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Slideshow (3229 photos)

Acadia (map)

The long drive back to Pompey in the Vansion (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Studying the guidebook (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Translantic: Funky climbing out of a cave on P1 of Translantic

Enjoying the view from Great Head

Morning Glory: Leslie enjoying sea cliff climbing at its best

Preparing to rappel down over the water at Great Head (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Painting on top of Great Head (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Preparing to rappel at Great Head (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Black Crack: At the start of Black Crack; after we climbed this, we learned that nobody does this route because it was altered by rock fall

Rocky coastline near Otter Cliffs

Home away from home, at the Otter Cliffs parking area

Fingers on a Seascape: Crimpy (and reachy) climbing on great rock

The Precipice, as seen from the road

View from The Precipice, looking towards the ocean

A Dare By the Sea: Following a beautiful crack above the sea, perhaps one of the best routes at Otter Cliffs

Emigrant Crack: One of the better cracks at The Precipice, although one can step left at several points to reduce the pump factor

Adirondacks (map)
 

Adirondack weather (Keene Valley)

 

North East Ice

 

Adirondack Rock and River Ice Conditions

New guidebook for the Adirondack Park

 

The Matrix: The Matrix Epic

 

The Matrix: The Matrix buttress at Avalanche Lake

 

The Matrix: Topo of a few routes at Avalanche Lake

 

3D: Traversing to the belay on the first pitch of 3D

 

Early morning light over Avalanche Lake

 

Joe and Will sitting on the ledge below the fin

 

Unknown: Will leading the leftmost crack on the fin (5.10+)

 

Sufferin' Succatash: Midway up one of the stellar chimney climbs, right of the rock route "3D"

 

A Usable Amount: Lots of hard routes on this wall. The most prominent yellow ice is "A Usable Amount", put up by Will

 

Gate Keeper: Joe on Gate Keeper, just left of the 2nd hitch-up-matilda; we bailed here due to delaminated ice

 

The Matrix: Matrix wall from high on Scott Decapio's route. Visible are Gold Rush, Fools Gold, and The Matrix. Way to the right are the hangers climbed by Alex Lowe

 

Matrix Direct, The Other One: My first try on leashless tools; I failed miserably, lowering off just after this point

 

Matrix Direct, The Other One: Bones gets established on the ice

 

Matrix Direct, The Other One: The Matrix with just enough ice to make it climbable

Matrix Direct, The Other One: Bones places a screw in the better ice

 

Matrix Direct, The Other One: View of the Matrix; the "other one" starts on the rock between the pines.

 

Matrix Direct, The Other One: At the top of the M7+ rock section

 

Matrix Direct, The Other One: High on the upper section

 

Matrix Direct, The Other One: Cranking through the initial overhanging crack

 

Matrix Direct, The Other One: Bones works out the moves on the initial overhanging crack

 

Gate Keeper: The route Gate Keeper (the thin ribbon on the left) as seen from De Capio's route

 

Unknown: Climbing a pillar on the east side of Avalanche Pass before one reaches the lake; the climb is broken into two parts -- the initial pillar to a ledge, then a rock overhang

 

Unknown: Bones climbs thin, poorly protected ice leading to a free-hanging ice column above

 

Tad's map of Avalanche Lake showing the routes

 

Keymaster: Jim climbs the first ascent of Keymaster, a mixed route just right of Gatekeeper (Copyright © Simeon Warner)

 

Dad and Bruce on the summit of Big Slide in the early 1970s (Copyright © Jack Lawyer)

 

My Favorite Martian: Kristy following John up My Favorite Martian in Cascade Pass

 

Pete's Farwell: Nikos starting on the third pitch

 

Posing on the lake after completing Killer Whale

 

Haggis and Cold Toast: Simeon chimneying up Haggis and Cold Toast in the Beer Walls

 

H14: George gears up to follow H14

 

H14: Series 1: Clipping the pin that Joe thankfully placed on the first ascent

 

H14: Series 2: Delicate moves are required to keep the little remaining ice intact

 

H14: Series 3: Near the end of the difficulties

 

Big Brother: Approaching the final free-hanging pillar on Big Brother

 

Buford: Climbing the initial steep pillar on Buford; this pillar is shared between Bubba, Buford, and Ice Storm

 

Buford: Moving up the final overhanging smear of ice at the top of the route; the crux of the route is the traverse connecting the pillar of Bubba to the yellow drips on the right

 

Laceration: Tommy leading the steep ice smear of Laceration

 

Reunion: Tommy leads the thin lower face that leads to the cave

 

Reunion: After getting gear in the rock cave, Tommy climbs the crux column

 

Artificial Gravity: Tommy starts the crux pitch of Artificial Gravity; the pillar on the right side is Power Play

 

Artificial Gravity: At the top, the ice overhangs; the route finishes by mounting the free-hanging pillar to the right

 

Unknown: The free-hanging pillar is the crux of this route, although the unprotected climbing above is engaging

 

Not Likely: Series 1: Jeremy climbs Not Likely, an alternative finish to Lilith that climbs a free hanging dagger that drips from an off-width chimney

 

Not Likely: Series 2: Jeremy climbs Not Likely, an alternative finish to Lilith that climbs a free hanging dagger that drips from an off-width chimney

 

Not Likely: Series 3: Jeremy climbs Not Likely, an alternative finish to Lilith that climbs a free hanging dagger that drips from an off-width chimney

 

Not Likely: Series 4: Jeremy climbs Not Likely, an alternative finish to Lilith that climbs a free hanging dagger that drips from an off-width chimney

 

Not Likely: Series 5: Jeremy climbs Not Likely, an alternative finish to Lilith that climbs a free hanging dagger that drips from an off-width chimney

 

Not Likely: Series 6: Jeremy climbs Not Likely, an alternative finish to Lilith that climbs a free hanging dagger that drips from an off-width chimney

 

The Power Play wall with a few routes labeled

 

Rhiannon: The Big Brother wall in fat conditions; Big Brother is on the broken ice column on the left, Tommy is on Rhiannon, and Lilith is on the far right. On the orange wall just right of Tommy is the free-hanging column called Not Likely

 

Reunion: The cave is exited using an ice host that drips on the face to the left; the strip of ice on the right is Laceration

 

Power Play: Ade climbs the sketchy ice in the center section of Power Play

 

Runaway Jury: A nice face climb at the Courthouse

 

Geronimo: Climbing the initial offwidth

 

Birches at the base of Geronimo -- water color (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Life During Wartime: First free ascent of Life During Wartime, Echo Cliff

 

The now-famous Unit

 

Nipple Top from Elk Lake (Copyright © Jack Lawyer)

 

Staring out into space on the top of Sunrise Mountain near Elk Lake

 

The Fecalator: Working out the moves on The Fecalator

 

The Fecalator: Working out the moves on The Fecalator

 

The Fecalator: Working out the moves on The Fecalator

 

The Fecalator: Tommy belays Bones as he works the moves on The Fecalator

 

The Fecalator: Working out the moves on The Fecalator

 

The Fecalator: Tommy belays Bones as he works the moves on The Fecalator

The Fecalator: One-arm hang, attempting to rest

 

Lucky Stars: Jim on the first ascent of Lucky Stars (5.11R) at Good Luck Cliff

 

Columbus: Mike on the first ascent of a new route right of Cleveland, Good Luck Cliff

 

Lucky Stars: Bill making the route safer after the first ascent

Mystery Achievement: Will leading the beautiful 5.9 hand crack after a night of heavy partying

 

Lucky Stars: Bill cleans the route with a wire brush on rappel

 

Direct South Face: Topping out on the South Face route

 

Direct South Face: Simon and Lori at the belay on top of pitch 1; the lovely yellow lichen is characteristic of the south face

 

The south face of Gothics as seen from the summit of Pyramid

 

Direct South Face: The south face of Gothics as seen from the summit of Pyramid with the 3-pitch 5.9 route described

 

Left of Passage: Tom climbing around the chockstone on the direct start of Left of Passage

 

Jim at Heart Lake in 1978

 

There Be Dragons: Bones approaches the crux roof/corner

 

There Be Dragons: Stemming through the crux; one more move and he's got a sinker hand jam

 

Route of Opressive Power: Dennis leads the crux of the route while Jim belays

 

Route of Opressive Power: Dennis finally nails the crux and struggles with the hand jams above

 

Dad resting on a bridge near Avalanche Lean-to

 

Jim hiking in the mid 1970s

 

Dizzle showing off the singlet

 

Dizzle starts a lap

 

Earl hangs out at camp

Posing with Lori

 

Geriatric Profanity Disorder: Following up GPD in the fall

 

Apollo Tucker: Simon silhouetted against the sky on Apollo Tucker

Hooligans: Tad, following the second pitch of Hooligans, Hurricane Crag

 

The gang at the Winter camp, late 70's

 

Cheese and Crackers: Chris, following Cheese and Crackers, King Wall

 

Chronic Fixation: John near the second bolt of Chronic Fixation at the King Wall

 

Cheese and Crackers: Just past the crux on the fragile upper columns

 

Chronic Fixation: Chris warms up on one of the easier routes at the King Wall

 

Kingdom Come: Jim belays Chris who is following the second pitch; the traverse is hard, but made easier using chimney moves with your back

Kingdom Come: Jim climbs the first pitch (5.11c) of Kingdom Come; the route continues left, then climbs the broken arching rock rightwards to a belay

 

Kingdom Come: Closeup of Jim on the first pitch

 

Unexpected Pleasures: Leading the top section of Unexpected Pleasures on Knob Lock

 

Lock and Load: Don't Listen to your Friends (Copyright © Ade Miller)

 

Lock and Load: Ade leading on a cold day with brittle ice

 

Dr. Villarica's Rocket Polish: Martin leading the first ascent of Dr. Villarica's Rocket Polish

 

Dr. Villarica's Rocket Polish: Topping out on the crux in thin conditions

 

Topo of Lock Ness

 

Lock Ness

 

Lock and Load: Topo of Lock Ness

 

Lock and Load: Jim leading the first ascent of Lock and Load

 

Lock and Load: Jim leading the first ascent of Lock and Load

 

The Best Ice Route in the Philippines: Jim leading the first ascent of The Best Ice Route in the Philippines

 

Too Early: Simeon leading the first ascent of Too Early on the lower wall of Lock Ness

 

Camera Trouble: Jim leading in a snow storm on Camera Trouble on the upper wall of Lock Ness

 

Karen (of the Cliffhanger) preparing to climb at Lock Ness

 

Creation Of The World: Route description (and beta!) for Creation Of The World on Moss Cliff

 

Fear of Flying: Leading the offwidth 3rd pitch

 

Hard Times: High in the corner of the third pitch of Hard Times

 

Hard Times: Simeon at the top of the chimney pitch, belaying Simon

 

Crossing the river using a Tyrolean traverse

 

Falconer: Kevin doing a split at the crux of Falconer

 

Spirit of Adventure: Climbing the dramatic arete; this crux is moving onto the face (at the level of the gear in the photo), but the top is no giveaway

Creation of the World: Jeremy climbs the thin face past the bolt at the start (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: After placing gear in the corner, Jeremy prepares to layback (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: Jeremy places a piece of gear into the expanding flake above the bolt; this gear sucks, and he later removed it (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: After reaching a good hold for the left foot, Jeremy scopes the shallow corner for better protection (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: At the end of the traverse on the 2nd pitch (5.11a), finally able to place some better gear (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: Getting established in the hand crack at the end of the traverse on the second pitch (5.11a) (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: Climbing the fist-crack on the second pitch (5.11a) (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: Climbing the fist-crack on the second pitch (5.11a) (Copyright © Will Mayo)

Creation of the World: The crack turns to wide fists before becoming off-width just above (2nd pitch) (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: Approaching the hanging cedar on the 2nd pitch (5.11a) (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Creation of the World: Joe belays while Jim eats a granola bar (Copyright © Will Mayo)

 

Eagle Slab: Lucie and Jim on the Summit of Giant after climbing Eagle Slab

 

Pushing it, after 20 hours (Copyright © Jen Mattson)

 

On the final lap of the 24-hour race (Copyright © Jen Mattson)

 

Start of the "24-Hours in the Adirondacks" mountain bike race (Copyright © Jen Mattson)

 

Waiting at the transition area

 

Approaching the Palisades across the ice of Lake Champlain from the Vermont side

 

Drop, Swim, or Die: George and Joe scope out the route from Lake Champlain; the route is in especially fat conditions and is usually approached from the top via rappel

 

Drop, Swim, or Die: Climbing the crux column low on the route

 

Drop, Swim, or Die: The second crux climbs the ice above the climber through the constriction in the rock

 

Lake Champlain Monster: The leftmost route at The Palisades; the ice doesn't reach the bottom, thus the first ascent traversed in from the left; Will climbed a direct start on rock reaching the free-hanging pillars on the right side

 

Lake Champlain Monster: Jeremy checks out the ice with the "Monster" in the background

 

For The Birds: Jeremy scopes out the line from the lake; the first ascent of this route occurred earlier this same day

 

For The Birds: Jeremy climbs the initial ice bulge, using nuts on the right for protection

 

For The Birds: The crux of the first pitch is a thin ice column protected with rock gear on the sides

 

For The Birds: With the gear in place, the ice column can be safely climbed

 

For The Birds: Just above the belay, the climbing is secure, but the ice is melted out and sketchy

 

For The Birds: George does the third ascent in one long pitch while Jim and Joe watch

 

Here Come the Pigs: Tom leading the first ascent at Pharaoh Mt.

 

Tom posing at the base of his new route

 

Tres Amigos in the road at Poko

 

Freedom Flight: John high on the third pitch of Freedom Flight

 

Freedom Flight: John high on the third pitch of Freedom Flight

 

Goats Foot: Jim low down on Goats Foot, Poko (Copyright © Tad Welch)

 

Goats Foot: Close-up of Jim leading Goats Foot, Poko

Goats Foot: Jim leading Goats Foot, Poko

 

Goats Foot Left: Chris and Joe attempting a line left of Goat's Foot

Hidden Pique: Jim high in the Hidden Pique corner, Poko (Copyright © Simeon Warner)

Bushido: Thin steep ice on Bushido, Poko

 

Midlife Crisis: Joe leading the final column on Midlife Crisis during the second ground-up ascent

 

Waterfall: Will leading the Poko Waterfall in lean conditions

 

Positive Thinking: Positive Thinking, as seen from the road in fat conditions (Copyright © Simeon Warner)

 

Positive Thinking: Jim starting the first pitch of Positive Thinking, Poko

 

Positive Thinking: Jim high up in the hand crack of Positive Thinking, first pitch

Positive Thinking: Close-up of Jim high up in the hand crack of Positive Thinking, first pitch

 

Positive Thinking: Simon leading the second pitch of Positive Thinking, Poko

 

Run for your Life: Simeon leading on the upper tier of Poko

 

Bushido: John at the base of the Poko Waterfall

 

Joe with refreshments at the base of Cirrhosis

 

Son of Slime: Making the traverse on the first pitch of Son of Slime

 

Son of Slime: Close-up of Jim making the traverse on Son of Slime

 

Positive Thinking: Ade leading the first pitch of Positive Thinking in fat conditions

 

Positive Thinking: Ade leading the first pitch of Positive Thinking in fat conditions

 

Positive Thinking: Dave soloing the lower section of PT in fat conditions

 

Midlife Crisis: Leading the top column of Midlife Crisis in cold, brittle conditions (Copyright © Ade Miller)

Midlife Crisis: Leading the top column of Midlife Crisis in cold, brittle conditions (Copyright © Ade Miller)

 

Midlife Crisis: Leading the top crux column of Midlife Crisis in cold, brittle conditions (Copyright © Ade Miller)

 

Positive Thinking: Leading the third pitch of PT in thin conditions (Copyright © Ade Miller)

 

Positive Thinking: Positive thinking from the road; fat conditions

 

Positive Thinking: Simeon leading the second pitch

 

Stingray: Stingray, shown using the first pitch of PT

Waterfall: Tommy leading an ambitious line on the Waterfall with Katherine Snead

 

Waterfall: Tommy leading an ambitious line on the Waterfall with Katherine Snead

 

Legends contemplate the remaining work on the new routes near Pilgrim's Progress

 

Lori with her bandage

 

Legends at the base of Poko

 

Lori taped and ready to go

 

Pilgrim's Progress: Jim at the start of the second pitch (yes, those are bolts next to the crack; what you can't see is that the crack is really the left edge of an enormous arrowhead-shaped detached block)

 

Ancient of Days: Dennis halfway through the overhangs on the last pitch

 

Ancient of Days: Getting ready to pull through the exit moves on the last pitch

 

Ancient of Days: Just below the notch that breaks through the overhangs on the last pitch

 

Ancient of Days: Pulling through the final overhangs

 

Ancient of Days: About to pull through the final overhangs

 

Casual Observer: The death of my Nikon 28TI

 

Morning Star: Straining to pull the final layback move on Morning Star (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

Morning Star: The final pitch of Morning Star climbs a steep face to a layback finish around a bulge (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

Morning Star: Cleaning a nut on the second pitch (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

Thunderhead: Bones works his way out the roof on the second pitch

 

Thunderhead: Bones climbs through the crux on the second pitch; this picture was taken just prior to falling

 

Quitting early to help polish off one very large beer

 

Fastest Gun: At the top of the off-width section on the first pitch

 

Pilgrim's Progress: Jeremy follows the first pitch (5.10a) of Pilgrim's Progress

 

Moonshine: Joe places protection in a small cave before moving out onto crappy unconsolidated ice

 

Moonshine: A few tenuous moves get around the cave

 

Moonshine: Joe climbs the steeper ice; the crux is just above

 

Moonshine: Michelle casually follows Moonshine

 

Positive Thinking: A climber on the first pitch of Positive Thinking in super fat conditions

 

Dark Lord: Dark Lord in melt-out conditions at Poko's upper tier

 

Hold the Mayo: Hold the Mayo

 

Hold the Mayo: Will leading the start of P1, "Hold the Mayo" (WI5+ M6)

 

Hold the Mayo: Will resting on "Hold the Mayo"

 

Hold the Mayo: Will higher in the corner on "Hold the Mayo"

 

Hold the Mayo: Will finally reaches the ice dagger on "Hold the Mayo"

Hold the Mayo: Jim leading pitch 2 of "Hold the Mayo"

 

Fear of Frogs: Joe solo-aid climbing a route left of Hold the Mayo, Poko Upper Tier

 

Mechanical Hydraulic Control: Tom seconding the corner left of Fear of Gravity

 

Your Anus: Tom getting a rest after squeezing through the crux on Your Anus

The Jackal: Setting pro high before climbing the crux; The Jackal overhangs gently for most of its length

 

The Jackal: With higher gear, Joe moves into the crux once again

 

The Jackal: Laybacking through the crux

 

The Jackal: Joe resting before the crux moves on the Jackal

 

Dark Lord: The opening moves of Dark Lord clims ice under a roof, up into a corner, then onto a free-hanging pillar

 

Dark Lord: Starting up the steep middle section of the route

 

Dark Lord: The crux of the route climbs melted ice on black rock. The ice in the corner is shaded and therefore more solid than the ice on the face.

 

Fear of a Flat Planet: Jeremy leading the huge roof; after this roof, there's a perfect finger crack that leads one into the overhanging rock left-of-center in the photo

 

Double Diamond: Just before the meat of the climbing on Double Diamond

 

Double Diamond: Sinking the tips into the this layback crack

 

Double Diamond: Jeremy clips into gear in the thin crack

 

Double Diamond: Taking a rest on the left

Double Diamond: Climbing through the crux, Jeremy places more gear

Double Diamond: Grabbing the bucket past the crux

 

Double Diamond: Final moves to the anchor

 

Tom and Nona having dessert in the kitchen after a day of ice climbing

 

Fear and Loathing in Keene Valley: Series 1: Dennis climbs the initial intimidating wall

 

Fear and Loathing in Keene Valley: Series 2: Starting into the crux finger crack

Fear and Loathing in Keene Valley: Series 3: Struggling with the crux of the route

 

Fear and Loathing in Keene Valley: Full sequence of Dennis climbing Fear and Loathing in Keene Valley

 

Romano's Route: Don climbs the lower crux section of the route

 

Lucie painting at the Spider's Web

 

Eternity: Will traversing into the base of the Eternity crack; we bailed here due to wetness

 

Fear and Loathing in Keene Valley: Belaying at the base of the Web

 

Drop, Fly, or Die: Colin reaches for gear after the difficult traverse

 

Drop, Fly, or Die: Colin climbs the steep crack of Drop, Fly, or Die, belayed by Joe

 

It's Only Entertainment: About midway up the diagonal crack

It's Only Entertainment: Placing gear at midpoint on the diagonal crack

 

It's Only Entertainment: At the end of the diagonal crack; a couple of pieces here protect the crux left traverse

 

It's Only Entertainment: Halfway across the crux traverse

Ku Klux Ken: Awkard jams at the start of Ku Klux Ken

Ku Klux Ken: Chris powers through a couple strnuous moves

Ku Klux Ken: Pretty cool pinch hold

Ku Klux Ken: Laybacks near the top

 

Ku Klux Ken: A long reach; still not there yet

 

The Apology: On the traverse to the final ice smear

 

The Apology: Reaching the final ice smear after 80' of dry tooling

 

The Apology: The final moves up the ice after the traverse

 

Unknown: Just off the ground, Chris searches for his first placement

 

Unknown: Joe belays Chris as he attempts a new line

 

Unknown: Chris places the purple Camalot, the first piece of protection

 

Unknown: Scanning the rock for a possible line; after this point, Chris aborted the attempt

 

Where's Karen: Joe climbs the initial section of ice that leads to an overhanging crack; David sets up in the background to shoot The Apology

 

Jim and John on the way to Cragsmere

 

Lucie in the canoe near Cragsmere on Upper Chateaugay Lake

 

Diagonal: Kristy leading on the Diagonal on Wallface

 

Diagonal: Chris and Simon on the top of the ramp on the Diagonal, Wallface

 

Mental Blocks: Looking down from the roof pitch of Mental Blocks at Stuart, Roger, and Jim

 

Mental Blocks: Jim leading the third pitch of Mental Blocks, Wallface

 

Free Ride: Napping on Lunch Ledge, three pitches from the top

 

Free Ride: Moving into the first crux of the route on the first pitch; unfortunately, the business is right at the start of the route

 

Free Ride: At the belay on the Shield; these two pitches are some of the best face climbing in the northeast

 

Free Ride: Dennis leads pitch 4, the first Shield pitch

 

Free Ride: At the start of pitch 8, the "Endurance Corner"; the climbing here is very sustained, and the rock is a bit grainy

 

Free Ride: Resting about halfway through pitch 8

 

Free Ride: At the top of the cliff, the route traverses below a giant roof; a couple of hard [Houdini] moves, combined with awesome exposure, make this pitch a "must do"

 

Wallface, taken in the early morning from the viewpoint in Indian Pass

 

Free Ride: Close-up of the route Free Ride on Wallface

 

Free Ride: The route Free Ride on Wallface

Mental Blocks: Jim leading the second pitch of Mental Blocks, Wallface

 

Weekend Warrior: Shitty Choss Pile From Hell

Master Craft: Joe follows the steep initial pitch of Master Craft (led by Dennis unseen above)

 

Lucie painting at the Washbowl Cliff, below the route Flashdance

Wind Jammer: Unknown climber high on Wind Jammer, a perfect splitter crack

 

Polar Soldier: Tommy climbs the WI5 pillar on the left side of Polar Soldier

 

Polar Soldier: Tommy climbs the WI5 pillar on the left side of Polar Soldier

Yellow Pillars: Joe gets established after the traverse and prepares to climb the overhanging ice above

 

Yellow Pillars: Climbing into the steeper ice of the crux

 

Yellow Pillars: Overview showing Bombcicle and Yellow Pillars

Alabama Hills (map)

Leaping between boulders

Tons of rock, like J-Tree but without all the gorgeous desert plant life

Muffy: Easy face climbing on plates with cool orange lichen

Puzzling out the routes in the Corridor

Belaying in the Corridor

Pangborn: Starting up Pangborn, one of the longer routes at the Hills

Pangborn: Dancing up the face

Pangborn: Looking like an ant on the face, Tommy runs up the endless plates to the anchor

Call of the Canyon: Old school Tommy sport climbing…yeah boy!

Call of the Canyon: Resting at a good handhold

Call of the Canyon: Resting at a good handhold

Beautiful Alabama Hills

Hang 'Em High: Crimping at the start of Hang 'Em High

Hang 'Em High: More crimps through the crux

Hang 'Em High: Grabbing for a draw

Hang 'Em High: The route finishes in a crack

High Plains Drifter: Palming low down on the route (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

High Plains Drifter: Thin crimps at the crux (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

High Plains Drifter: Sweet face climbing with high steps (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Alimosa River Canyon (map)
 

Unknown: Looking down after the difficulties

 

Unknown: Climbing the perfect splitter hand crack

 

Unknown: Posing after the difficult initial hand crack

 

Parking in the boulder field in front of the crag

 

The "Upper Wall" of the Alimosa River Canyon

 

Making shadows at sunset

 

Tommy's truck parked next to a giant boulder

 

Gearing up for another crack climb

 

Unknown: Following an awesome hand crack

American Fork Canyon (map)
   

Sorry, no pictures available

Angel Falls (map)

Rapping the largest waterfall, Big Angel; there are a bunch of route possibilities here

Unknown: The easier line at Little Angel

Unknown: Going through a small, unprotected roof

Unknown: Clearing the roof

Preparing to climb Little Angel

Rapping Little Angel; we led two routes here, one directly under the rappeller, and one to the right

Annapolis Rocks (map)
   

Sorry, no pictures available

Appalachian Trail (map)
 

Appalachian Trail Conference

 

Tracy and Jim at the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail -- Springer Mountain

 

Tracy and Jim relaxing after a day of hiking; notice the paper towels, Sierra Club cups, and prototype Marmot bivy sacks

 

Posing for the camera somewhere in Georgia

 

Tracy and Pete crossing the Kennebec…naked

 

Jim and Tracy take a refreshing dip in Frye Brook (Copyright © Tracy Pierce)

 

Relaxing in New Hampshire

 

Reprovisioning in Tennessee

 

Tracy at camp somewhere in Tennessee; by this time, we ditched the bivys in place of a prototype Early Winters single-wall Gortex tent

 

Tracy carrying a monster load in a Trailwise frame pack, somewhere in the deep south

Taking pictures in Vermont

 

lean-to somewhere in Vermont

 

Tired boy in Virginia

 

This is what happens with lots of exercise and insufficient calories

 

We hiked the Appalachian Trail when I was 15

Arapiles (Australia) (map)
 

Travels in Oz

 

View of Arapiles from a distance

 

Watch out for Kangaroos

 

A stumpy in the campground

 

Resignation: Ade leading the first pitch of Resignation

 

Bard Buttress in the early morning light

Bouldering in the early morning light

 

Kangaroo bouncing around beneath the Bard

Resignation: Jim leading steep rock on Resignation

 

Resignation: Ade and Martin at the belay on Resignation

Resignation: Martin at a belay on Resignation

 

Resignation: Ade following the second pitch of Resignation

 

Street life in Natimuk

 

Didgeridoo: Ade leading the first pitch of Didgeridoo

 

Organ Pipes in the early morning light

 

Tanin: Leading the top pitch of Tanin

 

Lamplighter: Ade following the last pitch of Lamplighter

Lamplighter: Jim and Martin at the top of the Pharos after completing Lamplighter

 

Lamplighter: Ade rapping off the Pharos after completing Lamplighter

 

Arachnus: Ade following the top pitch of Arachnus

Arachnus: Martin at the third belay of Arachnus

 

Chinese Algebra: Jim at the crux of Chinese Algebra, one of the hardest routes we did at Arapiles

 

Voodoo: Margin leading Voodoo

Arches (map)

Lots of arches, seen from the road

Navajo Arch, got to hike to see this one

Another cool arch, also have to hike to see it

Roadside rock, all balanced and stuff

Scene of the "incident"; cool arch, too many people (had to photoshop them out)

Jumble of redish rocks called the Fiery Furnace; pretty cool

Big span, amazing this is still standing

Arco (Italy) (map)
 

Lunch in the olive grove near the base of the routes

 

Hanging out at the cliffs near Nago

 

Riva Del Garda

 

Extensive limestone cliffs at Nago

 

Thin curved house in Nago

 

Narrow streets in Nago

 

Equinox: Sport climbing on great limestone

Avalanche Gulch (map)
 

The Fire Spire: Colin follows the first pitch, belayed from above by Tom, just before a major storm hit

 

The Fire Spire: Tommy and Colin gearing up at the base of the spire

 

The Fire Spire: Tom leading the first pitch of the spire

Bangkok (Thailand) (map)
 

People waiting for the bus in Bangkok

Batangas (Philippines) (map)
 

Martin and Lucie on the dive boat

 

Filipino children

Beartooth Mountains (map)
 

East Ridge: Tom hiking towards the Bear's Tooth

 

East Ridge: The Bear's Tooth, up close and personal after 9 miles of approach

 

East Ridge: Tom on the 4th class slabs just below the south face of the Bear's Tooth spire

Beaver Creek (map)
 

The Touareg in use -- early morning at the camp spot in Beaver Creek

 

The Eye of the Needle formation, just right of center

 

Batteries Not Included: Belaying Tommy on P1, enjoying the first sun in days (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

Batteries Not Included: Rappelling through the "eye" of the needle at the top of Batteries Not Included (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Batteries Not Included: Rappelling through the "eye" of the needle at the top of Batteries Not Included (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

Batteries Not Included: Gearing up at the base of the route

 

Fording the stream to get to the Eye of the Needle formation; very cold

 

Batteries Not Included: Tom leading P1, slightly off route. The "eye" after which the formation is named is visible above him.

 

Batteries Not Included: Colin and Tommy at the belay in front of the "eye"

Batteries Not Included: Colin follows P1 of Batteries Not Included; crisp limestone

 

Batteries Not Included: Colin follows P1 of Batteries Not Included; crisp limestone

 

Batteries Not Included: Colin rappels through the "eye"

 

The Eye of the Needle formation

Ben Nevis (Scotland) (map)
 

The Ben as seen from the CIC hut (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Climbers gearing up at the CIC hut; Jim is the tall one in the orange top (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

On the approach to the CIC hut (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

The Ben, as seen from about half way on the approach. Too bad you can't drive up this far. (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

The Ben as seeon from the approach (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Gear explosion in our tiny room above a pub in Fort William (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Pretty river on the Ben (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Lots of routes here - the Buachaille Etive Mor (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Lots of routes here - the Buachaille Etive Mor (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

Descending the Ben toward the Red Burn area

 

Point Five Gully: Eric in a mess of ropes after topping out

 

Point Five Gully: Standing on the summit plateau after topping out

 

Point Five Gully: A view of Point Five Gully on the approach. The route follows the obvious deep gully on the left.

 

Point Five Gully: Jim on the steep snow fields on the approach to the base of the route. Our ascent was the first for the year, so we were breaking trail. (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Point Five Gully: Leading the first pitch, which was a friable crust over rock (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Point Five Gully: Unknown Italian climbers attempting to pass (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Point Five Gully: Self portrait of Eric, cold and unhappy, but loving life (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Point Five Gully: The final belay before topping out (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

Point Five Gully: Breaking through the cornice onto the flat summit plateau (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Point Five Gully: White out on the summit; Jim is the tall person on the right (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Point Five Gully: Eric standing next to the emergency shelter (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

Descending off the summit through intermetent white out (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Descending from the col back into the valley (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Descending from the col back into the valley (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Descending from the col back into the valley (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

View of the Ben while descending from the summit (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

View of the Ben while descending from the summit (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Approaching the CIC hut after the descent; things starting to clear up (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

A view of the mountains on the drive up from Glasgow (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

Bishop Creek (map)

Unknown: Pretty much the only boulder we could climb; we suck

Shredded hands from 31 straight days of climbing

West Face: Slab at the top of P3

West Face: Nearing the top of P3, Lake Sabrina in the background

West Face: Leading P4 in the rain

West Face: View of the Bishop Creek valley from the top of P1

Cardinal Pinnacle, as seen from the dirt road on the other side of the valley

West Face: In a warm puffy jacket at the P2 belay, Aspendell in the background; the vansion is parked in the pullout on the road above Colin's head

Black Canyon (map)
 

Scenic Cruise: Jim's beta for Scenic Cruise

 

The view downstream from North Chasm View

 

Russian Arete: Looking upstream from Russian Arete, near the bottom

 

Russian Arete: Looking upstream from Russian Arete, near the bottom

 

Russian Arete: Looking upstream from Russian Arete, near the top of the route

 

Russian Arete: Chris at the bottom of the route

Blacktail Butte (map)

Inconceivable: Avoiding the snow in the high country, we retreated to Blacktail Butte and climbed a couple routes (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

Inconceivable: Steep, polished limestone at Blacktail Butte (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Blue Cloud Spires (map)

Rocks littering the field near our camp site

 

Our camp spot next to large boulders. Too bad there's ticks.

 

Cows graze nearby our camp site

 

Scoping out the topouts of the routes on Elk Rock (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Rock hoping around the top of Elk Rock

 

Colin on top of large boulder

 

Awesome views off the back side of Elk Rock

 

Book of Payne: Tommy climbs the excellent corner crack on the Jedi Wall

 

Unknown: Good, well protected climbing at the "top rope area"; at least it's out of the wind. (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

The Road Goes On Forever: Super fun climbing on a freezing cold day (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

The Road Goes On Forever: Super fun climbing on a freezing cold day (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

The Road Goes On Forever: Super fun climbing on a freezing cold day (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

The Road Goes On Forever: Super fun climbing on a freezing cold day (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

The Road Goes On Forever: Super fun climbing on a freezing cold day (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

The Road Goes On Forever: Super fun climbing on a freezing cold day (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

Rat King: Big buckets on steep rock, but piggin' cold (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Rat King: Big buckets on steep rock, but piggin' cold (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Boracay (Philippines) (map)
 

Sitting in a tree above the ocean after emerging from Crystal Cave

Lucie being blown by the wind at sunset (she's actually doing a handspring)

 

Martin and Eric are comfortable with their naked-ness

 

Sunset at Puka Beach; for some reason, this beach seems always empty

Pretty sailboat and men repainting a boat hull at low tide

Boulder Canyon (map)
 

Climbing Boulder

 

Unknown: Fanni belays Adrian on some route; Adrian is about to make the crux moves

British Virgin Islands (Caribbean) (map)
 

Lucie and Jim on the boat somewhere in the Caribbean

 

Murray in his element, sailing in the British Virgin Islands

 

Murray and Kyoko on the boat

Castle Rocks (map)

Hanging out in the van at a City of Rocks campsite

Store in Almo

Hiking around Castle Rock

Red Rib: Starting out on Red Rib, which I thought was pretty hard for the grade

South face of Castle Rock

Pretty rainbow during one of the frequent showers

Mantel Dynamics: The most over bolted route on the planet, we had to back clean draws to make it to the top

Comp Rock, the other "big" rock at Castle Rocks

Comp Rock again, named for a rock climbing competition that occurred here

Sleeping under an overhanging wall, waiting out the rain

Castle Valley (map)
 

Climbing Moab

 

Utah Climbers

 

A labeled view of the Rectory and other towers from Castleton Tower

 

North Face: Casey climbs the sustained big-hands crack on the first pitch; the route climbs through the roof above, then underclings right on slippery calcite

 

North Face: Looking up from the second belay, Casey climbs the first off-width section on the third pitch

 

A view of the north face of Castleton Tower; the North Chimney climbs the depression on the sunny side of the tower

 

View of the Rectory as seen from Castleton Tower

 

Closeup view of the Rectory as seen from Castleton Tower

 

North Face: Jim and Casey pose at the top of Castleton Tower after climbing the North Face

 

A view of the north face of Castleton Tower

 

Castleton Tower, the Rectory, The Nuns, and The Priest as seen from the parking area

 

North Face: A topo of the North Face of Castleton Tower

 

North Face: Looking down from the crux of the second pitch at Casey who is belaying below

 

Colin prepares to descend after bailing on Jah Man due to high winds

Cathedral Ledge (map)
 

Diedre: Popping veins

 

Dresden: Reaching for the upper crack in Dresden; the climb ascents Nutcracker for a bit, then moves leftwards into the crux Dresden crack

Catskills (map)
 

Coal Kill Falls: The only easy route in the Kitchen

 

Boney hanging out in the Kitchen

Mephisto Waltz: Bones dances up the wet and drippy Mephisto Waltz

 

The Window: Joe climbs steep ice on "The Window"

 

The Window: Climbing the upper ice above the window; the route "The Advocate" is the yellow column to his left

 

Gomorrah: At the start of the route in brilliant sunshine

 

Gomorrah: High in the corner; you can see the bolts protecting the route (!?!?)

 

Some routes in the Hell Hole

Central Cordillera (Philippines) (map)
 

View of fish stand, laundry, and woman with child, taken from the top of the jeepney as we passed through the town of Banaue on our way to Batad

 

View of a sea of tricycles taken from the top of the jeepney as we passed through the town of Banaue on our way to Batad

 

Have scotch will travel -- this is the jeepney we hired to travel from Banaue to Sagada

 

Driver that took us to Sagada

Rice terraces between Banga-an and Tanulong

The jeepney on the way to Batad became stuck, so we all grabbed our stuff and continued on foot

 

Rice terraces, traditional houses, and a carabao in the town of Batad

 

Lucie in front of a traditional Ifugao house in the town of Batad

 

Rice terraces and some traditional huts in Batad; we passed this on our way to Tapplya Waterfall

 

Sitting at Simon's, looking out over the rugged Batad valley and its rice terraces

View of the rugged Batad valley and its rice terraces

Emiliano working on a bulul carving

 

Exploring the rice terraces near town

 

To prepare the rice patty, a woman pulls weeks, then pushes them deep into the mud to rot

 

Clear water pounds over the waterfall; the ferns on the rock walls of the amphitheatre undulated from the wind created by the falling water

 

Black Bishop

 

Black Bishop

 

Black King

 

Black King

 

Black Kinght

 

Black Kinght

 

Black Pawn

 

Black Pawn

 

Black Queen

 

Black Queen

 

Black Rook

 

Chess set

 

Chess set

 

Chess set

 

White Bishop

 

White Bishop

 

White King

 

White King

 

White Knight

 

White Knight

 

White Pawn

 

White Pawn

 

White Queen

 

White Queen

 

White Rook

 

Chess set

 

The kamagong chess set

 

Street stall selling chickens and other raw meats

 

A group of people decide to butcher their carabao using one lane of the road

 

The entrance to Lumiang Cave, stuffed with over 100 coffins, some of which are more than 500 years old

 

Unknown: We regretted not bringing our rock gear to Sagada, as there is plenty of interesting limestone towers to climb, like this one in Echo Valley

View of coffins hanging on a cliff face in Echo Valley

View of coffins hanging on a cliff face in Echo Valley

 

Unhappy carabao

Lucie plants rice with Gloria, a native of Tanulong

A man and his grandson take a break from working in the rice terraces

A man turns up the soil in a rice patty using a carabao (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Cerru Del Canjorro (Spain) (map)
 

Desnivel -- Lists of climbing areas in Spain

 

Hiking through olive groves to the crag

 

Cordura Dura: Jen climbs a warmup route at a hidden crag near Yaén

 

La Ley Del Deseo: Jen climbs a sandbag route in the late afternoon light; there's no way this route is 6b

Chamonix (France) (map)
 

The private climbing gym at the alpine school; an awesome place to spend a snowy afternoon

 

Mike and Laurv in Servoz where we stayed

 

Crappy photo of Mt. Blanc, the only view of the mountain we had during our 2-week trip

On our last day, the sky cleared enough for us to see the surrounding peaks

 

The alpinism school in Chamonix

 

The headquarters for all that is alpine

Charlevoix-Est (Canada) (map)
 

La Pomme D'or: La Pomme d'Or

 

La Pomme D'or: View of the route on the approach

 

La Pomme D'or: Will simul-climbing the first two pitches

 

La Pomme D'or: Will leading the 4th pitch

 

La Pomme D'or: Looking up at the 4th pitch with a cool mixed chimney on the left

La Pomme D'or: Will following the crux 5th pitch

 

La Pomme D'or: Will leading the 6th pitch

 

La Pomme D'or: Roland's sled from hell

La Pomme D'or: Will leading the 7th pitch

Chilliwack (Canada) (map)
 

South-West Ridge, North Nesakwatch Spire: Pulling up to the ledge at the end of the second pitch

 

South-West Ridge, North Nesakwatch Spire: Leading the cracks on the headwall on the seventh pitch

 

Approaching the talus basin on Mt. Rexford

 

Preparing to leave for Mt. Rexford early in the morning

 

South-West Ridge, North Nesakwatch Spire: On the summit of North Nesakwatch Spire

 

West Ridge, Mt. Rexford: On the summit of Mt. Rexford, looking west

 

Looking down at the Nesakwatch Spires from the summit of Mt. Rexford

 

Rexford mountain range with labels, taken from the bivy on the Northeast Buttress of Mt. Slesse

 

Northeast Buttress: Story written about our climb on the Northeast Buttress of Slesse

 

Northeast Buttress: Simon at the bivy on Slesse

 

Northeast Buttress: Evening sun over the Illusion Peaks, Nesakwatch Spires, and Mt. Rexford

 

Northeast Buttress: Triumph on Slesse with Simon's glasses half eaten by rats

 

Slesse panorama with labels; taken from the summit of Mt. Rexford

Chilliwack mountains

Northeast Buttress: The summit of Mt. Slesse as seen from the east

Chimborazo (Ecuador) (map)
 

Whymper's Route (South-West Ridge): Summit of Chimborazo, 6310m

Lucie, modeling above 16,000 feet

City of Rocks (map)

Animal Cracker: Tommy shows his stuff at the start of Animal Cracker

 

Animal Cracker: Tommy approaches the offwidth section

Colossus: Moving through the initial bulge on big jugs

 

Colossus: Chalking up at the initial bulge; this section is pretty easy because of the large holds…the crux is moving through the hueco near the top of the route

 

Bumblie Takes a Tumblie: Bev lowers from the anchors with colorful fall foliage in the background

 

New York Is Not The City: Climbing nice patina holds at the top of the route

New York Is Not The City: Crimpy changeover in order to make the clip

 

New York Is Not The City: Reach for the jug

 

Terror in Tiny Town: The start of the route is the mental crux, as one has to layback up the arete on small holds (protected by an RP), shooting for the obvious pocket, clip a bolt on the left, then make long reaches up the arete to better holds

Terror in Tiny Town: Jim grabs the better holds at the start of the route; the technical crux lies above

 

Beverly, at breakfast, makes assignments for the day

 

Camp at the City

 

Lucie cooks yummy chicken stew at camp

 

Lucie has an art show at camp

 

Relaxing at camp talking about the upcoming '04 election

Tommy and Michelle drinking…how about a beer?

 

The Pygmies Got Stoned: Tommy and Michelle show off their hair

 

The Pygmies Got Stoned: Contemplating the next move

 

Quest For Fire: Laybacking and stemming up the side of the hueco allows one to reach a high jug

 

Morning Glory: Michelle makes the weird crimpy layback with the palm dyno at the end of the second pitch

 

Lucie paints the colorful foliage near Parking Lot Rock

Michelle and Beverly hike into the area behind Parking Lot Rock

 

Delay of Game: Our first route at the City -- a casual face climb up a rib of rock

 

Tow Away Zone: Michelle does a split at the crux

Sabbatical: Tommy belays Jim on Sabbatical

 

Looking out towards the Sisters from the top of Redtail on Rabbit Rock

 

Redtail: The crux of the route is moving past the first bolt, shown here

 

Redtail: Getting established just past the crux after the first bolt

 

Redtail: Michelle reaches the top of Redtail

 

Looker: Michelle clips a bolt

Looker: Crimpy holds on Looker

 

I can't Believe It: Michelle traverses 30' into the start of the route while John and Andrew spot

 

South Creek as seen from Flaming Rock; Bumblie Rock is just right of center

South Creek as seen from Flaming Rock; Bumblie Rock is right of center and Slabbage Patch is left of center

Intruding Dike: Tommy and Michelle climbing in the cold morning wind

Cochiti Mesa (map)

View from our van, parked on the road that traverses the top of Cochiti Mesa

Wandering around in the rain, which happened every day of our trip (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Colin sketches in the van waiting out the rain (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Finally the sun; we ran out and climbed a few routes before dark

Open Mouth Syndrome: Perplexed by a sea of pockets at the start of the route

Open Mouth Syndrome: Typical pocket at Cochiti

Open Mouth Syndrome: Typical pocket at Cochiti

The Prow: Sending the super-overhanging Prow

View from the descent to the South Cliffband

The Prow: Pulling the crux on big jugs

View from the Vista Point Overlook

Cody (map)
 

COLDFEAR -- Conditions in Cody

 

First Ascent Press -- Source for the guidebook to the area

 

From the end of Hunter Creek Road, we approached Mean Green and other routes in the Majo Ranch area

 

Mean Green: Jim climbs the first pitch (WI4) of Mean Green, belayed by Tommy; the second pitch can be seen above

 

Mean Green: Joe climbs the third pitch of Mean Green (WI4); the pitches here are separated by several hundred meters of easy scrambling up the drainage

Mean Green: Joe climbs the crux pitch of Mean Green (WI5), belayed by Tommy

 

Mean Green: The route Mean Green as seen from the approach gully

Cogne (Italy) (map)
 

We climbed this route despite that it was falling apart around us

 

The busy ski town of Cormeyeur; very pretty, but very busy

Coire An Lochain (Scotland) (map)
 

A helicopter lowers a person to the ridge during training exercises

 

Danger sign at the top of the cliff

 

Jet Stream: Eric traversing left to the belay at the top of P1

Colorado National Monument (map)

A lizard we saw on the hike out

Another lizard we saw on the hike out

Lots of towers as seen from the road near the visitor's center

Pipe Organ Spire (left) and Organ Pipe Spire

Kissing Couple, as seen from the top of Indepdence Monument

We nearly walked into some sheep on the way out…really!

Otto's Route: Starting up the third pitch easy chimney

Otto's Route: Pulling the final move onto the summit

Otto's Route: The final rappel off Independence Monument

Otto's Route: At the belay below the summit

Independence Monument as seen from the rim; the Kissing Couple is to the left, Rainbow Tower behind, and Grand View Spire to the right

Independence Monument as seen from the approach trail; looks narrow and overhanging from this angle

Otto's Route: A nice spot at the belay at the top of the second pitch (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Otto's Route: The fourth pitch face climb, made easy by the drilled stances (thanks Otto) (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Otto's Route: Bomber anchor in sandstone

Otto's Route: Nice to see our president getting out

Otto's Route: Colin's signature in the summit register

Otto's Route: Some goodies we found in the summit register box

Otto's Route: Massive runout up to the capstone

Otto's Route: Ahhhh…protection; notice the drilled stances up the face above him

Otto's Route: Hard pulling over the overhang leads to a good ledge and fixed anchor

Otto's Route: Woo hoo

Otto's Route: Starting up the first pitch of Otto's Route

Columbus (map)
 

Tom showing off his new hand plane

 

Tommy and Joe wait for their laundry

 

The "Mother Ship" in the early morning light

 

Returning to the "Mother Ship" after a day climbing

 

Chowing down in the "Mother Ship"

 

Tommy's fine craftmanship on display in the center of his 18-sided house

 

The "Mother Ship" is a cordwood masonery house made using wood cut from forest service land in East Rosebud Canyon

Tommy happy out on the range

 

Tommy's new project -- a 10x20 barn

 

Entry way sign welcoming Nona, his wife

Colin trying to look all buff and stuff

 

Inside of the Mother Ship

Another view inside the Mother Ship

 

Awesome Montana sky

 

Overview of Tommy's compound

Cordillera Real (Bolivia) (map)
 

Driver's helper; this young boy taught us how to chew cocoa leaves

Southwest Face, Normal Route: High camp

 

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Suiting up for the glacier to high camp

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Llamas carrying gear to base camp at Laguna Negra

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Illampu (6368m) in Bolivia, taken from high on the ridge on Ancohuma (Copyright © Chris Wurster)

 

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Arrival in Cocoyo

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Establishing base camp

Southwest Face, Normal Route: View of mountains from base camp

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Ancohuma (6427m) From Camp I. The climbing route we attempted ascends the ice fall to the rght of the picture onto the glacial plateau above.

Southwest Face, Normal Route: A view of Ancohuma (6427m) from high camp at 5600m. The climbing route we attempted crosses the glacial cirque towards the peak, then traverses right to a snowy ramp that is climbed to a plateau. From the plateau, the route turns left traversing to the base of a steep face, which is ascended up to the summit ridge, which is followed to the top. (Copyright © Simeon Warner)

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Enjoying the sunset at Camp I (Copyright © Simeon Warner)

 

Southwest Face, Normal Route: One of the boys we hired to drive the llamas

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Llamas carry gear to/from base camp

 

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Martin in front of his tent at Camp II

 

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Simon wanders up the glacier between Camp I and II (Copyright © Simeon Warner)

Southwest Face, Normal Route: Camp II at sunset; everyone has already gone to bed in preparation for the climb (Copyright © Simeon Warner)

 

Chris showing a map to some kids

 

Unloading the truck in Cocoyo

 

Eric on the approach to base camp

Three girls in Cocoyo

Expedition photo taken by a local in the town of Cocoyo (taken during the trek back from base camp to Sorata)

A family peels a field of potatos

 

Street life in La Paz

 

A disorganized web of wires above the street

 

Women in traditional dress on the streets of La Paz

Lucie doing some cleaning at base camp

 

Looking east over an alpine lake at an impressive granite face

 

Travel to Sorata

Costa Blanca (Spain) (map)
 

Desnivel -- Lists of climbing areas in Spain

 

ROCKFAX web site

 

Calpe and the Peńon, home to many long routes at Costa Blanca

 

Diedro Magicos: Ian roping up at the base of the route

 

Diedro Magicos: Ian starting out the fourth pitch

 

The Puig Campana from Finestrat

 

The Puig Campana from Finestrat

 

Diedro Magicos: Showing the route of Diedro Magicos

 

Y tú żQuién eres?: Ben following yet another bolted 6a at Sector Concepción

 

Looking east from the summit of the Divinio, showing the lower Sella valley and the Mediterranean Sea beyond

 

The hermitage at the top of the hill above the village of Sella

 

El Gran Coscorrón: Ian posing on another 6a+

 

Ojo de Odra: Clipping the first bolt; the route continues out the mouth of the cave at 6c

 

Looking down onto the village of Sella

 

The street near our house; you can see the cliffs of Sella (Badall de Tafarmaig, Galera de Tafarmach, El Collado, and Pared de Rosalía)

 

Looking towards the cliffs from the main square; Bar Paco is closed

 

The village of Sella with the Puig Campana in the background

 

View of the climbing areas of Sella from the village of Sella (the graveyard is on the hill on the right)

 

The cliffs of Sella

 

The village of Sella with the Puig Campana in the background

 

More cliffs of Sella (Badall de Tafarmaig, Galera de Tafarmach, El Collado, and Pared de Rosalía)

 

Jim and John hiking near Sella

 

Sea cliffs along the Sierra de Toix

 

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: Ian and Lucie at the top of the cliff after finishing the route

 

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: Fred traversing on the first pitch

 

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: Ian starting out from the belay on the third pitch

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: Ben completing the traverse on the third pitch

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: Ian and Ben at the belay at the end of the third pitch

 

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: Ian starting the fifth pitch; too hot for shoes

 

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: Ben and Fred enjoying the sun at the top of the fourth pitch

 

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: The whole crew, after completing the route

 

Rowland's Magical Mystery Tour: Getting read to rap down to the base of the routes by the sea; notice the collection of Wild Country #3 rocks used for the ENP casings

Cotopaxi (Ecuador) (map)
 

Normal Route: Leaving the drop-off point for the hike to the Whymper Refugio (Copyright © Ali Schultheis)

Crawford Notch (map)
 

North East Ice

 

Dracula: High on Dracula in thin conditions

Cuenca (Spain) (map)
 

Desnivel -- Lists of climbing areas in Spain

 

Houses built over the cliff in the old section of Cuenca

 

View of the cliffs of Cuenca

 

Alfarzar-1: Yet another limestone face climb in Cuenca

 

Sudor y Sangre: Climbing a beautiful orange corner system

Sudor y Sangre: Climbing a beautiful orange corner system

 

Lucie shows off her painting

 

Monte De Venus: Jen pulls the high crux through the bulge near the top of the route

 

Monte De Venus: Picturesque climbing near the start of the route

Cuzco (Peru) (map)
 

Arriving at the airport in Cuzco

 

Entering a local restaurant in Cuzco (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Simeon and Lucie on the train to Aguas Calientes

 

Lesson in useful Spanish phrases (Copyright © Unknown)

Approaching Abra de Warmiwańusqa (Dead Woman Pass) at 4200m, a porter struggles under an enormous load of gear that tourists refuse to carry; this is the highest point on the Inca Trail

 

The gang poses on the Inca Trail

Machu Picchu in the early morning

 

Lucie hiking on the Inca Trail (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Group on day 3 of the Inca Trail (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Precise stonework at Machu Picchu

 

Lucie in front of some fancy Inca stonework

 

The group poses in front of an Inca wall

Denali National Park (map)
 

Expedition boys before leaving for Talkeetna

Denali from Foraker base camp

 

Southeast Ridge: Sitting around base camp

Southeast Ridge: Arriving at base camp

 

Southeast Ridge: Fiddling with gear at base camp

 

Southeast Ridge: Setting up a belay on the Southeast Ridge

 

Southeast Ridge: Mark, low down on the ridge

 

Mt. Foraker as seen from the Kahiltna glacier

Foraker as seen from the Kahiltna glacier

 

Shuttle that takes climbers between Anchorage and Talkeetna

 

In the airplane waiting for takeoff

Devil's Tower (map)
 

Reading the register on the summit.

Awesome Devil's Tower

 

Awesome Devil's Tower

 

Awesome Devil's Tower

 

Getting up early to hit the Tower

 

Cool camp setup, perfect because it rained every day for 3 weeks

 

Solar: Leaving the P1 belay and starting up P2

Solar: Excellent corner jamming on P2

 

Solar: Finally, a break in the jamming

 

Reading the guidebook, scoping out routes (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

Tulgey Wood: At the top of the first pitch (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

El Matador: Climbers on the famous P2 of El Matador. The woman following was barely able to make the stem.

El Matador: Climbers on the famous P2 of El Matador. The woman following was barely able to make the stem.

 

Colin at the top of P1 of El Matador. We decided to bail here.

Dolomites (Italy) (map)
 

Travels with Johnny

 

John steals pillow cases to carry his gear

 

South-West Corner, "Trenker": John on a typical Dolomites ledge

 

South-West Corner, "Trenker": John following a pitch low in the corner

Sassolungo towers from the height of the pass near the Sella towers

 

North-West Arete, "Kasnakoff": John on the South Face of the first Sella Tower

 

Jim descending the Sella Towers

 

John descending in the Sella Towers

 

The streets of Trento

 

The streets of Trento

 

South-West Arete "Delagokante": Close-up of John nearing the second belay on the South-West Arete of Delago Tower

South-West Arete "Delagokante": John nearing the second belay on the South-West Arete of Delago Tower

 

South-West Arete "Delagokante": John climbing on the arete

 

John scrambling near the Vajolet Towers

Dragoon Mountains (map)
 

Tuscon Climber's Association

The Hands formation in the late afternoon light

 

View of the Dragoons from the west, with views of Whale Dome, Westworld Dome, Squaretop, and Rockfellow Group

View of the Dragoons from the west, with views of Whale Dome, Westworld Dome, Squaretop, and Rockfellow Group

 

Labeled view of the Dragoons from the west, with views of Whale Dome, Westworld Dome, Squaretop, and Rockfellow Group

Warpaint: Dennis leading the third pitch of Warpaint; this part is about 5.9

 

"Elsie the Cow" formation, named for obvious reasons

 

Warpaint: The second pitch (5.8) of Warpaint (the only easy pitch on the route)

 

Warpaint: Looking down at Jim (top of P2) and Eric (top of P3) from the middle of the fourth pitch (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

Warpaint: Jim leading from the belay on the fifth pitch of Warpaint; the crux of this pitch is just before the photo was taken (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

Moby Dick: Jim and Dennis hanging out on the summit of Whale Dome after completing the ascent

 

Moby Dick: The Whale Dome with the route Moby Dick labeled

 

Moby Dick: Dennis leads the 5.8 cracks on the first pitch of Moby Dick

 

Moby Dick: Eric and Jim hanging out at the belay at the top of the fourth pitch

 

Moby Dick: Shadow puppets on the summit of Whale Dome

 

Whale Dome, as seen from Westworld Dome

East Rosebud (map)
 

First Ascent Press -- Source for the guidebook to the area

 

The Ramp: Topping out on The Ramp -- the top of the 5.9 variation on pitch 5

 

The Ramp: At the top of the first pitch of The Ramp

 

California Ice: Route description for California Ice

 

California Ice: The first two pitches of the route -- each a rope-stretching 200 feet -- ascend this massive piece of ice

 

California Ice: The lower section of the route as seen from the descent gully

 

The East Rosebud canyon; there's a beautiful 5.10 route up the prow just left of center starting from the tree ledge

 

The East Rosebud Lake as seen from "The Hump" on the East Rosebud - Cooke City Trail; just past this hump is the drainage for California Ice

California Ice: Starting the first pitch (WI4) of California Ice

 

California Ice: The third pitch (WI3) goes to the right of the cave and up to easier ice

 

California Ice: Joe climbs easy ice in the drainage below California Ice; we climbed about 2000' of easy ice to get to the base of the route

 

California Ice: Around the final bend in the drainage we can finally see the main ice flow -- 400' of WI4 ice

 

California Ice: Joe looks glum on the descent

California Ice: Joe climbs the second pitch (WI4) in a snow squal

 

Sand Dune Falls: Tommy and Joe take a rest at the base of Sand Dune Falls; unfortunately, the bottom portion of the route was missing -- she no go

Returning from a failed attempt at Sand Dune Falls

El Chorro (Spain) (map)
 

Desnivel -- Lists of climbing areas in Spain

 

Escalopendra Guajani: Climber pulls the roof at the end of the first pitch (6a)

 

Engendro Caneki: Jen climbs a difficult face with "flaky jugs"

 

Lucie and Jen laugh it up at the base of the crag; Mike in the background

 

Lucie sketches at El Chorro

El Potrero Chico (Mexico) (map)
 

View of the cliffs from the camp site

 

John calls home

 

Mini Super El Toro

 

Lucie, Simon, and John cooking

 

Lucie and John planning an excursion in town

 

El Cielo Rey from high up on the Outrage Wall

 

Aguja Cielo Rey: Simon rapping off the second spire

 

Aguja Cielo Rey: John at the first belay of Aguja Cielo Rey

 

Snott Girlz: Simon leading high on Snot Girlz

 

El Diablos Path: Jim at the third belay of El Diablos Path

El Rito (map)

View of the conglomerate as seen from the road

A scary self portrait (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Approaching in the rain, of course

Our campsite at El Rito; cows roamed around our van at night

 

Boltaneer: High on Boltaneer

Boltaneer: In a sea of knobs and cookie-chip chunks

Boltaneer: Amazing jugs where cobbles used to be

Boltaneer: A super juggy and high-quality route

Blackballed: Jug pulling on a steep, beautiful wall (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

El Rito, Pirates Wall, as seen from the road

Elbsandstein (Germany) (map)
 

By the end of the trip, Rayko's tips were bleeding

 

Ring for protection and belays

 

A route book; every tower has one of these

 

An open route book

 

Standing in front of the second Bergsport Arnold store, this one in Bad Schandau

 

Trolly car ferries tourists from Bad Schandau up the valley to the trailheads

 

Twin towers; we climbed the tower on the left

 

Unknown climber peering down from the top of a neighboring tower

 

Climbers dot the various towers in the Bielatal region

 

Climbers dot the various towers in the Bielatal region

 

Giant rappel rings; the flat spot on the top is so that you can clip a caribiner to it

 

Nordwestweg: Bomber thread

 

A climber on a difficult route (you can just make out his red pants on the upper left side)

 

The amazing Frienstein; we climbed on the neighboring formation

 

Nordwand: At the belay after a terrifying lead, the scariest of the trip (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Nordwand: Roping up for what turned out to be the scariest lead of the trip (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Nordwand: Rayko attempts the second pitch, but is off route on a 5.10c

 

Nordwand: Folling the first pitch, which had cracks, but no gear (if ONLY I had a cam)

 

Südwand: Approaching the belay at the end of the first pitch; notice the furry runner around the large flake (the furrier the better) (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Goldsteigkante: Topping out on the second pitch (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Belaying from the top of another tower (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Goldsteigkante: The start of the route involved very pocketed rock with good pro (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Goldsteigkante: Moving through the super featured rock on the first pitch (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Südwand: Looking back at the second pitch, a traversing affair with many tied off flakes and threads

 

Südwand: Starting up the second pitch -- a bit of a run after the first bolt (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Wahnsinnsverschneidung: A jammed knot before the real difficulties; Rayko rappelled from this one (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Goldsteigkante: Following the first pitch, very pumpy here with poor gear

 

Südwand: Following the honeycomb section of the second pitch, just before the traverse

 

Südwand: Following the honeycomb section of the second pitch

 

Alter Web: To get off one tower, we rappelled into a gap and climbed another tower which had the rappel line

 

Direkter Südwestweg: Prepping for a hard lead

 

Direkter Südwestweg: Scoping out the route ahead, very steep here

 

A climber on difficult route (he's in orange and yellow)

 

Cool honeycomb rock covered the entire second pitch

 

Cool honeycomb rock covered the entire second pitch

 

Südwand: A long pitch of runout crack climbing, but with good plates on the face. The chimney topout was terrifying (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Südwand: Following the chimney topout, very scary to lead

 

Knirpelwand Direkte: Another honeycombed face protected with hourglasses

 

A good route photo; the long crack on the left tower is Südwand, and the black pocketed area is Knirpelwand Direkte

 

Our apartment in Hohnstein, just 100 yards from the town square…ideally located

 

The midieval town of Hohnstein

 

The main square of Hohnstein; Bernd Arnold's sports shop is on the right

 

Dinner in the basement of the town hall; pretty good food, but not as good as in Velden

 

Standing in front of the Bergsport Arnold store in Hohnstein

 

The castle and bridge for tourists

 

Türkischer Honig: Leaning back on jugs near the top of the route (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Türkischer Honig: Runout to the first bolt, then more reasonable and juggy

 

The amazing Höllenhund wall; we climbed a route on the far right side where the rock is even more featured (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: High on the wall at a hanging belay (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: Feeling stoked after leading the first pitch (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: At the second belay…cold as hell (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: Removing a thread on the third pitch (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: On the third pitch (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: On the third pitch (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: The 4th and final pitch involved leaning across to the next tower, then climbing the face (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: Traverse just before the topout (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: Working on some pro -- a threaded runner (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: Looking down from the first belay at the super featured rock and intricate protection

 

Talweg: Starting up the overhanging wall -- a real head game (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: Looking up at the second pitch -- many tied off threads (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: Roping up below the 300'-high overhanging wall with…you guessed it…knots (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: Looking down at Rayko at the first belay

 

Talweg: Looking down at Rayko at the first belay

 

Talweg: Rayko is on top of the main wall, on an isolated island summit

 

Talweg: In a sea of towers

 

Talweg: Following the first pitch, removing a thread

 

Talweg: Super featured rock on the first pitch

 

Talweg: Following the second pitch

 

Talweg: Nice slung flake, but it feels like it might rip off

 

Herkules Rippe: Following the first pitch on yet another pigging cold day (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Herkules Rippe: Approaching the belay (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Herkules Rippe: Threaded hourglasses work better if you equalize the load by feeding the knot into the constriction

 

Herkules Rippe: Rayko at the first pitch belay

 

Herkules Rippe: Rayko far below at the P1 belay

 

The river Elbe with many exposed bits of rock

 

Direkte Südwestwand auch: More knot climbing

 

We climbed on the smooth wall on the left, where everything was hard 5.10

 

Südhangel: Following the first pitch, leaning way back on a flake (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Südwestwand: Rayko laybacks around a flake at the top of the pitch

 

Südwestverschneidung: Belaying at the top of the Lokomotive; notice the ring and "towel rack" bar to prevent the rope from creating deep grooves in the rock (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Südwestverschneidung: Writing my entry in the route book (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

This crag is supposed to resemble a locomotive. It's actually a relatively thin grouping of towers on top of a high ridge

 

The Locomotive crag seen from the top of Honigstein

 

Rayko looking for his name in the route book

 

Dampflok: The initial moves, protected by a small jammed knot

 

Mess of towers as seen from the summit of the Locomotive

 

Talweg: Tied-off flakes and hourglasses serve as the anchor at the top of the first pitch

 

Talweg: Making the crux moves at the start of the route -- an overhanging offwidth crack protected by jammed knots, the first knots I placed in Elbsandstein (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Talweg: A small jammed knot on the second pitch

 

Talweg: Second pitch squeeze chimney

 

Rappelling the backside of the tower down to the grass; the terrain is comfortably navigated with bare feet because of the sand

 

Morgengebet: An overhanging handcrack; the crux was the slopey, sandy moves after the crack (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Farm country as seen from the top of Pabst

 

Farm country as seen from the top of Pabst

 

Approaching the crag from town; our first route in Elbsandstein was the crack on the right side of the third tower (from the left)

 

Looking over the town below the crag

 

Ostkante: Browsing the route book (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Ostkante: Huge jugs at the top of the route (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Ostkante: Belaying from a giant hole in the top of the tower

 

Leaving one tower and climbing the next one over, in search of a rappel line

 

More rappelling from rings; nice redundancy

Eldorado Canyon (map)
 

Climbing Boulder

 

Lucie and "The Greeks" pose for the camera

 

Darkness 'Til Dawn: Climbing the beautiful corner of Darkness

 

Darkness 'Til Dawn: The corner of Darkness 'Til Dawn; actually takes wide gear in the face on the right

 

The Grand Course: Climbing the overhanging hand crack at the start of The Grand Course

 

Blind Faith: Sequence of pictures showing climbing through the crux of Blind Faith

 

Blind Faith: Climbing though an awkward bulge below the crux crack

 

Blind Faith: Placing gear into the crux crack

Blind Faith: Jamming through the final steep crack

 

The Bastille; climbers can be seen on Bastille Crack

Exit 38 (map)
   

Sorry, no pictures available

Fisher Towers (map)
 

Climbing Moab

 

A view of Cottontail with the Titan looming behind

 

King Fisher as seen from the hiking trail

 

The Titan as seen from the hiking trail

 

View of Ancient Art; the Stolen Chimney (Corkscrew Summit) route ascends the funky-shaped corkscrew in the center of the photo

 

The Ancient Art formation with an approaching storm in the background

 

Ancient Art and it's various summits; the corkscrew summit (aka "Stolen Chimney") is the leftmost summit

 

Stolen Chimney: The corkscrew summit as seen from the top of the belay on the other side of the "sidewalk"

 

Stolen Chimney: Colin sits at the sidewalk, as seen from the top of the corkscrew

 

Stolen Chimney: Following the pebbled face on the first pitch; the climbing is a little bouldery, and the protection is all drilled angle pitons

Stolen Chimney: Leading the corkscrew -- one of the wildest summits anywhere. The ropes are arched to the right due to strong winds

 

Stolen Chimney: The second pitch (5.8); looks like mud, but is actually pretty nice rock with decent protection every 8 to 10 feet

 

Stolen Chimney: Posing on the summit of the corkscrew

 

Stolen Chimney: Pitons on the "sidewalk" belay; the rock around the drilled pitons has eroded

 

Stolen Chimney: Two other summits of the Ancient Art formation with the King Fisher in the background as taken from the summit the corkscrew

 

Stolen Chimney: A topo showing the Stolen Chimney route on Ancient Art

Franconia Notch (map)
 

North East Ice

 

Beta for routes on Cannon

 

Black Dike: The Black Dike (Copyright © Ade Miller)

 

Black Dike: Climbers Meet the Fuck Man

 

Whitney-Gilman: Jim on the Whitney-Gilman in 1986

 

Whitney-Gilman: Tracy on the Whitney-Gilman in 1986

 

Black Dike: The Black Dike in early season

 

Moby Grape: Bones follows the last pitch of Moby Grape; this finish climbs corners left of the standard finish

Black Dike: Jim, just after the rock traverse on the Black Dike

Bennedictus Direct: Pulling the monster roof on the 5th pitch (Copyright © David Le Pagne)

Bennedictus Direct: Climbing the slab below the overlap on the 5th pitch (Copyright © David Le Pagne)

 

Bennedictus Direct: Nabbing the jug in the roof on the 5th pitch (Copyright © David Le Pagne)

 

Bennedictus Direct: Approaching the overlap on the 5th pitch (Copyright © David Le Pagne)

Bennedictus Direct: Bones at the crux of the first pitch; from here, the route continues [climber's] left on an unprotected 5.8 face

Bennedictus Direct: Bones runs it out on the thin 5.9 traverse on the 4th pitch

 

Bennedictus Direct: At the end of the traverse on the 4th pitch, a couple of really hard moves (5.11c) take Bones to overlap. This pitch is a variation to the original route that avoids the 5.11d A3 section.

 

Bennedictus Direct: Jen and Brian get organized to film climbing on the third pitch of Bennedictus

 

Bennedictus Direct: Jen jugs the first pitch of Bennedictus to set up for filming the higher pitches

 

Bennedictus Direct: Jen filming the 3rd pitch

 

Bennedictus Direct: Jen at the 4th belay on Bennedictus

 

Closeup of a bolt on Cannon

 

Panning back, you can see the bolt is in a piece of talus, having fallen from somewhere on Cannon

Bennedictus Direct: At the belay at the start of the 4th pitch, scoping out the pitch ahead (Copyright © Brian Post)

Bennedictus Direct: Following the 4th pitch (Copyright © Brian Post)

Bennedictus Direct: Taking a photo as Will leads the 4th pitch (Copyright © Brian Post)

Frankenjura (Germany) (map)
 

The formation with Action Direct. The actual route climbs the underbelly of the rear buttress.

 

Super cool crag rising above a small village

 

Super cool crag rising above a small village

 

Super cool crag rising above a small village

 

Standard lowering hardware in the Frankenjura, which isn't the easiest thing to climb in moments of desperation

 

Kurt Albert started the whole red dot thing, which later became the "redpoint"

 

The small town of Hartenstein with several crags nearby

 

On the way out of town to the crag

 

Igor: An open but amazingly dark forest with a pretty good crag. Rayko runs it out to the first bolt.

 

Bergzigeunerweg: Rayko gains big holds after a pumpy traverse. Notice the route book midway across the traverse.

 

Small villiage of Lungsdorf, which is nothing more than a bend in the road. We did climb a pretty cool tower just above town.

 

Trebbla: Signing the route book at the top of the tower

 

Trebbla: Starting up the tower above Lungsdorf

 

Schwarzer Riss: In the rain, we lucked upon this severely overhanging amphitheater with several dry routes

 

Westriss: A beautiful crack climb reminiscent of the Dolomites (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Hiding from the rain in a cave at the base of the Napoleon tower (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Südwestwand: This free-standing tower, to our surprise, was about 10" thick

 

Südwestwand: Rayko straddling the top of the tower

 

Our first climbing stop in Frankenjura

 

Luftige Wand: Random climber seconding a pretty cool line

 

Büberriss: Pretty cool climbing down low, but an unprotected chimney up high (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Sauwetter: Lowering off a super steep climb at the end of the day (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Amazed by this formation, we vowed to return, only to discover that all the routes are hard

 

Our little apartment in Velden, a 5-minute walk from the main square

 

Best food in Bavaria, or so we thought

 

Standard dinnertime activities -- email, route research, and taking notes from the days outing

 

Buying strawberries and other vegies

 

Purchasing the daily supply of lunch meat

 

View from the top of the cliff; the approach follows the dirt road

 

It rained, so everybody headed for the overhanging roadside crag

 

Super steep roadside climbing, mostly Czech climbers

 

Corazon: A difficult and long route with several cruxes. Too bad it's out of focus.

Frenchman Coulee (map)
 

Strokin' The Chicken: Ade running it out up easy ground on Strokin' the Chicken

 

Jesus Saves: Ade clipping bolts on Jesus Saves

Fruita (map)
 

Fanni rides the lower section of Zippy Da Do Da

 

Descending a section of the classic Joe's Ridge

 

Another section of the classic Joe's Ridge

 

Nikos climbs from the road on the lower section of Zippy Da Do Da

Nikos climbs another hill on the lower section of Zippy Da Do Da

 

The Touareg with the swing-arm hitch-mounted bike carrier -- very cool bike carrier

God's Crag (map)

Aspens on the approach (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Walking back to the car in the rain (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Abandoned mine on the road to Engineer's Pass (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Somebody got all Hayduke on this dam (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Approaching the mine shaft; no, we didn't go in it, especiallty after The Descent (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Two-tiered waterfall with a spooky mine shaft at the base (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Approaching God's Crag (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Plaque at the base of The Renaissance Man below the waterfall

The crag, as seen from the road

Descending in the rain through a grove of aspens; we picked up a hundred ticks here (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Fear is Never Boring: Crux moves at the top of the pitch

Fear is Never Boring: Styling the second pitch, in the rain

Fear is Never Boring: Cool face climbing on the first pitch (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Fear is Never Boring: Self portrait, belaying in the rain

Fear is Never Boring: Following the beautiful face on P1

Fear is Never Boring: Nearing the top of the pitch

Golden, Colorado (map)
 

Two themes of our climbing trip to Colorado -- Hemp, and "Just put it off"

 

An early morning with "The Greeks" (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Nikos, Fanni, and Tom standing on driveway discussing routes

 

The morning after the big bash…everyone is drinking water to treat the hangover

Granite Mountain (map)

Falling Ross: Nearing the top of P2 (Copyright © Emilie Drinkwater)

Falling Ross: Delicate moves onto the slippery slab at the top of P2 (Copyright © Emilie Drinkwater)

Great Falls (map)
 

Potomac River

 

Lost Arrow: Tad on the Lost Arrow, not really solo

 

P.V.O. (Potomac Valley Overhang): Jim on PVO, TRing something way to hard

 

Great Beginnings: Hema following an awesome layback flake of Great Beginnings

Great Sand Dunes (map)
 

Big jump with plume of sand

 

Colin's thigh sprouts people

 

Totally airborn

 

View of the mountains as seen from the highest dune

 

Dunes as seen from the river crossing

Guangzhou (China) (map)
 

Eric's bathroom

 

Brainless goats in the meat market

 

View from the ferry up the Pearl River (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Street life in Guangzhou (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Jim on ferry going up the Pearl River (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Lion dancer in the streets of Guangzhou (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

Backwards instructions

Vegetables in the street market

Hawaii (map)
 

Boogie boarding in the surf, somewhere on the north shore (Copyright © John Lawyer)

Lucie shows how it's done (Copyright © John Lawyer)

 

Lucie models the boogie board (Copyright © John Lawyer)

Hellgate Gulch (map)

Uncomfortably Numb: Tommy sending at Hellgate (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

 

Aimless wandering through the compact canyon, trying to identify things (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Weird Science: Colin leads up the awesome wall

Weird Science: Colin leads up the awesome wall

 

Weird Science: Colin leads up the awesome wall

 

Weird Science: Colin leads up the awesome wall

 

Weird Science: Colin leads up the awesome wall

Melt Down: Not much difference between the 11s and the 9s on this wall (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Melt Down: Not much difference between the 11s and the 9s on this wall (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Uncomfortably Numb: Tommy sending at Hellgate (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Hong Kong (China) (map)
 

Downtown Hong Kong

 

Hong Kong Island from the ferry

Danger sign…don't climb here!

 

View of Kowloon from Lion Rock

 

The Arete: Eric at the belay on Catastrophe (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

The Arete: Jim at the belay on Catastrophe (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

View of Lion Rock from the approach trail (Copyright © Eric Gregory)

 

The Arete: Eric following the first pitch of Catastrophe

 

The Arete: Jim at the belay on Catastrophe

 

Lion Rock from the approach trail

Hyalite (map)
 

Montana Ice -- Guide and conditions in Hyalite Canyon

 

First Ascent Press -- Source for the guidebook to the area

 

Omega: Climbing the thin column on Omega; the ice was running with water

 

The main fork of Hyalite Canyon; Winter Dance is the spear of ice on the rock face centered in the photo

 

Hyalite Canyon as seen from the first pitch of Cleopatra's Needle

 

Twin Falls Left: View from the second pitch of Cleopatra's Needle; you can see Joe on Twin Falls Left, belayed by Ellen in the trees below

 

Taking a rest on the approach to Cleopatra's Needle and Twin Falls

 

Cleopatra's Needle: Reaching for a screw on the second pitch (WI5)

 

Cleopatra's Needle: Tommy stays dry by climbing the right side of the pillar

Independence Pass (map)
 

Climbing Boulder

 

Monitor Rock looks like a choss pile, but it's sooo much better than it looks

 

Rad Lad: Tommy struggles with the first crux on Rad Lad

 

Squid Kid: Climbing the beautiful compact rock on Squid Kid

 

The Maze: Face climbing on the Maze, a long bolted line on Monitor Rock

 

The Mother Load: Tom and Mioara huddled at the second belay on The Mother Load

 

The Mother Load: Tom leads the final pitch

Want some beans?

Index (map)
   

Sorry, no pictures available

Indian Creek (map)
 

Climbing Moab

 

A view of Indian Creek from Optimator Wall; the wall centered in the photo is Reservior Wall, and the 4x4 Wall is on the right

 

Another pretty view of Indian Creek as seen from the base of the Bridger Jack Mesa

 

Yet another pretty view of Indian Creek as seen from the Bridger Jack Camping Area

 

A yellow-headed (or "eastern") collared lizard

 

Closeup of a yellow-headed (or "eastern") collared lizard

 

A typical Indian Creek rack featuring lots of same-sized cams

 

Labeled Indian Creek rack

 

Enjoying a mini-bottle of single malt at camp

 

Self-portrait at the Bridger Jack Camping Area

 

Sweden-Ringle: Chris sends Swedin-Ringle, making it look like 5.10

 

Sweden-Ringle: Chris sends Swedin-Ringle, making it look like 5.10

Sweden-Ringle: Chris sends Swedin-Ringle, making it look like 5.10

Cave Route: Near the top of the crack Colin finally gets a rest by stemming to the opposite wall

 

Three Strikes and You're Out: Another endless layback crack at Battle of the Bulge

 

Thunderbolts: Brian approaches the top of Easter Island

 

Keyhole Flakes: Closeup of Brian approaching the top of Easter Island

 

The Bridger Jack Mesa with all the towers labeled

 

The Bridger Jack Mesa in the early morning

 

The Bridger Jack Mesa in the early morning

 

Thunderbolts: Sitting on top of Easter Island after climbing Thunderbolts

 

Thunderbolts: Climbing the first pitch (5.8) involves fun jamming, followed by an unlikely traverse right around the nose above

 

The Bridger Jacks as seen from the west

 

Organizing the rack for the days climbing

 

Rimshot: Colin poses for the camera on the 4th pitch (5.11a) of Rimshot; he is positioned at the first rest after the tight sandy-hands crack above the belay

 

Rimshot: More off-width climbing on the 4th pitch

 

Rimshot: Exiting the chimney at the top of the second pitch; from his position, the climb moves left (climber's right) onto lower-angled slabs up to the belay

 

Rimshot: The third pitch traverses left in a chimney to an off-width crack in the main face

 

Rimshot: Getting established in the off-width crack above the chimney on the third pitch

 

Hanging out at the base of Easter Island

 

Thunderbolts: Jim's shadow on Sunflower Tower as he raps from Easter Island

 

Thunderbolts: John tops out on Thunderbolts, a rare face climb at the Creek

 

Rimshot: A topo showing Rimshot

 

Generic Crack: Starting out on Generic Crack; the crux of the route are the two pods just above

 

Generic Crack: About halfway up the crack

 

Generic Crack: Closeup of Jim about halfway up the crack

 

Generic Crack: Still about halfway up the crack

 

Generic Crack: Nearing the anchors at 140'

 

Lady Pillar: Dave peeks around the corner before heading out onto the left-slanting crack on Lady Pillar

 

Anunnaki: This awesome zig-zag crack goes through all sizes, taking two each from yellow Camalot to yellow Alien; this section is fairly easy since the crack is hand sized

 

Anunnaki: At this point, the crack narrows to off-hands and rattley fingers

 

Anunnaki: Moving through the crux involves weird layaways, finger stacks, and powerful pulls

 

Skidmarks: Laybacking up the steep finger crack on Skidmarks

 

Sabbatical: Jamming the final crack high in the Sabbatical corner, belayed by Brian

 

Working Man: This nice finger crack was easier for me since my large knuckles cammed well in the crack

 

South Face: John at the second belay on the South Face

 

South Face: On the summit of the South Six Shooter

 

South Face: John poses on the summit

 

Lucie walks the mesa above the valley floor; this area is very pristine, quiet, and beautiful

 

Some rough 4X4 driving on Davis Canyon Road leads into the South Six Shooter valley

 

The South Six Shooter as seen from the upper mesa

 

The Touareg parked in the wash at the start of the hike to the South Six Shooter; the Bridger Jacks can be seen on the skyline centered

 

Keyhole Flakes: Brian reaches left at the crux, belayed by Mioara

 

Keyhole Flakes: Brian high on the route just below the anchors

 

Bad Rad Duality Crack: Moving through the bottom finger-sized section of the route

 

Bad Rad Duality Crack: Moving through the bottom finger-sized section of the route; the crack widens to tight hands, then offwidth, then back to tight hands through the double-tiered roofs above

 

The Incredible Hand Crack: Jim climbs The Incredible Hand Crack, belayed by Brian; most people find this climb a pleasure, but my large large hands didn't fit the crack and made the crux overhanging section very strenuous

 

Unnamed #18: What a beast this was -- a 7" off-width section, then a blind reach rightwards into a good finger crack

 

Unnamed #18: After placing a nut (the only nut I placed that trip), I finally got established in the finger crack

 

Unnamed #18: Closeup of Jim after placing the nut

 

Unnamed #18: Higher in the finger crack

 

Supercrack: Mioara follows Supercrack, one of the more well-known climbs at Indian Creek

 

Supercrack: Closeup of Mioara following Supercrack

 

Coyne Crack: Laybacking the rattly finger start of Coyne Crack

 

Coyne Crack: Higher up, the crack turns to tight hands

 

Posing in front of the "Brick" at the Supercrack Buttress parking lot

Inman Gulf (map)
 

It's In, Man: Traversing to the belay on a new route

 

Route possibilities at Inman Gulf; the climb "It's In, Man" is centered in the photo

 

It's In, Man: At the belay on the first ascent

 

It's In, Man: Jim climbs poorly bonded ice on the first ascent

 

Over The Rainbow: Leading the first ascent of a flow across from Rainbow Falls

Ithaca (map)

Estes Point Pillar: High on the pillar the ice is fractured and thin, with water visible through the ice veil

 

Estes Point Pillar: Jim belays Leslie on the steep section of the pillar

 

Estes Point Pillar: The climb as seen from the streambed

Jamesville (map)
 

Summit headquarters

Joshua Tree (map)
 

Web site for climbing at Joshua Tree

 

Unknown: Allen begins a lead

 

John organizes the rack on an early visit to Joshua Tree

Flowering joshua tree (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Dangling Woo Li Master: Steep ground in the Bighorn Mating Grotto

 

Taped up hands after a day of climbing in the Bighorn Mating Grotto; notice the Disney band-aid on the middle finger

 

Pinched Rib: Steck's favorite route

 

Kimbrough in the early morning

 

Enchanted Stairway: High on the runout plates of Disneyland Dome

 

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride: Lori approaches the first belay; the ledge is actually a dike that, if continued, turns into Mental Bankruptcy

 

Hang Ten: Phil places gear at the intimidating roof near the start of the climb

 

Hang Ten: Clipping the gear at the roof; hard to believe it's only 5.8

 

Eileen Dover: This interesting route starts with a hard boulder problem, then traverses just left 5 bolts about 10' above the ground, then finishing straight up to some chains

 

Eileen Dover: A little further along in the traverse; lots for the hands, but little for the feet

 

Effigy Too: The opening, unprotected moves of Effigy Too

 

Effigy Too: Effigy Too is a nice route for sunny days as it's in the shade. The huge boulder high and left is the EBGBs boulder.

 

Effigy Too: The climbing eases near the top of the route

 

Sitting Here in Limbo: Eric belaying at the top, construction in the background

 

Lucie, Allen, and Joe (and his dog)

 

Casual: John leads yet another bolt-protected face climb

 

Diamond Dogs: Strenuous underclings are required right off the ground on a fragile flake

 

Pullups To Pasadena: Unprotected knob climbing at the start of yet another Swain route

 

Todd demonstrates a pretty lizard

 

Garden Angel: Andrew watches the action on Garden Angel

 

Garden Angel: Weird layback moves up the arete of Garden Angel

Garden Angel: Weird layback moves up the arete of Garden Angel

 

Lazy Day: Matt makes the opening moves on Lazy Day

 

Cryptic: Allen leading Cryptic

Cryptic: Allen leading Cryptic

 

Cryptic: Allen leading Cryptic

 

Southwest Corner: Yvon at the opening moves on the Headstone

 

Southwest Corner: Yvon high up on the Southwest Corner

 

Practice Crack #1: John leads a too-short crack on the backside of the Headstone

 

Lori and Jim pose on top of the Headstone

 

Southwest Corner: Working through the crux of the Southwest Corner, a spectacular easy route on the Headstone

 

Painting of the "snail"

 

Poodles are People Too: Joe following the first pitch of Poodles

 

Head Over Heels: Tall people can simply reach left and bypass any difficulty; not sure what short people do

Wild Wind: Yvon nearing the top of Hidden Tower

 

Dazed and Confused: Thin face moves characterize climbing on this route

 

Dazed and Confused: Runout climbing in a sea of granite

 

Bird on a Wire: Lori reaches the top after a long, rope-stretching 2nd pitch

 

Lori and Jim pose on top of the Manure Pile at dusk

 

Left Mel Crack: Allen at the crux of Left Mel Crack

 

Checking out the pencil cactus

 

Left Mel Crack: Climbing the height-related crux of the Left Mel Crack

 

Joan Jetson: At the second bolt, high on the Pea Brain

 

Allen laces up for the Peyote cracks

 

Having lunch near Hound Rock

 

Coyote near the road; if you look carefully, you can see a second coyote in the background

 

Illusion Dweller: Pulling the final difficulties on Illusion Dweller

 

Clean and Jerk: Long reaches on overhanging rock constitute the crux of Clean and Jerk

 

Clean and Jerk: One of the best hand/fist cracks in the park

 

Ball Bearing: John belays a climber on Ball Bearing

 

Beverly describes her experience on Illusion Dweller to the others

 

O'Kelley's Crack: Opening moves -- despite the rating of 5.10c, the initial moves are 5.11a

 

Simon, waiting for his morning coffee

The gang, gathered in Joshua Tree

 

The whole gang

 

Hanging out at Ryan Campground

 

Joshua Tree in the early morning light

 

Hanging out at the campfire in Ryan

 

Lucie avoids the wind by sitting in a rock alcove

 

Lucie on her way to painting at the end of the day

 

Joshua Tree near Ryan Campground

 

Allen gets organized around camp

 

Late afternoon relaxation at camp

 

Deep contemplation

 

Beverly warms around her morning coffee

 

Breakfast at the Jones'

 

Breakfast at Ryan

 

Maguy enjoys her morning coffee

John enjoying the conviviality at camp

Illusion Dweller: Low on the all time perfect crack

 

Illusion Dweller: Lost in a sea of rock

 

Walk on the Wild Side: Eric and Lucie lounging at the belay at sunset

 

Junk Food: The route Junk Food traverses the Junk Clump formation on a quartz dike; it begins with two bolts, then crosses three other routes

 

Born in a Barn: A route on the Shorter Wall, the right-hand side of the Rock Garden Valley

 

Solid Gold: Martin shredding his fingers on Solid Gold

 

Solid Gold: Following up the sharp edges of Solid Gold; this climb is quite the finger shredder

 

Solid Gold: Simon leading the lower section of Solid Gold

Rubicon: Jim and Allen on Rubicon

 

Beverly racks up for Sphincter Quits

 

Sphincter Quits: Beverly sews up the lower crack, then moves up to the rest alcove

 

Trembling Toes: Beverly moves up to the first bolt

 

No Self Confidence: The crux is the section just before the roof on the left where the crack is tight hands

 

No Self Confidence: Steep, sustained crack climbing in the midsection of the route

 

No Self Confidence: Feeling pumped, this is the last rest before running it out to the top

 

Allen Steck Memorial Route: At dusk on the Memorial Route

Double Cross: Following the all-time classic hand crack

 

Orphan: Leading the initial stemming corner of Orphan; if you can stomach the off-width at the top, this is an excellent climb

 

Boogers On A Lampshade: Tad climbing the "burnt penis"

 

Boogers On A Lampshade: Tad climbing the "burnt penis"

 

Boogers on a Lampshade: Making the crux moves on Boogers; the high bolt protects this section

Boogers on a Lampshade: After the crux; the next piece is the tied off chicken head visible just above

 

Pretty rocks

 

Tad and Chris in the Wonderland with the Astro Domes in the background

 

Chris near Disneyland Dome in the Wonderland

 

Cool rocks in the Wonderland

 

Lunch break on the ledge system in front of the Astro Domes

 

Lucie walking through the Wonderland

 

Drop Zone: In the midst of the crux at Sheepbugger's Wall; the difficulty here is that the protection is at your feet while making the crux .11 moves…below that is a ledge!

 

Allen resting in the Wonderland

 

Figures on a Landscape: About to make the crux moves on the first pitch

Figures on a Landscape: John traverses across to the first belay

 

Pack adjustments on the way into the Wonderland

 

Lori hiking around the Wonderland

 

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride: Joe gears up for "Mr Toad's"

Solid Gold: Tom sends Solid Gold

Kama Bay (Canada) (map)
 

Icebreakers: The climb Icebreaker as seen from the top of Whimpsickle; the body of water in the background is Kama Bay on Lake Superior

 

Icebreakers Arete: Climbing Icebreakers Arete in early season

 

Icebreakers Arete: The crux of Icebreakers Arete involved climbing an overhanging cauliflower of ice

 

Whimpsickle: Tommy climbs poor ice at bottom third of Whimpsickle; this climb is anything but whimpy, as we found it to be one of the harder routes we climbed

Kandersteg (Switzerland) (map)
 

Looking across the valley to ski resort on the sunny side

The little town of Kandersteg surrounded by high mountains

 

The little town of Kandersteg surrounded by high mountains

 

The ice flows above Kandersteg - amazing amount and variety

 

Bäretritt: At the base of the fragile pillar

Bäretritt: We climbed the rock on the left to avoid breaking the fragile pillar

 

Bäretritt: High on the route, pumped, and looking for a belay

Arbonium: Traversing left at the start of P2

 

Approaching the ice climbs above Kandersteg. The free-standing pillar above him is Rattenpissoir.

 

Arbonium: Belaying on top of P1

Arbonium: Following the steep pillars of P2

 

Arbonium: Swinging a tool on the final steep pitch

 

Rattenpissoir: Climber works up the amazing free-standing pillar

 

Namenlos: We climbed the first section of this "beginner" route

La Cabrera (Spain) (map)
 

Desnivel -- Lists of climbing areas in Spain

 

At dinner after climbing at La Cabrera, Lucie and Jen examine Pedro's flying book

 

Unknown: Carlos climbs a difficult thin crack

 

Esteban Altieri: Carlos and Monolo discuss route options at the first belay

 

Jim and Belen pack for the hike back to the car after a full day climbing

 

The crag as seen from the parking area just before sunset

 

José María Alaiz: Unknown climber finishes the third pitch (6b)

La Pedriza (Spain) (map)
 

Desnivel -- Lists of climbing areas in Spain

 

Guirles-Campos: Belen belaying in a mess of ropes at the top of the top of the second pitch (V+)

 

Guirles-Campos: Belen runs it out up the third and fourth pitches (V, V+)

 

Guirles-Campos: Belen belays at the top of the 4th pitch

 

Goats scamper around the cliff

 

Guirles-Campos: Jesús approaches the belay leading the second pitch (V+)

 

Vía del Gesto: This route demanded thin laybacking, high-angle friction, and tiny crimping and was the most difficult route I climbed at La Pedriza

 

Pedro packing gear for the hike out with El Yelmo in the background

 

Caballo Blanco: Pedro climbs the crack in the middle of the first pitch (6a)

 

Caballo Blanco: Pedro pulls the roof near the end of the first pitch (6a)

 

El Yelmo at sunset; this south face has in excess of 50 multi-pitch routes

 

El Yelmo showing the routes we climbed

Laguna (Philippines) (map)
 

Eric and Martin pose for the camera

Lake Willoughby (map)
 

North East Ice

 

The Last Gentleman: The Last Gentleman (Copyright © Ade Miller)

The Last Gentleman: Leading the fragile third pitch of the Gentleman

 

The Last Gentleman: Ade at the belay after the traverse from The Promenade

 

Mindbender: Plug and Chug, Mindbender, and Renormalization

 

The Last Gentleman: French climbers at the first belay on the Gentleman

 

The Last Gentleman: Close-up of climber leading the second pitch of the Gentleman in fat conditions

The Last Gentleman: Climber leading the second pitch of the Gentleman in fat conditions

 

Mindbender: Will high on the final column of Mindbender

 

Ice cliffs of Mt. Pisgah

 

Boney Boy

 

Mindbender: Will starting the second pitch out of the cave

The Promenade: Will leading the crux columns of The Promenade

 

Glass Menagerie: Will dry-tooling the first 200' of Glass Menagerie in [obviously] thin conditions (WI5, M6)

 

Glass Menagerie: Jim and Will gearing up at the base

 

Mindbender: Jim leading the initial sections of Mindbender

 

The Promenade: Jim nearing the cave at the top of the first pitch of The Promenade

Reign of Terror: Reign of Terror as seen from The Promenade

 

Bullwinkle: The route Bullwinkle climbs the steep, fractured columns that hang down the overhanging rock face

 

Called on Account of Rains: One of the best ice routes in the East, Called on Account of Rains rarely forms to the ground; this photo shows the route in WI5 condition

 

Called on Account of Rains: Tom and Simeon at the cave belay on top of the first pitch

 

Called on Account of Rains: Leading the thin ice on the first pitch of Called; the route steepens just above, then stretches the rope to the cave visible beneath a hanging pillar on the right

 

Called on Account of Rains: The crux of the route climbs is the steeper section of ice just below the cave belay

 

The amphitheatre containing the Last Gentleman, Promenade, and Who's Who; there are two parties on the Gentleman and a part of three on the Promenade

 

The Promenade: A party of three climbs the first pitch of Promenade

 

Called on Account of Rains: Simeon starts the second pitch

 

Called on Account of Rains: Tommy takes the right-hand line of ice on the top pitch

 

Called on Account of Rains: Tommy takes the right-hand line of ice on the top pitch

 

Who's Who in Outer Space: A climber leads the first pitch of Who's Who in delaminated conditions

Laurel Knob (map)
 

Carolina Climbers Coalition

 

Southeastern Climbers Coalition

 

Asheville Weather

 

Laurel Knob Mini-Guide

 

Big Green Mountain, which can be seen on the approach to Laurel Knob

 

The "offset washer", which is essentially a rivot with a couple washers on it, were used as protection on some early Laurel Knob routes

 

Fathom: Following P4 of Fathom, 5.9

 

Fathom: Following P6 of Fathom, the crux pitch

 

Fathom: Following P6 of Fathom, the crux pitch

 

Sign where you leave national forest land

 

Rappelling a water groove

 

Rappelling a water groove

 

Rappelling a water groove

 

Following P4 of Fathom, 5.9

Leavenworth (map)
 

Doin' The Dishes: Toproping back when it was cool to do so (5.11d)

 

Heart Of Gold: Ade follows the crux pitch, a spectacular bolt-protected face

 

Orbit: Kristy and Jim Cruise Orbit

Orbit: Kristy enjoying the perfect 5.9 flake on the third pitch

 

Orbit: Kristy at the belay below the knobby-faced top pitches

 

Don't Forget Arete: Climbing an arete in Icicle Creek Canyon

Lima (Peru) (map)
 

Chickens and chicken bits at the market in Lima

 

A protest in one of the squares in downtown Lima

Little Cottenwood Canyon (map)
 

Coffin Crack: Low down on Coffin Crack

Little Falls (map)
 

Unknown: Kind of a crappy picture, but shows my early climbing days -- wool knickers, Fires, and a hammer

Green Traverse: Bouldering on Moss Island

Little Si (map)
   

Sorry, no pictures available

Looking Glass (map)
 

Carolina Climbers Coalition

 

Southeastern Climbers Coalition

 

Asheville Weather

 

Dingus Dog: Rappelling an eyebrow-covered face after completing Dingus Dog

 

Rat's Ass: Two climbers at the P1 belay

 

First Return: An unprotected start leads to a greasy flared crack

Lost Horse Canyon (map)
 

Chilling out at Observation Point

Our camp at Observation Point; it snowed…again

 

Chew Time: Colin follows Chew Time at the left end of the wall

 

Chew Time: Colin follows Chew Time at the left end of the wall

 

Chew Time: Standing below Chew Time

 

Store front of Conover's Trading Post in Wisdom, on the drive to Lost Horse (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Lumpy Ridge (map)
 

Climbing Boulder

 

Tailgate party after a day of climbing (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Lumpy Ridge, as seen from the hiking trail

 

Hiking into Lumpy for the day (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Fat City: Moving up the .10a finger crack to the crux roof on the second pitch; the roof is climbed at the crack just above the helmet

 

Relaxing after climbing Fat City/Cheap Date; note the "Texas-sized" rack (Easterners!)

 

Fat City: Simon leading the first pitch (5.8); Will belaying

Cheap Date: Leading the awesome finger crack of Cheap Date; this route makes a great alternative finish to Fat City

 

Cheap Date: Bones rippling muscles on Cheap Date

 

Cheap Date: Jamming is the way forward

 

Fat City: Bones appearing from under the crux roof on Fat City

 

Bones hanging back to check out the action on the cliff

 

Jim at the base of the Bookmark (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Inside Straight: Sequence of pictures showing climbing the flaring off-width

 

Inside Straight: Stuffing gear high into the off-width

 

Inside Straight: Laybacking the outer edge seems to be the way forward, although it's waaay pumpy

 

Inside Straight: Disappearing into the off-width; this is actually climbed on the outside, but it's hard to make the transition

Romulan Territory: Climbing the crux bulge on the second pitch; the difficulty of this pitch is in placing gear, as it's thin and technical

Manila (Philippines) (map)
 

Squatters encroach the river near Manila

Masai Mara (Kenya) (map)
 

Large male lion, somewhat covered in flies

 

Grasshopper

 

Our tent at Kicheche, perhaps the most comfortable place we stayed in Africa

 

Breakfast during the first morning of our safari

Male elephant and approaching storm

 

Breakfast at Kicheche; very civilized

Wildebeest

 

Warthog

 

Two ostrich

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

 

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

 

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

 

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

 

Giraffe

Giraffe and baby

 

Resting thompson gazelle

 

Resting leopard

 

Baby elephant

 

Topi

Lion

 

Clouds moving over the mara

 

Bat eared fox

 

Jackal

 

Sparring wildebeests

 

Hyena

 

Hyena

 

Jackal

 

Waterbuck

 

Two zebra

 

Zebra

 

Zebra

Zebra

 

A troop of baboons

 

Tawny eagle on log

 

Lions feasting on a topi

 

Lions feasting on a topi

Lions feasting on a topi

 

Lions feasting on a topi

 

Lions feasting on a topi

 

Lions feasting on a topi

 

Lion

 

Lion

 

Two lions

 

Two hippos in the water

 

Mike prepares breakfast out on the mara

 

Breakfast on safari

 

Portrait of Mike, our guide

 

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

Two impala sparring

 

Two impala sparring

 

White rhino

Two white rhinos

 

Two white rhinos

 

White rhino mouth

 

White rhino head

 

Lions feasting in a cloud of flies

 

Lion with a full stomach

 

Male lion

 

Male lion

 

Two vultures

 

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

 

Tawny eagle perched on branch

 

Wildebeest with birds

 

Baboon in tree

Eland

 

Eland

 

Two vultures

 

Lucie in safari vehicle going into the river

 

Running giraffes

 

Giraffe with drool

 

Approaching storm on the mara

 

Jackal with the hind quarters of a dik dik

 

a herd of elands

 

Ostrich

 

Resting giraffe

 

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

 

Two crown cranes

Two crown cranes

 

Hyena

 

Secretary bird

 

Secretary bird with nest material

 

Secretary bird in flight

 

Secretary bird landing in nest

 

Resting buffalo

 

Leopard in tree

 

Leopard in tree

Leopard in tree

 

Leopard in tree

 

Leopard in tree

 

Dik dik

 

Lion licking

 

Lion

 

Lion

 

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

 

Lion

Lion

 

Some bird, which type I've forgotten

 

Giraffe and two zebra

Giraffe and baby giraffe

 

Two waterbucks

Sparring zebras

 

Impala

 

Nursing elephant

Nursing elephant

 

Elephant

 

Two elephants

Mother and baby elephants

 

Elephant

 

Elephant

 

Elephant

 

Male elephant

 

Drinking elephant

 

Elephant with grass

 

Elephant with grass

 

Elephant

 

Baby protected by two larger elephants

 

Tourists with big-ass cameras

Jumping vervet monkey

Meadow River Gorge (map)
 

Cross-Eyed and Blind: Jeremy at the crux of the .11a on the left side of the wall

 

Cross-Eyed and Blind: Big moves on steep jugs

 

Cross-Eyed and Blind: Big moves on steep jugs

Meteora (Greece) (map)
 

Travels in Greece

 

The gang hanging around the campground in Kastraki

 

Towers of the Meteora

 

Evening sun over the towers of the Meteora

 

Duett: Nikos preparing to lead the first pitch

 

Duett: Nikos following the crux of Duett

Es geht auch ohne!: Nikos rapping off the top

 

Es geht auch ohne!: Jim and Nikos on the last route before leaving the beautiful Meteora

 

Corner of Madness: Aris at the belay on Corner of Madness

 

Pillar of Dreams: Aris high on the Pillar of Dreams (about 6 pitches up)

 

Corner of Madness: Corner of Madness as seen on the approach

 

Corner of Madness: Aris nears the top of the second pitch

 

Pillar of Dreams: Ares reads the summit register on top of Heilger Geist

 

Pillar of Dreams: An anchor consists of 1/2" eye bolts

Pillar of Dreams: Looking down from the second belay -- a sea of knobs and pebbles

The town of Kastraki

The town of Kastraki with the distinctive Meteora towers in the background

 

Hypotenuse: Aris and Fondas at a belay on Hypotenuse

 

Line of the Fallen Drop: Manos leading the second pitch

 

Returning from a day at the crag

Hypotenuse: Close-up of Aris and Fondas at a belay on Hypotenuse

 

Hypotenuse: Aris and Fondas at a belay on Hypotenuse

Fingertip and Sky: Jim attempting a harder route (VIII+)

 

Line of the Fallen Drop: Jim leading on large knobs (notice the tied off knob)

 

Line of the Fallen Drop: Manos at the belay amidst a sea of pebbles

 

Line of the Fallen Drop: Close-up of Manos rappelling amidst a sea of pebbles

 

Line of the Fallen Drop: Manos rappelling amidst a sea of pebbles

Milan (Italy) (map)
 

Ade gawking at the models in Italy

 

Tour gang in Milan

Moab (map)
 

Climbing Moab

 

Utah Climbers

 

The slickrock above Kane Creek and a hidden arch and the Colorado River in the background; we ascended a steel cable on the ramp just beyond the arch

 

Looking north towards the La Sal mountains from the slickrock above Kane Creek

 

Pinhead: Broken rock and interesting sidepulls make this route surprisingly fun

 

The slickrock above Moab

 

Stairway to Heaven: Colin raps the first pitch; we bailed due to loose rock, rain, and general whimpiness

 

Pinhead: Roadside climbing on Potash Road…not the most aesthetic climbing area

 

Message from the locals

 

Dolomite Tower (the squarish spire on the left) and Lighthouse Tower (the pointy spire just to the right) as seen from River Road

Mt. Kenya (Kenya) (map)
 

A bicycle repair shop on the way to Chagoria

 

Photographing children while our truck waits to be repaired [again]

 

Feuling up for the journey to Chagoria

 

A bicycle repair shop on the way to Chagoria

 

Repairing the truck tire [again]

 

Killing time at Top Hut, the building next to the Austrian Hut

Enjoying the sunset, if not for the altitude sickness

 

Soaking in the warm sun in front of Nelion

 

Our camp near the Austrian Hut

Our camp near the Austrian Hut

 

Nelion as seen from Point Lenana

Waking up to the sun at our camp near the Austrian Hut

 

Feeling full after eating

 

Stormy weather moves in after setting up camp near the Austrian Hut (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Reviewing route beta (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Chris' tent near the Austrian Hut (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Ravenous after our successful ascent of Nelion (4 hours) (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Looking tired after our climb (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Yummy food at the Austrian Hut (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

The summit of Nelion (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Sunset at the Austrian Hut (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Sunset at the Austrian Hut (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Sunset at the Austrian Hut (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Lucie comes out to celebrate when we return from the summit (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Group shot in front of Nelion (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Southwest Ridge: Soloing the "easy slab" (more like 5.5 in places) to the notch

 

Southwest Ridge: View from the southwest ridge, during a break in the snow

 

Southwest Ridge: Let's get the hell out of here…retreat!

 

Southwest Ridge: Batian (centered) and Nelion (to its right) as seen from McKinder's Camp (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Southwest Ridge: Diamong Ice Couloir and the twin summits of Mt. Kenya (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Southwest Ridge: Jim sets an anchor to wait out the storm (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Southwest Ridge: Fueling up for the descent (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Southwest Ridge: Horrible rappelling in the snow on the descent (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

The road through the jungle to the forest gate was really bad -- 4WD and muddy (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

The town of Chagoria; we didn't want to hang out here very long

 

Shopping for expedition food

Bags of grains at the Chagoria market

 

We transferred our expedition supplies to the green 4WD truck; good thing too, as it was hellish 4WD

 

Lucie at the trailhead of the Chagoria Route

 

Sunrise at the Mintos Hut area

 

Our super cool 4WD vehicle that took us to the park gate (plus the driver)

 

Drinking juice boxes so we don't have to carry them (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Writing in the journal at camp at the start of the approach (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Our first day on the approach to Mt. Kenya (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

On the hike up to Mintos Hut (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Our camp at Hall Tarns near Mintos Hut (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Hanging out in front of the filthy Mintos Hut (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Filtering water for the day in one of the lakes near Mintos Hut (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Ready for the next day's hiking (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Jumping a bog in Temple Fields in a forest of giant groundsel (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Resting at Tooth Col (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

The beautiful Gorges Valley with Mt. Kenya at the head (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Lucie pets a soft cactus-like plant (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Just about at the Mintos Hut on our first day of the approach (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Finally we can see the summits on the approach (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

Lakes at Hall Tarns near Mintos Hut (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

View from our campsite near Mintos Hut (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

On the endless slog up to the Austrian Hut, Lucie begins to feel sick (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

On the final approach to Austrian Hut (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Eating at McKinder's Camp (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Talking about options…should we climb another route? (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Stream through the moss near McKinder's Camp (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Never able to keep warm, Lucie bundles up (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Hiking through a forest of giant groundsel

Our descent to McKinder's Camp went around Point John; the summit of Batian is just behind

 

Hiking with an umbrella to shade from the sun

 

Must have a little sun block (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Descending back to the roadhead, just entering the jungle (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Resting at the Met Station, totally beat (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Our porters at the Met Station (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Batian and Point John; the long ribbon of white is the Diamond Couloir (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Pretty flower along the hiking trail (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Repacking on the hike out (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Jim washes up, first time in 2 weeks (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Jim washes up, first time in 2 weeks (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Descending through the jungle to the Met Station (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

On the final march to the forest gate, glad to be done with it (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

Normal Route: We soloed several pitches up to some ledges, then racked up here at daybreak

 

Normal Route: Chris leads the section right of McKinder's Chimney

 

Normal Route: Looking down from the summit at the Austrian Hut and glacier traverse

 

Normal Route: Sitting at a belay high on the route

 

Normal Route: At the top of P15, Chris downclimbs into a gully and up the other side

 

Normal Route: Jim sitting in front of the Howell Hut

 

Normal Route: Victorious on the summit of Nelion

 

Normal Route: Enjoying the view from the summit of Nelion

Normal Route: Hanging out on the summit; the clouds are already starting to develop for the afternoon snow

 

Normal Route: One of the many raps from the summit

 

Normal Route: Traversing the glacier to the start of the route on a recon outing (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Normal Route: Zigzagging up ledges at the start of the route (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

Normal Route: Racking up after soling a couple pitches (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Normal Route: Leading up to the ridge past Baileys Bivy (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Normal Route: Chris belays somewhere on the route (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Normal Route: Traversing and dealing with the ropes (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Normal Route: View from the summit of Nelion (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

Normal Route: Sitting in front of the Howell Hut (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Normal Route: Examining the single-point rappel anchor; looks good (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Normal Route: Investigating the ruined Bailies Bivy (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

 

Normal Route: This thing is barely hanging together; completely unusable (Copyright © Chris Yenkey)

Mt. Lemmon (map)
 

Tuscon Climber's Association

 

Big cactus on the drive up Mt. Lemmon

Looking towards Tucson from the top of the Iranian Wall

 

KR Goes to Montana: Stemming action; this route is on a remote spire on the flanks of Mt. Lemmon (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

Infidel: Entering the crux high on the first pitch; this is another difficult-to-find route on the flanks of Mt. Lemmon (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

Great Expectations: Leading the second pitch (5.8), thankful to be out of the chimney below

 

Birthday Girl: The initial slab moves on Birthday Girl, Anduriel Tower

 

Girlie Mans Variation: Splitting a seam high in the chimney of Girlie Mans Variation

 

Bop Til You Drop: Climbing easy features through the roof on the second pitch of Bob Til You Drop

 

Gazing towards Tucson from the top of Rupley Tower B

 

Jim hanging out at the top of Rupley Tower C

 

Dennis hanging out at the top of Rupley Tower C

 

View towards Tucson after a rain storm

 

Hitchcock: Lori climbs up the west side of the pinnacle

The Noodler: Dennis moving up to the initial roof on the Noodler

 

Mean Mistreator: Pulling through the initial roof on the second pitch of Mean Mistreator, Mean Mistreator Wall

 

Nang: Jim near the start of Nang, Blazing Fin Tower

 

The Noodler: Just above the roof on Noodler, Blazing Fin Tower

 

The Noodler: Dennis high on the Noodler, ready to move into the upper bulge (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

The Noodler: Dennis moving up to the initial roof on the Noodler (Copyright © Dennis Luther)

 

Jim and Lucie on the ridge at Windy Point

Mt. Rushmore (map)
 

George Washington, from the free viewpoint (I can't believe you have to pay to see the "good" view)

5.9 Route: Colin follows small crimps in the rain (which turned to snow)

Mt. Washington (map)
 

Pinnacle Gully: Climbing in Pinnacle Gully in the mid '80s (Copyright © Stuart Williams)

Mt. Whitney (map)
 

East Face: Posers in front of Mt. Whitney

 

Mt. Whitney and surrounding spires as seen from the approach

 

The gang gathered in LA after the trip to Yosemite and Mt. Whitney (Copyright © Stuart Williams)

 

East Face: Displaying the giant rack (Copyright © Stuart Williams)

 

East Face: Lookin' stupid on the summit of My. Whitney (Copyright © Stuart Williams)

Nairobi (Kenya) (map)
 

Humble Hearts orphanage (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Tusker beer, local Kenyan beer (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Lucie kisses a giraffe named Lynn (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Dining out in Nairobi (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Three sisters, students at Humble Hearts school (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

 

Lucie taught block printing at the school. This is a class of mostly deaf children. (Copyright © Lucie Wellner)

Nantucket (map)
 

Lucie and Jim sitting on the wharf

Narrows (map)
 

Banana: The Banana as seen from the towpath

 

The Deleware River as seen from a prominent point in the amphitheatre above Mixed Emotions

 

The power facility across from Main Flow

 

Mixed Emotions: Grix belays Joe on Mixed Emotions; this photo shows how close the road and parking area are to the climbing

Mixed Emotions: Pulling over the crux of Mixed Emotions

 

Mixed Emotions: Following the route "Mixed Emotions"

 

Mixed Emotions: Scoping for a tool placement in the thin ice

 

Mixed Emotions: Approaching the belay on Mixed Emotions

 

Banana: Climbing the Banana, the ice route high and right of Main Flow; this is perhaps the first ascent in 7 years of this route

 

Joa and Griz chatting in Griz's living room

 

Griz shares photos of PA ice with Joe

 

Lock Tender: Climbing the first curtain; the ice barely accepts stubbie screws

 

Lock Tender: Right off the deck on Lock Tender

Lock Tender: The initial chimney on Lock Tender

 

Lock Tender: The first overlap on Lock Tender

Lock Tender: Using technique to pass one of the overhanging overlaps

 

Lock Tender: The crux of Lock Tender is [yet another] hanging dagger through an overlap with poor protection; after this ascent, several bolts were added to the route

 

Lock Tender: Climbing the upper column in fat conditions

 

Lock Tender: Joe climbs the upper column of Lock Tender as a school bus drives by

 

Mixed Emotions: Climbing thin, unprotected ice on Mixed Emotions

 

Mixed Emotions: The crux of Mixed Emotions involved climbing a short hanging dagger through an overlap, protected by a single spectre

 

Mixed Emotions: The route as seen from the towpath; the ice flow centered at the top of the photo is Levitator

 

Mixed Emotions: Getting established on the hanging dagger in the crux

 

Main Flow: Joe gears up at the base of Main Flow

 

Main Flow: The route "Main Flow" as seen from the towpath; the route is about 350' high and about 20 yards from the road

 

Pennsylvania does have ice; here are the Narrows as seen from across the Deleware River

 

The Pencil: The routes "Pencil" (on the left) and "Evil Twin" (just to the right) as seen from the towpath

 

The power facility as seen from the top of the first pitch of Main Flow

 

New route potential in the amphitheatre above Mixed Emotions; the route "Levitator" is the column of ice on the left

 

Levitator: Climbing the start of the Levitator, which is typically M7, but is unusually fat in these conditions

 

Left Side: Joe soloes the route "Left Side" with the routes "Pencil" and "Evil Twin" in the background

 

Left Side: Joe soloes the route "Left Side" with the routes "Pencil" and "Evil Twin" in the background

 

Joe soloes Main Gully to approach The Pencil and other climbs

 

The Pencil: The routes "Pencil" and "Evil Twin" as seen from the top of Main Gully

 

The Pencil: The routes "Pencil" and "Evil Twin" as seen from the top of "Right Side"

Needles (map)
 

View of the Sorceror (on the left) and the Charlatan (on the right), taken from the second pitch of Igor Unchained

 

Thin Ice: Climbers on Thin Ice in the early morning

Airy Interlude: Climbers on Airy Interlude (Copyright © Tad Welch)

Negros Island (Philippines) (map)

On top of the only climbable rock on Apo Island, you can see the beach where we had lunch and relaxed between dives

Some children playing at the beach on a small banca boat

Nelson Rocks (map)
 

Crossing the via ferrata on the approach to climbs from the Cabins

 

The Cabins at Nelson

 

Crossing the bridge on the via ferrata

 

Rappelling to the climbs at Nelson Rocks

 

Solid-looking "towel racks" allow non-climbers access to some pretty exposed spots

New River Gorge (map)
 

New River Gorge Weather

 

West Virginia Climbing

 

The single-span bridge over New River Gorge

 

Thems Jammer's Hands

 

Jim and Lucie sitting at the base of Burning Calves, Beauty Mountain

 

Chasing The Wind: The 2nd pitch finger crack -- very hard moves intersperced with rests and great protection; I placed nearly an entire set of wires in this 100' pitch

 

Burning Calves: Shallow jams at the crux, belayed from below by Joe

 

Burning Calves: Jamming on Burning Calves

 

Burning Calves: Jamming on Burning Calves

Burning Calves: Burning it up on Burning Calves

Burning Calves: Burning it up on Burning Calves

 

Burning Calves: Burning it up on Burning Calves

 

Super Crack: Climbing out of the cave at the start of Super Crack

 

Super Crack: Steep moves out of the chimney lead to easier climbing

 

Super Crack: Placing gear near the start

Super Crack: Moving around the nose

 

Super Crack: Jeremy back cleans a piece that would otherwise cause rope drag

 

Super Crack: Climbing the upper crack of Super Crack

 

Super Crack: Joe offers support from below

 

Bat Crack: Joe in the middle of the thin crux; secret beta -- move right

 

Jaws: Shoe-ing up after climbing Jaws (and 10 hours of driving)

 

Zag: John stuff himself into a crack on the final moves of Zag

 

Marionette: Wow, what a route; Todd wasn't successful this time, maybe because of that giant rack of gear

 

Zag: John stuffed in a crack at the top of Zag

 

Lucie posed in front of the New River

 

The New River from near Fern Point

 

Jeremy shoes up for Strike a Scowl

 

At the start of "Bonemaster", belayed by Joe

Easy climbing in the midsection of the route

 

Getting established on the slopers just past the crux

 

The gang gathered outside the Cathedral Café, Fayetteville

 

Tad and Tommy show off their massive arms

Cresenta: Tad traversing under the arch of Cresenta

 

Cresenta: The gang at the base of Cresenta just before a downpour

 

Cresenta: Traversing beneath the large overhang on Cresenta

 

Triple Treat: A hard .10a, Triple Treat packs a punch at the roof

Party In Your Mind: Joe partying on Party in Your Mind

Smooth Operator: Will placing gear in the super Smooth Operator

 

Smooth Operator: Jamming the perfect cracks of Smooth Operator

 

Four Sheets to the Wind: Jeremy nearly splits his pants in a wide stem

New Yosemite: Climbing the perfect hand crack of New Yosemite

 

New Yosemite: Hanging from a jam while clipping gear

 

Reachers of Habbit: Thin moves on "Reachers"

Stuck in Another Dimension: Squeezing out of the chimney at the start; I thought this was the crux of the route

 

Stuck in Another Dimension: At the top of the crack…just a couple more moves until the rest

 

The Contortionist: Moving into the offwidth crack at the start

 

The Entertainer: At the start of The Entertainer

 

The "Miguel's" of the New

 

Roger hangs out with climbers at his place in Kaymoor

 

Doing a headstand to prepare for the day

Anal Clenching Adventures: Tad having an adventure at the New

Niagara Escarpment (map)
   

Sorry, no pictures available

North Cascades (map)
 

Cascade Climbers

 

Washington Alpine Club

West Ridge: Ade topping out on Forbidden

 

West Ridge: Ade nearing the summit of Forbidden

 

Liberty Bell, as seen from the rest stop on the highway

 

Beckey Route: Jim on the summit of Liberty Bell

 

Beckey Route: On the summit of Liberty Bell

Coleman Glacier: Stuart, Jim, and Tracy lookin' tough on Mt. Baker

 

Coleman Glacier: Sportin' the traditional garb near the summit of Mt. Baker (Copyright © Stuart Williams)

 

Coleman Glacier: Hiding in a crevasse near the summit of Mt. Baker (Copyright © Stuart Williams)

Fisher Chimneys: Stuart leading Winnie's Slide on the Fisher Chimney route

 

Fisher Chimneys: The upper section of Shuksan before Winnie's Slide

 

Fisher Chimneys: Examining the summit register on Shuksan

 

Fisher Chimneys: Stuart on the glacier

 

North Ridge: Ade and Jim Go Climbing

 

North Ridge: Ade ascending a tower on the North Ridge of Mt. Stuart

 

North Ridge: The North Ridge from the base of the Great Gendarme of Mt. Stuart

 

North Ridge: The North Ridge from the base of the Great Gendarme of Mt. Stuart

 

North Ridge: Jim leading the first pitch of the Great Gendarme or Mt. Stuart

 

North Ridge: North Ridge of Mt. Stuart from Goat Pass

 

North Ridge: Ade traversing along the North Ridge of Mt. Stuart

 

North Ridge: Mt. Stuart from the south

 

North Ridge: Jim on the summit of Mt. Stuart

 

West Route: Jim and Tracy feeling happy on the summit of Sahale (Copyright © Stuart Williams)

 

West Route: Tracy lookin' happy on the summit of Sahale; Forbidden is in the background (Copyright © Stuart Williams)

Old Rag (map)
   

Sorry, no pictures available

Orient Bay (Canada) (map)
 

Thunder Bay section of the Canadian Alpine Club

 

Wes Bender's ice climbing conditions

 

Climbing Central (ice conditions, guidebooks)

 

Nipigon River along Route 11 just outside Nipigon on the way to Orient Bay

 

Eveil Des Sens: Jim just before the crux of Eveil Des Sens in early season; this was the first climb done in the Ice Palace area

 

10% Real: A real classic of the area, Tommy climbs 10% Real early in the season; the crux starts just below Tommy's feet

 

10% Real: A little higher on the crux

 

10% Real: Higher up, Tommy stems onto the left wall that has just enough ice to support such a maneuver

 

10% Real: The climb angles back briefly, then steepens up once again for a second crux

 

Parallax: Tommy climbs the steep upper section of the free-hanging icicle

 

Parallax: Starting out on Parallax with the monster free-hanging pillar looming above

 

Parallax: In heavy snow, Jim climbs the mixed rock and ice to get established below the pillar

 

Parallax: Parallax in mid December conditions -- the pillar doesn't yet touch down

 

Reflection Wall: Climbing the exceptionally wet and steep Reflection Wa;;

 

Obsession: The climb Obsession ascends a big chimney just 50 meters from the road

 

Reflection Wall: Reflection Wall on a rare sunny day; our ascent was the first for the year

 

Cascade Falls: Tommy climbs Cascade Falls on the right -- many lines can be climbed on this massive piece of ice, from WI3 to WI4

 

Obsession: Tommy climbs the steep pillar at the top of Obsession; smart climbers (not us) belay at bolts on the left low on the route, then climb the route in one pitch instead of breaking the pitch at the place where this picture is taken

Ostrov (Czech Republic) (map)
 

Alter Weg: Topping out, reach for a hueco (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Alter Weg: Topping out past the route book (Copyright © Rayko Halitschke)

 

Alter Weg: Opening moves involve tunneling through the center of the tower

 

Alter Weg: Horizontal within the tunnel

 

Alter Weg: Emerging from the other side of the tunnel, now with great exposure but good pro

 

Alter Weg: Turning around, getting ready to start up the remainder of the route

 

Alter Weg: Route book and the various pieces of the container

 

Hanging out in the coffee shop (the one attached to the climbing store) waiting for the rain to stop

 

Outdoor store in Tisá is surprisingly well stocked

 

Many of these thin towers scattered in the forest

 

Thin tower seen from the summit of Deravá vež

Ouray (map)
 

Climbing Boulder

 

The town of Ouray from the Camp Bird Mine Road (county road 361); you can see Cascade Falls in the red cliff band in the background

Skylight: Leave the security of the cave on the third pitch; the ice is very unstable here

 

Skylight: Nikos following the second pitch up to the protected cave in the midsection of the chimney

 

Skylight: The awesome 3-pitch Skylight route

 

Skylight: Nikos at the second belay in an ice cave

 

The Camp Bird Mine road, on the walk into the Skylight area (Copyright © Nikos Kopidakis)

 

Looking southeast from the bridge, routes such as Tangled Up in Blue

 

Looking northwest from the bridge

Unknown: Leading an unknown line between the bridges…looks easy, but it's 4R

 

Tangled Up in Blue: Nikos following the classic and photogenic Tangled Up in Blue on a cold and snowy day

 

Tangled Up in Blue: Topping out in the Uncompahgre Gorge

 

Tangled Up in Blue: Jim and Nikos at the bottom of the gorge, preparing to climb

 

Danger sign found near the entrance to the gorge (Copyright © Nikos Kopidakis)

Tangled Up in Blue: In the gorge, in a sea of ice (Copyright © Nikos Kopidakis)

 

Scoping out routes between the bridges (Copyright © Nikos Kopidakis)

 

Tangled Up in Blue: Rappelling into the base of the gorge to climb Tangled Up in Blue (Copyright © Nikos Kopidakis)

 

Tangled Up in Blue: Nikos topping out (Copyright © Nikos Kopidakis)

 

Tangled Up in Blue: Jim near the top of the climb (Copyright © Nikos Kopidakis)

 

Tangled Up in Blue: Massive amount of ice under the bridge (Copyright © Nikos Kopidakis)

Owens River Gorge (map)

Checking out the view on the way into the Gorge

Fear of a Black Planet: First route in the Gorge, slippery and good

Fear of a Black Planet: Long reach at the crux

Ambassadors of Funk: Making a clip before the crux (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Ambassadors of Funk: Powering through the crux (Copyright © Colin O'Connor)

Welcome to the Gorge: Near the start, and pretty slippery

Expressway: In a sea of pockets near the anchor

Bone Up: Pulling through the first overhanging section

Bone Up: Pulling though the big overhang high on the route

Bone Up: Whew…getting established after the roof

Expressway: Thin, crimpy moves at the bottom

Expressway: Crimp…ouch!

Expressway: Steep climbing that just doesn't let up

Paris (France) (map)
 

Notre Dame cathedral in Paris

 

Louvre museum

Patones (Spain) (map)
 

Desnivel -- Lists of climbing areas in Spain

Hasta Incluso: Jen reaches the first clip

 

A zoo-like atmosphere at the crag just outside Madrid

Pembroke (Wales) (map)
 

UKC - UK Climbing

 

Not-so-good picture of the Wales coastline

 

Not-so-good picture of the Wales coastline, from the top

 

The Hole: Ade in a hole

Penetente Canyon (map)
 

Climbing Boulder

 

May Be Nueve: Mioara climbs the final crack to the anchor

 

Tommy reaches the anchors on Captain America; Mioara belays below