I decided to write down a list of my 2008 climbing goals and put them in our blog. I’ve seen it done a few places and people seem to think it helps them reach their goals a bit easier. Figure I’ll give it a test run too and see if it helps keep me in check. Hopefully as I tick them off I’ll blog about them here.
Boulders:
- Sex and Chocolate – V7 – Devil’s Lake – Slopers on Quarzite. Really confusing.
- Sex and Chocolate Direct – V? – Devil’s Lake – Undone Highball Project. Proud.
- Bulbous Left Center – V8 – Devil’s Lake.
- Bulbous Right – V? – Devil’s Lake – Possible project shooting out the right side of the roof.
- Beautiful Soup – V8 – Devil’s Lake.
- Alpine Club – Sandbag V9 – Devil’s Lake – I just keep telling myself it’s just two moves….
- The Keymaker – V10/11??? – Devil’s Lake – Still awaiting a second ascent.
- Smooth Operator/Bud White – V4/6 – Devil’s Lake – Great highball line over a horrible landing.
- Sandstone Violence – V8? – Governor Dodge – Gotta get my revenge. Almost broke my arm on it last year. Still needs a second ascent, I think.
- The Godfather – V5? – Governor Dodge – Super super classic.
- Body Karate – V9 – Jackson Falls – Squeeze!!!
- Jungle Book – V8 – Holies – So classic looking.
- Instinct/Sit – V7/10 – Little Rock City – Some climbs just make you sweat when you see them. So pretty.
Routes:
- Sometimes Crack – 10 – Devil’s Lake – Just need to do this one.
- Bagatelle – 12c – Devil’s Lake – Not sure if I’ve been on a more sustained route with such poor feet.
- Cheap Thrills – 12b – Devil’s Lake – Just need one more day.
- Rubberman – 13a – Devil’s Lake
- Ice – 13a – Devil’s Lake – Gotta get my crimp going for this one. So thin!!!
- Ice into Acid Direct Project – Devil’s Lake – There might be some way to link this thing up. Hard! 13a into 12b/c into 12a.
- Secret Agent Man – 13a – Governor Dodge – I’ve got the moves dialed, just need to link it up.
- Whiskey-A-Go-Go – 13a – Necedah – Apparently the best sport climb in the Midwest.
I’m sure there are more but that seems like a mighty good list for the year. We’ll see if I can do even some of them.
Sir Edmund Hillary has died. Likely, this isn’t the first place that you’ve heard this. It’s made the world news and tops most news pages tonight. He was considered by many worldwide to be a hero for being one of the two people – and the first white male – to climb Mount Everest. Always humble, he didn’t consider himself to be a hero. Rather, he said that he took a walk with his friend Tenzing Norgay, and wound up on top of the world. It wasn’t until after Tenzing’s death that Hillary revealed which one of them had actually stepped first onto the summit of Everest. We should remember that they did it together.
All climbers today should pause in memory of Edmund Hillary, although not because of what he accomplished on Everest. More than this one thing, Hillary earned worldwide respect for what he did after reaching the summit of Everest. He went on to found dozens of schools and a few hospitals in the Himalayan region, and – in particular – in Nepal. He gave back to the mountain region that changed his life, and in the process he changed too many lives to count.
Giving back is an important thing to do. We should all be grateful for our station in life. Most of us who have access to this blog were born in one of the most powerful nations ever created, at a time when technology makes life easier than ever before. In many ways, being born in the United States is the equivalent of winning the lottery. I’m not a great patriot, but from a practical perspective it’s difficult to think of swapping being born here with being born in – say – Darfur or Somalia. We have it pretty good, and we should remember this as Hillary did by giving what we can to others.
Giving back has unexpected consequences. For instance, personally I can share that if Hillary hadn’t climbed Everest I may not be writing this now. One of the main people who brought me into climbing – one of my mentors, Courtney Skinner – was trained by Hillary in both climbing and expeditionary travel while they were stationed together in Antarctica in the ‘Sixties. In turn, Courtney taught me – and Todd Skinner, as well as dozens of other prominent climbers – how to manage ourselves in big-mountain environments. Hillary chose to give back to others by teaching what he knew, and – if he hadn’t – we all probably wouldn’t be here, now.
I’m saddened for this loss, and I’m happy that Hillary lived to a ripe old age. I was fortunate: I once met Hillary and even went to dinner with him. He came to see a production of “K2″ that I helped to produce in college. I have fond memories of that evening, as well as photos and – yes – even an autograph on something personal. More than this, Hillary taught me that we all have our own personal Everests. Only some people actually climb the mountain, but millions of others go for their own dreams and achieve them. As Hillary showed, the journey doesn’t stop there: Once dreams are achieved, it’s a duty to help others to achieve theirs.
Think about this – and Sir Edmund – the next time that you decide to go whole-hog for something that at first brush seems impossible. Then, when you achieve it – or even if you fail – remember to give back. This is what puts you on top of the world, ultimately.
I just got back from a snowriding trip to glorious Utah and I’m officially sad. It’s raining outside here in Madison and our snow is melting away quickly. We had good snow, luckily, and even better weather on our trip. Some might go as far as saying we “shredded the gnar”. It had been a while since my trip to Brighton a few years back and was my first time in Park City. Pretty cool town with some massive resorts.
The backcountry access, much like Brighton, looked incredible. Wish I had more time. I often get a bit more of an inclination to move back to a mountain town after coming back home from one. It never seems to fail. In all honesty, I’ll probably end up out that way again and inevitably I’ll miss home while I’m out there. I mostly miss the cheese.
I was reminded by a good friend the other week that “the grass is always greener”. I like that saying.
I’ll be sure to post up some pictures soon. I’ll even put in a couple of my trip highlight, the 40 foot tall jelly bean in Chicago. I was pretty amazed.
