Rock climbing trips.

Chasing Summer: Down to the Ranch

It was time to escape from a merciless Wisconsin winter. Late in March, with temperatures slightly above freezing in Madison, I drove with a group of six to the comparatively tropical climate of northern Arkansas. We had two goals: rock climbing and basking in warm sunshine...… Read More »

Red River Gorge

With winter just around the corner, climbing season is wrapping up in Wisconsin. That makes this a great time of year to head south to some warmer weather. Just like last fall, I went with a big group to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky for some world-class sport climbing. The Red is full of… Read More »

A Quick Stop at Pictured Rocks

By the time we finally fixed the flat tire after our Crestone Needle climb (see the video from my previous entry), the afternoon rain was upon us. Even as we drove into the valley, we could see that the storm wouldn't let up, so there would be nowhere we could… Read More »

Climbing the Crestone Needle

Over Labor Day weekend, Kim, Gokul and I took a road trip to Colorado to climb the Crestone Needle. This mountain was featured in Fifty Classic Climbs on North America by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. We climbed the Ellingwood Ledges route, which contains several… Read More »

Southern Illinois Climbing

I spent a recent weekend with 7 friends climbing at Jackson Falls in the Shawnee National Forest of southern Illinois. I had no idea there was an actual forest with hills and cliffs in Illinois. I always thought the state consisted of Chicago and a bunch… Read More »

Joshua Tree Cribs

On our trip to Joshua Tree National Park, someone in our group borrowed a tent but didn't set it up in their yard beforehand. Only after we were in the park did we discover that the fly was missing, the zippers didn't work, and some of the poles were missing. The temperature was supposed to… Read More »

Climbing in Kentucky and Arkansas

I recently made the trek along with six others to Red River Gorge in Kentucky. This is one of the country's premier destinations for sport climbing, so the nine-hour drive from Madison is normally well worthwhile. Instead of staying at the famous and overcrowded Miguel's, we pitched our tents at Lago… Read More »

New Climbing Video

Here's the video I made of the Joshua-Tree trip I took last December. The trip was memorable in many ways. Despite having been to over thirty countries, I had never been to California. It was quite the experience. I also experimented with time-lapse for the first time. I hope you enjoy it!… Read More »

A Day at Red Rocks

December 31, 2012 – Jan 1, 2013

For our final day of climbing, we drove through the Mojave Desert and into Nevada to Red Rock Canyon, which is a National Conservation Area near Las Vegas. Before we even got to the wall, we took in the stunning natural beauty all… Read More »

Joshua Tree National Park

December 27-30, 2012

Freshly showered and with a clean set of clothes, we were joined by Josh, Jonah, and Chris in our drive across Los Angeles and up to Joshua Tree National park. Before we even reached the park, we were surrounded by spiky and curvy Joshua trees, which resembled the… Read More »