When I first moved to
Boulder I would
see people all around hanging off rock walls and think to
myself
"What a bunch of idiots, why in God's name would someone want to hang
off a piece of rock?" Over the course of climbing the 14er's
it
dawned on me that there was more to life than a:) the 14'ers and b:)
3rd and 4th class walk ups. In the interest of bettering
myself
as a mountaineer I decided to take up rock climbing. (A
decision
spawned by having climbed all of the Elk Range 14'ers and wanting to
experience the mountains at a higher degree of difficulty)
My first experiences were with a guy named Henry Throop who is a recent CU PhD graduate who now works at SWRI. Henry was kind enough to take me out a few times and show me the ropes during the summer of 2004. On our first climb (Cozyhang at the Dome) I sketched out and forced Henry to lower me off the first pitch. I was however determined not to let that end it and Henry and I did several climbs around the Indian Peaks Wilderness area both on unnamed rock faces and on named mountains. I pretty much let the whole rock thing go until the spring of 2005 when I decided to get out and start really learning. In the pursuit of this I took three 8 hour lessons with a guide named Bill Morris (highly recommended go here GUIDEfor contact info he runs rock, ice, and snow schools and offers several international expedition packages at rates less than the CMS but has 20+ years experience, he will tailor courses for you as well) . I was also fortunate to have guys like Doug Shepherd, Greg Dooley, Brian Hynek, and Brian Espe show me alot of the beginner ropes. Right now I am breaking into the 5.8 area for trad leading and have recently begun working on my ice climbing more diligently. As my experience in the crags and the high country grew I would do my best to pick up formal education in ares that I thought were important to improving mysef as a climber and have taken a number of formal courses to that end. I've found that a mix of formal courses, informal learning through friends, and practice in the field is a great way to move ahead as an alpinist.
I'm not a Boulder Hard Man and probably never will be. My goal is to eventually become a 5.9/WI4 trad leader but if I only go up one grade every few years that is OK by me. I enjoy moderate routes in the crags and in the alpine and place a high emphasis on safety and preparedness. I also think that a well rounded climber ought to know more than just the first aid and technical aspects and should be adept at things like recognizing wildlife, plants, knowing what plants are edible/medicinal, etc. and have begun informally teaching myself these things for the local region.
Below are a list of my climbs including trad leads, trad follows, sport climbs, top ropes, ice climbs, and technical peaks in the high country. This is not an inclusive list as I have forgotten the names of several climbs. The final section outlines the courses I have taken to further my self as a mountaineer/climber. I have not inculded trips to other countries or states as I have not done technical routes outside of Colorado, those reports can be found on my 'Other Mountains' page.
My first experiences were with a guy named Henry Throop who is a recent CU PhD graduate who now works at SWRI. Henry was kind enough to take me out a few times and show me the ropes during the summer of 2004. On our first climb (Cozyhang at the Dome) I sketched out and forced Henry to lower me off the first pitch. I was however determined not to let that end it and Henry and I did several climbs around the Indian Peaks Wilderness area both on unnamed rock faces and on named mountains. I pretty much let the whole rock thing go until the spring of 2005 when I decided to get out and start really learning. In the pursuit of this I took three 8 hour lessons with a guide named Bill Morris (highly recommended go here GUIDEfor contact info he runs rock, ice, and snow schools and offers several international expedition packages at rates less than the CMS but has 20+ years experience, he will tailor courses for you as well) . I was also fortunate to have guys like Doug Shepherd, Greg Dooley, Brian Hynek, and Brian Espe show me alot of the beginner ropes. Right now I am breaking into the 5.8 area for trad leading and have recently begun working on my ice climbing more diligently. As my experience in the crags and the high country grew I would do my best to pick up formal education in ares that I thought were important to improving mysef as a climber and have taken a number of formal courses to that end. I've found that a mix of formal courses, informal learning through friends, and practice in the field is a great way to move ahead as an alpinist.
I'm not a Boulder Hard Man and probably never will be. My goal is to eventually become a 5.9/WI4 trad leader but if I only go up one grade every few years that is OK by me. I enjoy moderate routes in the crags and in the alpine and place a high emphasis on safety and preparedness. I also think that a well rounded climber ought to know more than just the first aid and technical aspects and should be adept at things like recognizing wildlife, plants, knowing what plants are edible/medicinal, etc. and have begun informally teaching myself these things for the local region.
Below are a list of my climbs including trad leads, trad follows, sport climbs, top ropes, ice climbs, and technical peaks in the high country. This is not an inclusive list as I have forgotten the names of several climbs. The final section outlines the courses I have taken to further my self as a mountaineer/climber. I have not inculded trips to other countries or states as I have not done technical routes outside of Colorado, those reports can be found on my 'Other Mountains' page.
COLORADO
