UT Outdoors

Kentucky Pt. 3

2011-11-04T08:13:00.000-06:00

Another rainy day means another update to the blog. First some of my pics followed by Brendan Nicholson's far superior photos. Enjoy:

Brendan on Skin Boat - 5.13a

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Alex on Skin Boat as well.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Brendan onsighting Forty Ounces of Justice - 5.13a

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Brendan high up on the beautiful arete climb Prime Directive - 5.11b

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Brendan trying hard on Golden Boy - 5.13b

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Another shot of Golden Boy.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

One more on Golden Boy at The Gold Coast, one of the prettiest walls in the Red.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Small waterfall deep in the woods of Kentucky.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Beautiful forest with bad light.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

The rest of the photos were taken by Brendan Nicholson.

Approaching Funk Rock City

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Swift Camp Creek, a tributary of the Red River.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Fall colors over Swift Camp Creek.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Me on Infidel - 5.11d

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Alex on Infidel - 5.11d

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Alex on Orange Juice - 5.12c

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Cold frosty morning.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Contemplating our next climbing adventure from our back porch.

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Alex chillin in a hueco on one of the warm ups at the Solar Collector

From Kentucky Pt. 3

Kentucky Pt. 2 - Hiking, climbing, and more climbing.

2011-10-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

Once again it's cold and rainy outside so I'm taking a break from the amazing sandstone here in Kentucky and thought I would update my blog with the latest photos. Weather has been... for Kentucky... Awesome! With only a few rainy days but mostly sunshine, good temps, and not too terrible humidity. The fall colors are in full swing and the climbing is absolutely amazing! I can't believe my trip isn't even halfway over yet! I get to spend two more weeks climbing so many more classic routes. Stoked!

Mike working in between climbing at home sweet cabin.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

The view from our backyard deck... not too bad.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Dianne on an amazing 5.11a - Whip Stocking.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

The Madness Cave at the Motherload... One of the steepest sustained walls in the US,

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Mike Personick on Omaha Beach, 5.14a

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Mike on Omaha again... can you find him? Gives you a little perspective on how huge this wall actually is (wish it could show how overhung it is as well,) especially when this photo doesn't show the entire route!

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Dan pulling on tiny holds on I think Jedi Mind Trick - 5.13b

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Dan nearing the top showing a good view of the Dark Side crag.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

After climbing we actually had good weather on one rest day so I went hiking and took photos of some of the arches in the Red River Gorge... With the leaves changing and perfect fall weather, life couldn't have been much better.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

There was some crazy stuff growing on some of the dead tree trunks.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

And this tree looked like it came straight out of The Hobbit.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

The arches I hiked to were pretty impressive, I'm looking forward to seeing more of them.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

There were a lot of big time views as well.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

After a great rest day it was back to climbing... Here is Dan trying to figure out the crux on Transworld Depravity - 5.14a

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Mike giving Omaha Beach another go.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Dan almost sending Last of the Bohicans - 5.13d

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Resting high up on Last of the Bohicans.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Ingrid on Forty Ounces to Justice - 5.13a

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Dan giving Last of the Bohicans one last go as the sun starts to set.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Mike on Ultra Perm - 5.13d. I wish I could somehow take a photo that shows how insanely steep/overhung this route is... Awesome!

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Laura sending the classic 5.11d, Seek the Truth.

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Followed by ALMOST sending another classic, Bare Metal Teen - 5.12a

From Kentucky Pt. 2

Kentucky Pt. 1 - The long drive, and a little bit of climbing.

2011-10-19T13:55:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting on my bed in our cabins loft looking out the window as large rain drops drench the ground all around us. Cold rainy days are good because they force me to take rest days from climbing and get me to update my blog with what photos I've taken so far so I don't have a monumental task of going through hundreds of them at the end of my trip. I'm living in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky for the next month, climbing and chilling out. Here are a few of my photos from the drive out and a couple days of climbing. Enjoy:

First I stopped at Maroon Bells near Aspen Colorado. A few clouds in the sky would have made the photo even better, but at least I was able to get a good reflection.

From Kentucky Pt 1

Then I stopped at Mammoth Cave and was herded like a group of cattle along foot paths with safety railings and electric lights...

From Kentucky Pt 1

Be sure to hold on to the railing so you don't slip!

From Kentucky Pt 1

A really cool room... with a giant metal staircase in the middle of it.

From Kentucky Pt 1

It was really hard to take photos with such little light.

From Kentucky Pt 1

The cave was mostly a bunch of long corridors with a big flat roof on top. Not many cool cave features but there was one spot, called "Frozen Niagra," where a bunch of cool features were piled up in about a 300 foot long section.

From Kentucky Pt 1

After the cave we settled into our cabin, checked out some of the Kentucky countryside,

From Kentucky Pt 1

and then went climbing! Here is Ingrid on Magnum Opus 5.12a

From Kentucky Pt 1

Me on the ridiculously fun line, Super Best Friends 5.12b

From Kentucky Pt 1

Ingrid on Magnum Opus

From Kentucky Pt 1

Dan on Bundle of Joy - 5.13a

From Kentucky Pt 1

Dan pulling hard on little holds

From Kentucky Pt 1

Ingrid sending Magnum Opus - 5.12a

From Kentucky Pt 1

Ingrid chilling in the amazing Hueco on Magnum Opus.

From Kentucky Pt 1

Ten Sleep... Again!

2011-09-07T21:30:00.000-06:00

I had such an awesome time in Ten Sleep the week of Fourth of July... I went back over Labor Day weekend. Once again we did tons of amazing routes on stellar Wyoming limestone. Still no epic climbing photos from the top of the routes but I did take some pictures, and here they are:

From Ten Sleep... Again!

Uintas with Spencer

2011-08-25T12:38:00.000-06:00

Spent a couple days in the Uintas with my brother a couple weeks ago. Finally busted out the camera and took a few pictures (I've been really bad about not taking pictures this summer). Here they are:

From Uintas with Spencer

Ten Sleep Climbing

2011-07-03T20:02:00.000-06:00

In the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming lies some of the highest quality limestone in the country. Ten Sleep Canyon is world class pocket pulling beneath the wide open Wyoming sky. I spent eight or so days climbing and hiking around Ten Sleep on some of the best routes I've done in my short time climbing. It will most likely become a yearly trip for me... it's that good.

I wasn't motivated enough to hang from static lines and get epic photos from above, so I didn't take many pictures, but here are the few I have. Maybe next time I'll take some "real" climbing pics.

From Ten Sleep

Powell 2011

2011-05-02T21:30:00.002-06:00

April means it's time for my yearly Canyoneering trip to Lake Powell. It's always the best canyon trip of the year and this year was no different. I need to figure out a way to live on the lake permanently! All photos by Steve Ramras (Ram).

From Powell 2011

The last canyon of the trip was the BEST. Lots of potholes to jump into and even a killer slide.

From Powell 2011

Goodbye Powell, until the Fall...

Snow 2010/2011

2011-03-27T17:21:00.000-06:00

As usual, I start snowboarding in the winter, and I never take a camera, so the blog slows down a ton. I do have a few pictures from this year however. Most of them are from night skiing at Park City a few days ago but I threw in a couple from Snowbird (where I have my pass and ride a few times a week at) as well.

From Riding 2010/2011

Red River Gorge

2010-11-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

Spent nine days climbing in the Red River Gorge, Kentucky. It's like God created the ultimate single pitch sport climbing mecca and as a joke placed it in the middle of Kentucky. ;) Had an awesome time and can't wait to spend a lot more time out there! Road trip this spring? All photo's from Mike Portanda's awesome photo skills. Check out his flickr page.

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Madness Cave at The Motherlode, AMAZING.

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Paul Booth on Jesus Wept - 5.12d

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Me on Hybrid - 5.12a

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Crimping it up on Makin Bacon - 5.10d

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

The Man contemplating which route he'll send next.

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Nick Trina on Jesus Wept - 5.12d

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Nick on Hell Raiser - 5.12c

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Nick on Hybrid - 5.12a

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

B-man

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Brian Waters on Hybrid - 5.12a

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

Money shot of Brian on Super Best Friends - 5.12b

From 2010-11-01 Red River Gorge

More climbing

2010-10-28T18:09:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures from our trip up the sister spire in Moab followed by some photos from Maple Canyon. Mike P is sending T-Rex (5.14b) in the photos. It was definitely my belaying skills that got him to the top... ha. Photos by Matt Brejcha.

From Sister Spire

We are going to the top of that! :)

From Sister Spire

Hello

From Sister Spire

Smile Matt this is Scary... I mean fun!

From Sister Spire

Wooo! On the top!

From Sister Spire

Bowling trophy pose on top.

From Sister Spire

Rappelling back down.

From Sister Spire

Hiking out.

From Sister Spire

Sunset over Castle Valley.

From Sister Spire

The Pipe Dream.

From Summer Climbing

Me on Deliverance (5.12c)

From Maple Oct. 9th

Mike P on T-Rex (5.14b)

From Maple Oct. 9th

Muscle man trying to hold on to the top.

From Maple Oct. 9th

Ssssseeeennnnndddd!

From Maple Oct. 9th

Escalante Canyons

2010-10-28T17:51:00.000-06:00

So my big fall canyoneering trip got cut short due to a certain partner bailing on me. I did make it down for some explorations in Escalante though and randomly ran into a friend in Kanara Creek (what are the chances). Here are a few pics from the part of the trip that actually happened. All photos by Steve Ramras (Ram)

From Escalante Sept. 2010

Keeping the hands dry

From Escalante Sept. 2010

DOWNCLIMB!

From Escalante Sept. 2010

Into the clean pools.

From Escalante Sept. 2010

"The Guide"

From Escalante Sept. 2010

The rappel

From Escalante Sept. 2010

Looking back into our canyon on the hike out.

From Escalante Sept. 2010

The rappel that goes, and goes, and goes.

From Escalante Sept. 2010

Nasty mud!

From Escalante Sept. 2010

Flowers along the "road"... or wait... is that the road?

From Escalante Sept. 2010

Climbing at City of Rocks, Idaho

2010-09-21T19:59:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Matt feeling more like taking pictures than climbing, I have some pics from our trip to City of Rocks in Idaho. The hardest thing we got on was 5.9 (my hardest trad lead to date, trad still scares me) but the climbing was so much fun it didn't matter. Thanks to Matt for the pics!

From Climbing at City of Rocks, ID

Summer Climbing

2010-08-12T17:09:00.001-06:00

Summer climbing season is in full swing. I hardly ever take pictures of climbing just because it's too much of a pain when you are belaying and climbing all day. I'd rather focus on climbing than spend half of my day trying to get good shots. I do pull out the camera every now and then though so here are a few pictures from the summer so far.

From Summer Climbing

TOD

2010-05-23T00:50:00.002-06:00

Next day we went into a little explored corner of Escalante and down TOD Canyon. The canyon itself was not the most amazing I've ever done but the day as a whole was great. The hike around the river and out was really cool with lots of views of sandstone peaks and canyons. Everyone had a good time.

"Some go high, some go low... board is best... yes, yes, yes" -Ill Mitch.

From TOD

Really crazy super long straightaway, one of the craziest features I've seen in a canyon.

From TOD

There was a cool final slot section but I was busy helping people down and setting up the sandtrap so no pics. Here is the exit though.

From TOD

A sketchy climb (a hold broke on me and I thought I was going to fall 40 feet to the ground. Luckily I stayed on) brought us up above the river.

From TOD

Crazy balancing rocks.

From TOD

A really unlikely exit canyon.

From TOD

Aardvark Canyon

2010-05-20T12:12:00.000-06:00

Time for another big day. Today we hit Aardvark, a canyon I had only heard rumors about. It rarely gets done because of the nightmare logistics and length of the day. We got lucky and for Matt's birthday Mother Nature made the logistics easier but it was still a big day with questionable weather. The photo's however turned out better than I expected so here they are.

Matt adding his personality to yet another photo.

From Aardvark Canyon

Land of domes.

From Aardvark Canyon

Good light on wet slickrock (it definitely rained out here the night before).

From Aardvark Canyon

Cool little arch.

From Aardvark Canyon

She's smiling because it hasn't goten cold yet ;)

From Aardvark Canyon

Matt holding a stick on his birthday.

From Aardvark Canyon

Matt waving on his birthday.

From Aardvark Canyon

My other favorite shot of the trip.

From Aardvark Canyon

After being in the canyon all day, we approached the final rappel... it was basically a wind tunnel. We were all wet and cold already, the wind tunnel did not help at all. Here, Jenny and Ram are huddling out of the wind while we get the ropes set and start quickly sending people down. No photos of the last rap because I was busy helping get people out.

From Aardvark Canyon

Sad Cow Disease

2010-05-20T02:04:00.001-06:00

After our hike into Phipps Wash we drove into town for an early dinner then drove out to meet Ram and his crew. Along for the trip were Ram, Aaron, Doc, Matt, Jenny, and Me. Jenny was no ordinary canyoneer though. She was the girlfriend of one of the pioneers of the sport and was on many first descents in the 70's and 80's in some ultra classics that get done all the time today. She brought her laptop and showed us old scanned slides from places like Choprock, Baker, Poe, Happy Dog, etc... Her endless energy and love for the desert was contagious. With her and Matt along we were all fully entertained and a few times bent over laughing until our abs were sore!

On the agenda for today was a canyon we named Sad Cow Disease. Bill Wolverton and Steve Cole had descended it and we had some sparse beta from them but mostly we were just exploring. It turned out to be a short but really nice, really photogenic slot. We climbed, squoze, rap'ed, and shimmied our way down. Shortly before the end we started to get a whiff of something nasty. I was in the lead and hesitated to move forward. As we kept moving the smell got stronger... something ahead of us was dead and rotting.

Sure enough, Matt caught a glimpse of what it was. A big dead cow in the middle of the slot. With my face inside my shirt, I basically ran toward it, stemmed over it, and kept running to get away from the smell. But mom wasn't the only one who died, behind her was the corpse of her calf, who stuck with her till the end. We were all pretty traumatized by the smell but Jenny was a bit traumatized by the scene of mother and baby, thus the name of the canyon.

Looking for a way up.

From Sad Cow Disease

After a lot of searching for access, we find a rappel.

From Sad Cow Disease

Matt decided to try and wave in as many pictures as he possibly could... Hello Matt.

From Sad Cow Disease

The light in the slot was phenomenal.

From Sad Cow Disease

Probably my favorite shot of the trip.

From Sad Cow Disease

Really cool crawl through tunnel-like spot.

From Sad Cow Disease

The cow smelled way too bad, I didn't stop to take pictures of it, so here is the hike out.

From Sad Cow Disease

Oh ya, and weather turned bad. We barely made it to the cars before the rains came... and didn't stop for hours.

From Sad Cow Disease

Phipps Wash

2010-05-20T00:19:00.000-06:00

Jason had been training for a marathon but not the full body workout that is Canyoneering so before meeting up with the big crew we opted for a mellow hike. The original plan was to hike down into Death Hollow and check out the lower section but high winds and cold temps made us pick something that didn't involve wading through a river. I looked through my guidebooks but couldn't find anything that didn't involve a ton of driving, then I found a route description for Phipps Wash on Tom Jones' Website. Perfect! Here is a link to Tom's description:

http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/esca/phipps.htm

And here are some pictures from our hike:

From Phipps Wash

A really funky tree.

From Phipps Wash

The riparian section with lots of sun.

From Phipps Wash

Tons of swirls on the hike.

From Phipps Wash

Calf Creek Falls

2010-05-19T12:14:00.000-06:00

After Egypt 2 and 3 we hiked to Calf Creek Falls. I was able to take my nice camera and got some pictures.

From Calf Creek Falls

Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

2010-05-19T12:09:00.000-06:00

After two long days we opted for something mellow. We were already at the Egypt Trailhead so we decided to go down Egypt 2 to where it opened up, hike over the ridge into Egypt 3, then upclimb Egypt 3 to our cars. This is a great loop and was so much better upclimbing the shady slot than doing the overland hike out in the hot sun. Mike bailed on us so it was just Jason and Me.

We started around 9:00 and still managed to be back at the cars by 2:00. Jason had never been to Calf Creek Falls so we put on our tourist faces and hiked with the masses to the waterfall then got some grub in Escalante. Another great day.

Cool soccer ball patterns on the hike down the first rappel in E2 (we didn't have a rope long enough to rappel in from the road).

From Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

Jason rappelled, I downclimbed.

From Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

I'd done the loop once before but forgot how pretty these canyons are.

From Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

A rare picture of me.

From Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

Cool sand patterns.

From Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

And up we go.

From Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

E3 gets skinny!

From Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

E3 has some cool pothole sections.

From Down Egypt 2 and up Egypt 3

The South Fork of Choprock Canyon

2010-05-18T15:07:00.001-06:00

After Neon we hit one of my favorite canyons ever, The South Fork of Choprock, or as the first decent party called it, Kaleidescope Canyon. We found a lot of cold water but water levels weren't insanely high or anything. We kinda rushed the day because our hands were numb and there was a lot of swimming/wading. The canyon was great though as always! After the last rappel we hiked back to camp, cooked up some dinner, dried our gear, then headed up the hill back to our cars.

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

The first business section (Photo by Mike).

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Great reflection in the pool below the first rappel (Photo by Mike).

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Best riparian section in any canyon... too bad photos never capture how amazing this spot really is (Photo by Mike).

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

The rockpile marks the end of the riparian section.

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Subway section reflection.

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Big smile.

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Tunnel (Photo by Mike).

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

My favorite spot in the canyon.

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Lots of cold water (Photo by Mike)

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Going into the log tunnel.

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Sunny narrows near the end.

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Jason on the final rappel (Photo by Mike)

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

The hike down lower S. Fork of Choprock.

From South Fork of Choprock Canyon

Neon Canyon

2010-05-16T20:15:00.003-06:00

I'm back from my second big canyon trip for the spring and here are the first of the pictures. I got tired of never wanting to take my nice camera into canyons because of being afraid I'd destroy it so I finally bought a little waterproof point and shoot. I'm pretty happy with it and think I got some pretty nice shots considering it's a crappy little point and shoot.

Okay, so I need to give a little background on the pictures. First day of the trip we did Neon Canyon. We hiked from the Escalante River and dropped in high above where most guidbooks suggest. I've thought about doing the short easy day version, but the whole canyon is so good it's hard for me to just follow the guidebook. About a week later I met up with Ram and we ended up doing the upper section, starting from the Moody Creek trailhead. We dropped in near the head of the canyon and went down to the point we had dropped into a week before, then found a route out. As a result, in a weeks time I was able to do the whole canyon, just in two chunks. The stuff in the upper canyon is really good and I decided to put the pictures together as if we did the canyon all in one push. These pictures will go in order from near the head of the canyon all the way out to the river.

From Neon Canyon May 2010

Looking into the riparin section below the first rappel.

From Neon Canyon May 2010

Beautiful riparian in the upper canyon.

From Neon Canyon May 2010

Neon's Upper Cathedral. You rappel through this bridge next to a deep pool.

From Neon Canyon May 2010

Really cool log bridge kept us from doing the swim (it was COLD out)

From Neon Canyon May 2010

One of Mike's pictures.

From Neon Canyon May 2010

The keeper pothole... under a lot of water.

From Neon Canyon May 2010

Mike casually swimming over the keeper.

From Neon Canyon May 2010

Me rapping down into the Golden Cathedral (Picture by Mike)

From Neon Canyon May 2010

Lots of ripple reflections on the wall.

From Neon Canyon May 2010

Lake Powell Canyons

2010-05-04T17:52:00.000-06:00

I went on a 10 day canyoneering trip in April and am heading out for another 10 days coming up so I wanted to post some of the pictures from Powell before I leave. We spent seven days on Lake Powell doing barely beta'd and unexplored (to anyone we know at least) canyons from the boat. Had a great time with a great crew. When I have time I may write up more of a trip report but for now, here are some sweet pictures from Ram and Dan (I didn't take a camera this time).

From Lake Powell 2010

Sandthrax Canyon

2010-05-03T01:29:00.000-06:00

Been wanting to hit Sandthrax for a long time but it either never worked out or we couldn't get together the right crew. It is no place to take lightly and getting a hold of a couple BD #6 cams to defeat the offwidth crux is no small task either. The canyon exceeded my expectaions in beauty and how much fun we had. Lots of up's and downs, scary silo's, a "way harder than it looks" crux upclimb, and a sweet sculpty walking section. Great day with a great crew.

After Sandthrax I spent 7 days on Lake Powell doing canyons accessed from the boat. Look for pics coming as soon as I get copies from others in the group (I didn't take any).

Most photos in this post by Landon, with a couple from my cell phone cam.

From Sandthrax

Belaying the big silo.

From Sandthrax

Cruxy crux!

From Sandthrax

Don't screw up!

From Sandthrax

Finally on Terra Firma.

From Sandthrax

Climbing in The Virgin River Gorge.

2010-04-10T13:53:00.000-06:00

There's a lot of really good, but really hard climbing in the Virgin River Gorge. This was my first trip and a real eye opener at what long, consistant, hard climbing is all about. I need to get stronger and less scared for sure to be able to hang down here but there's a ton of cool stuff if you're good enough. Here are a few pics.

From Climbing in the VRG

Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

2010-03-16T16:18:00.000-06:00

So after multiple weekends of bad weather down south, we finally got some pretty good weather and headed down to climb. The plan was to hit the VRG or stuff around St. George but once again rain was forecasted so we drove 2 more hours to Vegas (Red Rocks) where it was windy, but warm and not raining! We had three of us this time so there was always someone not climbing to take pics. I think we got quite a few good shots.

Dance Party in the car on the drive down.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Waking up at sunrise.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Mike Warming up on One Eyed Jacks - 5.11a

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Me on One Eyed Jacks.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Mike Doing it again.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Matt on the same route.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Mike on Footloose - 5.11b

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Me on Footloose.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Mike Hangin out.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Matt giving Stratocaster Direct a go. 5.12b

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Mike on Purple Haze - 5.12c

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Mike thinking it's time to head back to the car.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

All smiles

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Mike S. stoked until he tries climbing with a chunk of his finger taken off... then he became less stoked.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Matt jugging the static line to take pictures.

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Matt on Second Coming - 5.12a

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Mike P. on Capt'n Rehab - 5.13a

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Sticking the crux dino move

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Me on Second Coming - 5.12a

From Climbing in Red Rocks and St. George

Climbing in St. George

2010-01-31T21:27:00.002-07:00

Went climbing in St. George for a couple days. The weather was amazing and the climbing was super fun! We were too busy to document much but managed to take a few pictures and even got a video of a super fun 5.11d at Turtle Wall. I'm gonna be wanting to head down there every weekend now. All photo credit's go to Mike Schasch.

From Climbing in St. George

Snowboarding

2010-01-31T21:21:00.002-07:00

I am really bad about not posting stuff in winter. Not cause I'm not out playing, I just don't usually take pictures of snowboarding or climbing in the gym, but I found my video camera the other day and wanted to see if it still worked so I took some footage of an awesome powder day at Brighton. It's short, but it's something.

Firey Furnace

2010-01-06T03:08:00.000-07:00

This post is for Dan. Did a trip through the Firey Furnace with Ram and crew. Lots of fun.

From Firey Furnace with Ram

Cheesebox Canyon

2009-10-19T14:16:00.002-06:00

Went down to Cedar Mesa over the weekend and hit Cheesebox Canyon. Cool to get into a canyon I've never done.

From Cheesebox Canyon

Shenanigans with Roxy and Jason

2009-10-19T14:05:00.001-06:00

All we had were crappy cell phone cameras, but with a little touch up they turned out pretty decent.

From Shenanigans with Roxy and Jason

Cascade Creek - Day 7

2009-09-05T14:58:00.003-06:00

And the last day of the trip we finished things off with another Ouray classic! Cascade drops like crazy, lots of rapping down big waterfalls, finishing with a 290 footer! Rappeling in water is fun :)

From Cascade Creek - Day 7

Corbett Creek - Day 6

2009-09-05T14:50:00.002-06:00

Day six put us in Corbett Creek, one of my new favorite canyons. This one slots up more than the other canyons and is really good. Lots of side waterfalls, cool rappels, and sporty downclimbs. Great stuff! Of course the pictures do it no justice.

From Corbett Creek - Day 6

Bear Creek - Day 5

2009-09-05T14:37:00.002-06:00

Next day we started some canyoneering and hit Bear Creek. The water was COLD, but lots of fun. A bunch of rappels, pools, and mini slides made for a really fun day! The sun and shade made it hard to get good pictures, but here is what I got:

From Bear Creek - Day 5

A Week in the San Juans - Day 4

2009-09-02T22:21:00.002-06:00

Day 4 I hiked up to Ice Lakes Basin. The weather was amazing, and the upper basin even more amazing. Yes the water in the lower lake really was that blue! After this I drove to Ouray to meet up with Matt for some canyoneering. I had some time to kill so I paid my $3 to see the Box Canyon Falls. I wish we could do the upper narrows and rappel down the falls but I guess it's on private property and I doubt rapping the falls would be looked highly upon. Ahh well, the canyons we did do were really good so I can't complain. The rest of the posts will show the canyons.

From A Week in the San Juans - Day 4