Standing 13,775' above sea level the Grand Teton is an iconic mountain steeped in history. With a long approach, unpredictable weather patterns, high altitude and only accessible through technical rock climbing, achieving it's summit is never guaranteed.
With over 5000' of climbing and covering five mountains over 14.000' tall, the Thunderbolt to Sill Traverse has been my greatest accomplishment in alpinism.
First time to Oregon, first time to Smith Rock State Park, first climb we ascend the iconic Monkey Face.
Sometimes the word "epic" is used as a noun instead of an adjective. On Memorial day I climbed my first route in Yosemite National park. The route was Snake Dike on the iconic monolith Half Dome. It was definitely my greatest epic.
I always heard about "The Shark Tooth Beach" as a kid, but oddly never made it out. Now is the time, next stop Caspersen Beach. We had poker faces not telling each other what we found. It was hilarious, the longer we looked, the less we found. The less we found the more we WANTED to find them, and the hunt was on!
The objective today was a route called "Fingertip Traverse" (5.3 YDS) which is a 4 pitch trad climb, 500' (152m) tall. It's a bit of a mission from Los Angeles, it's a 2-2.5 hours drive, a very steep approach, sandbagged climbing, a heavy descent, and the tough drive home after a long day. However, it's worth all the effort.
First ascents are notable because they entail genuine exploration, with greater risks, challenges, and recognition than climbing a route pioneered by others. It seems nowadays, so many people subscribe to the idea that "everything has been done" and there are no new ideas. Just be imaginative, make something up, try it, see what the outcomes is!
Canyoneering is often regarded as more dangerous than rock climbing. You could be rappelling off very questionable anchors in highly secluded locations. How exciting! This specific adventure was on my bucket list and I proudly crossed it off last weekend. Find out what out what it takes to descend the Class 3BIV Eaton Canyon upper and lower falls and why it took 14 hours!
We left Los Angeles on Thursday night and arrived to the campground at 11pm. Many tents were already pitched with some scattered dirt baggers just sleeping near or in their vehicle, as expected. 2015 marked the 10th annual Red Rock Rendezvous and my first, what will be, annual attendance. What is RRR? It's only the country's largest rock climbing festival...
Just 40 minutes off the beaten path of Los Angeles sits Texas Canyon. This beautiful part of the high desert consists of a collection of large sandstone conglomerate domes, isolated rock formations, and boulders. We set out for some friendly climbs and doubled it up with some time to photograph new products for the Forever Outside store.
March 6, 2015 we entered the Eastern Sierrra. A short backpack hike up the closed road lead us to our first night's destination. We set up a quick camp and set off for a night hike to Lake Sabrina. The hike was fun, but almost mandatory to restore some feeling in our toes, it was surley below freezing.
