Finally!

http://vimeo.com/23085201

Crack Addiction...Gets you high, but very expensive!

Mark in Big Bend

I am writing this blog post from a couch in the condo my dad and his 5 biking friends are renting in Moab, Utah.   Ahhhhhhhh luxury!!!!!!  This morning Siebe, Mike and I all enjoyed a hot shower, coffee and the peace of mind that comes along with feeling clean after 3 weeks of no showers.  We arrived in Moab 4 days ago around 2 am after a long drive through heavy rain, and decided to camp near the "Big Bend" bouldering area before driving all the way to Indian Creek where our friends had been for the last month.

Drive to Indian Creek

Due to rain, the time and the fact that the pay station was at a different pull off, we decided to worry about paying for the camp site in the morning.  What a mistake that was...Moab has a special place in my heart as it is one of my dads favorite places in the world, and a place that I have spent time in every year.  I was excited to wake up and enjoy all that Moab has to offer (climbing, great coffee and an amazing little town).

Unfortunately I woke up to a knock on the bus by the volunteer camp troll.  After a respectful explanation of our reasoning for not having a valid pay stub, I was told that he was not going to listen to my bull S*@#.  I was shocked at the attitude he was giving me, but kept my cool until he demanded that I come out of the bus and pay him the $8 for the site before he called the rangers on us.  I put a pile of change and a few dollar bills in the envelope and sufficiently slobbered it shut before handing it off to the troll, and was told that because of the attitude I gave him he was going to do something very "special" for us and put our license plate on the permanent list of violators...OH NO!!!!!  I was not worried considering I knew we would be staying in either Indian Creek or the luxurious condo that I am sitting in right now, BUT after meeting some friends at the climbing area right across the street from camp we agreed to stay one more night.  We paid in advance and expected a peaceful night free of the camp site nazi.  WRONG!  He showed up after noticing our van and proceeded to tell our entire group that because of the attitude he received from the young man in the bus, if we made a peep that night we would all end up in hand cuffs, for a little bit at least.  Luckily we were not bothered again...

Tape glove

Mike on his first crack climb

Thanks for the belay Siebe

We arrived in Indian Creek the next afternoon and spent 2 days climbing cracks.  What fun.  I have always deemed crack climbing as boring and repetitive, but after 2 days of trying it I am happy to say that I no longer think it lame.  It is very technical and no crack is the same.  The first day Mike and I learned how to make a tape glove to protect our knuckles, and top-roped some easy routes.  Within one day I learned so much and saw progression after each route.  In the beginning my clumsy and uncoordinated hand and foot jams left me falling off of an easy 5.9 crack, but by the end of the day I was able to get up in cleanly.

First crack climb lead

Yesterday was very eventful.  I led my first crack (5.10-), took photos of Siebe climbing a 5.13R (R for extreme danger) while suspended 100 feet off the ground, and chased Juno for 15 minutes as she went in hot pursuit after one of the thousands of free ranging cattle that speckle the valley floor.  In the end I finally caught Juno and I am hoping to sell my photos to one of Siebe's many sponsors and never have to work again.  I will let you all know how that goes...

View from my camera perch

Last night after gorging on buffet wood stove pizza and salad, Siebe played the "dumb-European" card on an unsuspecting little child who let us into the hot tub of an unnamed hotel since we "forgot our key."  Thanks little child, you made our night!  Anyways, it feels great to have a shower, TV, fridge and a warm place to stay while all the men go bike riding.  Then it is back to the bus until they leave the next morning for another ride.  I am looking forward to enjoying some good food and company in the next few days and it is really nice to see my dad, uncle and their group of hardcore biker friends.  Enjoy the pictures.  I am still waiting for my video to upload, and I am hoping to have it up after today as long as the internet connection allows.  Sorry for the delay.


Cheerio,
Thomas

Siebe on "Air Sweden" 5.13R

"Air Sweden" 5.13R

Siebe off the wall, and me on the wall

Mo' Moe's...

Today marks our last day in Moe's Valley before we take off to develop a crack addiction in Indian Creek, Ut.  As with every place this "vantasy" has taken us to, we are feeling mixed emotions about leaving.  Moe's has been  quite enjoyable and it is hard to leave new projects behind.  The soft sandstone here provides our hands with"retirement climbing" that is unavailable in the multitude of other "vantasy" destinations.  In fact, the ONLY complaint I have about our time in Moe's is the heat.  Despite suggestions to climb in the morning/evening only, we attempted to defeat the heat and climb in the middle of the day which left us sweltering.  We have learned our lesson and have been strategically avoiding the heat by waking up late, going to Starbucks until mid-afternoon, and then climbing till sundown or into the night.  Last night was our first real night session and was a great success!  Mike and I both climbed "Is-rail Direct, V8" Mike's first of the grade!  Congrats buddy!!!!  Mike has managed to levitate himself up the ladder of climbing grades, climbing his first V7 & V8 in the same week.  I think I am more psyched for him than he is.

"Linders Roof" V9/10

Last night I tried to finish my 2 projects in Moe's Valley, "Linders Roof" and "Gription," but was unable to link all the moves in either of them.  Nathan Bancroft's new flic "Reach" uncovers what failure means in climbing.  Failure is just part of the process in climbing and it is the 1% of times when you succeed that makes it all worth it.  Failure is a necessary and unavoidable stepping stone in climbing that leads to success.  It is super frustrating leaving Moe's knowing I was so close to sending both of these problems, but in the end it is not truly "failure" because I can always come back and try again.  Although I didn't climb my 2 projects, we did have the chance to climb a TON of other classic problems.  The sandstone slopers seem to be the highlight of many of these problems and require a different technique than any other climbing we have been exposed to.  It is a good feeling to watch yourself progress as a climber and Moe's has lent itself to progression for both of us, as is evident in Mike's huge advancements.  Another interesting aspect of the sandstone here is the random assortment of fossils that is embedded in the stone. For instance this huge chunk of petrified wood is found on the starting hold of "Linders Roof."

Mikes project "Riploid"

We are going to climb one more time this afternoon and then hit the road.  Some friends of ours are in Indian Creek and are willing (hopefully) to show us how to trad climb.  We will spend a few days there and then will be meeting my dad and some of his friends in Moab.  I can't wait to take a shower in the condo after having to covertly give myself baby-wipe showers in the Starbucks bathroom for the past 2 weeks.  From there we will be going to the sandstone mecca of Joe's Valley outside of Orangeville, Utah.  I cannot wait to climb there.  The elevation is higher than Moe's and should yield some cooler temps.  For those of you that don't know, the reason we are constantly trying to avoid the heat is not necessarily because of its effect on us, but rather the rock.  The heat makes the layers and layers of dirtbag hand grease from decades of climbers on the same routes much more apparent.  No fun...

Oh ya.  I have spent hours working on a video of some Moe's Valley climbing and it should finally be posted in the next few days.  Unfortunately it is hard to find a place to upload an HD video without the internet going out, or us getting kicked out before it is done!  Still working on it.

Cheers,
Thomas

3 months and over 3000 miles

So I thought you'd might like to visualize our trip a little and I googled directions to everywhere we've been on this trip and just travelling between destinations we've driven 3,041 miles in 3 months and 2 days.

Here's a list of places we've been in order:

Hueco Tanks State Historic Site (El Paso, TX)

Last Chance Canyone (Queen, NM)

Tempe, AZ

Joshua Tree National Park (Twentynine Palms, CA)

Red Rocks National Conservation Area (Las Vegas, NV)

Bishop, CA

Priest Draw (Flagstaff, AZ)

Moe's Valley (St. George, UT)

Mini Update and the Art of the Dirtbag Lunch

Still in Moe's Valley. This place is amazing and I looooove sandstone, Tom is making a video of the trip here and we need to send some hard sheezy before it gets posted. Toms working a v9/10 called Lindner's Roof and I'm about to get a way hard sandbagged v6 called Ripploid that involves a big throw off a completely vertical sidepull and really high feet. We're leaving here in 5 or so days and I am really looking forward to developing a small crack addiction in Indian Creek.

Here's two funny pics from my cell phone:

This is what we call a dirtbag lunch. Egg salad made from two hardboiled eggs that I jacked from a hotel buffet and many packets of Del Taco sauce (similar to Taco Bell sauce) because we had no mayo.

This is a hilarious book I found at a Mormon thrift store. And this is the direct quote from the back of the book. Really, what kind of children's book teaches kids to sniff glue?

Living in the peaceful city of Pickax may be restful, but it certainly isn't dull. At least not for one of the most eligible bachelors in town, veteran newspaperman Jim Qwilleran.

Having inherited millions, Qwilleran and his two feline companions, Koko and Yum Yum, are preparing to settle down into a life of purrfect luxury. That is, until the son of a rich banker and his wife are found murdered.

To the police it looks like a robbery gone awry. But then Koko develops an odd appetite for glue. Qwilleran doesn't spot the clue until his beloved Siamese's taste for paste tangles them in a web of love, danger, and their stickiest case yet!

"The Swan" & our third roommate

Mike and I are taking a rest day in St. George today after having a great day of climbing yesterday!  Mike sent his first V7, and I think I am more psyched for him then he is himself.  "The Swan" V7 is one of the best problems we have seen in Moe's.  It has everything.  Overhung roof, slopers, crimps and a tough top-out.  Very fun problem.  Here is a quick video of us both doing it...Nothing special, but I am psyched to start working with iMovie and the camera to make some better videos.

Oh ya...Here are a bunch of pictures of Juno from the day I got her...If you dont love these, something is wrong with you...

TJ...you let us down.

Tj promised us he would be here in 10 days...he lied.  Just want you all to know...

Fleeing Flag to the Mormons of Moe's

On Tuesday after almost a week in Flagstaff, AZ we've left for Utah to get saved by our friends Joseph and Brigham after all the sinning we accomplished so well in Flagstaff.  The rest of our Flagstaff  trip included a lot more spending and pool playing and gambling and nearly zero climbing.  In an earlier post Tom mentioned he would update you all on our billiards rivalry.  He never did; probably because me and TJ proceeded to whoop on Thomas and Jesus very shortly after he posted last.  With that out of the way though, the last 4 days in flagstaff we're a blast.  We taught Thomas the ins and outs of Texas Hold'em and found that poker tournaments are a great new way to pass the time at night(playing only for pennies of course).  

Monday was TJ's birthday so on Sunday night we got a hotel room and went to the Talib Kweli show in town.  It's interesting to look at the pictures and see what dirtbags do when they get to a hotel room(we cooked ramen in camping stoves and ate leftover burritos).  It was a blast, it was an amazing concert and we all experienced our introduction to the infamous Four Loko malt liquor and really felt the consequences the next day.  Monday, the day after the concert, was our next day of climbing after the snow came.  We were terribly hungover and the rock was still soaked; TJ didn't even leave his van, he just slept in his bed while we attempted to climb.  So after about two hours of non-climbing we accepted defeat, cut our losses, and decided to flee flagstaff the next day.  Before we left we all got some dinner together and played one more night of pool.  Tom and Jesus one that one but still lost the overall series...

The drive to Utah was probably the most beautiful of the trip, we past beautiful sandstone cliffs and boulders that looked to be world class climbing but was private property and off limits.  Then we went over a huge river gorge and stopped and walked across it and took some beautiful pictures.  Then over a few mountain passes with the most trees we've seen in months and into the great Mormon state of Utah.

Utah is incredible, it is the most beautiful place in the country and the climbing is just as good.  We stayed our first night in a WalMart parking lot and it was one of the most massive Walmarts I've seen.  It seems that Mormons really love that place, I guess they just like everything in bulk (like their wives and children).  On Wednesday we re-upped on supplies and hit the boulders.  The sandstone here is flawless and I've loved virtually every problem we've seen.  The camping is a quarter mile walk to the boulders and completely free, the boulders are no where near as crowded as anywhere we've been and its common to run into only 1 or 2 other groups of climbers a day.  Its a nice change of pace from spending all the time in the town of Flagstaff.  Tom and I are really excited to get on some hard boulder problems and really get back to business here in Utah.  We've already began working on a v9 called Gription and we're getting close to sending our first v9's (Tom is really really really close).  So long, and enjoy the pictures!

-Mitchtits and Tom-bomb