Castleton Tower

I was midway into the first pitch on the North Chimney on Castleton Tower with my right arm wedged deep in a crack and my left hand pulling outward on another. As I pulled upward my left hand sudenly slipped off of the rock, my body swung out peeling my feet from the wall. My right arm pulled downward through the crack as I started falling. I clipped a ledge on my way down flipping me upside down.

My fall was arrested by my last piece. I righted myself and looked down at Neena who had me on belay. This was the first time I had taken a fall on trad gear. "Are you okay?" Neena yelled up at me. As soon as she asked I noticed some pain in my left heel. I had bruised my heel and banged up my arm as it had pulled through the crack.

I didn't much feel like continuing to lead so I had Chase and Emily, who had gone up ahead of us, lower a rope down to me. After climbing up and having Neena follow, we decided it was the end of the road for us. Chase and Emily continued on as we rappelled down.

It was a long walk out for Neena and I. We eventually made it back to the car and lounged around until we saw Chase and Emily start to descend. This was my first time on a desert tower and it wont be the last. I will go back and finish leading this route this fall. I can't wait.

A quick weekend in St. George

Neena and I headed south to St. George for a wedding a couple of weeks ago and we decided to get some climbing in. We headed to Prophecy Wall to do a route called "Past Lives". The white sandstone was really unique and we had a lot of fun climbing it.

The next day we headed to Chuckwala wall with Steve and Janita (Neena's parents). It was a nice morning of climbing. We stopped on the way out to visit my grandma before hitting the road. The trip was short but good, even though we ran into some minor car troubles on the way home.

My first time fishing on my own rig

 I snapped these pictures a while back on the Provo river. Mike Woodward and Brent Fogt met me for an early morning of fishing. So far I haven't had the best luck, but after my next few fishing purchases I should be good to go.

On our own

Becky's Wall. This climb was Eric and I's first on our own trad gear. Climbing in Little Cottonwood canyon is wildly different than anything I am used to. We had a good time and made the walk out in the dark.

 

Outside Corner

 

 The days are growing longer and warmer. Eric and I met up after work for a quick little climb. We have been trying to tick off a lot of the easier multi-pitch climbs in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon. 

This week we had our sights set on "Outside Corner" a nice 3-pitch 5.7 right off of the canyon road. We had a blast climbing it. Eric led the first and third pitches and I took the second. While the climbing was easy the exposure was amazing.

We topped out and walked back down. On the hike down Eric had a little stumble and was pretty sure he was going to tumble off the cliff and die, but in all actuality he wouldn't have gone anywhere. We stood there and laughed about it for a while. I will definitely be back to do this one again soon.

 

Cold Fusion

 

The north summit of Timpanogos has some of the most iconic lines in the Wasatch, Cold Fusion being one of the most sought after. I have always looked up at it and dreamed of riding it. This season I had hoped for it early on, but with how the conditions developed I didn't think I would be able to get on anything long and steep.

Tanner picked me up just after 4 a.m. and we drove through the pouring rain into a near white out to pick up Eric and the four-wheeler we would be using. We eventually made it to the trail head and all packed onto the four-wheeler. After knocking close to two miles off of our trip we got the four-wheeler  stuck. After digging it out we began the long slog around the northern end of the mountain. I honestly had no idea what we where in for. After a couple hours of taking turns breaking trail, we made it to the base of Cold Fusion. 

Jim Knight and Skyler Holman had tried to get a hold of me the night before about their plans for Cold Fusion. I knew they would catch us, so we stuck to our original plan. Sure enough, when we were about a quarter of the way into the actual ascent they caught us. By then we were more than happy to share trail breaking duties.  

The snow conditions on the ascent grew more and more precarious with altitude. We eventually decided to drop in. After a belayed ski cut, we realized the actual chute was more stable than what we had been ascending. It was incredible snow. Needless to say, even though we didn't make the summit, I am glad we made the trek. 

Walking out was hilariously miserable. We had fun but were more than ready to be done by the time we made it to the four-wheeler.

 

Skyler kept track of us with his GPS. We still had a ways to go before we would have topped out, but the conditions made our decision for us.

 

Tanner and Eric had chocolate cherry GU shots... what a nightmare. I would rather be tired than nauseous.

 This cirque was massive. You may not be able to tell by the photo, but the large cliff face near the center of this photo is home to a good base jumping spot and a little known climbing route.

 Jim's dog Bette. I love that dog.

 The payoff.