I have lots of exciting updates to share with you.
China
Soon I will move to Beijing with my girlfriend Katie. Our flight is set for July 30, and we'll live there for the next two years. Neither of us has been to Asia, so this promises to be a fun adventure. I will begin blogging more regularly once I get Beijing...… Read More »
By the time we reached Munising, on Lake Superior's south shore, seven inches of fresh powder blanketed the land. The forecast called for seven more inches in the next twelve hours. A local gas station attendant thought we were crazy for driving north in an April blizzard. (She also said, “We only have two seasons here: shovelin' and swattin'.”) For us, coming to Munising was rational: this was our final chance to climb the best ice the Midwest has seen in decades...… Read More »
With winter in full swing, it was time for some more ice-climbing fun, this time a bit closer to home. I went with a few folks from the Hoofers Mountaineering Club to Cox Hollow in Governor Dodge State Park, about an hour from Madison. With the temperature at… Read More »
As a zany way to celebrate the new year, Gokul and I set out for a winter ascent of Ship Rock. Several of these castellated sandstone mounds jut from the otherwise flat terrain in central and western Wisconsin. Many are visible from I-94; this… Read More »
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 »
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 »
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 »
I recently went climbing with three friends in Necedah, WI. After a nice sport warmup on a 5.6 called Air, I went for my first ever trad lead. It was only a 5.4, which I could normally climb without even thinking about it, but having to place my… Read More »
I spent a day at Devil's Lake to learn how to set top-rope climbing anchors from several leaders in the Hoofers Mountaineering Club. After introductions, the leaders taught our group the basics of setting anchors:
– Tying knots in cordelette and Read More »
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 »
