I've been here in VT, working for the Green Mountain Club since August 8th. Things have been fantastic. I have a pretty laid back boss, I have excellent co-workers, and I live in a hut on top of Mt. Mansfield.
The work is sometimes less than exciting, but you have to make your own happiness. Happiness just doesn't go out an find you. I've been able to hike a few of the more exciting trails leading to the summit and have had some excellent conversations with people on the summit. One guy in particular was someone who I consider an "old salty dog" who use to be a Yosemite climbing bum who climbed Denali back in 87. This shocked me because 1987 was one of the worst season to climb the peak and it took true guts and grit to get to the top. In perspective 6 of every 7 people failed. This guy was in his late 60's, bagging the highest peaks in each state. He told me he clicked off 26 the last 3 weeks. He seemed like a kid in a candy store. Very happy and excited. It was inspiring to see.
So coasting along on a minimal budget with out a job is about to come to an end. Soon, starting August 8th, I will be coasting along on a minimal budget with a job! Whoohoo.
It's been since Mid-January. Times are tough in the job market. I would say that I learned more in the outdoors over that duration than I ever would anywhere else. I put myself in situations and taught myself some new tricks. Here's a tick list of what I've been up to. I think I packed a couple of lifetimes the last 7 months.
100+ Days of skiing in the Wasatch. Many over the collar, really freaking deep days of skiing. 2 new pairs of skis. A fair bit of climbing, hiking, & running in LCC & BCC. Mt. Rainier via Kautz route. Mt. Hood - skiing on some of the deepest days they had this season. Tetons - Hiking Zion, SW Utah, Gunks - Climbing up up up and away. -6 score in Wii Golf. Beat that Tiger.
The job is working with the Green Mountain Club. Here, I will be a caretaker for the summit hut on Mt. Mansfield. So you can find me there 5 days a week. The other two is my time off and I plan on seeing what VT. has to offer for climbing. This job runs into mid November. From there who knows where I'll be, but I hope to make my way back to Utah. The snow is my compass needle.
July 6th-7th Being unemployed with no obligations does have its benefits and being mobile is one of them. On July 4th I was celebrating my independence by packing up my life into my little Mazda and headed for the Cascades. 12 hours later I arrived at "The Farm", a house for the guides who work for RMI. While here, I met up with Mikey, a guide who I worked with when I was up in Alaska. He played host for me as we drank other peoples beer and shot off the potato gun. The next day, we were on the fence of what route to do on Rainier. He let me decide, and between Liberty Ridge and Kautz, I chose Kautz. Liberty had to many objective hazards for my liking and felt that it was to late in the season for the committing line. One of Mikes friends, Erik, came along with us. We had a bit of a late start (10am) for the first days hike up to high camp. The weather was looking grim, but we knew we would hike out of the cloud level.
We broke out of the cloud level around 8.5k and set up camp around 11k. It only took 6 hours to go from the parking lot to high camp! We were moving fast, or so I thought. I was pretty happy with that. Here's a pic of me and a pic of our high camp area.
The wind was incredible that night. I might have received a combine 30 minutes of sleep before the wake up call for the alpine start. We left by 2am. This was imperative because we retreat down the same way we go up and there is a tight section where rock and ice fall were a major concern for mid day hours. A view of the route from high camp & a pic of Mikey ice climbing around 2am! Whoohoo.
The top is within eye site, still 2k away & views all around:
Camera died at the summit (I do have video of it), but here are some pics on the return down. Rappelling a few hundred feet with a 50 meter rope was mentally draining. Rap 20 meters, drill a V-thread, rap 20, drill a v-thread. etc..
Once we hit our high camp, we took a 2 hour nap, and then proceeded to glissade down most of the mountain.
Rainier was such sweet mtn. to climb that I'd like to head back earlier in the season next year to get on Liberty Ridge.
Yesterday was another great day of climbing in Big Cottonwood Canyon. I went climbing with Brenton who will be climbing a few days with me up in the Tetons come July. Todays objective lied on the Mule Hollow Wall. Mule Hollow has a bit longer approach than other climbs. This means more seclusion from others. We didn't see a single sole around.
A view of the wall. It's at an angle that makes it look like a bunch of trees. In reality its a huge 500 foot slab.
The climbing was sweet. Great features on the quartzite. The first pitch was money. The next two were just long run outs/wondering off route type climbing.
A view of the bottom of the climb & a view of the first pitch.
We covered a lot of ground relatively fast. After the climb five rappels brought us down to the ground. Hiking out I managed to bang up my knee, directly on the knee cap! It's still really sore. Ice Ice Ice! Cause tomorrow there might be plans to go up to the Lone Peak Cirque.
The past few weeks here in SLC has been pretty wet. It's usually raining during the day with an hour or two chance to go out for a run. Climbing has been put on hold. Last Friday was the first day in a while that it didn't rain a single drop throughout the day. Escaping captivity of the house, I made plans to meet up with Shelby and go climb in Big Cottonwood.
The highlight was climbing a new route we both haven't done before. It took us longer to find the route than actually climb it! Or so it seemed. It was a long single pitch climb with a small roof to pull at the top which was protected by a bomber #8 golden jesus nut. I was so happy to find that and it boosted my confidence if there were to be a penalty from falling.
Traditional climbing is my absolute favorite type of climbing. I seem to have complete tunnel vision in each and every move I do over the rock. I think I have such high focus because I know I am really taking all responsibility in my own hands. The consequence is real in what you do, whether it be hand/foot holds or gear placement.
This route had a run out start (first piece was about 25 ft. high), but it was relatively easy going. After that the middle section as pretty low angle/big hold climbing. Then you reached the crux roof. It was a pretty exciting climb and since there are many different ways to go up the long roof, I hope to be back. Certainly not a one and done type climb.
Well, the time has come to make life a little more adventurous. With yet another (3rd) unsuccessful job prospect out here in SLC, it's time for me to get moving. The idea is to secure a seasonal job over in the northeast coast starting late July. Until then, it's all about living in the Tetons. The Grand Teton is a peak I've wanted to climb for such a long time. I plan on having a solid 2 week window up there so hopefully I'll have opportunities to climb more than just the Grand, but that one is certainly what I have my eyes set on when I first get there. There is so much to climb there and I hope to get on some not-so-know routes as well.
What else is new? The other day I went on a hike in BCC, which was amazing. A view of the Twins
A cave/mine shaft I found along the way. It had a certain Indian Jones feel to it.
Later in the day my housemate went for a jump. He loves jumping off things and out of 115+ jumps, today was one of his worst jumps by far. A strange wind picked up just as he jumped off the cliff (In Rock Canyon, Utah) which violently brought him to the ground. He's relatively ok. He left some skin on the asphalt but gained some wisdom.
Stew immediately regretting his decision.
Stew with his knee's, heels and hands bruised. He also managed to hit his head against a boulder. Very fortunate he was wearing a helmet or things could have been messy.
Stew's shirt which he will now wear on all of his jumps.
After a marginal weekend at best I decided to dust off my climbing gear to get my butt kicked. I traveled down to St. George, where the sport climbing dominates the area. However my buddy Garrett and I had different plans in trying to climb as much in the traditional sense.
Garrett is a much more seasoned climber than I so I took this opportunity to re-awaken the muscle fibers in my forearms to really push my limits right off the bat.
Garrett leading a 10.b in Zion (northern part in Kolob Canyon)
Beauty in Zion
Me heading up pitch 1 of Rat Race (Snow Canyon, St. George) 5.9R This climb had everything. Off-width, crack, slab, runouts, chimney. It was a beast! Little bit of technique in everything. We decided to link this route up with Will's rush. Overall a 500 ft. climb. The idea was to have an early start and try to beat the heat but that didn't work out so well.
A side view of the climb we did in Snow Canyon. The low/center of the pic shows a pretty big obvious roof which, on its left hand side is a big crack. This was pitch 1 of Rat Race.
I'm glad to be back on the vertical world. It brings you to places you never knew existed. Climbing also brings you to challenge both your physical and mental attributes. I find myself each year bringing my body to new levels it never knew existed. This summer I hope to climb a bunch in the canyons (BCC & LCC) and when Garrett visits, the Lone Peak Cirque.
