Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Feather In The Hat


I knew it was a good day.....

No Doubt......One of my favorite climbs ever and I feel lucky to have been able to climb one of Alex Lowes and Stan Prices South Fork Testpieces. Im not sure if anyone has ever repeated it as it comes in every few years and when it does its hands down one of the proudest lines in the valley.







After dropping my tool.....ugh first time ever although I was lucky that I was on a shelf and able to pose while my belayer Joel Anderson took photos and got me my lucky tool back!


It was an incredible climb that delivered different challenges of mixed climbing and pure ice climbing. I thought it was all over when I got to the base of the pillar and figured I had it bagged but found the pillar was horribly fragile and ended up climbing the backside in order to get good placements and protection. The mixed climbing felt like M6 and provided great gear placements.





Joel Anderson rope gunning me up the 2nd pitch

A great day in the mountains and thankful to have Mr. Anderson along with me for the adventure!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The Moratorium- A South Fork Valley Classic



I was excited to get out with a great group of climbers and friends early this season Kevin Craig, Mike Larson, Steve Berwanger and Doug Shepherd. Doug and I went for the One Hitter and the other boys went to tackle The Moratorium.










Yes Doug the ice is super thick all the way up! Doug Shepherd on the start to The One Hitter











Simply a great day in the South Fork Valley !

Thursday, December 17, 2009

The Big Sleep!

I have numerous posts to get up but we will start with this video of my first trip to Hyalite canyon !

Quiet Inspiration from Doug Shepherd on Vimeo.



This was one of the best days of climbing I have had in a very long time, Good Friends and Great Climbing!