up. To catch a rider in just the right position, and get the most dramatic light, took countless tries. In order to get our runner to line up, timing and camera position were key. I ended up with many shots taken but also experienced a feeling of weariness. One thing I learned that day, was getting a good shot, you had to be precise and your timing spot on.

Mountain biking was to be next, to my exasperation… same hill but, this time all the way to the top! Lighting was tricky, as the riders moved much faster than our runner. I was amazed at how many missed shots I was getting due to the speed of the biker’s rapid decent downhill. Crashes, jumps and walking back up proved tedious, but the pictures created with our instructor’s input, were much more effective. Creating an angle to accentuate the movements and show the drama of the jumps was challenging but, very rewarding when captured.

On the next outing we shot sea kayaking and were informed that it would be from a boat and not from land. I knew from experience this would be problematic, but if done right, a truly beautiful shot could be achieved. I was greeted with an epic sunrise as we sped out of the harbor to one of the many islands. Pictures were coming from everywhere, as the freedom to compose and create was almost overwhelming. Light was being reflected from both the kayak and the rocks beyond his boat. Reflections and reflected light danced all around us. All the confinement from shooting on the hill seemed to just disappear when out on the water. This was truly an enlightening experience.

The final extreme sport was rock climbing. We secured our guide from Atlantic Climbing School, out of Bar Harbor,ME, and made our way to the cliffs of Acadia NP. As I hiked the trail to our destination, a calmness took over when I saw the coast and cliffs above. I watched as Pete, our guide, made the repel down to the edge of the ocean to secure his line. What came next was jaw dropping. Pete was able to climb the massive wall with grace and sheer power. Capturing the image came easy as the backdrop to our climber was very picturesque. I was still in awe as I made my way to the top of the cliff and gazed all the way down, realizing the full scope of the climber’s ascent.

My adventure, albeit lived vicariously through others, was over. From the solitude of running to the extreme nature of rock climbing, this is one adventure I will not soon forget….in my dreams.

 

Here is a very nice blog entry written by Andy Ryan. Andy went climbing with us in Camden last week.  The climbing in Camden is superb. With terrain suitable for folks of all ages and abilities, and amazing views, the climbing in the Camden Hill’s is a must do if your in the mid coast.  A big thanks to Andy for writting this trip report and for sharing it with everyone. We look forward to climbing with you again!

The view from atop Barrett's Cove cliff. One of many great climbing areas in Camden

We were up in Maine on vacation 2 weeks ago and for people who love the outdoors, Maine is like a playground. There’s so much great hiking, biking, paddling and climbing.

I spent many hours in the kayak and did some hiking but I wanted to feed my desire for rock climbing. As I was thumbing through the pages of a local magazine I stumbled across an ad for climbing. I was stoked! The place was called The Atlantic Climbing School (http://www.climbacadia.com/). They had 2 locations; Acadia National Park up in Bar Harbor (about a 2 hour drive from where we were) or Camden which was only 20 minutes. Sweet! I gave them a ring and got one of the founders of the school, Pete Fasoldt, on the phone. Super nice guy, and hooked us up with a 4 hour beginners class.

Barret’s Cove – Camden, ME

Friday couldn’t come quick enough. We met our guide on Rt. 52 in Camden, right next to Lake Megunticook. As we looked to our right at the turn out, I could see the rock face that we would be climbing. It looked pretty intimidating to say the least. At this point I was thinking that maybe I should have done a few more indoor trips before I tackled something like this, but I forged ahead.

Let me talk about how awesome our guide was. His name was Ryan Howes. Absolutely brilliant. Very laid back, extremely knowledgable about climbing and the terrain. Just an all around great person to have for your very first outdoor climbing experience. I really lucked out here. He came prepared with all the gear, and a tremendous amount of patience.

First things, first…signing of the classic waiver form, so if I crack my head, I can’t blame ACS. It was funny though, unlike most waiver forms, that I typically sign after merely skimming, this one I read pretty thoroughly. After signing, we got into our harnesses and tried on some shoes. Thank God the shoes fit pretty well. Ryan then went through all the gear that he was bringing up with him, which was very cool. The engineer in me was studying each piece, marveling at the engineering and wondering how much money I was going to have to plunk down to suport my upcoming gear junkie habit.

Once we had all our gear, Ryan led us up the path to the beginning of the ascent on the rock. What was really cool about this whole experience was that Ryan took the time to carefully explain everything, including the types of terrain that we would be encountering, the history of the area and the ecology. I was very impressed. We even got into a discussion about the Access Fund (http://www.accessfund.org/) and how Ryan received a grant a few years ago to help restore some of the climbs and paths. Very cool stuff.

So, onto climbing. The first thing we got was a lesson in knots and general rope handling. We practiced the knots a number of times until Ryan felt comfortable that we knew them. The next thing I got was my very first belay lesson. It looks pretty easy, but there are definitely nuances with this skill, especially if I were to climb with different people.

Now that I had the belaying down, it was time for Ryan to put himself in my hands…uh oh…I asked him if he was sure about this, and he said yes, and off he went. Something I learned is, that apparently someone needs to go first to bring the rope up, which I believe is called top roping. I guess I thought the ropes just magically appeared, or maybe I was expecting Ryan to take out a “batarang” to get the ropes connected.

Anywho, I watched him climb up the rock and I was actually pretty nervous until he placed his first safety anchor in.  He continued all the way up to the top, as I fed more and more rope to him. Once he had the rope secured at the top and through all the safety anchors, it was time for him to come back down and see if his belay lesson took. Thankfully, I did ok. I really give the gear most of the credit here though. It made it pretty easy.

So, first up was my son. After another refresher in knot tying, we got Jack on the rope and I decided to let Ryan belay him. Just felt more comfortable, this being the first time and all. I believe we started on something called Becky-Joy, which is a 5.5 I believe. Jack was a little timid at the start but then settled in and started climbing like a little monkey. He made it all the way up, listening to Ryan the whole way. He did so great and I’m very proud of him. He came down just as well, placing the rope back into the anchors like he’s done this a million times before. It was pretty cool to watch.

I was next up, and like Jack, I was very timid at the start. No idea really what to do. Again, Ryan was great, giving me tips along the way, but mostly he watched and analyzed the way I was climbing. I made it to the top without restarting and felt exhausted, but extremely happy with what I just did.

The great thing about where we were climbing was that it afforded us a number of routes without having to take the rope from the top. The next couple of routes were actually better than the first. They were about the same difficulty but they allowed Ryan to help us with some of the varying techniques that climbers use for certain situations. One of the climbs I was really able to focus much more on my balance and my breathing, which were key.

The final climb was not really a climb, it was an epic fail, but something to aspire to. One of the routes is called “Old Stud”, it’s a 5.10a. For a beginner like me, it looked impossible, and it was. I was able to climb about 4 feet and that was it, completely stuck. Oh well, maybe next time.

I really couldn’t have asked for a better first outdoor climbing experience. The weather was perfect, the terrain was exactly what I was looking for and the guide was awesome. I can’t wait to get out there again.

For over a decade I have been climbing at Otter Cliffs. At the beginning I was a skinny teenager who knew nothing about climbing. I just listened to my friends and hoped that what they were doing was safe. It turns out my buddies didn’t know much more than I did at that point, and we are very lucky that we got away with it without anyone getting hurt. Now I have been a rock climbing guide for nine years and my job is to teach people NOT to do what I had done at Otter cliffs for so many years. In total I have spent somewhere around 8,000 hours at Otter cliffs in many different capacities.  At first as a clueless adolescent. As I learned more I spent many days climbing at Otter with friends. A hand full of evenings have been spent with a few buddies, some beers, and a acoustic guitar, watching the moon rise. But most of my time spent at Otter Cliff has been in a professorial setting working as a guide. Here I am lucky enough to share with people the sport that I have grown to love.

Over the years one thing has remained a constant…. Otter Cliffs. Otter Cliffs has been, and will continue to be the icon of climbing in Acadia National Park. It is hard to imagine a better setting or a more accessible climbing site. Just minutes from the parking lot and with somewhere around 90 routes ranging from 5.2 to 5.12, there really is something for everyone. At sixty feet she sits proudly on our rugged coast rising  straight up from the sea. Beautiful pink granite, striped and criss crossed with ledges and crack systems, it’s as if it was  meant for climbing.

Throughout my time spent at Otter cliffs I have heard of people jumping off of the top of the cliff and landing in the water. I have never actually seen anyone do it but I head it was possible.  I like adventure and I have jumped off some pretty high cliffs close to my hometown of Camden, Maine, so I thought I would go for it. Well I thought this for the last twelve years. Every season I would tell my friends “this is the year, I’m going to do it.” But every season I would get scared and make up an excuse why it wasn’t going to happen. Well this year was different. A few days ago I had a morning off and it was really hot and humid. I had been climbing for four days straight so my fingers needed a rest. The seas were calm and the tide was high just after noon. I called my fellow guide/ friend Joel Enrico and posed the question, “you wanna jump off of Otter?” with a short pause he replied, “sure” and just like that the plan was made. Ten minutes later we were on our way to Otter Cliffs with a life jacket a couple old pairs of shoes, a rope, and a lot of nervous anticipation.

We arrived at the cliff to find only one other recreational party. We quickly set up a rappel and descended to the bottom of the cliff. We poked around the base investigating our landing zone and going over our plan for exiting the icy waters of Frenchman’s bay. Our plan was to have one of us at the base with a throw rope attached to a life jacket. This way if we needed any assistance getting back to shore we had some a rope and a flotation device to grab on to.  It was a full moon so we had an extra high spring tide. The seas were super calm and the sun was beaming down on the surface of the water making it seem quite inviting.

Joel volunteered to go first and climbed back up to the top of the cliff. I assumed my position next to the waters edge and waited to see him take flight.  He popped his head over the edge and than disappeared. When he reappeared he was wide eyed and flying through the air. He landed in a pencil position and was quickly at the surface hooting and hollering with excitement. Joel swam over to the edge and climbed out. With a smile the size of a boomerang he dried off and let his heart rate slow down to a regular pace. It was my turn. I climbed back to the top and went through a few trail take offs.  Twelve years of looking down at the water and thinking about this leap, and finally I was doing it. “Don’t think, just jump” I thought as I backed up down the runway. Three, two, one…..I was off. It seems like the fall took forever, and at the same time I was back on Terra firma in the blink of an eye. 8,000 hours on the top of the cliff, and about 2 seconds in the water at the bottom.

Here we go......

Splash!

I would NOT recommend this to anyone unless you have spent about a decade scoping it out and getting mentally prepared.  As you all know cliff jumping can be extremely dangerous and is not something to be taken lightly.

That said it was a great jump and a ton of fun. I waited for the right moment on the right day, with the right equipment, and the right people, ….so what if it took me twelve years!!!!

A big thanks to Joel for getting after it with me,….. and also for going first!

El Capitan, Yosemite Valley, California

On May 16th I flew into San Jose to meet up with my longtime friend and climbing partner Wade Undem. To get an idea of Wade, picture a strong but lanky donkey in his mid thirties wearing a v neck fleece vest from the 1980′s.  Now add some facial hair and some climbing gear and an old Suburu and you should have a least an outline of my good friend Wade. I was lucky enough to run in to this wonderful person on my first expedition to Patagonia in 2008. Wade was traveling around climbing and was game for an adventure or two. We spent a few weeks climbing granite spires in Frey, Argentina and than we were off to the Cochamo Valley in Chile to put up some first ascents in the jungle. Wade, a native Bostonian has tons of climbing experience from all over the world and it is always a pleasure to rope up with him.

Wade at the base of El Capitan in the rain.

From San Jose we drove in to Yosemite valley but not before enjoying a brief stop and Inn & Out burger a classic west coast burger joint.  As we approached the Valley and gained elevation the rain turned to snow and by the time we were at our camp site we were in a full on blizzard. Not at all what I expected for mid May conditions. The dogwood trees were in full bloom and I think they were as confused as I was with this blizzard. We set up camp and fell asleep to the sound of snow hitting our tent. The following morning we checked the 10 day forecast, and it didn’t look good.  The forecast called for another blizzard rolling in that night around 8:00pm. With the sun shining and the snow melting rapidly we figured this might be our only opportunity to climb for a while so we dropped everything and racked up for our first objective. The South face of Washington Colum V 5.8 C1. This is a beautiful 1100 foot wall that hosts 10 pitches of excellent climbing.

The South Face of Washington Column.

We got to the base of the route at noon with clouds approaching and the usual nervous anticipation that one has before a big climb. Our goal was to go light and fast and free climb as much as possible. We split the climb in to two blocks. I would lead the first 6 pitches and Wade would take us to the summit. Things went smoothly and we made good time. By pitch 7 the clouds closed us in and it began to snow. We decided to keep climbing and go for the top. We arrived at the top in a full blizzard six and a half  hours after we began climbing. The usual descent is a technical walk off that is very difficult to navigate especially in the dark in a snow storm so we decided to rappel the route. The rappels went smoothly and we arrived back to the base and finished the slog back to our car in a heavy sleet just as darkness fell. A great first day on the rocks and an eight and a half hour car to car romp. It felt great to climb with Wade again and we were excited that we snuck in a climb before the weather shut everything down.

That night it snowed 12 inches in the high country and on the valley floor we got about 3 inches of really wet snow. Not ideal climbing conditions for May. eli yosem 143small

We spent a lot of time in the El Cap meadows looking at the wall and planning our next climb. Our goal was to climb a hard aid route on the South East face of El Capitan called Zenyatta Mondatta VI A4 5.7

Zenyatta Mondatta VI A4 5.7

Zenyatta Mondatta has been a goal of mine for many years and Wade was psyched to give it a try. Now all we needed was good weather.  A few days of rain and the we got a promising forecast. El Cap was covered in waterfalls but the SE face is super steep and stays dry for the most part.  We packed two haul bags with tons of gear food and water and lugged them up to the base of the route. This, I would have to say is my least favorite thing about climbing El Cap. The haul bags weigh about the same as I do and the mile uphill slog makes me want to puke.  Wade on the other hand, just as a donkey should be, is perfectly designed for humping heavy loads all day. His ease of travel through the boulder fields freighted with the haul bag made me believe there might be a little bit of mountain goat in him as well.  We were able to climb the first pitch of our route and fix the rope to the ground. This way the following morning we could ascend the rope to our high point and begin climbing pitch two at sunrise. The following morning we blasted off at first light and began what we hoped would be a five day ascent of the most beautiful piece of stone in the world. Wade led pitch two and three, both tricky A3 Aid pitches.

Wade at the top of pitch three

Aid climbing is a form of climbing where you ascend the rock by placing protection in to crack systems and then attaching a cloth ladder to the placement and climbing the ladder as high as possible. From your high point you than place another piece  of protection, and repeat this prosses.. It is much slower than free climbing and requires a lot of problem solving skills. As the aid climbing becomes more diffucult the playesments become smaller and further apart. With hard aid climbing a lot of the placemnets could never hold a fall and are just used to hold your body weight, these are particuly scary because you know if one pulls you are going to go for a big ride.

Eli about to begin pitch four with tons of gear and a hommade duct tape visor!

At the top of pitch three Wade gave me all the gear and it was my job to lead for the rest of the day. I started my way up pitch four with many hook placements intermingled with old fixed heads. I high stepped in my aiders on a tiny drilled bat hook and pawed a round above my head looking for anything that might offer a good gear placement. I tried to hammer in a head but could not get any leverage with my hammer as the groove was at the limit of my reach. I bumbbled around for a while scared out of my mind until i decided to clip into an ancient head that I was trying to avoid. I clipped it and gingerly transferred my weight on to the piece. the cable had begun to unravel and from the get go I was trying to get around this section with out the use of this horrible old antique. I held my breath and began to stand up on the old piece and than it happened.

PING! the piece pulled and I began to plummet towards the ground. PING, PING, PING one after another the old fixed heads pulled from the wall as I flew upside down passed my belayer! My flight lasted long enough for two full screams before the rope jerked me sideways and arrested my fall. With my adrenaline pumping like the gas line on a super tanker my whole world was a blur. I flipped my self rite side up and my focus was brought to my hand. Somehow during the fall I ripped the tip of my pinky off and blood was starting to pour out of my finger. I didnt know what to do with myself so I just hung there for a while while trying to bring my heart rate back to normal.  I ripped some duct tape from my helmet and rapped my finger. The adrenaline was replaced by a throbbing pain and it became very apparent that our journey upwards was over.

Once he finally stopped falling Eli was 25 feet below the anchor. Here he is holding his finger and trembling below the belay!

Eli wide eyed and bloddy. It's time to go down!

After I calmed down a bit I ascended the rope back up to Wade. We rinsed my wound and wrapped it with medical tape. We were both still a little freaked out but happy that I wasnt hurt more seriously. We wanted to rappell so we needed to untie from our respective ends of the rope. My fall packed such a punch the my figure eight knot was welded.. Wade tried for about 20 minutes to lossein it up to no avail. We had to cut the rope from my harness to begin out descent. THe rappells went smoothly and we arrived back to earth just before dark.

We hauled down only the food and left the rest of our gear at the base of the route. We descended back to the car and drove straight to the clinic. At this point it was unclear weather or not I would need stitches.  We arrived at the clinic an hour after it had closed so we went to YOSAR (Yosemite Search and Rescue) headquarters and a very nice ranger helped me with my wound. We cleaned it for a long time and wrapped it up in gauze. Luckily once it was all clean we could see that it wasn’t as bad as I had thought and I certainly didn’t need stitches. We ate some food and went to bed.

In the morning we went back up to the base of the wall and retrieved all of our gear.  This was my first time retreating off of an El Cap route and the failure wasn’t sitting with me very well. The weather was perfect I was surrounded by granite yet I couldn’t climb. It was comparable to being in the playboy mansion with a Chasity belt, or the timeless kid in a candy shop except the kid would have his mouth wired shut. It was almost unbearable. To be on a climbing trip and not be able to climb is not ideal to say the least.

Eli at the base of the route holding up some of the fixed heads that pulled

Wade was a great sport and took it all in stride. I belayed him on many single pitch routes over the next few days. We filled our time with hikes, bikes, beer and as always time in the El Cap meadow with friends.  Overall it could have been a lot worse. I am grateful for the time I got to spend with Wade, and for the time spent in Yosemite, without a doubt one of the most beautiful places in the world.