Teardrop

I was able to make it up American Fork Canyon with Greg and Kate Osborne last week. Greg has been projecting "Teardrop", a 5.13a on Cannabis Wall. It rained for a minute or two and got everything a little damp but we still had a good time.

Shooting the Membrane

An early morning meet up allowed me to get a little bit of shooting done before work on Friday. I have been messing around a lot more lately with photography, thankfully Greg and Joe were willing to be the subjects of this morning's shoot. We hit two off the classic American Fork Canyon climbs. Hopefully this was a warm up for a few more ideas I hope to pull together in the coming months.

Too early and too cold

 

The days of early morning climbing have come and gone. Half way into this mornings "warm up"climb my hands were screaming. Every bit of warmth was being sucked out of my fingers as I clung to the frigid rock. The temperature was bellow freezing and with every move I became more and more unhappy with the brilliant idea we had to get up early to climb. I thought maybe I was being a pansy so I let Eric go up after. He had a similar experience. It wasn't long before we were back at the car going for a drive up to Silver Lake.

 

We went for a hike waiting in vain for it to heat up.

 

Black Magic Cave

This Morning in Big Cottonwood: "Steorts' Ridge" 5.6

 

My early drive to meet Austin went quick, there is something about a cool summer morning with some tunes and a drive that starts the day off right. There is some type of calm that comes with a drive to the mountains. I arrived at the park and ride and jumped in his car. We drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to a route called Steorts' Ridge, one that a friend, Chase McMillan, recommended as a good one for beginners. All the info on it claimed it would be great, and it did not disappoint.

We got there and burned about a half an hour farting around on the wrong route. After realizing we were on the wrong line we got all our stuff down and figured out where to go. Austin lead the first pitch and I followed. 

The rock was great, it was a lot more of what I am used to, so it made it easier to feel comfortable when I jumped on lead for the second pitch. There was a crack portion of the climb, something I have never really climbed, that made me feel a bit uneasy. This is what I am loving about climbing trad, there is a sense of adventure in just going for it even if it is easy. This climb wasn't difficult but it was a blast. 

The last bit of the climb was really exposed and fun. There were minimal placements for protection on this section so I am glad Austin lead it. We topped out stoked and headed for the rappel. Such a cool route.

 

Beer Can Alley

 Right now I have been really been wanting to mix it up with my climbing. For years I have climbed the same walls and worked the same problems and not really explored new areas. I don't know why, but I have really gotten the bug to go find new climbs and see the world from new high perspectives. Luckily I have buddies like Tanner, he is getting stronger and putting up some difficult routes. He dragged me up some harder climbs yesterday morning at Beer Can Alley. I am hoping to get stronger so when fall rolls around I can do some bigger harder routes.

Mornings in the Mountains

 Mornings in the mountains have their own mystique that seems to always be worth getting up for. Eric and I wanted to get some climbing in up American Fork Canyon so we went for some quick climbs at two different walls. It was the perfect way to start the day.

Last weekend in Maple

 
This trip might just become an annual thing. Last year was great. This year was great. I hope next year will be great. It is a good group of friends and I had a blast.

 Belay glasses. They actually work really well.