THE MOVIE: 14505: Mt. Whitney via the East Buttress Direct

The long-in-the-works video has arrived! I put together a video from our Mt. Whitney climb. Let us know what you think! Make sure to watch it in HD!

Good Times in Tahoe: 

Celebrating a Friend's Birthday in Style

Moving to a new city on my own has tested my resolve. The paradoxical feeling of being surrounded by thousands of people but feeling like an isolated island is one that is not new to the experience of changing one's surroundings. That being said, 'air dropping' into San Francisco became a jarring transition for me, especially in terms of climbing community. The relationships I developed over four years in Ithaca and New England were no longer geographically relevant. 

Immediately, my response was to find the nearest climbing gym to find a new place I could call 'home.' The result so far was finding a group that brought me to one of California's classic crags: Lover's Leap over by Lake Tahoe. The whole trip was really an extended birthday party for one of the group members, our friend Primo.

The weekend ultimately ended up a mix of climbing, partying, and relaxing, as many in the group were not 'trad junkies' like myself. However, being out on this towering, intimidating cliff satisfied the always restless climbing urge that I feel, oh, once every few hours! Though I did not get to take as many photos as I liked (in fact, my DSLR did not even make it out of its bag for the entire trip), I was able to conjure up some fantastic moments, including bringing Primo up his first multipitch climb. I brought him, along with our friend Meg, right up the steepest section of the cliff on the Main Wall. I took a few photos with my phone, but there are more photos to come that Meg took along the way.

In the end, even though I did not get to climb as hard as I liked, I would not have traded up this weekend for anything. Good climbing, great position, and fun times all done in the best of company.