Font Files: Photos

I will take this opportunity to introduce some members of our crew. The first being Steve Maisch
Les Warnock
Gui our local Frenchman aka 'The Method Man'
Homie Justin Wood

Lastly our dearest Kangoo to which all of our pads fit amazingly

Font Files: In the Beginning

This voyage began in Chattanooga where I was able to get one last day of amazing sandstone bouldering in at LRC. As I was scrambling about to pack for this time in France I remembered a classic human thought, that of ritual as a method of partitioning time. Together as a species we go through graduation ceremonies, birthday celebrations, and new years count downs in order to differentiate between the past and the present thus allowing the future to hold its own charge independent of its predecessor. I find such rituals to be powerful in understanding the futility of dwelling on the past and the liberation in engaging in the new day.

That being said it was off to France and I deemed a separation of stages to be needed and wanted. So I stopped by a bargain bin store and bought a hair buzzer. After finishing my packing I shaved my head and allowed myself to shake the past and bring a brightness for the future.

Without sleeping much that night it was off to the airport and subsequently France. Lots of airport time full of delays and such and I was landing in Paris where I was to make connection with trip compatriots Justin Wood and Steve Maisch. That day we were able to sneak in a mini session on the famous circuits of Bas Cuvier in an effort to free of bodies from the kinesthetic restriction of airline travel. We climbed up to Font scale 7a did some stretching and it was off to the grocery store to start our new petite lives in France. I always love the interaction with day to day lives of other societies and a food distributor allows a perfect venue.

For our first week we were allowed marginal weather to which we utilized with great enthusiasm but the snow and rain did come in a big way. I will accompany some photos and this will just be the first of several posts. Enjoy.

AR

Inclement Weather, The South & some Travel

Bonjour seems the appropriate greeting as I am headed out to Fontainebleau the birthplace of Bouldering as we know it. Font is known for is super technical climbing and style and I am excited to see what I can learn and add to my own. It will be an excellent time and surrounded with good friends from Salt Lake City.

As for the south, it has been a little rough as far as the weather is concerned. SO the days in which we can get out has been minimized that being said I have made some missions to LRC to climb on whatever was dry which can be a fun and refreshing way/motivation to climb.

There was a ten day stint where I headed out to SLC in an effort to work and to make/maintain connections with friends of the outdoor world.

So hopefully there will be some climbing conducive weather before I head out to France on the 17th.

Hope everybody is braving the weather in a fashion that suits them. Best to all!

AR

Little Rock City & Dayton

Now that I am staying at a house the rest has been great especially considering that it has been frigid outside and climbing seems more like a survival sport. Matt and I went to LRC our first day and I was extremely impressed with the rock quality and the variety of holds was much greater than in Rocktown. Lrc actually was quite a crimpy area, at least in comparison to the rest of the south. It was very cold and I was psyched to keep moving after we had an amazing warmup with problems like the Wave and Genghis Khan both V5 and then moved on to the Cinderella boulder where Matt wanted to try the traverse which he did after a couple of goes. While we were at the boulder and Matt was resting I decided to try the 'Cinderlla V8?9?' and managed to flash it. This felt good as I usually dont try to do flash that much but when I topped out I almost vomited because how cold and painful the whole experience was. I was very psyched about this and then climbed another classic called 'The Pinch V7/8' in a couple tries. Afterwords Matt toured me around and lets just say I very psyched to return. At the end of our session I wanted to see the classic 'Super Mario V4' so we walked over and I flashed that and climbed the 'Red House V7' and that was a day, a great day.

The next day we went to Laurel Snow, which is a state park outside of Dayton, TN. It is much more spread out and of a different texture then what I have seen of the south thus far. It is home to the famed Dayton Roof(aka the roof as people seem to know it). This roof holds some of the most amazing and sculpted holds that are similar to the Warpath cave of Idaho's Castle Rock. I was very impressed with most of the climbs and I just tried to get comfortable with upside-down climbing. I flashed a V6 and then started to work on some other climbs in an extremely ADD fashion. After this brief session we checked out the excellent 'River Dance V9'. I came very close to doing this climb very fast but the park closed at sunset and we were not about to be locked in!! More to come.

Rocktown, GA and the exodus of The Red

In December I was still in the Red and I found that sport-climbing and the winter time are not the best matches. Sport-climbing ends up just being to time consuming and when you only get to warm up and the try the route your psyched once and maybe a second time if your lucky then it just isn't enough climbing. I think sport climbing is better left for the longer days of summer when its too hot to grab the itsie bittsies on boulders. I held out until the very end with friends Matt, Lauren, and Keith until they all bounced back to the mountains of Colorado's Front Range. Then I hit the road despite the apocalyptic weather conditions and made my way south Chattanooga only to decide that Rocktown, GA was to be my first major stop. I met up with friends Brent Perkins and Jim Patton, both of which are RED fixtures. I was immediately impressed by the quality of the stone. The first hour I was telling everybody stranger and friend alike that this climbing is full of beautiful movement on exquisite stone.

I found that climbing short days at the end of the RED season had left my power at a low and I had some work to do...so I set out on a mission; climb, climb, climb.

After three days of climbing I was starting to feel back into it(read: my fingers were tuned up and felt springy again) and I climbed 'Brown Hole V8' & 'Paparrazi V8' both in a little session and after some work I was able to climb the mega classics 'The Orb V8' and 'The Vagina V8' & 'Sherman Photo Roof V7'. These climbs were my favorites but I also managed to climb many many quality problems and the only regret is that I would have loved to show up in the south in some kind of bouldering shape so I could see whether the 'Stout' or 'Sandbagged' grades of the south were accurate or what, but since I used the area to get back into some bouldering fitness I have no real idea. Either way the climbing is phenomenal.

It has gotten very cold in this neighborhood and I am now staying with a dear friend from my time in Rocklands, Matt Ballard. Life is good and it off to check out new boulders tomorrow at LRC. Got 'Em.

AR

Flashback: Photos from Maple Canyon

While I was getting to wrestle with some cobbles in Maple Canyon's Pipe Dream cave I was able to hangout with some very cool Austrians. One of them is a great photographer and great climber named Jakob Schrödel. Jakob took a couple shots of me sending the routes 'Squeal Like a Pig 5.13c' & 'Sprout 5.13a'. Enjoy and I will post more news from the Red River Success learning how to rest and better yet stick to the wall on 'Squeal like a Pig'
The steepnessGorge soon. Entering the cave angle on 'Sprout'

In the RED but seeing blue

The beautiful Drive-By amphitheater and a crazy project going through the roof in the right is reportedly the equivalent of 4 Esperanza's in a row. 4xV14=WOWA
Inequity 5.12b
Lord SHIVA

I am still in the Red River Gorge, KY trying to work with the weather and get as much climbing in as possible. I am starting to get more comfortable on the rock here and find the sports climbing to be quite addictive. I was able to climb a really cool and powerful route called 'Shiva 5.13b' on my third try. The Shiva route is the motivation for this post title because Shiva is the deity of destruction and thus new beginnings in classic Hindu scripture and it is said that when people are under the influence of this spiritual figure their world is perceived through the color blue.

As long as the weather is somewhat cooperative than my dear friend Jason Grubbs and I will keep up our work here and when season eventually ends the migration to the boulders around Chattanooga will ensue.

Psssssssyched, JeaYeah Red River Gorge and the end of Joes

Ander giving 'Kaleidoscope 5.13c' a first try
Kaleidoscope 5.13c
Ander Flashing 5.12
More 5.12 flashing
Yet more 5.12 flashing

I now know why people(ie Sports Climbers) use terms of extreme excitement such as the ones used in the title. It's because sport climbing is so much FUN and paces like the RED make it even better. When you set off to climb you get to climb so so so so much and what's the only thing better than climbing? More CLIMBING!!!!

The RED offers great stone at a ridiculous quantity on every angle. I have been enjoying the battle to try and get 'fitness', as no single moves seems to stop me. It is also interesting to climb here because my personal climbing style revolves around my love of movement and I usually opt for deliberate and static climbing but this place requires the exact opposite. 'Run & Gun' seems to be the term that embodies the experience here, I feel always in a state of 'grab & go' which is a blast to try and adopt new climbing styles and just keeps adding to the rolodex of climbing experiences.

I have just been on the mission of onsighting or flashing as many 5.12's as possible and hopefully I can embrace a phase two soon, in which I can try some more involved harder lines. But either way it is just so much fun.

My five days in Joes Valley prior to my long drive to Kentucky was also a blast. It was a very introspective climbing experience but also spent with great friends. I was able to climb great boulder such as 'God Send V10' in a quick session, 'Playmate of the Year V9', 'Raiden V8', 'Taking the Stairs V8' 'Water Painting V7'.

More to come as I am just liking this sandstone more and more...

AR

Contemplation, Joes Valley & the release of stress

The contemplative life seems to be the constant in my life and delivers me to interact with both reality and the absurd alike. As such taking an active agency in the world that I feel and experience is an important practice.

The last week(+) has had a great deal of stress and interesting situations. My dear friend Rocco and his great and now wife Mary had there wedding. This event came with many sides to it. It was my first wedding in a traditional sense and I was glad to have this first with a couple that actually meant something to me and thus avoided the 'going through the motions' vibe that an experience like this can conjure up.

By spending time in the city of SLC and away from the gypsy lifestyle different and intriguing experiences came about, which incited an interesting dimension to my own understanding of society and my interaction with the other beings that inhabit it. As such a few constants were understood. That being said I believe that the only constant is motion. This being said all we are in charge of is the interaction that we all personally have with our world and the 'other' is of concern but not control.

This is all to say that I have found myself in the sandy throws of central Utah and experience both boulders and myself in constant motion again and this appears to be where I am supposed to be, for now that is.

(+)the day after the wedding my friend and great photographer Craig Copelin and I got a tip on some new quartzite in central UT and we pursued and both established some nice new problems. Here are a few of Craig's iPhone pictures.

Photo Dump: Cont'd

The pups and subsequent van ride to Joe's Valley for Rocco's bachelor party
Workin' a project

Photo Dump: Last Frontier and the Lower 48

The following are pictures of the Alaska Range which houses some of the mos beautiful mountains including the giant, Denali.

Alaska & the Power of Mustaches(oh yeah and PUPPIES)

The very dangerous Ruckus in Joe's Valley
An Amazing new v3 called 'Cattle Guard'
Rocco and Asha reinacting the Lion King
Joes Vizzle!!!
Rocco on his FA of the 'Crackin v5'

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Avoidance is perhaps one of the more perplexing yet interesting actions of the conscious rational human mind. We are intelligent enough to know that we can put off the inevitable but never release ourselves from the reality of our circumstantial lives. That being said in the last month plus I have been back home in Alaska for the first time in 2 whole years. There is more to the story than we need to go into now but the trip was a good one, full of work and the absorption the beauty that Alaska holds for me and the obvious beauty that exists in everybody's eyes.

I am now back in what Alaskans call the 'outside' which means the lower 48 states. I flew into Salt Lake City and have been getting into climbing shape again while spending good time with the SLC crew. The HQ for this little chapter is my good friend Rocco's house. Rocco and other good friend Mary are getting married and I have delayed my sport-climbing trip to the Red River Gorge a couple days in order to help them with pre-wedding goings-ons, plus to take part in the festivities in which climbers from both coasts will be converging for. I am also lucky enough to have the stars align so that my college roommates and bestest of buddies from Sweet Grass Productions premier their new ski film on Friday at Brewvies here in SLC.

As for the climbing I have been very very psyched but it was a little rough in the first day or so as I went Little Cottonwood Canyon(LCC) in the heat and only managed some moderate problems like 'Baldy v6'. I have total respect for the granite technical climbing and really love the movement that it creates.

Then it was off to Joe's Valley, a place I really love visiting but this trip was a quick 26 hours allowing for a couple short sessions. All the problems had to be done in a session and very quickly so we could keep seeing all the great new development, largely contributed by Rocco.

I climbed well but still felt a little shaky on my movements. I was able to ascend 'River Runs Through It v9', 'Blue Lambo v7ish', 'Cloak & the Dagger V6' a first ascent of 'In Vain v6' and a very exhausted 'Bow to the East v9'. It was a whirlwind kind of trip and an absolute blast to be rock-climbing again.

Last but not least the HQ has to new members, Ruckus & Asha, bothe six week old puppies. They have already been boulder hoping in Joe's and although they can/are a handful they're a wonderful addition to the crew.

Here are some pictures and I will post more very soon. All photos by friend Paul Nadler.

AR

Learnin' to Crawl: Episode V: Squeal Like a Pig

Yesterday I was able to spend yet another great day at the Pipe Dream Cave in Maple Canyon. I climbed a really cool route called 'Squeal Like a Pig 5.13c'. I am very psyched about this and all of the other great routes I have been able to climb. I am finding Sport Climbing to be a great and totally different challenge than the boulders and I am brimming with psyche to be discovering a great new facet to the sport I love so much. Psyched!!

A quick hit to Joes Valley

My Girl-Friend Diesel. And she even dresses like me
'Worm Turns'



Right after sending 'Sprout 5.13?' I rallied over the mountains the seperate Maple Canyon from Joes Valley, two of Utah's climbing meccas, to meet up with friends Rocco, Mary, and Brandon. I was pretty tired and the grueling drive through the dark exhausted me further. In the morning we headed out and warmed up on a great block on the river and climbed an interesting problem called 'Kelly's Arete V5'. My sport climbing buddy Brent rolled up and we went to a great problem that has hiding in plain sight called 'Bring the Heatwohl V8' of the Eden sector. I climbed this block on my second try and was pleased because I was feeling tired. Rocco toured us around some other great blocks that he has been finding and establishing.

I was able to try 'Worm Turns V11' and came pretty close despite the extreme summer heat which was exciting. Although it was an exhausting day from the beginning it was a pleasure to pebble wrestle again.

Learnin' to Crawl: Episode IV-Cobble Tugging

Portrait of Wal-MArt Parking Lot Life
A neato bug that was waiting for me when I giot back from the Pipe Dream
Since leaving SLC and before going back home in Alaska I have been exploring some more sport-climbing, this time in Maple Canyon, UT. It has a completely unique style due to the conglomerate nature of the rock. After two weeks in in SLC with no route climbing I have found that endurance can escape you quite quickly, but it return a little faster the second time.

After two days of retrieving my newly found endurance I was able to send 'Super Spunk 5.13a' and 'Sprout 5.13a/b?' quite quickly. I am having a blast with sport climbing. More to come.