josh photo shoot

I spent monday at Josh shooting some photos with Greg Epperson. We spent 13 hours on this. In the heat. Being pretty is much more difficult than climbing hard. First we have Factor One, a 13a next to Father Figure near Barker Dam.

Then a little Rastafarian.

Now New Deal, possibly the first 14a established by an american.

Finally My Idea of Fun, a cool looking dike out Echo Rock.

The Return

Awwwww...

I'm back in the US, and more photos to come. Soon...

Once I get my life together again.

Raining in Germy

It's raining today, spoiling my rest day plans of Mt. Olympos. Looks like I'll have to cook my dinner over a stove instead of the eternal flame. I can't stand the rain, even on rest days. That's why I live in the desert.


There are Germans everywhere here! Mein Deutsche ist verbessern, but I flew to Turkey, so wtf? Check out his glasses, cute huh? This way he can look up without hurting his neck. Germans are weird. And not hip at all.


I spend my days taking portraits of animals, since the rain keeps me off the rocks. Look, a turkey! You're a long ways from home - or maybe turkeys belong in Turkey? I suppose it's fitting, although I swear they came from America. One more export for the US of A, right behind movies, sex, and rock and roll.


See those things on top of the buildings - every single structure has one here. That there is a passive solar system. The water flows through thin pipes in the array and absorbs the heat, no gas or electricity required. Why don't we have those in the US? We are lame.

Geyikbayiri

I lack a robust understanding of where I am in the world right now. It isn’t that I’m entirely clueless, but I definitely don’t have a firm grasp on it either. Turkey is on the Mediterranean Sea (or is it the Aegean?), somewhere between Europe and Asia, the western world and the middle east, the 70s and today. For you see, mustaches are quite big here. Observe. The fire was warm, he beckoned me closer.


Islamic prayers echo throughout the valley five times a day as the local mosques sing Allah Allah Allah. I’m in a small village near the city of Antalya on the southern coast, camping with a bunch of Germans. Sometimes I think I flew to Munich instead of Istanbul. I went into town the other day and a local mistook me for a Deutsch. Fuck that.

I really don’t feel like I’m out of Europe most of the time. Check out the accomodations, very Rodellar-esque, no?




The climbing is better than decent, with big tufas, my friends. No climbing photos yet, the rock is pretty hard to shoot because of the lighting and flora obstructions. You can see a glimpse of the orange limestone past the goat, but remember to hide your food or these hoofed menaces will ravage the lunch.


The ratings are super fun-soft as well – I’ve been a heartbeat away from onsighting two 13ds. Sorry dudes, I don’t onsight 13d. I think an across the board cut of two letters is likely in order, but it’s been so long since I’ve been on a rope, my calibration is all off.

I leave you with some final shots of…puppies! If these photos don’t melt your heart, I pity your loveless existence.

Perhaps a Return?

Alright, I'm back. Here's my trip this summer: to Nice, Ceuse, Saint Leger, Geneva, Chamonix, Basil, Freiburg, Barcelona, and Rodellar. I'm like, international or something. More to come. I've got to get back into it slowly or I'll totally rupture a disk. I'm an old man now. I'm 25.

China China China

I has come to my attention through the dark allies and back streets of the climbing underground that there is a new video of climbing in Yangshuo. Check it here, sweet spot #16. See all those falls on the Moon Hill Arch in the beginning of the short film? Yea, those are all on my beloved Sea of Tranquility. I'm glad those bastards took some whippers before supplanting my baby with a new hardest climb in China.

In more China news, there is an article on my trip in the newest Urban Climber. A feature article, a cover article, with lots of awesome photos of me and everything. Above you may find Shannon inflating her ego by way of narrative, a photo robbed from John, thanks doll face.

Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad, since it's x-mas and I'm south of the border. Crazy dance party last night at the campground, let me tell you, mexico rave 2007, playing picken up the peso, picken up the peso.

But yesterday was a good climbing day, so there was reason to celebrate apart from this halmark holiday. Edgardo and I climbed this sick monolith next to the police station in town, making a quick getaway to avoid any third-world consequences.

I also sent this bouldery thing, Crawling King Snake (13d). The bottom moves are a pain in the ass, thank god for kneepads. I don't know what I would do if I actually had to climb these things - I'm more of a rock crawler. That wall, Culo de Gato, is full of phenomenal climbs, so while it's not exactly aesthetic, it's worth checking out. Except for that dust, some fine fine dust, that poofs up with every step and coats your soul with filth.

I leave this place today, flying south for a while. Just as I'm getting into shape. That's how it goes, life isn't fair, full of disappointment and broken promises. Look at that - I think my calling in life is to be a 14 year old journal entry writer, circa pretty hate machine.

UPDATE: John won some climbing mag photo comp with this shot of some monster on Thriller (V10) in yosemite. What does he win? I bet it's shitty.

Solo

Look at Jesse, being all third world hip with his graffiti. Now he is gone, off to mexico city, so I'm stuck in El Portrero Chico alone.

My endurance is coming back, slowly. It is really too bad that I won't be able to stay here longer, but a volcano is waiting - Pico de Orizaba, the tallest volcano in north america. I'm flying down to mexico city on christmas to climb it. Meeting Jesse down there, we are going to learn how to self arrest at 16,000 ft. We may even make an instructional video, let's see how our heads are pounding.

I went climbing with these two goobers a few days ago. Check out that 80s style. Hot. Yesterday I soloed some 5.10 up a badass spire, although this self-portrait doesn't really do it justice. Those guys on the other spire took some photos looking across, so hopefully I'll get those in a couple days.

Then I met up with some mexican climbers from Monterrey, a huge city, I had no idea. I hopped on some 13c and fell a few times, then blew on the onsight of Hombre de Rifle (13a), no good excuse, just fucked it up. The rock here definitely isn't the greatest limestone out there, even for north america. But in the winter, your options are limited on this continent, so I suppose it is about as good as it gets. El Salto is supposed to be better for the hard stuff, but it is a few hours away and not as road trip friendly without a car. I mean, how could I give up my wi-fi in the tent?

Finishing up a paper still, sleeping in a tent, rock climbing a bunch, this isn't too bad. Anyone know the season for mexican wrestling? I really think I need to go see a match when I'm in the city. Do they even have seasons for mexican wrestling?

Escalar

So the climbing is feeling a little better. I went to a new wall with Edgardo (love the hair), Culo de Gato, which was better than a cat's ass or whatever it translates as. By the way, there is this little kitten at the camp ground that is cute as fuck, purring as it gouges out chunks of flesh from your arm.

But the climbing was good, I'm getting into shape. I flashed Virasana (13a) without too much trouble. Either the camera is crooked or the moon's gravity was really strong that day, tilting the earth like the deck of a ship. Then I got incredibly close on Crawling King Snake, an interesting 13d with a dino and a stemming dihedral. I think I like climbing rocks like this, I was a little unsure about it at first.

A new plan is brewing, something in the works involving volcanoes, but I don't want to jinx it so that is all I'm going to say right now.

By the way, amna is amazing. Here she is, the mystery girl, hiding behind the hand. We are going surfing in hawaii in a few weeks, I'm excited. Never been to hawaii, never been surfing. Never been surfing in hawaii with amna. Just look at all these firsts! This girl I'll keep.

El Potrero Chico

Here's the plan. Finish papers, finish grading, drive to the border, walk across, fly from tijuana to monterrey, climb in el portrero chico. Not sure how is happened, but I didn't finish one paper, was forced to bring 60 exams with me to grade, and missed my flight. I don't really have good excuses, it was just me being me. And insofar as I wholeheartedly accept myself, I guess I've got to be satisfied with all my fuckups.

But maybe I can blame it on grad school being hard and all these distractions, like this and this. How can I be expected to focus with a girl like this around?

So I had to spend a night in a shitty hotel in tijuana. I've never been in a room with carpet that was this dirty, I wouldn't walk around without my shoes on. I slept with my clothes to shield myself from dirty needles.

I made it eventually, look at that photo, camping at the base of the mountain. I met a good crew here, Jesse with the cemetery, Val and the purple stuff, Mandi or however you spell it, and Dave.

I went climbing yesterday, did some mediocre 11s and then an awesome 12d/13a called Job Disgraced. I'm out of shape from the studies, and I messed up sequence, and I'm lame, and I smell bad. So it took me two tries, but like I said, the climb was brilliant.

The Mastodon

The run down today, a list: studied in the morning, ran up a big hill, climbed a fucking mastodon, ran back down the hill, drove to the quarry, climbed 11 pitches by headlamp on a garage sale rope, spotlighted by a ghetto bird, pulled over at a traffic stop, nearly shot by the cops while being frisked, ate a burrito.

Check out how shitty that dinosaur is. Rusty sheet metal, glad I've got my shots, a superman of sorts. And then there's the smog. SoCal is rad.

The cops had me on the ground, nearly in cuffs and called for the passenger to get out. Jake was trying to eat a burrito, and didn't want to get shot, so he yelled back that he was going to put the burrito down. The cops couldn't hear him, so hands on the guns till jake finally opened the door. I guess he found a place to put it.

My rope was a gift from my aunt who found it at a garage sale. Good enough for me. When you've got to choose between two devils and you know one of them is total shit, sometimes the unknown is worth it. I need to throw away all of my climbing gear, my old rope has about 40 meters left, duck tape is an integral part of my harness, my draws are over 12 years old, and of course my shoes have holes. I feel like a climber out of a dickens novel. Gear for the poor gov'na?

Vegas

Some news from all over. Spending the weekend in Vegas to do a little climbing, some going outing, some studying, some ditching Riverside. Yesterday I did an endurance day at the gallery, over 12 pitches, halfway there to the top of Lurking Fear on el cap. That climb is going to be brutal. It doesn't help my psyche that I don't think I even finished anything yesterday, it was more like falling than climbing.

The reason for the poor performance, lack of sleep. I got suckered into teaching at 7:00 in the morning on thursdays, and since I don't sleep till 3:00 I wasn't left with much time to turn off. But my kiddies are great, all business majors that get my advice on business ethics. Looks like we're all a bunch of suckers. I don't know anything about business or ethics.

I need to figure out my students, so I asked them all to say their name, major, year, and something interesting about themselves. Typically it goes something like: I'm annie, this is my third year as a business major, and something interesting...I have three cats. But occasionally it isn't boring. One girl introduces herself: I'm Jamie, I'm a second year, a business major, and my mom almost had an abortion with me. That's to a teacher she doesn't know, in front of 25 students she doesn't know. It made for some awkwardness, but what do you say? That's intense. Next.

Free scotch at the casinos last night. That's suits on the strip. There's only one way to drink scotch.