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.