Photo of the day

My beautiful wife at the City of Rocks

the braveheart

My friend Jennilyn is afraid of crack climbing. The one time she tried it, she knew that her feet and/or hands would get stuck in the crack and break right off when she fell. Needless to say her first time crack climbing last year basically sealed the deal that this style of climbing was not for her - citing the fact that if she didn't break her hands or ankles off in the cracks, then for sure if she were to lead all of her gear would just fall out; leaving only the ground to catch her fall!

I had a different theory than hers. If you understand the movement of crack climbing and how to jam your hands and feet, then you'll progress upward in control, and as a result of being in control, you'll have a clear head to place solid, confidence boosting gear. The idea is - getting to the top of the route is a direct result of skill rather than happenstance or luck. Do it right or don't do it at all; climbing is dangerous...

We planned a trip to the City of Rocks this week where my idea was to get Jennilyn prepped to lead an easy traditional route before we left on Saturday. So, for several days we roamed the Granite formations at the City of Rocks chasing shade and climbing a variety of cracks.

Jennilyn is not a fan of lead climbing. I'm talking about sport routes! She's pretty gun shy and almost always prefers to top-rope a climb. As a result i can only think of one 5.11a that she has red pointed and just a handful of easy routes under 5.10 that she has lead. So for her the thought of lead climbing even one route that requires placing gear is about a realistic as her going to the moon.

I say if you wanna go to the moon, then GO TO THE MOON!

Well, my theory worked. And the result was her first ever gear lead. Now some of you have climbed at the City of Rocks and may be thinking that she chose to climb Wheat Thin 5.7, or Carols Crack 5.6, or any number of classic beginner routes. Well, i'm hear to tell you that my theory worked so well, Jennilyn lead in perfect style (calm, in control, deliberate, and placing correct gear) on the obscure Inner City route, Heartbreaker 5.10d! Only taking one fall at the crux; then sending the rest of the route with ease!

I shot some photos of the little braveheart leading her first ever gear route. Enjoy!

A very excited Jennilyn near the top of Heartbreaker 5.10d - City of Rocks Idaho

from the horses mouth

I'm taking a few weeks to recharge my personal batteries. This is not to be confused with the other various local east Idaho rumors floating around that i have quit climbing!
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Check back. I'll be in full swing when the temps cool down.

one of many

Reason 1,000,000,001 why i love living in Eastern Idaho. This photo is of the western slopes of the Tetons today, August 16th - 2009!

That snow wasn't there yesterday!

dedication equals achievment

I QUIT - okay, not really!

I've recently been blamed for making at least one person quit climbing because i suggested that to be a good climber requires time and dedication! Crazy... i know. And while i feel bad that my "suppose to be a pep-talk" resulted in a negative outcome, i still stand by my ideals. If you want to climb strong on the rocks and boulders; you have to dedicate the time. If you want to climb smart in the mountains and not run around succeeding on luck; you need to dedicate the time.



So i'll get to the point of this. It's no surprise that when i read a link from Will Gadd's blog to a friend of his, i couldn't help but think of the recent situation and several of the great people i get to go climbing with around here. I've said this stuff for years. Here is someone else saying it.



Basically, I'M CALLING YOU OUT (in a very nice way of course)! There are a handful of people who could benefit from reading this and those guys and gals know who they are! It all boils down to trying really hard and dedicating the time to find out what you are capable of climbing if personal achievements are your goal.


Recreationalists need not apply. But when you are ready to get serious about your personal performance and want to find out what you are capable of climbing - this http://blog.thaczuk.com/?p=124 is a good place to start!

more nonsense

A few of us spent the afternoon at Weeping Cave yesterday. We went late in the afternoon in hopes of finding reasonable climbing temps. It wasn't promising when my car said it was 91 degrees at the trail head! If it were just the heat, likely we could deal with it, but the crag is surrounded by thick vegetation which keeps the moisture and raises the humidity... a whole lot!

Despite the less than ideal climbing conditions, Chad Sr. and I made some good progress on Hoss, Choss, and Chaos. I was able to get most of the way through the crux, falling off at the final stopper move just before the exiting jugs. If you get on this route, please be aware that holds keep breaking off right at the second clip and you will deck if you don't have it clipped. Young Sambo escaped hitting the deck when the hold broke at the same time the rope dropped through the gate of the carabiner.

The picture is of Chad Sr. on Sasquatch.

Last week, i spent a couple of days in the Tetons with several close friends. The weather made life interesting with marble sized hail driven by 40 mph winds. This made for icy conditions up high. Not to mention the temps were in the mid 20's! And it's the middle of August! Despite the weather and the lack of good climbing, and dealing with too many people on the mountain - all trying to kill the people in our group with their carelessness while walking through loose rock above us, i truly had a good time.

It's been hard to motivate for hard climbing the last few weeks. I'm not sure if it's the summer heat, or if I'm stuck in a rut and need to take a break for a few weeks. Anybody wanna teach me how to surf?

life in east idaho

Downtown Ririe, Idaho. Heather and I live about 3 miles north of Ririe. This scene happens on a weekly basis. No Stergis bound bikers; it's just the routine stop on Saturday! I've seen nearly a hundred bikes lined up on Main St. from time to time. Lot's of leather, tattoo's and beards.

Here are a couple of images of Heather on Matt's new Weeping Cave route, "Hoss, Moss, and Chaos". A cool traversing pumping line on jugs to difficult crux at the very end. On Heather's first go, the clipping hold at the second bolt broke off, sending her crashing into the rocks and boulders at the base of the route. Un-injured, she summoned the courage to get on it again!

Matt also drilled another route right of Sasquatch but we did not have time to get check it out. I spent some more time working on the Basilisk and was able to climb to the upper crux without falling off! The bulge at the top will definitely require some specific crimp strength training in order for me to pull it off, but it's such a good line, i really want to put the time into it. I still need to move a few bolts for it to be complete. It's gonna be so good!

ELI WATKINS YOU STILL NEED TO GIVE ME YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS!! deanlords@gmail.com