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!