Dec 2

Whenever a shooting occurs, people act surprised that others are capable of such violence. They call for reforms and laws, making it harder for the common person to purchase firearms or go about their daily business due to excessive security constraints. I still find it hard to wrap my mind around why people are surprised at any of this. Just because us humans have our various civilizations does not make us any less animal. We are all still subject to nature. Violence is natural. Our complex social system is reflected in how we act on our violent nature. 

Clearly this is just my opinion, but it would behoove fellow humans to understand how animals are violent, and to train themselves accordingly. You face the very real threat of violence if you meet enough fellow humans in daily interaction. One should train the mind and body to prolong their lifespan. For many, the most obvious path would be to have a pistol, and train with it extensively. It should be an extension of your body. It should be carried naturally and without discomfort, be drawn flawlessly, and shot placement should be absolutely accurate. Carrying a sidearm for defense is an extreme responsibility, one which I think stems from Warrior culture and requires a certain state of mind. I don't believe in all that silly sheepdog internet bullshit, but I do believe that you carry a very heavy responsibility for the outcome of a violent situation if you're carrying a defensive sidearm. I'm not entirely sure many people I know should carry this responsibility. I am not saying they do not deserve the right to self-defense. I do not feel I have the right to state who does and who does not until there is no doubt in my mind.

Instead of hoping, praying, crying on facebook, or other ineffective means of dealing with violence, one should take it in their understanding of reality that humans are animals like any other, and that part of being an animal is the taking of life. If you truly wish to preserve your life, you must invest in training. You may find yourself in a situation someday where you truly need it. You could be completely naked and exposed against a violent threat with no way to shift the odds in your favor, and the only one to blame for your failure is yourself. Whether you like guns or not, they're the most effective means of neutralizing human life person-to-person, so you should familiarize yourself with their use so that you can understand more. If you do not truly understand firearms and their use as weapons from a personal standpoint, your standpoint is without value.

Again, humans are animals and they will kill each other until the entire species ceases to be. I very seriously doubt we will ever stop killing, as we will likely never stop trying to survive. Perhaps the closest we've come to abstaining from violence is reflected in how many Tibetans refuse to engage Chinese physical aggression. This may cost them their existence. Take this into your very being. You can be killed quite easily, and regardless of what you want to think, you can kill much more easily than you think. Keep your face out of your stupid phone, look up, look around, look into people's eyes, observe, understand, smell, listen, think. Stay alert, stay alive.

Time

I've neglected putting my thoughts down for quite a while now. As usual, I will just start talking.

-Yosemite-

Went to Yosemite wit Chris so we could get away from the world and climb whatever we felt like. It was in the 20's in the morning and the 50-60's during the day, cooler in the shade. Short days, though. October is probably my favorite month in Yosemite, as it's a good balance for a hot sweaty nigga like me. Chris slept in a tent and I used a UK issue bivy sack. A tent might've been a good idea, though I don't have one now. I typically use a poncho and bungee cords to rig something up. I plan on fixing his situation soon with a new minimalist tent type deal. I'd like more padding and insulation for my back when sleeping in the same spot for more than 2-3 nights. I'd like to invest in a Kifaru Woobie, which is essentially a modernized high quality poncho liner. I am in many situations where a poncho liner isn't enough warmth to sleep in, but you don't need a sleeping bag.

Trying to improve my approach so that it can be done whether camping near your car, or backpacking. I have a plan rolling around in my head involving solo backpacking. When it will happen, I don't know. It might just be a fantasy.

We went to Swan Slab to show Chris what some of the climbing involved. He did well, and did his first leads by the last day. He climbed Oak Tree Flake and Bay Tree Crack several times. I hope to get hit in the face with rope by him on following him sometime soon.

From there, we went to Manure Pile Buttress. We climbed After Seven to the remaining pitches of After Six. I was not completely back into the climbing here, and nearly fell on After Seven. We raced the setting sun on the following pitches of After Six, where Chris got to be above the trees.

The next day, we climbed the Grack. I enjoy Glacier Point Apron and try to climb there as often as I can, often on variations of the Grack. We brought my 60m dyneema shoelace pullcord, which allowed us to rappel down near Marginal (5.9 R), skipping stations.

I spied a line to climb up from the top of the Grack. I'd like to come back alone sometime and work on it. Goes up flake dihedrals up and right with some good slab here and there. It steepens before going up to Glacier Point.

The next day, we went to Swan Slab to help him begin leading. Then I took us up a line I'd never done before, but always saw. We climbed Grants Crack, and did the 5.6 pitch above the anchor. I stretched the rope out for a full 60m and almost made it to the big ledge for the walk off.

It follows the zigzag above Chris.

Fun and easy, 5.6 or so. I did not stop at the ancient bolt visible above the chimney, but moved up and right a bit.

After this,mwe climbed Munginella. I haven't tried the 5.7 crack on the last pitch yet.

Chris belays me from the ledge while two friendly Canadians head up.

Here be Chris on Bay Tree Crack.

I have some ideas for climbing but am paying more attention to regular life things, trying to improve the situation. Not much on my mind for climbing. Did try some new lines at CL Wall, however.

They didn't go, yet. Might get back to work on them, might not.

Not much more to say tonight. More later.

Oct 29

Some notes from the last trip:

-Bus travel can be uncomfortable, without enough legroom. Rode on a couple different Greyhound buses, and the one with the 'improved legroom' wasn't enough due to my height (6'4"). Needed 3 more inches of room. If traveling by bus again, try to get aisle seat so that you can stretch. Inactivity made knee pain worse, and got jumping legs on the last day. 

-Gas is really cheap in Idaho.

-North 40 is a pretty cool store.

-Everying is cheaper up in Washington. Slower pace of life. More freedom, fewer people. I started to see the real America showing, something I miss. Los Angeles doesn't feel American. Not that it's a bad thing, just not my flavor. Lower population density seems key.

More later

Oct 21 - Lassen County

Taking the 395 north through Lassen County. Some neat rock before we got into Nevada. Mostly rolling hills with the occasional 50ft crag since then. A map board type navigation aide for the codriver would be a great idea for future trips.

Nothing else to report.

Oct 19

I took Justin P. up to CL Wall a few days back and I climbed the pitch above pitch 1 of Clown Syndrome. I bailed from this pitch last time as there was a lot of moss covering important smears and jams, and I wasn't confident I could climb it. I barely cleaned anything off in this ascent. The pitch would probably prove significantly easier if the moss was removed, but since I'm myself, I don't want to kill the moss just to have a pitch of climbing that won't be repeated much, if at all. That moss has been there for so long. A funny thought, seeing as I've done so much bushwhacking and gardening in canyons and elsewhere since I was very young.

The first pitch of Clown Syndrome goes at about 5.7 and ends at a ledge above the small tree. Instead of climbing left to the small ledge, continue directly up the crack to the view in the photo above. The climbing is about 5.8-9 until that little roof on the right. Delicate smears, decent stemming, and odd fingertip jams take you there. I felt the climbing was 5.10 passing the roof, with a 5.9ish second crux above to reach the belay, which is directly above the route on a 6" wide ledge on the left side of the dihedral. A #3 Wild Country Zero placement, a slung block (not 100% solid), and an inverted #3 C4 at your feet. I dare say a bolted anchor would be best. It would eliminate miles of bullshit and prove many times easier and more secure than what I had to do.

I'm not sure what to name it. It could just become the new second part of Clown Syndrome, and have pitch 2 of Clown Syndrome become pitch 2 of Butterface. That pitch sucks anyway. It would seem illogical to name it something else. I don't have a computer handy so I can't do stuff on Mountainproject, so it'll wait.

I also scope out some new routes waiting to be done. One in particular looks impressive and protectable. Starts up loose dirty ground, then you follow a small buttress with a blank looking slab on the right. Protection appears to be the usual tiny cams and nuts. It's very steep, just a little shy of vertical. This will likely be the focus of my next visit.

I went to Joshua Tree for Zach's party this weekend. Had a good time. I miss Zach. I hope we can climb more in the future. He is by far one of the best partners I've ever had. He saved my life once. We've done some really cool shit together. I would like to share a big route with him. 

We climbed on Atlantis Wall, in Hidden Valley. I don't know much about Joshua Tree. I don't know the areas, the climbs, or much of anything. I went offroading there a handful of times as a little kid, but my parents were not outdoors folks in the slightest, so the climbing knowledge would have to wait. I've not really enjoys climbing there in the past, but that is essentially entirely my fault, as usual. It takes me a while to grow and accept realities, like any mind. I personally am completely online with the ground up onsight ethic of climbing prevelant there.

I like to walk up to something, look at it from the ground, figure out what I'll need to protect it, and if I think I can climb it, just go up. I don't want names, ratings, beta, any of that. I want less noise in my head. Climbing for me, I've found, is a way to silence my mind and allow me to finally live. Shut off the doubts and static and move. Nothing else matters but what matters. I've used this ethic in putting up new routes, and I applied it here as well. I climbed the routes on the wall with no consideration towards beta, and I found it so much more enjoyable than being an accountant cubicle human creature mulling over numbers and data. Just climb. You're a good climber and you can do all kinds of things, if you just take that first step. Cast off without knowledge and you will have a real adventure, not something reduced to human gossip and measurements.

The climbing was pretty fun. I enjoyed the horizontal cracks, which made for excellent protection with flexible stem cams. I climbe some 5.9 to the left which I felt was miles easier than the new pitch described earlier in this post. More confusion within the rating scale. It was a fun route, with ok protection and easy reachy moves.

I became frustrated with the anchor situation on top of the wall, where I had to sling a block with someone's cord, which was kinky beyond belief. The cord would get stuck in constrictions around the block, making it impossible to equalize. Had there been another person,vthis wouldn't have been much of an issue. This, coupled with all the people and talking below pushed me over the edge and I lost my temper. I decided to untie, let the rope snake back to the deck, and walk away. I had to go away and take some quiet time. I really can't stand constant talking and lots of people. I compared this to soloing in my head, where you often have complete silence, and often just want someone to talk to. Maybe I'll bring headphones or something to put on when things get too noisy.

I walked off and took my break in some shade. I vented to the earth, nobody to talk to, until I got that out of my system and was able to relax a little. I walked back after 10-15 minutes feeling much better, if a bit embarrassed about my behavior. I'm still learning how to fight the battles within my mind. Obviously this is a never-ending process for all creatures. Overstimulation, compounded by being the guy everyone relies upon to set up routes for everyone to climb. A balance must be found.

That's all for now.

Oct 12 - BBWarz

I participated in Milsim West's The Kazakh Offensive. If you're unfamiliar with airsoft and milsim, a simple explanation is in order. Airsoft is a wargaming platform, much like paintball. The weapons are very close replicas of actual weapons you may already have experience with, and their functionality is often very similar as well. They fire a 6mm plastic BB on average between 300-500fps, and have an average effective range of 100-200ft. Milsim is short for military simulation, and the experience can vary quite a bit. Milsim West is run by a bunch of my friends who have varying degrees of military experience (key being Ranger and Infantry dudes), and the games they put on are the best I've experienced. One must find the balance between simulation and fun in order to keep so many participants from different backgrounds happy. They do an excellent job and I've nothing negative to say about the great memories I've earned from their games, not to mention friends made and memes created.

I filled in the position of a machine gunner in this event. As one of Task Force Privilege Aussie squad 4-1's MG's, I carried a 'Maximi', basically an FN Minimi (M249 SAW) in 7.62 NATO. I don't play often and never had the wherewithal to build a machine gun when I played, so I enjoy this position, having done it once before. I used to run around a lot, so fighting from rooms and fighting positions is a nice change of pace. I've been a gunner once before, and I rather enjoyed being able to lay suppressing fire as well as drill mofos without having to be too conservative with my ammo.

Day one involved setting things up and moving to our first patrol base. The AO (area of operations) was George Air Force Base (now Mojave Auxiliary Field or something) near the dreamy town of Adelanto in the high desert. We had a 2 story structure that I'm assuming was old Air Force housing. We had a Jeep with a .50 cal firing blanks to our east to cover the road approaching from the south, and a buttload of squadies covering every other angle (I hope). Day 1 went by smoothly with nothing crazy to report from my personal experience. We ran a night mission at some point, which was challenging for all involved. Many of our dudes had night vision, but that doesn't always help you see what you're about to step on or fall into, so things were pretty even. I mostly paid attention to where guys were shooting tracers so I could direct my volume of fire onto key positions in an attempt to wax fools. Not sure how well I did.

Fire watch was nice, as we laid down and discussed the evolution of humanity and yeti and shit like that while I scanned the southeast approach with a single tube NOD. Some kid from another platoon on our side got lost, and in the process tossed some flashbangs directly into our position, nailing one of our guys and nearly hitting me as I dove the fuck out of my trash hole, breaking the strap on my G-Shock in the process. Thanks, kid. We grilled him for that. Hopefully he learned.

We ran some patrols and did a little probing the next day. I got zipped a handful of times and I think I waxed some fools, but you can't always tell. I remember lighting up multiple vehicles and watching them completely ignore the large volume of hits and continue driving. Didn't do any hero shit. Opted out of the night mission, as I would've been a mess out there, blind and unable to really engage people in structures with a hot gun (high velocity). I chilled at the patrol base and made sure no Nancies snuck up on us to steal our shit or slash our water supplies. Some ruskie chode was slashing people's water. Not cool out in the desert. We were all chugging tons of water this weekend. Nothing much happened, just a few vehicles rolling by mostly ignoring us.

I mostly fought from the same position the next day, trying to keep fools off our side as we were a bit thin and poorly defended on our northeast side. I zipped Doug from a doorway at some point. My MG's last battery died, and a homie lent me his M320 (single shot 40mm grenade launcher). I had 3 40mm grenades (yes, they go far and go boom), one frag grenade, and two smokes. Despite this, I had a blast cleaning rooms with the boys. I would've had to shoot someone in the chest from about 10ft away with a 40mm.

Later on, I hopped into the Toyota Pickup with an M240 on top with Duckie and we rolled around providing support. I got killed a couple times, being the biggest target on earth, but I also zipped a handful of dudes and also shot a 40mm into a second story window, killing a Russian. The game ended shortly thereafter, and we headed back to the patrol base to clean up. Now I'm back on my ass writing garbage and dreaming of sneaking with an MP5SD6 zippin fools and clearing rooms with way too many grenades.

Adios

October 6 - New Routes

With gas money in hand, I booked it out of the city and into my hills to work on some routes I've had my eyes on. As I climb new lines up obvious crack systems and protectable ground on Crystal Lake Wall, I find slabs and aretes that require bolts for protection. As I don't yet know how to place bolts, I check out the lines and clean loose rock and dirt off.

On my last visit with Chris and Rula, I attempted to climb a very steep corner I'd had on my mind for a few months. I turned back about 40ft up when I couldn't find anymore good protection. I had placed some tiny alloy nuts and one small (.4) cam, which got me onto either dead vertical or slightly overhanging terrain. Lichen and moss covered the face, with only thin seams that barely accept fingertips to be found.

Today I was able to rappel down the line and scrub stuff off the critical holds, linking moves in my head for the climb. I was able to climb it on toprope solo on the first try, which surprised me. The route starts off as dirty 5.7-9 before steepening to 5.11a or thereabouts. Desperate feet on slippery lichen covered steep rock with counter pressure and liebacking moves at odd angles leads to a hard reach to a 1/2 inch or so ledge for fingers. Pulling up on this and smearing feet until you can get onto tiny holds, with a flaring finger crack to lieback from. Relief is in sight. Up and over a triangular bulge with a .5 cam on the right and pow! Easier terrain. You're about 50-60ft up here, and done with the lower crux. Moderate slabby ground up a bit until you hit the upper face, which is very balancey funky slab/face in the 5.10 range. A small .3-4 cam on the left protects the entrance to this section. Careful cleaning yielded some shitty holds followed by several difficult to decipher moves with outstanding holds, and a nice drop straight down below. Haul your carcass up top and you're golden. Another 50ft of 5.7 and easier ground to the anchor.

I've dreamt of this route for a while now, and I'm wondering if I can protect it sans bolts. If I fall in the first crux and the protection doesn't hold, I will go to the hospital. I'll give it a try. There's an easy way out above the first crux.

The second route (which I actually climbed first) goes up the face left of Fried Chiggin Buttress. It's very thin and balancey, with difficult to understand movement sequences and no gear. This would require bolts. The only possible gear I found would be shorty knifeblade pitons, which would need to be hammered from very unstable positions below a thin seam of unknown depth. The seams here are often irregular. They don't go straight in, so hard steel pins just bang into crystals and stick way out. No bueno. I took a fall on this section on my first try, and another later. Very tricky. A lot of it is linking very balancey thin feet with small wacky hand movements. I don't know how to describe it. 

The route were talking about goes up the shiny slab at center. It looks like a three-piece slab with some looser stuff on top. The 5.11a is the shaded roof on the left. You can climb the roof (5.9-10ish) or the face right and below it, which is more 5.9ish with some moving right then left to unlock an easier sequence.

I like these two routes, so I'll have to think of good names for them. I reckon their character will be vibrant on lead. Balance and confidence. 

I've decided on some new lines in the area, so my list will hopefully never run dry. I'd like a partner for some of these, as I don't always feel 100% lead soloing new routes. Sometimes I prefer it to having a partner, but sometimes it makes delicate moves more challenging.

I found I was having more friction feeding with the 9.8mm Bluewater I've been using. I often use a 9.5mm 70m Mammut something-or-other with the Silent Partner, but that rope is getting pretty fuzzy so I'm saving it for certain adventures. This new Bluewater or whatever it is has proven to be durable, though it got fuzzy relatively quickly. It was only $150, so I'm still quite happy with it as my general use beater rope.

Another gear note I'd like to leave myself is to bring the orange rope protector thingy. There is a friction point atop the hard routes that could benefit from the roll, even though the rope looked fine.

I'd like to climb the hard routes in the Five Ten Huecos, which have been my workhorse shoe lately. I climbed in Acopa JB's (John Bachar), which are stiff offwidth shoes. The Huecos are more sensitive. Might make more sense. Both have hard rubber, with Onyxx on the Huecos and Vibram XS Edge on the resoled JB's. I think I prefer these rubbers to Stealth C4 for the routes I've been doing. Less sticky, but they also don't ooze off the same way. They hold a small edge better, and seem to hold small sharp holds real well without shifting much. I like em.

-winter-

As winter approaches, I should pick a few objectives for winter climbing. More running is in the works for these objectives, regardless of what I pick. Having exceptional cardiovascular capability is nearly essential to enjoying these routes. Hours of plugging away up steep slopes.

I had the idea of linking all the steep faces around Baldy in a day, an enchainment that had something like 13 routes with 22,000ft of gain or something absurd like that. It's listed in the google earth file, which I cannot access. It would tackle the most dangerous route, Lightning Couloir on a Thunder Mountain, well before the sun was touching the top. Then, descend to the base again and climb Safety Dance. Down the southeast side of Thunder's south ridge to the west face of Telegraph. One Nut Wonder, then other stuff there, yadda yadda. Honestly it would be a bit much if conditions weren't just right. I'd just do the two on Thunder, and as much on Telegraph as possible. 

Other than that, I'm not sure what I'd wanna climb. The big east face of Baden Powell is dangerous as hell. I've attempted it twice, and canyoneered down it once. I don't know. It would have to be very cold to be safe. I can't say.

There are lines outside the range I'd like to climb, but that's a topic for another time. I keep climbing in the San Gabriel Mountains because they're very close. Affordable adventure. In doing so, I've learned a lot about them, and myself. There is great beauty in their character. They can be harsh.

Good night.

Sept 29

Today was my homies last day at his current job before he moves out of state. He's worked the same job for about a decade now, so it's a big day for him. We took a cruise in Herman up the hill. Hung out at the boulder, where I got a bun have climbing in. Super comfy weather with a full moon rising above the ridge around 9. Played 93.5 KDay off the wind up radio. Good night to chill.

Moving around... a subject for another time. Time to wind down.

Here are some points from climbing on the boulder tonight that I wish to record:

-Some loose pieces. Bring hammer and knifeblade to remove them.

-Tiny adorable Deer Mouse lives inside boulder. Huge ears and eyes. He was staring out at me, and I watched him (or her) run around in the horizontal crack.

-The hand crack in the center of the boulder ends at a roof if you lie on your back like a boulderer. A sometimes awkward pull-up move from a horizontal position followed by a quick hand jam in the roof's crack. Fire more jams and mantle up onto the rock (70-80*). No idea what I'd rate it.

-Climbing up the left arête sometimes is at that level of spicy that may be too much sometimes. Lieback the left edge, which feels like a large sharp flake. Smear the gritty face where you can't find positive feet. This is spicy sometimes.

-New circuit: start on far left edge and traverse the boulder going right. Go around corner onto interesting moves, then up right next to the loose flake. Downclimb crack on face, then down and right to edge. Down to just above ground. Stick to smallest holds possible and traverse left. It would be cool to also climb the 'roof crack' this way, without touching the ground.

-adventure thoughts-

One particular string of thoughts I enjoy picking apart is how deeply I want to do a big climb alone that requires a great deal of me and my soul. In my head, I imagine not only the endless terrain one sometimes encounters, but also moments of fear and elation. Everything can be amplified through isolation. Mistakes are paid for in more work, more time, and sometimes more fear. One climb on my mind would involve a lot of work. There's a ridge that offers around 10,000ft of elevation gain with a big 1,000ft technical buttress on it. The climbing on the buttress appears to be challenging. I would like to try to climb this in winter. It would require a lot from me, even if I prove to be in good shape, or my technical aptitude was at a proficient level. Tons of terrain. Sometimes it never ends. Makes you question why you trudge up mountains in the first place. Those are low-level doubts. You've organized a trip where nobody needs you for that amount of time, so don't quit unless absolutely necessary. To do so is to hurt only yourself. When I feel doubt or feel I should bail, I always ask myself if there's a real reason to do so. Am I injured to the point where I require true treatment and soon? Is someone at home hurt? Are you going into stupidly bad conditions, such as consistent rock or ice fall, or avalanche conditions? Probably not. Don't give up, cause that's what it is. If you're willing to be this far into this stuff, you should make sure you give it some real work. 

Remember that when you wake up at 3am to drive to a trailhead so you can hike in to some route and have a million excuses ready. It pays off when you're in the moment. Being in cool places like Telegraph Peak's southwest ridge in winter, as clouds envelope your world and offer brief glimpses of neighboring peaks covered in snow. It's a cool place to be alive, and nothing can beat that feeling.

The mind is all over the place.

Sept 28 Night

Returned from run. I think it's 11 miles. Can't access the hard drive that data is on. Took 2 hours. Walked up Grand in Walnut and most of the trail's uphill section. Ran the long hill, and down to home. Sprinted across the last major intersection and surprisingly wasn't totally done while running up e last hill. If I continue running often enough, the result would change greatly. I could do the 17 mile loop that I like much more. This one covers the same ground but adds another peak (Condor Peak), a long trail and track loop, and an obstacle course for fire recruits. Mix in some upper body movement in all that running.

I used to run to get to work when I didn't have a car or serviceable bike. I did this quite a bit and noticed a big difference in how I felt when climbing long snow slopes in the mountains and similar trudging movements. Several of the ideas in my head for winter climbing involve an absurd amount of elevation gain, at least for me. Diet will improve as well.

-the running mind-

Running allows one to strip away distractions and everything for a while. One can venture deep into parts of their mind while chugging away, listen to music, and think of what their next move is. I sort of watched myself think tonight on my run and observed the patterns in thought. I always find it silly that certain music motivates while others slow you down, and it's all in your head. Small adjustments in motivation that you should be able to control instantly, but are often helpless in such cases. I guess control over this type of thought would yield more efficiency while being less human.

I noticed that my left foot slapped the ground when I was running near the end. I may have weakened some muscles in that ankle after I twisted it a few weeks ago. It should heal up relatively soon, so long as it gets enough use and loading under range of motion. I made up for it by overpronating that foot as it strikes, or taps, the ground. This was on a long downhill.

My heart felt stable during most of the run. I had one anomaly at about mile 6 or so. Easy rolling hills and not too much traffic on the road next to you. My heartbeat was regular and strong, though I think I had a palpitation just prior and felt it as normal. My heart tends to feel good while being used, or I just notice palpitations and other issues while doing regular people things.

I will be seeing a cardiologist soon to see how my heart is doing, and try to paint a realistic picture of my health. When things aren't going great, I tend to feel I have a short life expectancy, which drives me to be a darker person inside. Lots of exercise helps me feel better. I need to move around a lot and push my limits, otherwise I get depressed and that makes everything more challenging than it needs to be. It's a constant battle in the mind.

My right knee was hurting a little bit in the beginning, as well as during a few spots in the run. This is often a result of hamstrings not being stretched enough, as it pulls the knee cap across the knee, grinding away. Not a problem when I'm active enough. Sedentary ways destroy the body and mind.

Everything else was fine. Used the Petzl fancy new headlamp that detects ambient light levels and puts out accordingly. Powerful beam when you look in the distance, and nice soft light when up close without touching a button. I've been using it a lot lately and am happy with it. I can't help but want something with a very powerful spot lamp for some applications. The regular LED lights appear to distort textures and some distances when worn on the forehead, which can make running in the mountains at night a bit more challenging for no good reason. Sometimes just a little off for climbing as well, especially during rappels or when trying to find a way up an unknown route before you lead off into dirtball hellstorm 12,000. 

Adios

Sep 28

Here I sit listening to Barrington Levy wondering what I should say to start this blog.no need to try, just vomit the words. I've started this blog by request. I've had some friends tell me I should write, as apparently I'm not too bad at it. Time will tell. The real test will be putting my insane thoughts onto paper without too many grammatical errors or other issues.

I reckon most of the content will revolve around climbing. What a surprise! Climbing, and as this is a sort of somewhat-filtered personal journal, I'll also reflect on external stimuli and other nonsensical banter. Perhaps writing more personal trip reports will provide a better look into the past. I often write my trip reports days after returning, when the memories have faded somewhat and the pains subsided. I've got a fancy durable Otter brand case for my old iPad, so perhaps I should bring it with me on adventures as a sort of modern notepad. This may prove challenging in some climbing contexts, as one can't guarantee their equipment will still be intact after rappelling back to it at the anchor, or after hauling a pack. Learning will happen.

Posts will often just have a date as the title. My writing style tends to jump around a great deal, as I write for personal reasons and not for school or work. The mind is in chaos when it isn't forced to focus in response to immediate danger, thus the style described prevails. Onward.

Perhaps I shall barf out thoughts as they come to me.

-Training-

I've neglected training lately as a result in a shifting focus in my life. After my van died and was towed, I've had to apply to jobs and find a new way instead of working on my list of routes to qualify for the AMGA Rock Guide Exams. I've surprised myself lately by climbing some 5.10+ routes onsight with absolutely no knowledge of their difficulty, character, or any properties. This is my favorite game. I often find knowledge to be more of a burden sometimes than an aide, as my mind mulls over how something may have a reputation, or may have iffy protection etc etc. Walk up to an unknown crack, look up, judge what you'll need to protect it, rack up and start climbing. It is a rather pure style, and despite the unknowns you're immersing yourself in, the lack of knowledge and preconceived notions is like leaving your pack behind. The less I know, the better the experience tends to be. This doesn't hold entirely true for multipitch routes, but the concept more or less remains the same. Make small adjustments in your mind to make it work.

Back to the subject of training, winter is approaching as time lumbers forward, quietly consuming all before it. On the so-called 'list' of climbs to train for are a number of winter mountaineering objectives. My focus is to climb long technical routes in 'winter' conditions, that is to say snow and ice as well as rock. A huge amount of elevation gain up steep snow slopes will obviously be a major part of this, so more running is on the menu. I greatly enjoy running, so this isn't much of a problem. I've been avoiding it as it's been quite hot lately. A convenient excuse, though I've not usually found heat matters much in the moment. Hydration requirements change, but it's not as if it hurts.

More technical terrain demands more climbing strength. I've retained a good amount of strength, however my endurance is nothing like it was when I lived in the ditch and climbed everyday. It is difficult to keep in exceptional climbing shape while living in Los Angeles. There simply isn't enough rock. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of climbing around, but one can't walk out their front door, jog for 10 minutes, and find theirself at the base of a 2,000ft+ bigwall. Huge terrain helps one build and maintain muscular endurance, as even if one is climbing something relatively easy without gear, the motions are similar and the muscle fibers must adapt to the demand placed upon them. Going out and doing laps on After Six with other pitches mixed in was a favorite activity of mine, and helped me stay in shape for long routes.

As a substitution for plentiful big terrain, I must pretend to be creative with my training. I try to mimic some movements with free weights and a pull-up bar, the special kind that destroys door jambs. I'll knock out however many pull-ups I can complete (without continuing to muscular failure), followed by abdominal exercises while locking off above the bar. I have excellent core strength and am fortunate to hold onto said strength despite neglecting training. However, stability under muscular contraction (or whatever) is lost, so movements cannot always be completed gracefully enough to be secure when climbing, especially while alone and wearing crampons, etc. As I regain lost progress and become stronger, I will add weight to my harness for weighted pull-ups. Ice tool pull-ups are also a useful part of the program, though it's a bit more challenging as my tools lack leashless horns at the moment. I plan to purchase horns for my Grivel tools this winter, as they make a tremendous difference whilst climbing sans-leashes, a method that I often see as the only way to the future.

I will also need to climb more routes in boots and crampons, with ice tools. I've not done this much lately, and am not entirely confident in my abilities. Feeling the sensitivity required to keep a pick or point from skating off takes time to develop. At least it's fun, whatever that is.

-New Routes-

I've climbed a handful of new routes at my various crags nobody else cares about. As the lines are climbed, new ones are seen and studied. It's come to the point where I must learn how to place bolts in order to protect otherwise completely unprotectable routes.

My own personal ethics for my climbs and my crags is this: only place bolts if there is no natural protection of any sort available. Though this seems clear cut, others can take it differently. As with all things in climbing, nothing is black and white, and everything is subjective. I have a route I'd like to place some bolts on. It starts up some dirty 5.9 ground with delicate moves right to gain an unprotectable dihedral. The base of the dihedral offers a tiny nut placement, a #1 or 2 offset aluminum nut. You're now about 30ft up, and the terrain becomes just barely overhanging ahead (guessing 95*), and there's no protection in sight. The moves are hard slab/ face and stemming, currently with lots of lichen and moss. A fall above the tiny nut could kill the climber. A moral dilemma appears: do you place a bolt a short distance above to preserve the challenging mental character of the route, or leave it unprotected by any bolts? The next 50ft or so appear to be unprotectable slab, so clearly the consequences of a fall are dire. I personally would like to place bolts, just enough, just barely enough so that a fall results in a twisted ankle, bruises, bleeding, minor injuries instead of broken legs, punctured organs, or death.

The line on this route I'm describing looks beautiful, and may prove to be a route I'm proud to have worked on. I get excited thinking about it.

Once my gut settles from the carbassault, I shall leave for my run. My route will be about 11 miles long. This is required to access the trail I want to run on. Might be longer if I continue to Condor Peak in Walnut. Just depends on how my ankle feels.