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Feeling Crass (5.10b) in Fat City (5.10d), & More!
(Photo: The Gunks in Autumn.)I was very excited to get back to the Gunks after my trip to Indian Creek.Don't get me wrong. The trip was nice, but I was out of my element there, struggling on the...
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Mac Wall Machinations: Interstice (P1 5.10b), Graveyard Shift (5.10d/5.11a),...
(Photo: The Trapps in early November.)My office was closed for Election Day. It was one of those rare weekday climbing opportunities. The weather was going to be beautiful and Julia was looking for a...
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Gobbling Up the Remains of the Season: Carbs and Caffeine (5.11a) & More!
(Photo: I'm heading into the crux on Graveyard Shift (5.10d/5.11a) once again.)After hosting the big family meal on Thanksgiving day, I was ready to collapse into a food coma. What with all of the...
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What's next?
(Photo: Gingerly exploring Avoid Where Inhibited (5.11a). Photo by Andy.)So what's next?What do I want out of the 2016 climbing season?I've been asking myself this question all winter.2015 was a great...
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Last Days of The Winter (5.10d)
(Photo: Getting into the overhangs on Carbs and Caffeine (5.11a). Photo by Adrian.)We live in an age of great environmental peril. Temperatures are climbing at an alarming rate. Ice sheets are melting....
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Learning the (Top) Ropes in Lost City
(Photo: That's me leading Resistance (5.10c) at Lost City. Photo by Connie.)I'm getting frustrated."I don't think I can do this," I say.We are in Lost City, in the area known as the Survival Block. It...
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Getting Sporty in the New River Gorge
(Photo: Andy on Call 9-1-1 (5.13a), at the Endless Wall.)I am sorry. It has been almost two months since my four-day trip to the New River Gorge in West VirginiaI have been slow to post about it.I...
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Mac Wall In-A-Day: A Non-Birthday Challenge
(Photo: I'm getting ready to fire the roof on Star Action (5.10b). Photo by Andy.)Over the past few years I've gotten to know the Mac Wall pretty well. The wall is stacked with classic 5.10 climbs. For...
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Finding Inspiration at Poke-O Moonshine
(Photo: That's me on C-Tips (5.10c).)I've been searching all year for my next big thing.In 2015, my goal was simple. I wanted to attack every 5.10 climb in the Gunks that I'd ever been afraid to try....
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2016: The Year In 5.10, So Far
(Photo: That's me on Never Never Land (5.10a). Photo by Adrian.)5.10 is the premier grade at the Gunks. Everyone knows this. I sometimes refer to the Gunks as "Our Little 5.10 Paradise."Just take a...
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Some Golden Showers (5.11a) With 10,000 Restless Virgins (5.10d)
(Photo: Nancy following 10,000 Restless Virgins (5.10d).)We are well into high season in the Gunks. I need to get my ass in gear.I haven't set my sights on any big climbing objectives for quite a...
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Oceans of Elevens in the Gunks
(Photo: That's me, setting off with some trepidation toward the many roofs of No Man's Land (5.11b). Photo by Andy.)I've been feeling good lately. I'm climbing better than I have all year.And it's high...
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Las Vegas on the Rocks 2016
(Photo: A leader named Brian at the 5.11a roof on Levitation 29 (5.11c).)Vegas, baby!I was excited to be back. I've been to Vegas on several occasions-- a few times for the climbing at Red Rocks, and a...
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A Late-Season Matinee (5.10d) & More!
(Photo: Connie hanging out at the crux of pitch two of Nurse's Aid (5.10a).)It was December in the Gunks.Connie and I were on our way towards the West Trapps parking lot. We'd been climbing all day,...
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Criss Cross-eyed in the Early Season
(Photo: Gail reaching for the arete on the fun link-up Basking Ridge (5.7).)"Ugh. I'm never doing THAT again!"So I said, to Gail, as I got past the undercling crux on Inverted Layback (5.9).I meant it,...
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Highly Exposed (5.6+) on Enduro Man (5.11c)
(Photo: Climbers finishing the second pitch of High Exposure (5.6+) in 2011.)In the fall of 2008, I led the crux pitch of High Exposure (5.6+).I'm sure you already know all about this classic climb. It...
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Getting Necky with Whatever (5.10a), and More!
(Photo: That's me on Turdland Direct (5.10d). Photo by Mike.)For over a month, I've been contending with a climbing injury.It all started in mid-April, in Berkeley, California. We were on a family...
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A Trip to the California Needles
(Photo: View of the Magician (on the left) and the Djin Needle (on the right), from the top of the Charlatan.)Why the Needles?Several years ago I came across some photos of the area (On Denis...
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Red Rain
(Photo: That's me on The Fury (5.11c) at Bibliothek, Muir Valley.)It is an annual tradition: the autumn climbing trip. Every fall, I break away from the family for a long weekend and I climb for a few...
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2017: The Year in 5.10 and Beyond
(Photo: That's me, leading Turdland Direct Direct (5.10d). Photo by Nancy.)It is always fun to take stock of the year as the climbing season draws to a close.We had a weird autumn this year. Summer...
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Not So Mellow in Yellow
(Photo: Andy following pitch one of Matinee (5.10d).)So psyched! We were going rock climbing in December.Andy and I were headed to the Gunks. He was planning to take it easy. He was in the middle of a...
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Rolling Like Movie Stars at Millbrook
(Photo: Will coming up pitch one (5.9) of The Movie Star (5.10+).)I never made it out to Millbrook in 2016, not once. I hoped to correct this regrettable oversight in 2017, but for some reason it...
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Dammit, Granite, I Love You! Four Days in Squamish
(Photo: Adrian's shot of me on the Angel Crack (5.10b).)The month of May seems so long ago.I've let the year get away from me!I meant to write a post, oh-so-long ago, about my climbing trip to...
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Moving the Goalposts in the Gunks
(Photo: That's me on Enduro Man's Longest Hangout (5.11c), pitch 3. Photo by Gus.)"So what about you?" Gus asked. "Don't you have any projects?"It took me a second to process that he was talking to...
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My First 5.12: Uphill All the Way
(Photo: At the final crux on Uphill All the Way (5.12a).)I know, I know.It has been a while-- over two years!-- since I published a blog post.It's not that I stopped climbing. Far from it.But for...
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