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. 

Atop the Lower 48: Mt. Whitney's East Buttress

The wait is finally over! After being shut down on Mt. Whitney during an attempt on the Mountaineer's Route that was thwarted by a fierce wind storm in January 2011, I vowed that I would come back to the mountain better trained and better prepared to take on the highest peak in the Lower 48. This time, I was teamed up with a backcountry veteran partner, Ryan, of Desk-to-Dirtbag fame (check out his site: www.desktodirtbag.com).

We decided to take on the classic East Buttress with the direct variation start, an alpine classic that dates back to the late 1930s when climber Glenn Dawson, who also put up the alpine classic East Face route nearby on Whitney, led 5 climbers up what seemed an impossible buttress system adjacent to the Mountaineer's Route gully. This route turned out to be an alpine classic: sustained, steep, and well-positioned. The line follows what seems to be strategic weaknesses in the otherwise imposing East Buttress. 

The route is committing, first requiring an overland trek up 5000' to high camp at Iceberg Lake before beginning the route proper, which is about 1200' of exposed technical climbing.Even coming from sea level to 14.5k feet in 2 days, I handled the altitude fairly well, keeping dinners down and functioning competently in the technical environment as we climbed up to and past the 14000' mark. An exhausting push put us on the summit on Sunday afternoon, as we joyously took in the view and ran into a National Park Service ranger who offered each of us a can of surplus beer from his backpack!

Ultimately, the success of this trip was one that came directly out of the humbling experiences of failure. Climbing and alpinism are sports in which there are no shortcuts to a successful summits; you must put in the time and be willing to fail repeatedly before you have the privilege to stand atop any summit. I suppose that Whitney had decided I needed plenty of time to practice and ponder before I could stand atop her lofty summit. 2.5 years of waiting were finally laid to rest only after countless other small trips to improve not just my technical proficiency, but to improve my reverence for the difficulties of high alpine mountains. 

Thank you, Mt. Whitney, for granting me safe passage. 

More Fun Times out in the Gunks

This trip was all about logging air time. I joke that my partner and I logged enough air time to get our pilot's licenses. We planned for a weekend trip, but unfortunately, we only got Saturday multi-pitch as rain moved in on Sunday morning. I pushed myself on my hardest Gunks climb yet, Le Teton, while Ian fired both Ant's Line and Bonnie's Roof. We did get a little bouldering in during the rainstorm (those big, burly Gunks roofs are better for more than just being damn hard to climb...), before heading home beneath a sopping wet cliff face...

BUT! It was all made better by the fact that I got to meet Cedar Wright over at Rock and Snow (see photos, below).

Similar photo from last time, except I was behind the lens for this one. My partner Ian Creelman heads out on the airy face of P2 on Bonnie's Roof.

The Saturday's big photo catch: caught the leader behind m whipping at the crux while rappelling Le Teton. I had fallen just above where he had.

Met Cedar Wright! Climbing life validated!

Spring's Casual Gunkage

Winter has finally loosened its grip in Upstate NY, which may seem a bit late to outsiders, but it is totally normal for locals. With the thaw comes opportunity to hop on some classics at a legendary crag. Shots from this adventure come from Directissima, Ant's Line, Bonnie's Roof, Son of Easy O, and Arrow. Head to the "Adventures in America" section for a bit more write up on the weekend!