Marmot Commerical

Sinuhe (sin-way) Xavier directed this little film during the early part of November, at the peak of the Indian Creek climbing season. Ace Kvale was kind enough to invite Sinuhe along for one of his still shoots with Marmot athletes and mountain guides; Keith Garvey, Angela Hawse, and Christian Santelices

The shoot took place at one of the more remote crags in Indian Creek called "The Wall." We had a somewhat hot spell of weather, so The Wall was perfect. It sits in a u-shaped alcove providing three different aspects, great for shade chasing or sun baking depending on your needs. The two nights out we spent at the Pasture Creek campground...Indian Creek is paradise!

Skiing the Alps with AMA

Opening footage of AMA slideshow last night at Neptune

Skiing the Alps with AMA from Keith Garvey on Vimeo.

The main slideshow was promoting AMA ski trips to La Grave, the Haute Route, Berner Oberland and Skiing Mt. Blanc. To learn more: www.AllMountainAdventures.com

Indian Creek

The last weekend in October we made our annual pilgrimage to Indian Creek. About one hour south of Moab, UT this place is a crack climbers paradise! If you have never been, you must check it out. There are desert towers to climb, world class mountain biking, jeepin' (if your into it) and always a bunch of amazing people around. Check out these photos John Heisel put together of our trip.

http://heiselportraits.com/multimedia/odetoindiancreek.mov

All Mixed Up 11/10/09

Robert Krinsky and I climbed All Mixed Up on this beautiful November day. Not a single person was seen and we were fortunate to have relatively warm weather and very light wind. Somewhat unexpected for RMNP. We had a blast climbing it! Here's a great view of the four pitch route in it's entirety.

The first pitch was relatively easy WI 2+, with only a few thin sections. In general, fun easy fat ice.

Pitch two had a fair bit of moderate mixed climbing. Really fun, but somewhat hard to protect. If you look hard enough you can find small stopper and cam placements and the occasional piton along the way. The crux of the route in these conditions, probably WI 4- M3+, super FUN!

The upper section of the second pitch is below. Pitch three starts out with a short steep step followed by a low angle snow ramp. The belay is off to the left of the last pillar. With small to medium size cams you can make an excellent rock anchor here.

The final pitch which is usually the crux at WI4, felt more like WI3 with a short mixed step exiting the cave on the left side of the flow.

Robert pulling the final moves!

Looking at the west side of Long's Peak during our descent. The main couloir heading up Long's is the Trough.

Some nice words from Robert after our climb.....

"This was among the best ice climbing outings that I have enjoyed in the 3 years that I have been at it. The day's success was due to your impressive technical skill, first rate temperment, clarity of instruction, attention to safety, engaging personality, and a wonderful zest for adventure. It would be a terrific to be guided by you again, thanks Keith."

AMGA Alpine Exam

Martin Volken a fellow instructor and examiner for the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) put together this amazing video of what it takes to get an alpine certification. Check it out!

La Grave Freeriding

During a rare day off from guiding, Keith Garvey captured a blower ski day on February 10, 2009 with his helmet cam. He caught up with Liz and Miles Smart also mountain guides and Marmot athletes to take full advantage of this amazing off-piste ski area.

La Grave Freeriding with Helmet Cam from Keith Garvey on Vimeo.

Climbing D7 on the Diamond

On 8/1/09 Austin Wallace and I climbed D7 on the Diamond. We dedicated our ascent to the late and great John Bachar who put up the first free ascent in '78. This was also Austin's 14th anniversary for his first time climbing the Diamond at age 16. At the time he and his friend were the youngest to climb the Diamond as well as the youngest to have a full blown epic. Trying to get up and over Long's they were forced to bivy, which led to a restless shiver fest all night long and extremely worried parents. With 14 years of Diamond experience and over 40+ combine ascents, this was far from our intentions today.

D7 is an amazing line and should be high on the list for any accomplished climber. Below are just a few photos and a short video from our climb.

We were greeted with a great sunrise. Looking out at "The Crag's"

With unseasonably cool temperatures this past week, we arrived into the Long's peak cirque seeing snow on the summit of Mt. Meeker (photo below) and Long's Peak. It was quite the chilly day, especially once the sun left the face. Screaming barfies and wet cracks were encountered all too often

At the top of the Diamond and getting ready to rappel the face.

Bill Brooks climbing in Eldorado Canyon

My trusted accountant Bill Brooks decided to give rock climbing a try. He has climbed a number of 14teeners in the Colorado area and has ascended Long's Peak via the Keyhole Route 4 times. All his climbing has been on easy to moderate terrain where ropes are generally not used. So today was the day! We pulled out the full arsenal of climbing equipment and got to work. We started the day at Supremacy Slab in Eldorado Canyon. Together we hiked around to the top and set a top-rope to learn some basic rope skills. First thing was to get back down, so we did a rappel. He then learned the bomb proof "figure eight follow through," how to belay, and then began climbing. His first two climbs he ran up quicker than a sheep dog playing catch. It also reminds me of how he runs numbers, ping, ping, ping. It was obvious this was to easy, so I took off to set up the 5.6 around the corner. There we worked on more footwork and slower climbing strategies as our next step was a multi-pitch climb.

The 5.6 climb at Supremacy

We headed to the base of the Wind Tower and cams, stoppers, slings, the nut tool, and how the rope gets up, were topics of discussion for the next hour. It was great we had climbers all over the Bastille and Wind Tower for Bill to get a better understanding of how the climbing systems work. We climbed the 400' formation up "The Bomb" route in four pitches (rope lengths). The first pitch is a great warm up and goes at 5.5. The protection is somewhat spars unless you bring up bigger cams like the 3.5 and 4 camalot, but very easy climbing.

Pitch one of the Bomb

On pitch two, we chose the 5.7 West Overhang as a great challenge for Bill. Now that we were 150' off the deck why not give him his hardest climb? ;) Bill did great! I belayed right at the lip and the superhuman accountant muscled his way right through it.

Firing the roof!

The last two pitches feel much easier after the roof and soon enough we were on top of the Wind Tower. We got some great arial views of the canyon and began reminiscing about the 80 year old man who use to tightrope across the Wind Tower formation to the Bastille (look at below photo to get a feel). After our short down climb we made the one and only rappel back to the ground, bringing us full-circle back to the base. It was a great day and I am looking forward to future adventures.

Arriving at the summit with the Bastille behind

Bode Miller's latest Ski Training Techniques

Though unorthodox, this video gives the inside scoop on going pro.

Sea Kayaking the Outer Banks

It seams every Fourth of July we switch between the Chain O' Lakes in Waupaca, WI (my families stomping grounds) and heading to North Carolina's Atlantic beach were my wife grow up going to the beach. Being the high energy freaks that we are, finding something new or for that matter just something different to get our release is very important. Two years ago, since the waves generally aren't big enough for surfing, I bought a skimboard. It looks kinda like a boogie board, just much thinner and made of wood. The object is to ride the shallow water (1" or so) left behind from the last breaking wave as it slowly moves back into the ocean. So you run like hell, slide the board and jump on it trying to do as many tricks in 25 or 30 feet of riding. It's fun for a little, but after two many hard beach falls, bashing my shins, and stubbing my toes, I needed something new. So this year, Krista and I did beach runs every morning and rented bikes for afternoon rides and cool evening beach cruises. After three days, we decide a little more adventure was in order, so checked out some sea kayaking just south of us in Cape Carteret, where the Barrier Islands are. This is nothing like the Baja Pennisula or the Caribbean Sea, but quite amazing for North Carolina. There are great inlets, small islands, beautiful white sand beaches, loads of birds (Osprey Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Ibis, and Snowy Egret) and not many motor boats as the depth is often too shallow for their hauls. Krista, her Mom Tricia and I rented from Barrier Island Kayaks for a half day and set out to Cape Lookout National Seashore. Luckily we timed this right, the tide was moving out as we paddled out and vise versa on the way in. The tall sea grass give it a safari like feel and on a few occasions we had short portages to get around the occasional sand bar.

We made it to Cape Lookout after two hours of paddling and had great pre-made tuna sandwiches, enjoyed the pristine white sand beaches, and before too long we were back in the boats as our half day rental was coming to an end. Our return felt twice as long as our arm strength was quickly fading and distances are hard to judge sitting so close to the water. Boiled peanuts and beer were the only thing on my mind. However, before we knew it, we were on our final passage back to Barrier Island Kayaks. And then, so luckily we were graced by a beautiful dolphin, which at first scared the shit out of me, but after it's quick second surface realized it couldn't be a shark. What a fun adventure and of course a great work out!

Guide Training- AMGA SPI

June 24-26 John Spezia, Sung Baek, and Peter Huber all took the Single Pitch Instructor course (SPI) with Keith Garvey and AMA. The course is geared towards entry level guides, putting the focus on top-rope site management and guiding single pitch rock climbs. We spent the three days in Boulder Canyon at various crags, all having great challenges for our course.

Day 1 we spent at Castle Rock discussing important guiding topics like; professionalism, equipment selection, knots and hitches, and belaying. After our quick lunch break we reviewed natural and artificial anchors as they relate to top-rope climbing. Then spent the rest of the afternoon construction complex anchors and talking about philosophies revolving around these set ups.

Day 2 we headed to Happy Hour Crag and worked specifically on sling shot top-rope set ups. After a number of ropes were hung we climbed various routes ranging from 5.6 to 5.8 on the beautiful well featured Boulder Canyon granite. The team then worked on the important rescue skills of getting a stuck climber down. This entails ascending the rope to the stuck or injured climber, putting a friction hitch on their rope and safety rappelling with them back to the ground. These guys did a great job!

Day 3 we headed to the Boulderado Crag right off the road in Boulder Canyon. We got an early 7:30am start to beat any Friday traffic as this is a very popular top-roping crag. Today our focus was on top-managed sites, working on station management, lowering, rappelling, and assistance skills. First, I demoed a lead climb modeling safe and efficient lead practices. Next we headed to the top to make anchors and begin top managed skills. Since a Spot Climbing Gym group came and they had many kids at the base, we decided due to the loose rock above to use only a small portion of the crag, leaving the best and safest climbs to those kids. Just before we finished with the rappelling lesson a violent thunderstorm hit, so we frantically packed up and headed to the Rio Grande. Here we talked about a few last guiding topics, did the end of course debriefs and enjoyed basket after basket of chips while washing it all down with beers and margs. Thanks to the guys for all your effort in the course and good luck on the two day exam!

Team Lusky and the 1st Flatiron

On June 7th Randy and Will Lusky met me at Chautauqua park to climbed the stunning and impressive 1st Flatiron. This was a pretty big undertaking; Will (who is only 8 years old) was climbing for the second time on real rock, the climbing difficulty is pretty challenging for a beginner, we had 1000' of climbing to the summit, and we're in the Rocky Mountains (home of the afternoon thunderstorms).

Our day started of with few clouds and cool temperatures...great for rock climbing! The notorious first pitch has kept some people from climbing the classic East Face Direct route as the pitch is rated 5.6 (the crux) and you can expect 35' run-outs (no gear), luckily this only matters for the leader. So before diving in, we started by practicing slab climbing techniques at the base of the route. This was Will's first time experiencing true slabulation...getting ready for 1000' of it, so it was imperative he understood the fundamentals of climbing a 50 degree rock face. It requires a complete mental shift from climbing in the gym. Instead of keeping your body close to the wall you're trying to push it away, in order to get weight on your feet. After we practiced for 10 minutes, we sent the first pitch. Both Randy and Will climbed on separate ropes and were belayed at the same time. This technique worked great as Randy was able to coach and help Will in any hard spots encountered. After 2 pitches of climbing, Will became a true slab monkey and the following 4 pitches seemed effortless. We arrived at a nice ledge were Randy and Will took a quick lunch, as I continued climbing up the next 4th class pitch. At which point, our clocks started ticking a little louder. Small rain drops started pelting our helmets and it was time to get up and off this formation as quickly as possible. We had only two short pitches left to the summit, and boom, the flood gates were opened. Will and Randy followed that pitch in a full blown hail storm. Suddenly our summit had just arrived, with rumbling thunder in the distance and wet rock, we opted to do the only sensible thing, retreat! We finished with a round of high fives and quickly rappelled the 100' down the backside. Once we were off, we had a great laugh and reflected on the fun adventure while we walked back to the base.

It was a super fun day and cool experience for all. Here's to team Lusky and future adventures!

Starting the 45 minute approach to the base of the route

Will firing the first pitch

Will got so intrigued with the climbing equipment, he became in charge of removing the gear.

The airy ridge traverse just before the hail storm

Will before the climb....finding his inner being........note this is before the crux pitch and being blasted by hail.

Will after the climb..............no problem dude!

Will Lusky's first outdoor climb

On June 4th Will Lusky, his father Randy, and I went climbing in Eldorado Canyon. It was the eight year olds first outdoor climbing experience! In the end we climbed 8 pitches (3 up the Wind Tower, 1 up Calypso, 2 up Whales Tale, and then 2 top-roping West Crack and the neighboring route). Below are a few photos from our day........

Below is the Wind Tower, we climbed The Bomb route which follows the right hand skyline. Will's very first climb outside, multi-pitch never the less!

Re-stacking the ropes for the next pitch. Will was fired up having completed the first pitch successfully.

Finishing the last pitch

Summit of the Wind Tower after 500' of climbing

Will crimpin' on the start of Calypso.

Getting the hang of crack climbing and steep routes. Our goal next week is the First Flatiron.