A Number in Mind
I sit here writing this post from the now world-famous Miguel’s Pizza located in the Red River Gorge. It is amazing as it is a Wednesday morning and this place is swarming with climbers all talking about and getting ready to send their “proj.” I have never really tried to climb hard – by this I mean putting a ton of effort into a single route so that every move is dialed, and when it all comes together, I can call it a “send.” This year I picked a number and have been working towards it. I haven’t hopped on a route that bears this number grade yet; maybe today will be the day. The Red is very specific climbing that mainly deals with being able to hold on. I have spent more back-to-back days here this year than I ever have and also have a plan to be here this October for the Rocktoberfest and a short stint after as well. This is proving to help my endurance on these harder routes. I have been getting climbs that are a bit easier than my target grade in a few goes, but even giving a route a few goes is something I never would have put in the effort to do in the past. So here is to the process of working a route, chasing numbers, and Ale 8 One; though I still believe that what it is really all about is the good times we have with the people around us!
Muir Valley Trail Day
Muir Valley is located in the Red River Gorge near Slade, Kentucky. The amazing climbing destination is owned (but not kept a secret) by Rick and Liz Weber. These two folks have given this land up for use to anyone who likes the outdoors, but the land lends itself to rock climbing. They have spent the last eight years building trails, opening new ground, and maintaining the routes that have been established. This past weekend thirty volunteers showed up with the Access Fund Crew and did an amazing job fixing up a few trails as well as building a new one. Fox Mountain Guides gave a free anchor clinic to the folks who participated in the trail day, and two lucky people walked away with a total of $100 in gift certificates.
For more info on Muir Valley click here.
For info on climbing instruction in Muir check out Fox Mountain Guides.
For more info on the Access Fund and to become a member click here.
Locking Munter Hitch (Guide's Tip)
The Solution
I have been climbing in the Red River Gorge for the last few days and have been noticing the humidity rising with the warmer temps. This equates to slimy holds, slick feet, and well… not sending. The solution: La Sportiva Solutions. Though marketed as a bouldering shoe, the Solution’s sticky rubber wants to hold you onto the wall whether you are 10 feet off the ground or 50. I had worked a few 5.12s and was not having any luck fighting the pump on the steep overhaning sandstone that the Red so readily throws in your face. So I threw on a pair of Solutions and onsited the very next climb.
Today I was back in North Carolina at a new area developed by Eric Singleton known as Cathy’s Creek Crag. The climbing area offers great sport climbing on steep granite with crystalline quartzite edges. I used the La Sportiva Solutions again, and again with warm, humid air and thunderstorms rumbling in the mountains not far off. Lindsay and I ran laps for a few hours, and I had her try them out. Of course she loved them and is now looking at picking a pair up for herself! So I am going to stick with this shoe for a bit on the harder overhung routes and see if they are the “Solution” to the next climb.
Lowering with a Black Diamond ATC-Guide (Plaquette)
An Afternoon Cup with a Friend
As usual, my inspiration for this post comes from coffee – well not coffee directly, but from my experience at Starbucks this morning. As I pulled into the drive thru, I was greeted by Tom, the manager of the Bishop Starbucks. He is always cheerful and seems to enjoy his job; this morning was no different. He greeted me and asked if I was off to work. I replied, “Nope, headed to play today!” Tom retorted, “But your job is like playing!” I didn’t know what to say and with reluctance just said “Yeah, I guess so.”
After I pulled out, I thought to myself, I bet Tom loves coffee as much as I do, but I bet getting up at 5 am to serve it is much less enticing than heading down for an “afternoon cup with a friend.” Guiding is the same for me as serving coffee is for Tom. I love my job, but it is still just that: A JOB! Granted, if I became independently wealthy, I would still take folks into the mountains and give them the best experience I could, but there IS a difference, which I talked about the difference in Guiding vs. Climbing late last year.
Let me paint the picture for you. It is 2:45 a.m. You need to get out of the tent to check the temps. It is -5 degrees outside. You decide to wait for another half hour so that the walk to the base will be a bit “warmer” for the clients. ALARM goes off… holy-moley, it is 3:30 a.m. You fell asleep for 10 min, and now it is time to get up. You get out in the freezing temps to start the stoves that don’t want to wake anymore than you do. You dig through the food bag to find the oatmeal to serve. Your fingers are numb, your toes are cold, and you just want your cup of coffee. Client comes over and says his tent mate is sick. You scramble to their tent and, based on your medical knowledge, decide that they have AMS. Now you must make a go/ no-go decision for them that could or could not affect them physically as well as the rest of the groups’ ability to get to the top. Oh no, the water is boiling over. Ok, back to serving breakfast, making sure folks are eating. Do they have there harnesses on, avalanche transceivers on, and crampons on correctly? It is getting close to go time. Grab a quick swig of that cold coffee, forget eating your breakfast as there is no time for that; you can eat a bar on the way up.
Ok, that was the first hour and a half of a summit day that could be 12 to 18 hour day for you. What do you think – work or play?
I think everyone would agree. Work is work, even if we have made a profession of something that we love to do. I hope this provides some insight for those out there who were unsure of the difference between guiding and climbing. But, as I have said before, even though it’s work, I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
And as always, see you in the mountains!
Why Wool Works
Gaston in his wool.
I am not sure when we deviated from using wool in the outdoors. Many of the ancient mountaineering pictures we see have old, hard men wearing their wool sweaters and knickers. So why are we all wearing synthetics? Maybe to keep away the crowds from the horrible body odor emitting from our capilene’d pores. Or maybe it is just marketing…
I have been using wool for the last few years in the mountains and now try to wear nothing other than this amazing natural material. Some folks think they are allergic to wool, disapproving of it’s ‘itchy’ quality, like grandpa’s old sweater. In reality, this ‘itchy and bulky grandpa sweater’ wool myth has long been dispelled. Good wool products like the “Base” series from Ibex have a small micron which makes them very comfortable to wear right next to your skin. They can also be worn for multi-day activities and do not produce the odor synthetics would. As for the wicking factor, if the weave is just right, like in the Ibex “Woolies” line, it dissipates moisture better than most synthetics I have worn. So a smaller micron gauge of wool is a good base layer choice for moving throughout the day and nights at camp.
The alpine, as you may know, is an environment of extremes. I watch others change layers all day when I am comfortably regulated by the wool I’m wearing. It’s as if the fabric knows to keep me warm, or when I am too warm to turn down the thermostat. This of course makes guiding easier for me as I can worry about other things at hand.
In the mountains, we need to have rugged gear. This is where that old wool sweater comes in! Yeah, the itchy, bulky one; except now not so itchy and minus the bulk. With better weaves and perfected sizes of micron for durability yet comfort we now have the best outer layers of wool available on the market. The “Shak” is one of the best selling pieces of wool clothing due to these attributes.
Lindsay and myself cooking at high camp on Mt. Whitney with all wool layers on!
Wool is on the comeback, and new products arriving on the market this fall will be using wool in place of synthetic fill “puffy” jackets. It will have some of the same properties of the synthetics, like holding warmth even while wet. Look for these innovative products on shop.ibex.com.
The Joy of Summiting, and Realizing it was only Halfway
The last Mt. Whitney trip went very well considering weather and medical hardships. The trip started out of the Whitney Portal with forecasted winds around 115 mph at 12,000ft. This is not a good outlook at any elevation, but of course, the summit is another 2,500 ft above that.
The first night at low camp (10,000 ft) we received 85 mph winds and really had to hunker down to make it through the night. The next day looked bleak as the winds were supposed to be even stronger. When we woke to a chilly but bluebird day, we were all very surprised and thrilled – there was no question which way we were heading. The next day proved to be very cold but manageable.
We awoke around 4 a.m. to start our summit bid. Everyone did very well getting ready in the frigid temps, and we made it to the notch at 14,000 ft around 10:30 a.m. After summiting, the winds picked up and made the lowering quite challenging for all the guides at their belays. We all made it to the notch and descended back to camp with the last group rolling in a bit later around 6 p.m. One of them didn’t feel well and was coughing quite a bit. Another client (who is a doctor) came up and made me aware of the situation. After further examination, it was apparent this client had pulmonary edema; the best thing to do was head down.
After some logistical arrangements, I took the client all the way to the trail head and then drove him to Lone Pine. Following a few hours of sleep, I headed up to low camp to meet the others and help carry loads down. We all made it back to Lone Pine for some celebratory beers and pizza. The whole crew was back together relating stories of our great adventure.
It is always good to remember the summit is only halfway. Had we not been able to get our client down it could have turned the situation into something much worse. I think we pushed the limits a little by summiting everyone, though in the end was the right call. I also think we made the right call by putting in the effort to get someone with pulmonary edema all the way down and not taking a chance even though we did have altitude drugs to give him.
Here are more pics from the trip: http://www.karstendelap.com/portfolio/mt-whitney-img-trip-mar-31-2012/
The Sweet Lemonade
Mt Whitney towers above the Sierra (14,500 ft.) as the Lower 48 States’ tallest peak. I usually guide the “Mountaineer’s Route” in the early spring where there is much snow and, with the altitude, it becomes a full-on alpine climb. When someone signs up for a trip, they will have put a lot of time and money and focus into it. When I tell them we have to turn back, they are defeated and rightfully so. I always have feelings of abhorrence when making the decision to turn folks around. It is never an easy decision, I think a fellow guide and friend of mine explains it well here: Will Gadd Blog
It is easy for folks to get so focused on a high point that they become unaware of the other options around. I always try to have options for clients instead of just saying, “Sorry, your trip is over.” After descending on this past Whitney trip, we played with all kinds of options like back-country skiing, rock climbing, ice climbing, an avalanche awareness course, and so on. Everyone decided that the ice and rock climbing were good choices and had to throw out a few other options due to snow instability.
What I find most compelling about these trips is the fact that the clients leave with a better view of climbing and the mountains, as evidenced by the following comments:
“This trip ended up being so much more challenging in different ways than I had ever expected.”
“I didn’t think I would like ice climbing. Now I love it!”
“There is so much more to climbing than I imagined.”
“Where can I sign up to go rock climbing again?”
“How can I learn to do this on my own?”
“This was amazing! I will definitely be back….and maybe even try Whitney again.”
“I am not very good with sudden change. This trip has opened my eyes…”
I think reaching the summit is one of the best experiences one could ever have. I also believe it offers the least number of learning opportunities. I am grateful to my clients for trusting me on the decisions that I have to make in the mountains and want them to know that I will try to make the best decision for their safety and learning and provide them with a truly memorable experience.
More photos here: Mt Whitney 3-24-12
For further reading check out the IMG blog: http://www.mountainguides.com/wordpress/2012/03/29/whitney/sometimes-the-lemonade-tastes-better/
