Blood, Sweat and Ink: Part 1

Yesterday I made the journey to SLC to start work on my sleeve. It was an exhaustive day but so worth it as I've been looking for a very ling time for an artist to tattoo me that knows Polynesian art.

Taki (Doug) Vea at Samoa Ink in Salt Lake City is da' man. The shop is way laid back and non-typical when it comes to all the other tattoo shops I've visited over the years. Plus, the first thing I noticed when I walked in was that the shop was devoid of flash art – a sign that the artists only do original work.

The other thing I really liked was that it also lacked the usual "hardcore" attitude that ink shops tend to carry (skulls, naked women, etc.) We listened to reggae the whole time and talked story with other Poly's that came in and out. Real chill. It's somewhere that I'd let the kids hang out with me while I was getting inked.

Taki and I sat down and had a good talk about what I wanted. It was a good experience for me to talk to an artist that had a lot of understanding and respect for Polynesian art. It made me really think about what I was doing there and why.

Anyway, to keep from this becoming a lengthy post, I'll just add that the artwork we did represents myself and my family expressed in a combination of Maori, Hawaiian and Samoan artwork. I am heading back next month to finish the upper half and will report on that when the time comes.

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Pure Rock Fury, .13b

Thanks to my friends for making this happen.

Yesterday was quite a memorable day for me. I was finally able to do the first ascent of a route that I bolted 3 years ago.

At a suggested rating of .13b, it's certainly my hardest send to date. With a few 1-hang runs on it, and even more many-hangs runs on it over the past few years, success on the route always seemed questionable in my mind. But there is one major hurdle that I think I've overcome in my head that has seemed to help me this season – NO EXCUSES.

Climbers always joke about "having your excuses dialed in" so that should you not be successful, well then, you've got a reason, right? Well, other than injuries, height differences, hangovers, etc., there really are no reasons to lean on excuses, (especially trivial ones) – except to save face. And that's what it boils down to – too much pride.

We've got to learn to lighten up and say "Fuck it". Have fun, try hard, and should you send, then nourish that hard-earned redpoint beer. Because you never know – that last run you passed up because of some weak excuse could have been it.

Fighting through the mono-to-mono move on the first ascent run.

Anyway, there was certainly a highly positive vibe in the air at the Fins yesterday. There was a period of low gravity for a bit in the afternoon before we all succumbed to sore tips and tired muscles.

One thing I want to point out: Heather Lords is a badass. Yup. That girl has the strongest will I think I've ever witnessed on the sharp end. No way to explain it in words, you just have to see her go for it. Impressive, yes.

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No Girls Allowed (unless you are a canine)

This past weekend Brittany took off to Vegas to meet up with a couple of her high school girlfriends. Madeline spent Saturday night at Grandma's house which left Ethan and I to do whatever we wanted. SO to the hills we took!

"I ain't camping in no poop, fool"

My first idea was to go camp in Teton Canyon which would allow us to explore some boulders I had spotted this past spring. Unfortunately the Targhee Music Festival was going on that weekend and we did not want any part of the crowds that accompany the event. So, we headed to a place Tom and I had scoped out earlier this summer for possible climbing named Cedarville Canyon in the Lost River Range, north of Howe.

Unless you don't mind wallowing in cow patties and breathing in horse flies in 95˚ heat, the camping would be great. Not for us though, which was kind of a bummer because Ethan would have really enjoyed the hike through the canyon. So it was on to Plan C.

Plan C didn't really exist actually. Being sans map, unfamiliar with the area north of Howe and with time running out, I was scratching for anything. I knew that Pass Creek somewhere north of Howe (the pass road that cuts through the Lost River Range into Mackay), but wasn't sure how far. Time was peeling away our patience and I was bound to keeping my promise of hiking that day with Ethan. So we tore out of the cow-feces-infested Cedarville trailhead and headed north until we hit Pass Creek Rd.

Izzy cooling off in the creek

We struck gold when I remembered an area Tom and I had climbed a few years ago on a massive and remote limestone shield in Bear Creek off the Pass Creek Road. We found a sweet spot alongside Bear Creek (which overheated Izzy-dog LOVED), and called it good.


We had plenty of time to hike and return to camp to pig out on the best damn cheeseburgers I've ever made (I'm a born-again charcoal user – no more gas grills). Mandatory Smores came next with Ethan and I swapping scary stories around the camp fire.

One of many hard-earned Smores.

Day 2 of the No-Girls-Allowed-Camp–Fest found us on the road by 9 a.m. striking out for Ramshorn Canyon for a morning hike. Driving into the canyon I had never seen so much fine dirt on a road that it was sweeping up over the hood and windshield blinding our view at times – un-bloody-real! The hike went well, the driving not so well. I got the 2nd flat in 3 days on the damn truck. I'm getting pretty good at changing those things, I tell you. Funny thing happened while I was changing the tire: This dog came walking over from a close by farm house to check things out. Nice dog and all but it proceeded to urinate on the spare tire, then again on one of the good tires and then take a crap right in front of truck. It must not like Toyotas!

Back on the road we stopped by the institutional Pickles Place in Arco and pigged out before making the hot, dry, and boring drive back home through the Arco desert.

I can tell Ethan was in 7th heaven being able to have his dad all to himself for a weekend. I cant wait to do the same with Madeline soon.

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"International" Climber's Festival 2010 and the resolve of the Dissapearing Fish

Rick sending Ewanimity, .11b.

Ricardo and Thomas gearing up for 2 Kinds of Justice.
A classic route.

Jerry P. hitting it hard at the Zorro Wall.

Ricardo cocks the hammer on The Guns I'll Never Own, .11c.

Myself on the start of G.I.N.O. – a sweet boulder problem...with bolts.

Getting spanked on a rad .12a. Some days are certainly better than others.

I hit the Lander climbing festival this year for the first time in a few years. It was a good reminder of why Lander has always held a special place in my heart when it comes to climbing trips, which numero uno being the quality of stone and routes. Secondly, the atmosphere and local scene. The town seems to embrace climbers as well as host a healthy lifetsyle – without the attititude of other outdoor towns in the region (ahem, Jackson).

My goal for climbing on this trip was more mileage and sampling of routes as opposed to trying to redpoint "hard". Out of the 15-20 routes I got on, only one was bunk (don't do the new .11d to the left of Saddle Tramp...it sucks). Plus, I knew going there that for me to climb 4 stright days that my body wasn't going to be able to project. So I had fun keeping it chill.

Highlights: Good temps; Low crowds; Good friends at the Festival; Onsight of Zorro (classic route!), Hanging at the Ganite Grill; Ricardo enjoying his first trip to Lander and Wild Iris; Watching Tom eat a large pizza by himself; Hyroplaning on the way home near Pinedale in a few intense rain storms.

Oh yeah, and I need to retract my accusation of our cat in a previous post: We found the dried up remains of Damage nestled in one of Ethan's stuffed animals. It found out the hard way that fish are meant to remain in water.

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Da' Roost!

Ethan "Da Roost" TeNgaio

Our first 'Hawk.

Auntie Charish and 'lil Madi scoping the fireworks.

Madi and her friend Emily – inseparable.

A few late pics from Independence Day weekend. The kids were treated to constant playtime with the arrival of their friends from Mtn. Home. Amazing how fast a clean house can become not.

Ethan went for the mohawk and earned the nickname "Da' Roost" (rooster). Madi did her best impression of a crazy chicken – running around, non-stop playing with her bud Emily. Britt's folks threw their annual July 4th BBQ with the usual ono-licious food. We got to view the fireworks show from our friends folks house which is just about right on the river – UNREAL! Thanks Josh and Randi!

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Huck You and the Disappearing Fish

First Ascent Fever: Troy Neu, Tom Smartt and myself.

Yesterday Toma and I hooked up with Troy for a Fins session. The weather is getting very warm and the Fins are the perfect place to climb in the heat of it all.

The walls face east and go in to the shade at 1 p.m. making for great climbing temps. It's not uncommon for me to pull out my beanie and light jacket to stay warm at times as the temps can easily be 20˚ cooler than that of the desert floor below.

With help from Tom and Troy, I was able to finish bolting a new line on the Solstice Wall named "Huck You". It's an .11a 6 bolt arching route that has a somewhat big move at the end, or "huck", to get to the anchors. We all shared in the fun in doing a shared First Ascent. Thanks for being so patient guys. I think it was well worth the extra time though as it will make a great addition to what I hope will be a complete wall someday.

Afterwards we moved on down to the Discovery Wall to: 1) get Trot back on Martini so he could annihilate it and; 2) add mid-way anchors on a route.

We got the mid-way anchors in on an open project called Route of Discovery. The reasoning behind this was that this route has fantastic power moves for the first 50', then cuts hard right on a traverse that no one has been able to free yet. It's seriously blank, I'm not kidding. Easily upper 5.14 but no one has got it yet. So with permission from route equipper(s), we added anchors at the 5th bolt making it a rad 4 bolt .12d/.13a that will now very likely see much more traffic and people sending. The original route is stil there so it's still open season for the full Route of Discovery. We'll think of a name for the bottom pitch soon.

Troy hit the Martini route and almost sent (he did do it clean on toprope though). For the first time out there this season I think he did great. Added to that is that fact that he spent the whole day before moving into his new house. Hey, just another reason for him to come out there again!

On the way home Brittany called me asking me if something had happened to Ethan's goldfish because he wasn't in his fish bowl. I told her I had fed the critter the night before but hadn't checked it the next morning. After much discussion and investigation we are convinced that our damn cat ate it the bloody thing!

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Lagoon!

Last weekend was spent at the madness which is called Lagoon. It was nice to be in 85˚ weather but I forget how crazy it is there until we go back. Cousin Legend (whom Ethan worships) came with us this time which gave me a break from the rides. Madi hung on all day keeping up with the madness.

Highlights: Madi's ice cream cone that was bigger than her head; Ethan, Legend and Britt going on the Wicked; watching mom and the kids get soaked on Rattlensnake Rapids; putting down some serious grinds at Dave's Famous BBQ in Layton!

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F.U.N.

Rick doing "The Virgins of Howe", .11d

Tyson pocket pickin' on Ghosts in the Shell, .12a

Tom rapping into the Solstice Wall (the wall is not a slab, btw)

Sunrise from atop the Headwall at the Fins, looking south. Big Southern Butte is on the right skyline

This past Sunday I was able to complete a project route named Al's Diner at the Fins.

Redpointing .13a for me is something that is well within my abilities but often times eludes me. Just like everyone else I've got the same excuses, (family, job, injuries, age, blah, blah, blah) that keep that carrot just out of arms reach. This time, however, the carrot tasted pretty sweet. Plus, it got me thinking more about the whole concept of "projecting" a route.

In the 11 or so years that I've been hugging rocks, I've seen some climbers get so wound up about sending their projects that it's made me wonder if they've forgotten why they started climbing in the first place. I've seen grown men and women on the verge of tears because they fell and didn't send. I've seen seemingly mature adults throw toddler-like tantrums when success was not the outcome on a route.

Which brings me to my point: Isn't this supposed to be fun? I will admit that I too get bummed when things don't work out but the most important lesson I've learned is that even if you are successful on a route, life goes on – you still have to mow the grass, pay the bills, clean the cat box, etc. To me, what makes a better person is someone who can learn from their failures and keep smiling. It's not worth getting bent out of shape when things don't go as planned. Which bring me to another point – Don't "plan" on anything other than walking away from the crag with a smile on your face.

Oh, and Tom also walked away with a smile on his face too – and the redpoint as well on Al's Diner! Good work T-Rock.

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Reconnecting

Scott crankin' down as Izzy-dog ponders the meaning of life

Scott dishing it up on Al's Diner, .13a

Yesterday Scott Gardner, Tom Smartt and I hit the Fins for an excellent mid-week session. It was Scott's first time up there and I believe he walked away with a very good impression of the place.

It was Scott's 3rd time back on rock this year after about a 6 year absence from climbing (he was mtn. biking hardcore during that time) The dude is an animal. The warmups out there are mainly 5.11 and Scott seemed to get to the anchors pretty easily, which is not an easy feat out there – especially if you have never been there before. It was inspiring to watch someone who has been climbing way longer than I have but has been out of the game a bit just seamlessly flow back into the movement, rhythm and mental structure of climbing. I can tell the technique, but most importantly passion, is still very much alive in Scott when it comes to climbing.

The definite climbing related highlight yesterday was Tom's sooooo close send of Al's Diner. The last move on the second crux is so critical on getting into a very hard to see left foot and then being able to hang on while stepping up on that tricky left foothold to get your right foot up onto a crimp. Your right arm is burning and your core muscles are very worked by then. He was seriously about 1/2 a move from exiting the crux. Pretty impressive for a "kid" that wrenched his ankle this April and hasn't done a whole lot of climbing since then. I tried Al's on lead but had a few hangs to get to the anchors. It was a high gravity day from me. However, I wanted to kick myself in the ass as on my next run as I opted for TR but then sent Al's clean – on TR though. Freakin idiot.

BTW, in regards to the title of this post: It was a pleasure climbing with Scott again (and Tom, like always) and catching up on friends that I haven't seen in years. Scott's always been this friend of mine that I've thought of as "someone who gets it". By "it" I mean that he understands reality – he isn't living to keep up with the Jones', keeps his shit together and hasn't succumbed to the mundane even though (like me) he has a family, house, job, etc. Plus hanging out with him reminded me that Britt and I need to make more of an effort to reconnect with old friends because we have been really bad at doing so. We've had some memorable times in the past with some of these people and we'd like to keep the friendships alive and healthy…even with life as hectic as it can seem.

And next time Al's Diner is going down.

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Breakfast of Champions

My friend Tom and lil' Madeline powering up with some Cinnamon Toast Crunch
before a big day on the rocks.

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