Sea Cliff Climbing in Mallorca
Great Rock climbing in Mallorca. We had exceptional weather. As it got colder and snowier at home in Chamonix, it just kept getting warmer and sunnier in Mallorca. Climbing without a shirt became the norm.
With over 21 separate crags on this small Spanish island, we visited some of the best ones. No deep water soloing this time of year, but the water wasn’t actually too cold!
Speaking to a full house
I was asked to present my work, as mountain and ski guide in the Alps, at the Annapolis Book Store in Annapolis, MD. Since the talk was at a bookstore, I didn’t just plan a typical show of images, routes and summits. It did include that, but I also tried to delve deeper into what climbing meant to me on a philosophical level. How, from the adventure, friendship and inspiration sprung. Friendship–through sharing physically and mentally challenging experiences and relying on your partner to help keep you safe, you create a bond. And Inspiration from the mountain environment,as you pause on the summit, you might be able to bring something back to your daily life, serenity, a sense of peace, a sense of awe, maybe feeling all parts of nature fitting together, a sense of place, and maybe a bond with the natural environment.
Jenn chilling out after Super Crack
Jenn and Jeremy met up with me in Moab after the AMGA annual meeting and we got in two great days of crack climbing in Indian Creek. They spent the summer living, climbing and working (remotely via internet) in Chamonix where we hung out a lot together. After this trip, her first time to Indian Creek, Jenn told me her hands had never been so worked (bruised and sore) but that she couldn’t wait to get back.
Looking across the Colorado River from Potash Road rock climbing area
October was spent in the US with the last part of the month in Moab. It was fun to get back to a town I had spent so much time in years ago. One reflection was that there are sure a lot more motels and mountain bikes now then when I first worked here. I spent some time guiding for Colorado Outward Bound School in and around Moab in the late 80’s. My favorite trip was a “Multi-E” (Enviroment) course where we backbackpacked and hiked up the La Sals to the summit of the biggest peaks in the range, Peale and Tukuhnikivatz, then headed down across the desert (crossing the highway to Indian Creek by a broken down gas station) rappelling into a canyon and arriving a week later at the Colorado River where a timely group of rafts were waiting as we paddled down to Lake Powell. It was the vastness of the landscape, the still beauty of the sandstone massives and the native american artifacts from a different time that captured my interest and brought a serenity to my return trip this October.
This trip was busy but still serene, with evening runs and rockclimbs. It was great to catch up with old friends–I ran into Paul Duba still working for Outward Bound and hung and climbed with many old friends from AMGA. Pezl also had a few folks come down and we worked together during the event giving two clinics (Short Roping and Crevasse Rescue/Hauling Systems), lending out equipment and offering great deals to the guides.
El Cap in Autumn
Rich was able to come up from LA for the last of the perfect autumn weather. We even got to climb at Tuolumne on one of the last days before the pass was closed.
