JON WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!

http://www.chesslerbooks.com/item/7504-guidebook-to-the-practice-climbing-areas-of-the-chicago-mountaineering-club-preliminary-edition-of-the-devils-lake-section-primak-1965-1st-edition.asp


So cool!  I love guidebooks and I collect them.  I especially love guidebook to my local craigs and to where I climb regularly.  The Lake is where I learned to climb 10 years ago, and call it home to this day.  I miss it when I am away for too long, and always love coming home from a climbing trip and spend my first day back on the smooth Quartzite after climbing elsewhere.

My last one...

Every time I go to Canada I get something I can't find here in the good old US of A...Cream Soda Crush. Thats Right, Cream Soda CRUSH!! They are a ton of flavors available to our Northers neighbors, but not to us. SO, this is my last can and I enjoyed it! Now, just to get back to Canada sometime soon I hope! Nipigon is calling!  UM, A TASTY BEVERAGE!

New project-Fruit boots

I went to the East Side Shoe Repair for a little help with my new project. I am having them cut the soles off an older pair of Scarpa Freney's and putting on rock shoe rubber in its place. So far so good. The one boot with the sole pulled is SUPER light and i am excited to see the next step. I am going to get a pair of Bolt on Crampons from BD for the pons. I should get the boots back in a week or so and then all I need to do is finish the job and go climbing. I will post again with how they turn out.

New Softshell for next fall

Polartec, LLC introduced Polartec NeoShell, its first waterproof/breathable fabric. NeoShell will appear in Fall 2011 collections from some of the leading outdoor apparel brands, including 66 North, Eider, Mammut, Marmot, Montura, Rab, The North Face, Vaude and Westcomb.

Polartec NeoShell is completely waterproof (10,000mm) but unlike most hardshells on the market today with zero airflow, NeoShell allows actual air permeability (0.5 CFM or 2 l/m2/sec), Polartec said. While traditional shell fabrics require heat and pressure to build inside the garment before the membrane begins to work, Polartec NeoShell breathes actively thanks to an exclusive sub-micron fiber membrane with unprecedented air permeability.

That is a small thread from SportsOneSource on the new fabric. Marmot is coming out with a shell next fall called the Zion for both Men and Women. It looks good and I can wait to actually use it on a wet Ice climb!

Hammer Time

Ah, my girlfriends Favorite Holiday, Halloween. This year I was a large Hammer. The pic above is my climbing a route @ Boulders for their annual comp/party.

Drytool comp

The Midwest's 2nd Annual
Saturday October 23rd
8:00pm
Boulders Climbing Gym
Madison, WI
$12 entry fee
Proceeds given to the
new sandstone ice park

sponsors;
BLACK DIAMOND, MARMOT, OSPREY, SOLE

Projects??? WTF, I am not a sport climber!

I don't think I want any more projects any time soon. My first "project" ever, but what might not be my last didn't end as planned. I had visions of sending, climbing strong through the crux, getting good gear and sitting on the top looking out over the valley below and down at my goal, to have climbed Thoroughfare clean to the top.

This past Sunday was my third attempt at the climb in two weeks, as I really wanted it to fall before my birthday....which is today. So, Sunday was my last chance and my internal pressure was on to send. I wanted it, wanted it bad, but didn't finish what I started a few weeks ago. Well, really, I have wanted to lead this route for a few years and I TR'd the shit out of it last year, but didn't have the head space to do it then.

So, it's the fall and it was time to finally get this over with. Needless to say, FAILURE. I got to the crux, couldn't hold on and wiped. My high cam pulled, a red C3, which then I fell on to a sideways placed small wire, which also blew and then on to an old pin. The pin HELD!!! Yay! So happy for that one, as I was about a foot of the ground when I stopped. So, only minor injuries occurred and I walked away from about a 20 footer. It was a fast ride!

Lesson learned??? Well, the last time gear pulled on me I decked and fractured my L4 and didn't climb for months, and it was ICE SEASON! So, next spring the same old goal I will have, to lead Thoroughfare clean!

The Black Hills

Earlier in the week, Kendra and I climbed in the needles in South Dakota. Very awesome place if you have never been!

We wanted to climb some old Conn routes. One of the routes that we choose to do was this; http://mountainproject.com/v/south_dakota/custer_state_park/outlets/105714734
The Conn Diagonal. If you know anything about Trad routes put up in the 50's, 5.7 can be scary, and NOT 5.7. Well, needless to say, we didn't do the whole route....when we thought we did. We did a bit of a variation of the route.

We started in the chimney to the far left of the face and traversed the whole ledge! We didn't have a guidebook with us as we were out for an adventure. So, that traverse is scary, exposed and super fun all at the same time. It is 1/2 way between climbing, crawling, sliding, and holding on for dear life. I lead the whole route and it was quite a ride. You should ask Kendra sometime for her thoughts on the route....and she was only following.

I will post some pics soon

CLIMB UP

Be there! or go and do something else, but don't just sit on your ass!

Really Really ridiculously good looking

A week ago Karen, Greg, Kendra and I climbed Grey Waves;
http://mountainproject.com/v/international/north_america/canada/105933053
Fun line, will do it again anytime!





Kendra leading the first pitch of a 5 pitch route. It was all bolted and with fun roof moves to climb on two of the pitches, it made for a nice evening after work. The haze in the background is the smoke pouring over the range form the fires in BC. There was smoke all the way into Calgary last week, I am happy it is gone now!