Ready for the spotlight

Madeline did this all by herself today!
(If you can't tell, it's her name. Madi, with a long "a", lol)
Way to go girl.

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Blood, Sweat and Ink: Part2

Yesterday I got to finish my sleeve down in Salt Lake. At 7 straight hours (with only three 5 minute breaks!), I think I reached my max and am glad Taki finished when he did. My left foot was starting to twitch and with each passing stroke of the gun, I kept hoping that it was the last one.

For a cover-up, Taki did a sweet job. My only regret is I wish I was starting from a clean slate and not covering up 3 good sized tats. However, what he was able to design looks 100% better than what I had on there before. Plus, it now has meaning.

Not to step on any toes, but the whole skulls and "hardcore" ink is just not for me anymore. Not to say there aren't sweet tats out there of that style but to me skulls, spiderwebs, etc. aren't part of my lifestyle, I guess you could say. Maybe it's that I'm not "hardcore" or something. Who knows, but that art doesn't mean anything to me.

Most of my family and friends don't care for tattoos and I'm fine with that. But some of them need to realize that just because they don't understand it, it doesn't mean its wrong. It's O.K. to NOT understand some things. It's what makes us individuals and unique.

Also, I think as long as your ink means something to you then that's all that matters. I know a friend who has a ton of ink, some good, some bad. His perspective is that each tat reminds him of a certain point in his life, kind of like a time line, or, road signs, as he called them. Makes sense to me.

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Tour of Cedar Creek

Marc Hanselman showing us how it's done on Jewel Thief.

Shaking off the pump at the anchors.

Chicken Out Ridge on Mt. Borah on the center skyline.

Tom at the start of Jewel Thief.

Tom warming up on a great .10+ named Fingerprints.

Yesterday Tom and I traveled to Cedar Creek in the Lost River Range to sample a new crag our friend Marc has been bolting.

Nestled in the shadow of Mt. Borah, the wall sits at about 8,200'. With a northerly aspect, tall pines and a healthy creek flowing just yards away it is a perfect summer crag that stays cool and sees hardly any direct sunlight.

The wall isn't particularly big, but with an average route height of 60' and current route count at about 25 (half of which are .11 – .13), there is plenty of fun to be had. The angles and hold selections make for powerful and pumpy, yet, tendon-friendly climbing. Pretty damn good combination, if you ask me. The limestone is similar to Slim Shady wall in Teton Canyon but slightly overhung for the most part.

Unfortunately it was a pretty high gravity day for me (I think I was still recovering from the Social D show, seriously, lol) so I didn't send anything noteworthy but I did sample routes that were certainly worth going back to redpoint. Jewel Thief and Caught on Tape – two .12's that are damn good routes.

Kudos to Marc for all the hard work. I'll be back for sure.

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Rock, and wee bit of Rant

Ethan and I headed out today to go climb. He hasn't shown much interest in it since, well, probably last Sept. when we were in Maple Canyon, UT. I ask him every so often if he wants to go and he'll think about it, then sheepishly shake his head and say "No". "O.K.", I'll reply, "let's go swim/ride bikes/hike/etc." instead" and he's good to go. So today was kind of a pleasant surprise when HE suggested we go climb.

Which made me think of one of the things that irks me in the world of parentdom: Parents who don't let their kids be kids. I'm not saying that it's o.k. to let them eat pizza, drink Pepsi and play video games all the time. No. It's when parents force certain activities on their poor kids – mainly so when it becomes clear that the kid just isn't into it. And I'm not only talking about climbing. But that's one thing I told myself when we had Ethan and Madeline: I wasn't going to force the outdoor lifestyle, especially climbing, on them. Britt and I expose them to the outdoors regularly and so far they like most of it. Climbing, however, is a little different and it is certainly not for everyone.

Anyhow, today I wanted to take Ethan to Ririe Reservoir for something new. However, upon arrival we found out that a $5 fee is required to enter the recreation area. If you've ever been to Ririe Resv. you know that paying anything more than the gas to get there is not cool. All the routes are toprope only, the cliff is only about 25'-30' tall and the hardest thing there is 5.10. Ethan isn't climbing 5.10 (yet) but there was no way in hell I was paying to go there. I'll save that for a fine pint of microbrew.

I'm also thinking that next time I may take him to what could be a new spot for easy–moderate climbs in the foothills of I.F.

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If I was a female I would marry Mike Ness

O.K., so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but Mike Ness IS the man.

I thought Clutch was the best band I've seen live…until last night. Social D at the Knitting Factory in Boise was bloody unreal! Mike Ness hasn't slowed down much at all and the energy he and the band transmitts is reciprocated 10 fold amoungst the crowd. That was hands down THE best show I've seen yet. It was how we spent our 11th anniversary this year (19 years together total) too.

Opening with Under My Thumb, the stage was set for complete annihilation. They played a lot of songs from the best album on the planet, Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, plus some new stuff (new album coming out this Fall!) Closing out the set with a tribute to Mr. Cash before tearing the fuckin place down with a ramped up version of Ring of Fire was just icing on the cake. I wish Ethan had been there to sing along during Sick Boy though (his favorite Soc. D. song), he would have loved it.

We also ran into a handful of people originally from Idaho Falls at the show and had great trips down memory lane with everyone. Thanks for hanging with us Matt Cefrese, let's go climb soon.

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