tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15325839079393992802024-03-18T20:26:20.081-07:00Matt Kuehl BlogsOfficial Blog for Photographer and Writer Matt Kuehl.Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-64414152694045726692017-02-15T09:47:00.002-08:002017-02-15T09:47:45.613-08:00New Website and Blog!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Website Screenshot</td></tr>
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Hello all! After a few months of working on a new <a href="http://www.mattkuehlphoto.com/" target="_blank">WEBSITE</a> and <a href="http://www.mattkuehlphoto.com/blog" target="_blank">BLOG</a>, it is finally complete and all in one place ready for your viewing and reading pleasure! It has been a fun process, and I am beyond excited to have a new interface to share images and stories with. There are a lot of new images, and I have really been pursing a whole new side of my own interests in photography. Whats new? More <a href="http://www.mattkuehlphoto.com/climbing" target="_blank">CLIMBING</a> content, <a href="http://www.mattkuehlphoto.com/nature" target="_blank">NATURE</a>, <a href="http://www.mattkuehlphoto.com/wildlife" target="_blank">WILDLIFE</a>, <a href="http://www.mattkuehlphoto.com/freelance" target="_blank">FREELANCE</a>, and a <a href="http://www.mattkuehlphoto.com/shop" target="_blank">PRINTS</a> section, where you can purchase prints if you are interested in them. Woohoo! Thank you all who have taken the time to view my blogspot throughout the years, and I hope you may venture over to the new format with ease. See you all on the next adventure!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of new blog format.<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wildlife page, a whole new world of images!</td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-42262624325584730242016-11-22T13:06:00.002-08:002016-11-22T13:07:02.344-08:00Supermoon, Classic Wall Routes, and Wildlife in Zion and Red Rock.The time has come for me to dust of the ol' blog and start sharing photos and stories again! I hope I didn't leave too many folks scratching their heads because of such a long delay since my last post. Luckily, my days have been filled with the same types of adventures to new places, new routes, new people, photos, and all sorts of adventure and mis-adventure. I am making a point to update here more often again and don't worry, I'll still have the same type-o's and confusing analogies that got so many people psyched! In short I've been hoarding images and experiences inside my mind and hard drive for some reason that I no longer understand... So, hope you're all open to let the flood gates open again!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Supermoon photographed November 13th, 2016 just outside Zion. </td></tr>
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The most recent and relevant trip I just took was going to see the Supermoon over Zion with my good adventure bud Andy Reger. We had been longing for an adventure for some time now, as Andy has been out of commission due to a shoulder injury/surgery. Originally he was going to just "tag along" as I went to attempt a solo on a wall route. But soon after we packed our bags and got in the car, the same vibes of our many past adventures caught up with us and it became clear we would rather adventure around Zion as a team. It certainly felt likeit would be silly for me to enter the world-of-pain that is soloing, when I could just kick it with my friend and enjoy all the beauty that is Zion. So thats what we did!</div>
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Our first night we rushed to our camp spot just outside of the park in hopes of catching the moonrise over the horizon. Unfortunately prior to this we were also quite hungry, which caused a pitstop at Amigo's in Springdale for the "Super Burrito". We filled our bellies but missed the true moonrise. Either way the moon greeted us with its wonderfully bright glow as we set up out basic camp for the night. Soon after I got the camera gear out and was able to start shooting the Supermoon and my Super burrito digested. Since it was later and higher in the sky it was also starting to get very bright in the lens by this point. It was a nice surprise for me because it allowed for a faster shutter speed, and lower ISO setting, which meant that there was a possibility of capturing more detail on the moon. I clicked away, being still and limiting all movements around the camera itself to eliminate vibrations and micro-blurs. I'm never quite sure what specific images will be the sharpest until I view them at 100% view on a computer, so I just shoot a lot, and focus on using the best practices. I was pleased with the results! But I am always looking for more detail and clarity in the images. Perhaps I will rent the Canon 800mm in the future...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nic Gunter and friend on Pitch 7 of Desert Shield. </td></tr>
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The next day we awoke with a very open schedule. With no longer a time crunch of having to get up so early to starting soloing a route, my mind was free to enjoy and relax in the surroundings. We grabbed a coffee and bite to eat, and meandered into Zion and took a quick drive around to see where our energy might take us. Immediately we had noticed most of the classic trade routes had parties on them. Touchstone Wall, Prodigal Sun, Desert Shield, Spaceship, Moonlight Buttress all had people on them. Made sense to us. The weather was beautiful, the moon would be out, and these routes are mega-classic. I took the camera out pretty excited to once again see what kind of clarity and detail I could capture, but now of the climbing teams on these routes. I had never tried to capture climbing with the 400mm lens that I had brought, so it was all new enough and I was pretty sure that in the daylight the challenge would be a little more predictable than at night. I first aimed my camera up on Desert Shield 5.9 C3. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pitch 7 complete. Nic starts to clean the pitch. Desert Shield. </td></tr>
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I captured a team on of two on the headwall pitches. These are by far the most memorable pitches on the route, and I was having flashbacks of excitement. I later found out that it was a friend up on the wall, so the small world that is climbing just got a little smaller that day! Another team of 3 was starting up the route the same day, but were about a day behind the headwall team. I captured a quick shot of them on Pitch 3 that day. It was pretty safe to assume they were planning on bivying at the "Jungle Bivy" that night, probably in hopes of watching the moon in the canyon. The next day before leaving I got another photo of them and their portaledge nearing the top on Pitch 8. Looked like they had a fun time!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another team of 3 beings Pitch 3. Desert Shield. November 14, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team of 3 on the headwall Pitch 8. November 15, 2016. </td></tr>
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We walked around the canyons exploring all sorts of things, but not too long without looking up at the walls. We pretty much had the best view in the canyon for observing these teams from the ground. Another route I took a good amount of photos of was Spaceshot 5.9 C2. This route was in the sun, and at the time I thought that made it a little more easy to photograph and capture the same vibrant red sandstone we are used to seeing. The team was moving a little slow but this is not uncommon for the route, and this team was also linking pitches which would help the pace in the end. We imagined they were aiming to get to the Earth Orbit Ledge and bivy there to once again watch the moonrise in the canyon. Would be a blast! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team on Pitch 4 or 5 of Spaceshot. November 14, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adding some color to the shot... Spaceshot. November 14, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team on Pitch 6 on Prodigal Sun. November 14, 2016.</td></tr>
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Lastly to share is just one images of a team on Prodigal Sun 5.7 C2 up the Angles Landing Wall. Such a fun route and iconic wall in Zion. I remember having a blast climbing this route with Andy in the past, but unfortunately the photos didn't really reflect the beauty of the wall, or the feeling of being up there above the Big Bend parking area and Virgin River below. Either way this team in all ninja-black seemed to be plugging away and in good pace for the summit. Nice work!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Streaked Wall. One of the most awe-inspiring (for me) walls in Zion.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">California Condor is the largest bird in North America and is considered critically endangered. </td></tr>
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As we walked around starring at the walls, we couldn't help but observe the finite details of the things we encountered along the way. Trees, dear, butterflies, bugs, plants... I guess I could just say nature, wildlife, and everything in between. Zion has such an awesome energy and feeling, it pulls the creativity and curiosity right out of your brain and its quite painless. There were surprises around every corner, but I think the most exciting moment was trying to photograph the 10-point buck that we had spotted briefly and earlier in the day before it ran off into the woods. As we walked around we had done a very novice but eager job of trying to find it again. We walked for a good couple hours and saw many awesome things, but no deer. It wasn't until we crossed the river and began heading back to the car that the deer emerged from right behind us. It was a pretty serendipitous moment. Also pretty hilarious considering how close we were but had no idea...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clueless me. Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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We stayed in the river a while, and watched the deer walk back into the brush. We laughed at how cool it was and how amateur it made us feel. I guess that was part of the joy. The river temperature felt nice so we kept walking down it and decided to look for a nice rock to rest and put our shoes back on. Along this saunter up stream the deer emerged once again, but this time it walked across the river in front of us. This was when I finally had my chance to get a good photo of a pretty unique moment. A rewarding and unexpected experience. I am seeing this reoccur everyday I go out to shoot photos of wildlife. Always seeing something I never expected when I didn't know what I was looking for. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Buck crossing the Virgin River as we walked down it. </td></tr>
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In the week or so before this I also went out to Red Rock Canyon in my backyard and started some of my first random explorations into "wildlife photography". I didn't really think of it with any type of category in mind really, I just wanted to shoot and wanted to be outside. I went to a few locations over two days and few hours and found that with patience and curiosity there is truly a lot to see in the desert environment. Things don't always jump out at you (sometimes they do though), and being still in and observant in one location will allow you to see many things you might not have been looking for. Always a nice surprise. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bees, water, and leaves in Red Rock Canyon, NV.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tarantula hunting Crayfish in a desert pool. Red Rock Canyon, NV.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwe_DJBELJR-npP40LIkLCCbKbf-NScSb7Nit6liM1hnuBOK89ELqEqSgZ6jgqGbHs_pBG8x5R9hjfEQ7dlSuFN1rRi8o5DnPSF_Q3rZJP_Vmb_FmGPZi11achqDbLj74o6oRNVjx8UTSE/s1600/D88A79173277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwe_DJBELJR-npP40LIkLCCbKbf-NScSb7Nit6liM1hnuBOK89ELqEqSgZ6jgqGbHs_pBG8x5R9hjfEQ7dlSuFN1rRi8o5DnPSF_Q3rZJP_Vmb_FmGPZi11achqDbLj74o6oRNVjx8UTSE/s400/D88A79173277.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oasis - Red Rock Canyon, NV. </td></tr>
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Hope you all enjoy! I am looking forward to sharing much more in the future. Please feel free to comment, critique and share this and all future posts. I am always open to hearing more opinions and experiences. See you out there! </div>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-34313965662461911012015-09-12T17:14:00.001-07:002016-02-26T19:29:31.831-08:00Lunar Ecstasy 5.10 C2 V - A Solo Ascent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
The summer in Las Vegas can be a little tricky for adventure climbing. The temperatures at times soar in the 110 degree range and just going for a walk sometimes can be face melting. I usually take a trip in early June to beat the heat and the last two years I have gone to Yosemite Valley to explore the tall granite walls there. After this most recent trip, having successfully climbed Zodiac (see my last post) I was pretty psyched up to keep on big-walling on the regular. The only problem was now my trip was over and the next months seemed filled with work and sweating on my bicycle commute for entertainment. At first the heat was too much, but I soon got over complaining and embraced the heat for what it was. After all it wasn't going to change for a while. Friends came and left on their summer vacations and I stuck around and spent my time flipping through climbing guide books like they held the answers to all of life's unanswered questions. </div>
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The <em>Yosemite Bigwalls</em> book and <em>Zion: Free and Clean</em> were on the top of the reading list. Of course <em>Red Rock: A Climber's Guide</em> was also in the rotation. But eventually reading and day dreaming was not enough, I needed to actually climb something more than a pitch long. Mid July I went out with a friend to Black Velvet Canyon and climbed The Gobbler, Yellow Brick Road, and Triassic Sands all fun 5.10 moderate multipitches. We sweat our asses off on the hike in and out, but throughout the day it was nothing but smiles, laughter, and good climbing with absolute solitude. A well needed adventure into the canyons I moved here for. I think we both realized despite the "free sauna" effect it was actually a pretty awesome time to be out there with such silence and isolation. Of course this solitude wasn't as welcoming when I got our rope stuck five pitches off the ground, but hey, we managed to get creative and get it unstuck, otherwise we'd probably still be up there waiting for a little less solitude. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunar Ecstasy 5.10 C2 V - Zion Nation Park, Utah.</td></tr>
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As it gets later in the summer and temps gradually become more reasonable my day dreaming has an opportunity to turn into reality. So just a few days ago I decided I'd "start off the season" right with a solo big wall adventure. What a better way to get the psyche going than to put in a bunch of work for one great adventure! So it was decided, I would give Lunar Ecstasy in Zion a go. It's primarily an aid route, although Nik Berry did free climb it and I think it was somewhere in the 5.13(?) range. Way to go dude! My plan was to only free climb the easier sections and aid all the rest, which was most of the route. The route gets the difficulty of C2 and there were really only a few "tricky" sections. It tops out after about 1,200 feet in length and is broken down into 9 pitches. I had debated in my head about trying to push the route in a big day effort but after seeing a photo of the sweet ledge above Pitch 4 I thought it would be more fun to do it over two days time. I found myself starring at the photo and getting unusually excited about the little ledge. The positioning at the bottom of the clean headwall and brilliant looking exposure just called out to me. The next question was "Do you think I could sleep on that?"</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farewell Ledge on top of Pitch 4. The ledge that inspired a solo.<br />
Reference Photo: Nick Storm </td></tr>
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I figured it would be conceivable that one person could lay down on it, but certainly no more. It also looked kind of downward slopping so that was another point of concern. Still I debated about the idea and let it brew in my head. I asked some friends what they thought and most laughed, but not too long before saying that they thought I should go for it. Either they were sand bagging me or they just wanted to hear the absurd story of me trying to sleep on some tiny slopping ledge 600' off the ground. Either way seemed good enough to me. My plan was to pack pretty minimally and skimp on as many of the niceties as I could. Doing it solo means I have to carry all that stuff everywhere so I wanted to keep it pretty minimal so it was less fuss and hauling would be easier. As the trip got closer I started to piece together the rack for the climb, borrowing a few stray pieces from friends. Once I laid out the rack, rope, and all climbing gear I realized there was nothing minimal about aid soloing. Even if I didn't bring a sleeping bag it barely made a dent in the pile of crap I would have to lug around. Oh well, I guess I'll just use a bigger haul bag! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gear prep, what happened to being minimal?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunar Ecstasy goes up center line "B".</td></tr>
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After getting everything into the haul bag the night before it was starting to look like it was actually going to happen. That night I met with another wall climber friend who was about to head to Yosemite the next morning. It seemed like a proper send off to meet and talk walls over good food before we both headed out on our own adventures. I left at 7:30am from Las Vegas and did the quick drive to Zion. I probably should have left earlier but I needed some good rest before hand. On the drive I also forgot there was an hour time change so I actually lost an hour on the way too. I was already perfectly behind schedule. When I got to the park is was busy as hell because it was Labor Day and there were no parking spots at the visitor center where I had to stop and get my bivy permit. What a genius plan I had hatched! Show up mid-day on a busy holiday and start soloing a wall with the idea of climbing 4 Pitches before dark just to sleep on a little ledge. Genius! </div>
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At the Visiter Center I inadvertently parked my van in the "RV Only" parking lot when I ran in to get my overnight bivy permit. Once I talked to the ranger there they told me I couldn't park there and to try to get a spot in the main parking lot because that's what I was approved for with the permit. Good to know. I went back to my car and there was already a blaze orange parking violation on the drivers side window from the park service. A great souvenir. I got in my car and started scouting the busy lot for any one who was going to be leaving their spot. After about 15 minutes of waiting I finally found a couple who was leaving and I put the flashers on and waited for their spot to be free. During this time I started finalizing the packing on the haulbag, and included my last decisions for what food to bring. They drove out and I pulled into the spot. I got my last things together, changed shoes and was almost ready to go! I picked up the haul bag a few inches and dropped it once or twice on the ground to help settle the contents down to make more room to close it, a pretty standard procedure. Moments later I noticed I was standing in a puddle and there was water pouring out of the haulbag. NOOOO! I thought loudly to myself and frantically starting throwing the contents of the bag onto the pavement as fast as I could. Quickly I discovered that BOTH my gallon jugs had exploded in the bag, and most of my water had leaked out! This was the first big blow to my psyche, and for a good couple moments I had some serious doubts if I was actually gonna do this. My time window was dwindling fast, and now my water supplies were significantly diminished. Not good. I scrounged around my van for some reserve gatorades and any extra empty water bottles to fill and bring along. I filled them up and now it seemed reasonable for me to continue. "This may just be enough" I thought to myself, and threw the heavy pack over my shoulders and got in line for the bus into the canyon. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haulbag leaking most of my water moments before I was going to leave. </td></tr>
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I got on the bus near last and stood up by the driver like I usually do. The Zion bus drivers are awesome because as a climber you can ask them to drop you off directly in front of your climb. Some pretty sweet service! This time my bus driver was John and he was both curious and excited to chat about the adventure I was partaking on. He asked me all sorts of questions about climbing, life, relationships and the whole story of living a climbing life. He also contributed some good facts about the park that were new to me. He also told me about an area where there was recent rock fall but also explained it shouldn't effect where I would be climbing. At this point we were starting to be pretty chatty and other people started to jump in on the conversation with their own questions about what exactly it was that I was doing. One person asked what I did for water and I told them "I like to bring as much as possible, but funny you asked because most of my water just exploded in the parking lot!" I laughed more than they did. The ride continued and a few people got on and off throughout. The couple who asked me about water stood up to get off the bus and when they walked by said they'd like to make "a donation", and gave me a small water bottle full of the good filtered stuff. "Thank you, this will be great!" I said and gave them a thankful and cheerful wave as they walked away. The bus continued and John asked me to point out where I would be climbing. I pointed up to the Moonlight Buttress and indicated the face I would be on and that the route was called Lunar Ecstasy. Soon enough we were right in front of the climb and it was my time to get out and start hiking. John stopped the bus and made a pseudo announcement "Here you go folks, one of the main Zion attractions!" and unexpectedly people on the bus started clapping in support as I grabbed my stuff and got ready for my quest. "Wow! What a send off." I thought to myself. "...but I haven't even done anything?" As John pulled the bus away he asked one more question out the window. "Hey Matt, what will you be wearing tomorrow on the wall?" I smiled to myself and replied "I'll probably be wearing this same thing!" Knowing very well that I didn't bring a change of clothes. John said "Alright, I'll look for you!" as he pulled away. I turned around to face the wall and took my first steps towards a great unknown and true adventure. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pVf3H7juEz2IV3wzhaLdU-F7K9698tX1GELwu21yLTxvtq9julWAh8jdbHeaGKhb6PRs5tjnVXYj8wHS_KEnX0wFRc-eLf2vvU1SwIzd6a1H88MldoPrYGFPbo5P8ax0h0JgPrSMsvhF/s1600/VirginRiver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pVf3H7juEz2IV3wzhaLdU-F7K9698tX1GELwu21yLTxvtq9julWAh8jdbHeaGKhb6PRs5tjnVXYj8wHS_KEnX0wFRc-eLf2vvU1SwIzd6a1H88MldoPrYGFPbo5P8ax0h0JgPrSMsvhF/s640/VirginRiver.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Virgin River crossing to gain the base of the route. Always a joy.</td></tr>
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I quickly got to the Virgin River that runs through the park and right in front of the wall. You have to cross the river to get to the base of the climb and it's always kind of a fun experience because there is always the slight possibility that you will foolishly slip and douse all your climbing gear. My stuff was half wet from the exploded gallon jugs so it didn't really matter if I biffed it this time around. The water was actually refreshing and felt nice (instead of freezing) and it wasn't flowing as high or fast as some previous crossings. I put my shoes back on and started the small slog up the sandy hill to the base of the buttress. For some reason the start of the route didn't look as familiar as I remembered from a previous ascent of Moonlight Buttress and I kind of struggled to find exactly where to get set up. I thought I spotted the first pitch but it looked more bushy than I remembered, which is a good indicator that I wasn't looking at the right pitch. In this process I also struggled to get the haul line configured through all the bushes and cactus. You leave your bag about 60' to the right of where you start climbing so that when you finish the pitch you can haul straight up. I had to drag the haul line through 60' of desert bush nightmare to have it with me to start the climb. It got stuck on everything and I walked into a cactus and now had little needles all in my elbow and left pointer finger that I never could get all out. Classic desert shenanigans. </div>
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I set my ground anchor and decided it was time to get this show on the road. I started up what I thought was a 5.10 variation pitch that went straight up. It was really sandy and a bit loose like a lot of Zion first pitches and for some reason I thought it was the way. I climbed about 15' and then half squeezed into the narrow chimney and looked up. It now looked a lot harder than it did on the ground and I observed that I wasn't even close to having the gear to protect the gash. I reevaluated and down climbed the sandy rock until I was back on the terraced base. I stepped back and had a good hard look at the start of the route and referenced the topo again to get this sorted out. I discovered I was too far to the left and I needed to scramble up and right to gain the actual first pitch. "Brilliant" I thought to myself in relief that I didn't continue climbing that other junk. This probably would't have happened with a friend because there would have been another voice of reason and another set of eyes to spot the correct pitch but oh well! I reconfigured the ropes and set another anchor to actually start the first pitch and took a deep breath to put the little difficulties behind me. It was probably nearing 2pm at this point but I didn't look because I didn't want to confirm I was falling behind.</div>
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I began the pitch, which is a sandy 5.7 corner than doesn't take a lot of gear and because of this is a little sparsely protected at points. I knew this part would not be the highlight of the day and if I biffed it at some point in the first 50' I'd probably end up back on the ground in another cactus. At least it was only 5.7 and despite getting lost finding it I had actually climbed this pitch before without trouble. It was just the mental crux of leaving the ground. I started climbing and got my first piece in a ways up, which I tensioned the rope up with to keep my lead line and anchor correctly oriented. I climbed above the piece and hesitated when I confirmed the next gear was another 10'-15' feet further up. I down climbed and had a thought and hesitated. I climbed back up to the same spot and felt the same hesitation again, severely doubting myself and not wanting to slide back down this slab. I hit a real mental roadblock. I went the full way back down to the base and questioned everything I was doing and why the hell I was doing it. I knew I was behind schedule. I knew my plan was kind of already dumb anyway. I knew I didn't want to ground fall off a 5.7. I knew I didn't have enough water. I knew the "sweet ledge bro" was still way up there and I knew I wasn't even <i>remotely</i> close to being successful yet. I also knew nobody was here to help me out and nobody cared if I did it or not. I almost quit. I quickly tried to shift my thoughts from the sudden negativity that overwhelmed me to more encouraging and positive thoughts from somewhere, anywhere I could find. I thought about my friends that I got to see before I left. More specifically their encouragement and belief in what I was doing and how they had encouraged me to really pursue it. If they believed in me I needed to at least believe in myself from time to time. I got my head back together and more accurately reevaluated the pitch. I relaxed. This would be the first of many unseen mental or psychical challenges and if I couldn't handle this I was hopeless. I started climbing and blocked out all the noisy doubt. The pitch wasn't hard at all but I still had to do it. Once I completed the pitch I was relieved because I had finally done the first small step in doing this thing and I was desperate for some momentum. I got right to work, rapped back down, cleaning the pitch. Jugged back to the anchor and then hauled the bag. I was happy and in my comfortable zone finally. My hesitation was gone for now and I calmly and enthusiastically continued further up the route. After all, I had 3 more pitches to climb that day and shadows on the walls were growing. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlabfcu12plVQHlcjaAtWZ_rBFKrTWZWfJMGAAXdZpD3VYYCDYqpv749oRTRJwI95gAKpbsE4wrmRJDC3TDIWj62uWYHmoxKTxsop1oHz5gHHiwacPBGnx2Vch21PjquyFTg_Km6oOndk/s1600/FarewellLedgePano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlabfcu12plVQHlcjaAtWZ_rBFKrTWZWfJMGAAXdZpD3VYYCDYqpv749oRTRJwI95gAKpbsE4wrmRJDC3TDIWj62uWYHmoxKTxsop1oHz5gHHiwacPBGnx2Vch21PjquyFTg_Km6oOndk/s640/FarewellLedgePano.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farewell Ledge - A wonderfully narrow and sloping bivy ledge with a great view. </td></tr>
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The next two pitches went pretty fast despite some minor confusion finishing the second pitch. I guess its always an adventure and when you're alone there isn't another person to help guide you and confirm what you're doing is right or wrong. I always looked at the topo before each Pitch but had it "memorized" enough that I didn't really look hard and just climbed what looked like the natural way to go, which usually was correct. Soon enough I had just one more Pitch to climb to gain the ledge. Pitch 4 was the base of the sheer headwall and the climbing was finally starting to look fun and more difficultly cool. I started up at a relaxed and confident pace and just took it all in. I was surprised I was so close and it wasn't dark yet. I kept plugging away and awaited the right leaning bolt ladder near the top that would bring me to the ledge. I guess I was climbing slower than I realized and soon enough it was getting hard to see in the dimming light. I was probably about 3/4 of the way up the pitch when I realized I couldn't really see what I was doing anymore. I didn't allow myself to stop and think about it. I had a headlamp but of course it was in the haul bag way at the bottom of the pitch and I wasn't going down for it because it would kill whatever momentum I had. I dreamt of reaching the bolts coming up that would take me to the ledge. </div>
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It was now too dark to see what the next placements would be. I was climbing more or less blind, seeing only vaguely what the features were. I felt around the crack for pods, constrictions, splitter sections, anything I could fish a piece of gear into. I got to one spot that was really tricky, mainly because I didn't seem to have any gear that would fit. It was a real head scratcher for a moment and I mentally used whatever I had left to not let this be the next roadblock. I felt around the blown-out pod again trying to feel any sort of variance that would allow me to place gear in it. I thought "Hey this is probably where people said tricams were critical. Hmmm, well good thing I left those in the haulbag too!" I swam around in my chest harness looking for anything offset that would fit the pod. I had just one offset cam left, and it just so happened to be the smallest one. I finagled a way for it to fit in the hole, which was significantly bigger than the cam itself. I bounce tested it and it didn't rip out but I couldn't tell why. So I hung off it and hoped for the best. I gently moved up high and with a big reach was finally able to clip a bolt. Sweet! I back-cleaned the cam in case I would need it again and moved on. It was kind of a trip because I never saw how the cam was placed, let alone how it didn't rip out in such a misshaped pod. I climbed the remaining 15' and with great joy finally stepped onto Farewell Ledge. I fixed the rope, rappelled back down to the last anchor and cleaned the gear. I ascended back up the rope to the ledge and then hauled the bag up to the ledge. Finally I was at a stopping point and was able to relax for a while. I drank some water, took my shoes off and took in the dark mysterious view. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IjHSwTtpz7Rd2kJN7zKe5N3bDQMCG3flNLRDRFYvO-G419jGNUANstV-07b2Yn2vpp16TjzljDMRhHBDu9gq40wmPcPNaB3drhZzVXQoMWe96_XmUo8V_jzEUziPKYZXeX2JRNtCwS5j/s1600/BivySelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IjHSwTtpz7Rd2kJN7zKe5N3bDQMCG3flNLRDRFYvO-G419jGNUANstV-07b2Yn2vpp16TjzljDMRhHBDu9gq40wmPcPNaB3drhZzVXQoMWe96_XmUo8V_jzEUziPKYZXeX2JRNtCwS5j/s400/BivySelf.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Done for the day. Relaxing on Farewell Ledge.<br />
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The ledge was the best thing that happened all day. I reached my goal and it seemed maybe my plan wasn't as dumb as it occasionally seemed. The ledge certainly was narrow and down slopping but I didn't care, I was just happy to be there. I watched the last of the buses drive through the canyon and had my last moments with distant human interaction for the night. I've shared walls with climbers in Zion before, but it seemed that nobody else was climbing in the canyon this day, and nobody else was bivying. I was truly alone out there. I guess it was early in the season and a lot of people still thought it was too hot to be there. I had the whole canyon to myself and it was almost overwhelmingly cool. I felt lucky to be there and to be so engaged and present in an awesome place within my mind and nature combined. It truly was an experience that few people get to have, especially when you add on the solo aspect and act of being alone. It was euphoric and I kept reminding myself to do my best to take it all in and appreciate all the small parts. I thought about my friends and family and tried to conceive a way to share this experience with them when I was done. But I struggled and knew whatever words or photos I shared wouldn't ever come close to representing what it meant for me to sit up on that ledge. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;">"I've worn yamakas bigger than this bivy ledge." - Micah Dash </span></div>
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Morning came and I woke up at 7am. I slept what seemed like a a few hours at a time and then would reposition slightly and fall back asleep. Pretty comfy and the small hammock I brought and put my ass in kept me from sliding around too much. The ledge by my head was barely shoulder width so it was a pretty close distance to the edge. I woke up on my side once in the night and opened my eyes directly to seeing the abyss below. That was pretty cool thing to open your eyes to. The temperature was pretty nice but it did get a little cold through the night and there was a slight breeze. I was glad I brought the sleeping bag after all, even if it didn't close because the zipper was broken. Morning duties were done and soon enough I was ready to start getting the gear organized to prepare to keep climbing. I had the idea to do an "epic time-lapse video" in my mind and rigged up a GoPro and small tripod above me looking down onto the ledge and ground below. I thought it'd be a pretty cool video of me getting all the stuff ready. Well, either way that idea died quick because after I rigged it up the camera wouldn't turn on. Dead batteries huh, well I guess it won't be such an "epic video" after all. Oh well. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjx2Ket8Q6lRSTAH46hUUMygvHh0CldbQ6cQH-Ehbu24mgKQSxNlApfTfr6GKgaGYZFa95AjXqFjzEvRQz812J5gg4UqQ3ijjdiaHsTk9JGQeWxPXFShyphenhyphenr8cWVbD9QGwDxYW4ptlgi-QZT/s1600/11990542_574816227586_6200062454280710179_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjx2Ket8Q6lRSTAH46hUUMygvHh0CldbQ6cQH-Ehbu24mgKQSxNlApfTfr6GKgaGYZFa95AjXqFjzEvRQz812J5gg4UqQ3ijjdiaHsTk9JGQeWxPXFShyphenhyphenr8cWVbD9QGwDxYW4ptlgi-QZT/s640/11990542_574816227586_6200062454280710179_n.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I just woke up like this..." Morning view looking down from where I rested my head for the night. </td></tr>
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The next 3 pitches all went up the shear and beautiful headwall of the route. They were the most difficult pitches of the route but I wasn't really worried about them being too hard, mostly I knew they'd be the best pitches. They went at C2 but some people argued C2+ or C3- I knew it would go fine, I just had to do it and hopefully it wouldn't take me forever. Ultimately I didn't think anything was harder than C2, it was just Zion C2, which is sandy and has lots of weird pods you place smallish brass nuts in. Logistically I was more concerned with managing the two ropes, and haulbag, all with the absence of a natural ledge to set them on. The belays now transitioned into fully hanging stances, and as a soloist this is more tricky because I need to neatly organize both ropes so they will feed easily as I progress, and obviously they cannot get twisted, stuck, knotted, fall off, etc. This would cause much difficulty. To my surprise and joy I was able to run a pretty tight ship and I didn't have any major issues with the rope or haulbag. It seemed maybe I actually knew what I was doing? These pitches were the most fun because they were the most challenging and the terrain was so steep and engaging. It was still a lot of work but finally the reward was a little more evident. I eventually ripped a piece out bounce testing on Pitch 7, but as you can tell most of the gear was solid enough to climb without major complications.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZgjD_vaLGRdAqJv8MD9jlL-AEgaremstzj3COHQwmVWBdI_0wQAJktsQ1oVGy-sX43n9vLVa8QGlXIKNpMzECNzDaQ44UsmBvOc6YZtdlThkEypAqR3fTD74JXZD4rE0Nt9C75m2Ffg7/s1600/HighRes-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZgjD_vaLGRdAqJv8MD9jlL-AEgaremstzj3COHQwmVWBdI_0wQAJktsQ1oVGy-sX43n9vLVa8QGlXIKNpMzECNzDaQ44UsmBvOc6YZtdlThkEypAqR3fTD74JXZD4rE0Nt9C75m2Ffg7/s400/HighRes-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the summit of Lunar Ecstasy. </td></tr>
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When I finished these couple hard Pitches and just finished ascending back up to my high point I heard a voice yell to me "Good job! You did it!" I looked around a little perplexed and found two individuals looking down and across at me from the West Rim Trail. I didn't know what to say really so I just dumbfoundedly said "Thanks... but I'm not done yet!" Their celebration gave me a sense of accomplishment which I found distracting and didn't want to feel yet. I wasn't done, so I didn't want to fool myself into thinking I could relax. I started climbing again and had two more pitches to do. I got perplexed again by some sandy unprotected free climbing that was just kinda odd but just kept plugging away one step at a time. I took the original last pitch because I thought it would be more full value and it was slightly harder. It was kind of a nightmare and the rock quality was really sugary at times, the placements were weird everywhere, and there were numerous ledges to fall onto. I puked my pants. Well not really but I wanted to. It was kind of a "questing" pitch to say the least. Next time I'd do the "Jarrett" finishing Pitch and save some stress. </div>
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When I topped out after the lead I was pretty relieved to be done climbing. I still had to drop back in and rappel to clean my gear, anchor, and then ascend back up to haul the bag. But, more or less, I was feel kinda done with my goal. I did the last remaining work and once again stood back at the summit. I threw all the gear off me in a big pile and felt the weight of the challenge lift off my shoulders. I sat down and starred out at Angels Land wall and beyond. Such a beautiful place. I drank the last remaining water I had saved for this very moment and tired to think about everything that had just happened. This anticlimactic moment at the summit never seems to change and the accomplishment isn't at first very noticeable. I lulled for about 2 minutes like this and then started to repack all the stuff into the haulbag. It was a little lighter with no water, but it still felt like a chore to pick it up and hike it out... but it always is. I made quick time on the descent trail and spent the whole time on the way down thinking about how much water I would drink when I got to the Grotto. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDbHe95bhZuMF2r3WgYjCa9A8jkkV9B_PfwTMrOg3CYhghuWSCnXVLPCUiCh6R-Jjaz4Gx02o9QaquVOkoSocXqaivl09ZYFZZQ4pYkwiQv9jQjr9GVwNgAMGrWGjXu86t09EijmGlGXwn/s1600/HighRes-3885.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDbHe95bhZuMF2r3WgYjCa9A8jkkV9B_PfwTMrOg3CYhghuWSCnXVLPCUiCh6R-Jjaz4Gx02o9QaquVOkoSocXqaivl09ZYFZZQ4pYkwiQv9jQjr9GVwNgAMGrWGjXu86t09EijmGlGXwn/s400/HighRes-3885.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moonrise over my neighborhood back in Las Vegas. </td></tr>
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I filled up 3 large Nalgenes up with cold refreshing water and sat down on the bench and waited for the bus. It was now dark. When the bus arrived I got on with a few other people and then threw my stuff down on the seat next to me. The bus pulled away and the cool breeze from the open windows cooled my sweaty, dirty, sandy self down from the hike. I closed my eyes and took in the relaxation and almost found a quick meditative like state. I knew next step I'd be back at the van, which was kind of like the "home" feeling when you feel like you actually did it and you can finally relax fully. Soon enough I was there and I stumbled off the bus and towards the van. I slowly loaded up the van with my gear and had a little snack and a canned double-shot expresso drink that I had brought along. I changed into a clean shirt and underwear and took my shoes and socks off. I didn't have other pants or shorts to put on so I drove home to Las Vegas in my underwear. When I got home I cracked a cold beer and took a shower. That night my friend Andy would be home from his summer excursions and we'd have a lot to catch up on still this evening. We stayed up a while and watched an awesome moonrise while we chatted about numerous adventures and misadventures from the last few months. I now got to share my solo ascent with someone, and perhaps here is when I finally got to feel that "Lunar Ecstasy" effect. Now what next?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6yIyaQkBIcVeIMhBgWH1zZmaTaoY3Q8shvx29Cx1xZQTg1FJpFSeiihHy1VCC-HPNzfUlVUJuGbI38t3cgSTM1tF3vmN7FtF0Ij_aq5BASMCXlKvdaCQavOlXn2tqcTyDj-YENv-GT-Ci/s1600/AmmonSolo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6yIyaQkBIcVeIMhBgWH1zZmaTaoY3Q8shvx29Cx1xZQTg1FJpFSeiihHy1VCC-HPNzfUlVUJuGbI38t3cgSTM1tF3vmN7FtF0Ij_aq5BASMCXlKvdaCQavOlXn2tqcTyDj-YENv-GT-Ci/s640/AmmonSolo.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ammon McNeely aid soloing in Yosemite.<br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-60753067438537219332015-06-26T13:12:00.000-07:002015-07-04T00:16:37.708-07:00Climbing El Capitan: Zodiac VI 5.7 A3+<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCweaH6DHoRpOemndqWzN3PTxdrZ2C58g3YAdXYvfYHnV-w-JjXc2fCy6NSmpolQdF4HMWu-1XEzNnWxmLWh1dsB1-bOInzs85ab9u_LVjA6qXuNVfLYTYtv4sZ5ZiT-abpjU7yQBSEBE/s1600/158_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCweaH6DHoRpOemndqWzN3PTxdrZ2C58g3YAdXYvfYHnV-w-JjXc2fCy6NSmpolQdF4HMWu-1XEzNnWxmLWh1dsB1-bOInzs85ab9u_LVjA6qXuNVfLYTYtv4sZ5ZiT-abpjU7yQBSEBE/s640/158_2.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nose of El Capitan - Yosemite National Park, California.<br />
Photo: Ansel Adams</td></tr>
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There are few natural formations as massive, inspiring, and recognizable as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in California. To some, its a symbol of the impossible and to others its a mecca of climbing and seeing what's possible. To me it was a longtime goal that took many years of climbing to even begin to understand. Since I was a child this single piece of granite and the accomplishments of the pioneering climbers before me have been a constant unwavering inspiration. (If you're ever wondering why I continue to do this stuff.) Bigwall climbing to me was what climbing "was" and all the rest was just practice. Is that true? Of course not, but climbing El Capitan is no small task and it takes a large array of skills to accomplish. I was going to write an awesome intro here but I'll save you time. This is an inspiring rock, so lets go climbing! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Capitan from El Cap Meadow. Zodiac is on the right-hand (Southeast) side of El Cap. </td></tr>
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Our time in the Valley started off slow, and mixed with an array of difficulties. We had a short list of routes we aspired to climb that summer, but big crowds and congestion on some of the more popular routes meant we were stuck near the ground. Our first goal was to climb The Nose, which ascends the center prow of El Cap. A sort of unoriginal route choice, I wasn't bent on going up this route very first push of the trip, but it seemed like a worthy goal and still a fine way to start building momentum for technically harder routes. We started early and hiked in two haul bags filled with all our gear and accommodations and started up the route. Things early on became unnecessarily stressful when a party of 3 attempted to pass us on Pitch 1. Wearing knee-pads with two lesser experienced climbers in tow they told us their plan was to fix ropes up to Sickle ledge (4 Pitches up) and come down, a significantly smaller day than the 12 Pitches we had planned to climb to El Cap Tower where we planned to sleep and continue the next day. After being rubbed the wrong way we kept climbing and gradually watched them disappear underneath us. We gained Sickle ledge, the first natural ledge big enough to stop and relax just to realize the less than ideal reality of out situation. No less than 4 parties (climbing teams) congested in front of us, moving quite slow all well below Dolt Tower and ultimately El Cap Tower we were trying to gain that day. It turns out while we were climbing the route up to Sickle, two other teams ascended fixed ropes (placed there days before) to the same point, effectively blocking us from continuing. A let down at least and a lessen in patience and different strategies at best. It seems most people do not climb this in continuous push, but rather prefer to do the beginning in sections while returning to the ground leaving their ropes up to return another day. Ethics and style aside, we can all agree this creates a royal cluster%#@% down low on the route and simply put is just a big headache. We went down and watched their progress from El Cap Meadow. Each team only made it a few pitches further. Some ended on small ledges while others were left to sleep hanging in their harnesses for the night likely to just end up bailing the next day. We came up with a new plan.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"When everything goes wrong, thats when the adventure starts."</span> </div>
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- Yvon Chouinard</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everything in its right place?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gear lined up for a potential ascent attempt of Tangerine Trip.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Route line of Zodiac with arrows indicating where we bivyed. </td></tr>
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The route Zodiac had been on our list from the start of the trip. If everything went as planned (impossible) we would have climbed this route 3rd, after gaining experience and momentum on a few other El Cap climbs first. That never entirely happened and our time window for a successful ascent was becoming smaller. I was stressed beyond belief trying to build/maintain/rebuild psych and motivation to carry on with new changed plans almost daily, but perhaps this was finally the route to take us there. I was excited but aware that this was a technically harder route to climb at A3+ when compared to The Nose at C2 . That meant more consecutive difficult pitches that would push our mental and psychical ability and stamina even further. For the none aid-climbers reading this, the higher the rating number the harder the climbing and the likely-hood for large more dangerous falls, consecutive marginal gear placements (think body weight only, would not hold a fall) and more time required to climb. There is also a <a href="http://www.yosemitebigwall.com/intro-aid-ratings" target="_blank">difference</a> between Clean-Aid (C grade) and just Aid (A grade) which may require the use of a hammer to drive <a href="http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/big-wall-climbing/angle-pitons-BD520720_cfg.html#start=19" target="_blank">pitons</a>, <a href="http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/big-wall-climbing/pecker-pitons-BD520217_cfg.html#start=24" target="_blank">beaks</a>, <a href="http://www.neptunemountaineering.com/yates-double-copperhead-1129" target="_blank">copperheads</a>, <a href="http://www.gianteagle.com/ProductImages/PRODUCT_NODE_81/18200001314.jpg" target="_blank">etc</a>. In short, its pretty damn complicated and extremely involved to fully understand the difference in ratings, equipment used, and potential hazards or potential risks. Here is a link more about the "dark art" of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Aid_climbing" target="_blank">Aid Climbing</a> for more info. It is an often miss-understood part of modern climbing, but is still the most common form of climbing found in the realm of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_wall_climbing" target="_blank">Big Wall Climbing</a>. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zodiac Topo - The route map. </td></tr>
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Zodiac is 15 Pitches, about 1800' in length, and we planned to climb it over the period of 3 days, and 2 nights on the wall. We brought a gallon of water per person per day, meals for 3.5 days, 2 large haul bags, a portaledge to sleep on, and a little bit of whiskey to sip in the evenings. We hiked our gear up to the base in two loads the day before leaving the ground. We had learned previously (on a failed attempt of Tangerine Trip due to you guessed it, crowds) that carrying all of your gear to the base in one fell swoop is nothing short of pure agony (although effective). Finally now with all of our gear there, and nobody else queued up to start the climb, we were finally confident we would get out chance to head up El Cap. The only other team on route was a large Korean team of 4, who were on Pitch 7 when we left the ground but had already been on route for maybe 3 days. Everything looked like it was going to line up and we were very inspired to finally have an opportunity to climb and test ourselves on this iconic terrain. So after bringing our last load up to the base we used the last of the remaining sunlight to climb Pitch 1, and fix our ropes to best get moving fast in the morning. In this case this tactic didn't actually interfere with anyone else (like we had been troubled by before), and rather provided us a little confidence that we could "blast off" full speed tomorrow.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy carries one, of two, "big pigs" we brought up to the base.<br />
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We awoke before sunrise and started early. We wanted to gain as much progress on day one to give us the best chance of staying on schedule, and ultimately making it to the summit before we ran out of food, water, energy, or sanity. We put the finishing touches on organizing our gear and got it prepared to be hauled upwards. We had ropes up to the Pitch 1 anchor, so we both started getting to work, leaving the ground at about the same time. Andy ascended up the lead-line (used for fall arrest and attached to gear on the pitch) while I ascended the free hanging haul line (used to haul the bags) which was a straight shot to the anchor with no need to stop and fiddle with gear. Once I got to the anchor, I reconfigured the ropes, tied in, and put myself on belay to continue climbing into Pitch 2. This technique, called short-fixing, is when the leader continues climbing while the second (person) is still cleaning (gear used) on the pitch below. It's a little different than the "conventional" belay system, but with experience in the aid-solo and lead-solo techniques, its really no different. This method allowed us to charge up the first two pitches pretty fast, and soon enough I was hauling the bags to our high point. We didn't short fix any of the other pitches on the route, but I thought about it! It sure is an efficient technique for moving faster and it's great when the leader doesn't have to haul every pitch they lead. I continued climbing and lead Pitch 3 and then Andy took over to lead Pitch 4 and 5. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy cleaning Pitch 1 as continue short-fixing into Pitch 2. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrapping up Pitch 3. I am in blue, Andy in Red.<br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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We climbed in blocks, when one climber takes the lead role for multiple pitches. This allows for a continuous "in the zone" effect with the leader, and they tend to make faster, better decisions in this fashion. When alternating every-other pitch the belay exchanges seem to take longer, and the leaders usually start off slower, instead of just continuing to move fast and efficient. By the time we switched over, and my current block was done, we were certainly starting to gain momentum. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy beginning Pitch 5 as I belay and relax while everything is in order.<br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy looks up at the bolt/rivet ladder on Pitch 5. </td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Andy finally got his chance to get "on the sharp end" and lead some pitches now! He took us up Pitch 4 and 5 in fine style, negotiating through some varied terrain including a long(ish) rivet ladder (a series of small weak bolts with no hangers), some moderate free-climbing on traversing terrain, and not to mention he got to haul the bags for a little. He also got to figure out the "inverted cam hook" beta, which in this case could be avoided with the smallest 000 C3. I also had some fun on this terrain while cleaning and found the traversy free-climbing parts to be the most engaging. Often a conventional lower-out method could be used to avoid big swings and/or large horizontal spacing between pieces of gear, but sometimes this was not probable. Ultimately I would have to re-climb these same semi-runout traverses while self belaying with my Gri-Gri backup. Not my favorite part of what we had done so far, but hey it worked! There is certainly an art to cleaning hard aid pitches and I don't think this receives enough attention by the general climbing populace. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG2_rY2tBFHfg35UCd1aplRH90RqD30U9D4ZCPwMWfilCIMjy7rrMrPa1ZDMtkPDteKKiApeLEoKZygWCFNP-IgiMGGkbb2iGOi_2S3MGYlJo5oQr_EdjRLtlhQ0Tb11rbZsgWHpc-8V_Y/s1600/TomPitch4b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG2_rY2tBFHfg35UCd1aplRH90RqD30U9D4ZCPwMWfilCIMjy7rrMrPa1ZDMtkPDteKKiApeLEoKZygWCFNP-IgiMGGkbb2iGOi_2S3MGYlJo5oQr_EdjRLtlhQ0Tb11rbZsgWHpc-8V_Y/s640/TomPitch4b.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy in the bolt/rivet ladder on Pitch 5.<br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgZMC3jR_G-F3zoJHXfoNmnEqg_SJVgbgY0rFAZb0Ns3Qa8KlI2Kh_E-hQL3DjXfnvQQffU7C9S66DNeB1U9A4RrXzuDFwnNB0rE9axExt8QtWa45G08uZN5wGsxjoIARTT0wDa48kmGD/s1600/Lowerout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgZMC3jR_G-F3zoJHXfoNmnEqg_SJVgbgY0rFAZb0Ns3Qa8KlI2Kh_E-hQL3DjXfnvQQffU7C9S66DNeB1U9A4RrXzuDFwnNB0rE9axExt8QtWa45G08uZN5wGsxjoIARTT0wDa48kmGD/s640/Lowerout.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt doing a lower-out while cleaning on Pitch 5.<br />
Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuv-BamimlNvIJMSxSxFZojP1zg6o0KqxT9cQcSnixe6R3yaNKZNESHpZBvQm-WTqL7jKny5rKD52sqtNquhlOMZNCc402cf-3FJSDp3PsPRleRbQlnggMJdH0tBOKbfX7vtewvmA0Evsz/s1600/BlackTower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuv-BamimlNvIJMSxSxFZojP1zg6o0KqxT9cQcSnixe6R3yaNKZNESHpZBvQm-WTqL7jKny5rKD52sqtNquhlOMZNCc402cf-3FJSDp3PsPRleRbQlnggMJdH0tBOKbfX7vtewvmA0Evsz/s640/BlackTower.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt beginning the "Black Tower" Pitch 6.<br />
Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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Now it was my turn to jump on again and I knew we should go at least one more pitch before welcoming the dark and some food from the comfort of our portaledge. We had to wait for a few minutes at the belay to contemplate what to do when some rain and thunder started coming in from above. The first thunder booms were a little intimidating and certainly left us both with the "So yeah now what!?" feeling. Most people would just think to themselves that they should just stop, wait it out, or go down, but the reality is you don't really have anywhere to go or anything else to do so waiting seems a lot more like doing nothing. Going down is only a small option as it would be very time consuming, physically demanding, and not what you came there to do. Of course, had it been dire enough we could have, or even totally stopped for the day and set up the ledge and fly for shelter. Luckily it wasn't nearly bad enough and we were able to just keep on keepin' on. I threw my rain jacket on as a precaution and started getting the gear ready to head up. </div>
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The next pitch was one that I had been "warned" about as a pitch to try avoid falling off. The "Black Tower" pitch as they call it, had some tricky aid (C3 followed by some free climbing with little gear straight to A3 beaks) all above a free standing tower with a slanting ledge below it. It seemed like a test-pitch for me if there was going to be one that day. Once I stepped off the belay I didn't hesitate and just kept climbing and took it one placement at a time. The exciting part really got good at the tower itself, a pinnacle of free-standing rock (with a 1"x 1.5" foot top?) that you surmount and balance on while placing your first bird-beak in the A3 terrain. The ledge below, and the tower itself will all soon become obstacles underneath you in the event of a fall from higher up, so you appreciate there coolness only momentarily. Its pretty wild for numerous reasons, but to say it simply and without adding drama, you are still climbing and the risks are at least briefly more apparent. I kept tinkering away and delicately placed and hung off beaks, hooks, small wires, and the occasional copper-head or small cam. This pitch I utilized the "mostly not-thinking too much" technique. That is to say if thinking means hesitating, as there is no room for delay or haste in marginal terrain. Not hesitating is smooth and smooth is fast, or something like that. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLFn93-8pFrNCc2kiFyn9yxu1u-W6kPZY0iHStx2Uuv0yrVKrrnmLjWBwzGiT6vLzvtCl7mFxxForA-R4G7zsMubwK6ytFj9hjvchzm1EBgDLtxw8zjT4S6gdLlA6Vsa4dvdlCY2zp67Lb/s1600/AndyPortaledge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLFn93-8pFrNCc2kiFyn9yxu1u-W6kPZY0iHStx2Uuv0yrVKrrnmLjWBwzGiT6vLzvtCl7mFxxForA-R4G7zsMubwK6ytFj9hjvchzm1EBgDLtxw8zjT4S6gdLlA6Vsa4dvdlCY2zp67Lb/s640/AndyPortaledge.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy is psyched on the ledge comfort! Our camp at "The Pearly Gates" atop Pitch 6. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBlHkJEhw3-o532Am118HYWwBYw36zb5Zh0Mff8v8kIjJZQo1S-Hk-9TsLZTydaxXj3PJXVfuY9sQoUfV7Z4_EEx9n-7pd5hsu1uwR-QuQ1ddELFR4Jajel7zHDi_fzFrRJ0fvqOPDU7J/s1600/AndyPortaledge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBlHkJEhw3-o532Am118HYWwBYw36zb5Zh0Mff8v8kIjJZQo1S-Hk-9TsLZTydaxXj3PJXVfuY9sQoUfV7Z4_EEx9n-7pd5hsu1uwR-QuQ1ddELFR4Jajel7zHDi_fzFrRJ0fvqOPDU7J/s400/AndyPortaledge2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploding the haul bags onto the ledge. Don't drop anything!</td></tr>
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After completing Pitch 6, it was time to relax! All this climbing stuff sure is fun but damn it's a lot of work! We stopped at a place on the wall called the "Pearly Gates" where long lines of white bands or perhaps dikes, can be seen streaking through the wall (see the bottom of the photo two below). We had a small natural ledge that smelt distinctly like pee to stand on while we set up our own larger portaledge. Bringing a portaledge is a dream come true in a way, its the final comfort after putting in the extra effort to bring it along. For us, this was the only way to go and meant successful rest for a hopefully successful climb. I have been asked numerous times if its scary to sleep on the wall, but I must assure you that it is not frightening at all. Once you're plopped on the platform after 10-12 hours of hanging uncomfortably, its a big relief. It is honestly easy to forget that it is a straight drop back to the ground from there, mostly cause you are so relieved to not be climbing anymore. Although with that being said, in the back of my mind I was a little concerned that the party above us would accidentally drop something on us during the night. Fortunately the wall is STEEP, and although they camped directly above us by a few hundred feet, they were actually further out from the wall and their debris "should" clear us. This was an unfortunately objective hazard up there and it was too bad that they dropped something what seemed about every hour or so. Some of it winging near enough at a million miles an hour or so. I was perturbed by this but just hoped they might improve since we were gaining ground and would be seeing them soon enough. Smile!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally a little relaxation! (Notice the fog rolling in on the valley floor.)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4MhQU-Qw18hG5lfjhS1YO7nbsKNXyZ6xzyXzj3j25blrSnnKTk_PZlFd_QnvQR_kthL1UMbTFXMSYHqso7m0YwzLfL2TR674Tb2Tphzk6RJrbY0vSqdvpijQQ2p-sJ5Dbn1vFeSBsyzwB/s1600/TomPitch7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4MhQU-Qw18hG5lfjhS1YO7nbsKNXyZ6xzyXzj3j25blrSnnKTk_PZlFd_QnvQR_kthL1UMbTFXMSYHqso7m0YwzLfL2TR674Tb2Tphzk6RJrbY0vSqdvpijQQ2p-sJ5Dbn1vFeSBsyzwB/s400/TomPitch7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt leading up on Pitch 7 at the start of day 2.<br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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We slept in a little on day 2 probably waking up around 7:30-8am. The rest was well deserved but if you hang out too long you are just wasting time. Even in the morning the list of tasks is constant and it's rare everything is simply "done". Even when you get to the top you're not done! Typical morning goes something like this... wake up shortly after the sun comes up, lay there for a minute and think about kittens, put some music on, drink water, eat some food, eat something caffeinated, awkwardly poop, pack up, put at least one clean article of clothing on, organize gear, dismantle the ledge, transition into climbing, finally start climbing, never stop climbing! Honestly I think it's hard to be lazy up there because you're too engaged with what you are doing, there is no room for lolly gagging, although we have some fun along the way.</div>
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Our plan was for me (Matt) to lead up the first two pitches that day, and Andy would finish the day. We were in the "The White Circle" section of the route, which features beautiful gray clean cut granite corners and cracks. Each pitch on day 2 had A3, C3, or both, and it was definitely slower and more intricate climbing in general. I was more confident with the tricky Aid stuff than Andy, so I figured I'd at least get us started that day. What eventually happened is we both realized our strengths on the wall, and while I got in the lead groove Andy was getting into a cleaning groove and we were both feeling groovy. So I just kept leading all day and was able to knock out all 4 pitches through and out of the White Circle. This was a big day despite only climbing 4 pitches because they were all intricate, involved, and occasionally in your face. It was a grand time! Where did the time go? We had fun setting up the ledge in a full hanging stance as it became dark. Nothing is brutal to a wall climber. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt hauling the bags on Pitch 7, the base of the "White Circle". <br />
Yup, thats how we get all that shit up there!<br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt on the lead. Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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But about the climbing... It took me longer than usual to lead Pitch 8 which had a decent amount of cam-hooking, fixed copperheads, and to my surprise a little bit of beaking. Near the top of the pitch there was some A2+ fixed copperheads, some of which I believe were missing. The most difficult move mentally for me was having to delicately tap in a small beak while hanging on a <a href="http://d32y13ngxxhn1k.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/242.bigwall.2_2659.jpg" target="_blank">bashed head</a> that looked more like spit out gum than climbing equipment. The truth of the matter is that head would not hold a fall, and since I did some hooking to get to the head, there was not a lot of gear under me. The fall would have been clean no doubt, but it would have be lengthy enough to get your attention. I had trouble making the beak "stick" and I could only lightly tap it in place, anything more caused it to fall out. After I placed it satisfactory enough I hung on it and tested it gently. Once it passed the test there was only one option, move up on it and place something better higher hopefully. I delicately weighted the piece and started climbing up my aid-ladder, pretending I was a light and delicate flower or something cute and fluffy, anything besides a 175lb bearded man with 25lbs of climbing gear dangling off a bent piece of metal that just fell out twice. It worked and before I knew it I was through the tough section, longing for the anchor that was still far enough away. Are we having fun yet?</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt leads up into the "Flying Buttress" on Pitch 8.<br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Chronicle SSm, serif;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><span style="font-size: large;">"...Climbing [is a] useless sport. You get to be conquistadors of the useless. You climb to the summit and there is nothing there. You could hike to the top from another direction. It's how you get there that is the important part."</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Chronicle SSm, serif;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"> - Yvon Chouinard</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt leading the "Nipple" pitch. The most memorable and recognizable pitch on Zodiac.<br />
Photo: Andy Reger </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nipple Pitch! Photo reference, not us climbing... <br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I lead the "Nipple" pitch for my 3rd pitch of the day. It is such a recognizable feature and is clearly visible with the naked eye from the ground. I was stoked to jump on! Not to mention it looks like a giant boob and that's a big bonus. The climbing was exciting and leading A3/C3 traversing terrain is engaging because you are always faced with potential pedulum falls of uncertain length. To make matters better you get to place numerous and consecutive <a href="http://www.supertopo.com/inc/photo_zoom.php?dpid=Oj0_NzwnIiIrIQ,," target="_blank">inverted cam hooks</a>, which are body weight only and you don't leave them behind for protection. To give a representation of the strength of a cam hook just know that they visibly flex under your body weight and will bend open if overloaded. They are great for a few moves but crap for protection, i.e. catching you in a fall. Luckily after a few hook moves I was able to fish in small cams and small offset nuts that could inspire a little more confidence. I tried to place as much gear as possible (sorta) to make Andy's cleaning a little more </span>reasonable. Cleaning traversing terrain is also notoriously difficult and it has it own inherent risks and challenges. We found success on this pitch and there was only a little grunting and it was mostly fun! I distinctly remember being psyched to reach the bolt after the Nipple itself, after a short struggle with a wide crack that I wanted to climb upside-down but aided. I was so relived to stop grunting I clipped into the bolt and hung from it with one hand and did the classic "<a href="http://nk_wp_media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2014/10/jumpman-air-jordan-photo-shoot-poster.jpg" target="_blank">Air Jordan</a>" maneuver way off the deck. Woohoo! After that there was one last pitch of steep climbing to get us under the "Devil's Brow" where we set up camp for the night. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp 2 below the "Devil's Brow" atop Pitch 10, hanging with the birds and a little whiskey. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp 2 in the morning. Here we are getting organized to start our 3rd day and push to the summit!<br />
Photo: Tom Evans</td></tr>
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The last day I woke up still psyched as can be, but noticeably physically fatigued. I dreaded tearing down the ledge because I knew it would be a five minute struggle. Boohoo right? I got my act together and was off leading again in short time. I was looking forward to a change in the terrain and welcomed the idea of something less than vertical but that never hardly happened. The climbing was pretty standard stuff early in the day, but then got more exciting with hooking sections. I did 6 consecutive hook moves on one of the pitches, but they were short and the hooks were generally easily placed and good. That being said I did eventually rip a hook and fell on Pitch 12. Being fatigued I started to overlook little details and placed a less than ideal hook and in the wrong blown out spot. The hook I really wanted was on the other aider (I was already weighting) so I compromised and used a Talon hook that was available. It was pretty crap but looked "good enough" and I got on it assuming I'd place something better in just a few moments anyway. I hung on it briefly and then I heard to the distinct sound of metal violently popping off granite and remembered getting clunked in the helmet by the gear i just tried to hang on. Then before I had to time to think I saw the wall streaking in front of me, and that's when I realized I was falling. I probably fell maybe 15-20' feet, so generally speaking small potatoes. Due to my slow reaction speed it was honestly the least scary fall I have ever experienced. I suppose its hard to be afraid of something when you don't realize it's happening. I immediately got back on and started climbing, we weren't done yet! </div>
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When I finished Pitch 12 I had caught the Korean team of 4 in front of us. One of them knew a little english and when I got up to the ledge now offered me some water, which was great because we were pretty much out. The team had used almost every inch of usable space on the ledge, but I was able to wiggle in and clipped one bolt and built a gear anchor off to the side. They were nice and a unique bunch, but it was business as usual for me and I needed to haul and keep this show on the road. Me and one of their teammates chatted, of sorts, briefly while I was setting stuff up. They asked "How long" and I said 3 days. He responded "Us 5 day". I got out the topo (map) of the route and we pointed at stuff generally indicating our plans. It was an awkward moment of sorts but it became clear our team was going to press on, and we were going to have to pass them. They had planned to hopefully make it to the top by dark, and then they were going to sleep on the top and descend in the morning. I told them our plan was to get the top in the daylight and start descending before dark. We were pretty much out of water and pretty determined to succeed with our schedule. The next pitch was a nightmare as Andy lead up the damn run-out wide crack and they hauled loads in a big trail of a cluster rats nest who knows what. We ducked and dived as they continued to drop more stuff, including the bag for their portaledge that blew clear to the east ledges or beyond. It was not an enjoyable pitch but we got to the next ledge, still being shared with some members of their team. I took the lead and again and got the hell out of there. There was so much confusion, yelling, and headaches it was too chaotic for my soul. Soon it would be over. I remembered so much noise while I was leading the next pitch, but then an unusual calmness and silence as I was in the middle of a 20 foot hook section. Finally silence! Haha. Just one more pitch to the summit!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger, psyched!</td></tr>
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The last pitch was not very exciting, but it was the last one! It had some odd climbing still and maybe was C2 or so with the occasional hook or rivet move. When I finally finished and stode on top I realized the anchor was sort of awkwardly placed, or maybe I was awkwardly there. I looked for better options and found a tree a little further back so I could finally be standing on flat ground again. This was a fine idea, but caused additional rope drag and hauling was even more of a nightmare. Lets just say it felt really, really, really, heavy. Needless to say I didn't quit and hauled it up with some help from Andy getting it over the lip.</div>
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Finally we both stood at the top! We barely looked at each other let alone celebrated how awesome we felt. We manage a hug and a little bit of smiling as we threw all gear off our bodies into a big heap on the ground. I hadn't taken my harness off in 3 days. There was no summit photo, summit beer, or summit anything. We'd just finished this huge objective and life changing(?) achievement right? Nope, never finished. We still had to go down and we were losing light. I said "Lets get the hell out of here" and we start cramming stuff back into haul bags to be packed out. Andy did less hauling so he carried the bigger bag with bulky heavy things in it (also with the poop) and I carried the slightly smaller bag with heavy smaller things in it. Nothing was light except the empty water bottles. Before you knew it we were staggering down. We found the trail right away and kept following it east towards the ledges descent where we could do 4 rappels back down the ground and continue to hike out. Not much to say about the descent besides we barely got down rappels in the daylight and we didn't do anything stupid, it was just more process in an extremely process filled process. Once the rappels were done there was a slight sense of relief because it was pretty much the end of the technical challenges and now it was just walking with heavy stuff, still. I was starting to crash fast and I finally realized I had actually way overexerted myself. What do you do, I kept walking. We finally made it back to the car and I just sat down and didn't say anything. We had to completely dump the largest haul bag of it contents because naturally the keys for the van were at the very bottom of the bag. We opened the van and had some water. Andy jumped in the river. I took my shoes off. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Kuehl, also psyched!! Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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All in all it was an amazing experience, but damn that was a lot of work! Overall I lead and hauled 12 of 15 pitches on my first El Capitan route, a statistic that sounds daunting, stupid, or awesome I'm not exactly sure. Whatever it means, we actually did it. I thought I would feel more in awe about the accomplishment afterwards but mostly I just felt really, really tired. Its not until just about now (two weeks later) that I can fully comprehend and realize the scope of our efforts and begin to remember all the little details and moments. It feels great, but I am not complete or finished with the challenge. Let's face it this was only <i>one</i> route on El Cap and I'm not stopping now. When's the next trip!? New Dawn sounds fun. </div>
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Thank you to all the friends and family who helped support us in one way or another on the ascent. Much love and respect! </div>
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-Matt Kuehl</div>
Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-78165509589731898502015-01-28T18:06:00.001-08:002015-02-02T20:56:49.364-08:00Red Rock and the Spirit of Adventure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwefq4_UVizRSpksradbbo4YgfqrYvSOCRKHIyo8lIxA34NIsVD4_3pssFXWA-jIIg5du0_UxuduA_V_EX4xRMfhGg8TLEvLZThv3yMgBrIyTkoj4PGlXC8PKlBUk6yOcuSDHK7MJP6c4X/s1600/RR_Panorama2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwefq4_UVizRSpksradbbo4YgfqrYvSOCRKHIyo8lIxA34NIsVD4_3pssFXWA-jIIg5du0_UxuduA_V_EX4xRMfhGg8TLEvLZThv3yMgBrIyTkoj4PGlXC8PKlBUk6yOcuSDHK7MJP6c4X/s1600/RR_Panorama2.jpg" height="140" width="400" /></a></div>
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I recently had an opportunity to do a write-up on Red Rock climbing for Travel Nevada. It's a fun overview on the climbing variety here just outside of Las Vegas. It has some history but focuses a lot on the spirit of adventure and how its evolved within climbing. But I think the best part is just getting the official title of "Adventurer". Take a read and I hope you enjoy. : )<br />
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<a href="http://travelnevada.com/discover/adventures/red-rock-and-spirit-adventure">http://travelnevada.com/discover/adventures/red-rock-and-spirit-adventure</a></div>
Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-24353544711204970672015-01-14T13:22:00.002-08:002015-01-15T10:47:23.525-08:00Another Year of Adventure<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger and I on the top of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley.</td></tr>
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Another year has passed and it appears I haven't updated the blog since June... My apologies to any of you who (once) regularly checked for updates of the latest adventure shenanigans. I am happy so say there have been a good amount of these adventures in the last six months and the stories have been steeping in my brain like a deep roast accumulating delicilousness in my french press every morning. Each day goes on and the inspiration to explore still comes from many angles. Over the summer and fall I had a lot of opportunities to climb, work, travel, and explore new realms of interest. This post won't really represent them in any cohesive manner, but at least it may touch on a few.<br />
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To start the summer off Andy Reger and I went to Yosemite National Park in California. This mecca for climbing should be visited by all, climbers or not. The history is rich in many realms, but to many is considered the birth place of modern climbing. To some it up the place is just radical. Recently the film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o86TpaSBcWw" target="_blank">Valley Uprising</a> was created to help share some of the highlights of climbing in Yosemite Vally of the last half a century or so. Its a pretty entertaining watch for anyone who is looking to gain some inspiration for those who climbed before us. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Kuehl leading a steep aid pitch on Leaning Tower West Face 5.7 C2. <br />
Yosemite Valley, California. </td></tr>
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When Andy and I packed up my van and headed towards the valley it was a pretty exciting moment, one that I anticipated for quite some time. I have always been inspired by John Long stories of first ascents, epic failures, and having no choice but to poop it someones kitchen, etc. Ha! There is so much to say, but it's hard to quickly describe the years of mental preparation that went into this trip for me. I guess it just takes a while to gather the skills to confidently walk up the base of a massive granite feature and start climbing without reserve. I get pretty fired up I guess! On this trip we got to climb Snake Dike 5.7R on Half Dome, The Steck-Salathe 5.10 on the Sentinel, the West Face of the Leaning Tower 5.7 C2, and then one day in Tuolumne climbing the Regular Route 5.9 on Fairview Dome. Some of the routes went easier than others, but we very pleased with our trip. We did each route in a day and it felt good to keeping moving on such impressive features. This trip really inspired me and I'm planning another trip this summer. Goals are focused on El Capitan this time around, and I'm hoping for a route or two during the trip. Thinking Lurking Fear 5.7 C2 and The Salathe Wall 5.9 C2... but it's still open for change. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Hansen looks up at our objective on Isaac in Zion National Park.</td></tr>
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Recently I headed to Zion with old friend and fellow swillbilly Andy Hansen. We had our sights on Tricks of the Trade on Issac 5.10+ C2+. It's a long route, up a pretty impressive sandstone feature with a distinct headwall split but some amazing looking cracks. We hadn't had to much time to catch up of our wall team work since we live in different areas, but we figured what the hell and went for it anyway. Climbing anything in Zion is an adventure, so when you have your sights on something you pretty much go for it, expecting unforeseen difficulties, sandy everything, and occasional crappy gear. We planned to the route in two days in hopes of being able to enjoy our time a little more by spreading the climbing out. I knew this would add some additional work having to haul extra gear and water halfway up the wall, but was not afraid of the little blue-collar work up there. The opening 5-6 pitches are adventurous offwidths and chimneys, which is pretty awesome, it just takes a lot more time because the climbing is generally slower. Not to mention hauling a large bag through a continuous chimney... not excellent but I guess we knew this ahead of time. We stopped a little short of out anticipated high point for the day, but still set up our bivy and watched the sun go down over the beautiful canyon. In the morning most of our mental energy was used up, and we were slow to get moving and the thought of a dwindling water supply was also taken into account. After a little bit of climbing we realized that we had well lost our steam. We didn't tackle our goal this time, but we did have a great time in the process of not succeeding. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at Tatanka 5.10, A2 on the Buffalo Wall, Red Rocks, NV. </td></tr>
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The Buffalo Wall is another wall that has thwarted us. This is one of Red Rock's most remote walls, and has only 4 routes on it to my knowledge. Majority of the routes are (or were) established as aid routes, put up in a big wall style, hauling and bringing all gear along in tow. I only included this photos because I would like to go up there again soon. As it turns out my aid climbing interests are not fading, but rather still growing. Perhaps this is just the beginning. Getting psyched up for hard(er) aid this year... Big Wall dreams will hopefully be realized with a little help from of those who have been up there before and can "mentor" me on a route or two. I've found it a little daunting to make the transition from "clean" aid to traditional aiding involving nailing pins, beaks, etc. A whole new level of expertise and blue-collar craftsmanship I hope to acquire. More on that as the year progresses...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sqngfmOCpEKBtS10_OLzVp0HkeYU2WRlSSsMkSlk8C1QV3iZBRGiR8Adquav6XLfwxisCVhrWjt8N1t2-LB7_QgpOtbPKdN2eWtDlBWvclnnpkLuP35OiBeAcuIoqUMYnHYeSqwyjqDc/s1600/12647_538737494656_234750397_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sqngfmOCpEKBtS10_OLzVp0HkeYU2WRlSSsMkSlk8C1QV3iZBRGiR8Adquav6XLfwxisCVhrWjt8N1t2-LB7_QgpOtbPKdN2eWtDlBWvclnnpkLuP35OiBeAcuIoqUMYnHYeSqwyjqDc/s1600/12647_538737494656_234750397_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tales of the Scorpion 5.10a, A3+. Zion National Park, Utah. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0qUX759RG2EnEZqSW3B-We_bTPPizsAZD_KIBG8_5fXcVfRjlJVm4o3gBuzD-dEa6jicL7neWEFRp91GmLzxB4hpLHk6ok__DB5QT7rdEKaXF4teXERuOhNPeyb9_cxAXZSmK9HCcXT1/s1600/947115_535404254496_529701423_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0qUX759RG2EnEZqSW3B-We_bTPPizsAZD_KIBG8_5fXcVfRjlJVm4o3gBuzD-dEa6jicL7neWEFRp91GmLzxB4hpLHk6ok__DB5QT7rdEKaXF4teXERuOhNPeyb9_cxAXZSmK9HCcXT1/s1600/947115_535404254496_529701423_n.jpg" height="640" width="450" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Come and get me you bastards!" Zion National Park, Utah.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFgoOZb0thPc2LLSLzUs4tWFCBvVo5jdyRAvoj420qWGJbDi2-OA2jgCgiGJxGNJTh9QhxJQwEns0y_Gin9bCFZ3Cu5tTZtBR1l-fjVTvQTxgndjDCXue2LC25DFy1ydxhiJd7cYDByEsi/s1600/KJ_9602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFgoOZb0thPc2LLSLzUs4tWFCBvVo5jdyRAvoj420qWGJbDi2-OA2jgCgiGJxGNJTh9QhxJQwEns0y_Gin9bCFZ3Cu5tTZtBR1l-fjVTvQTxgndjDCXue2LC25DFy1ydxhiJd7cYDByEsi/s1600/KJ_9602.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Jorgeson in Red Rocks, NV. </td></tr>
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On another note on Big Wall climbing...how about Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell up on El Cap's Dawn Wall!? Impressive efforts up there and it looks like they are going to finally pay off with a successful free ascent. What's equally impressive is how much media attention it's receiving. Usually the sport of climbing is pretty isolated from the mainstream, probably because there are just too many words and other lingo that just don't translate to the brain of a none-climber. As an example... trying to explain what "free climbing" is to your average person... Either way this type of climbing news only occasionally crosses over into the mainstream, despite how massively impressive the efforts are. It's been funny to read the good, the bad, and the totally inaccurate reports from major media bosses on their efforts. Did you know they are just hikers? Ha! Either way... above is portrait of Kevin that I shot in Red Rocks a while back. Ironically none of the portraits I shot of Kevin got selected by the magazine who requested them. Guess none of them fit the bill.. Perhaps it's more relevant to post one now. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-D3uLEE-6qdA19MuUo9GX8cXx0RzQz7Bl9v-xWAcChioBUBgf6gB5CeC-1aO5M6JyxijlTYsA3tqdprGWYYPE9J3yufyB9EovFdB1DY5zCwLEVMKl0jAuY3gVqspopJKjTXb5bDnn1eS_/s1600/10903395_852721821454965_1814049180_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-D3uLEE-6qdA19MuUo9GX8cXx0RzQz7Bl9v-xWAcChioBUBgf6gB5CeC-1aO5M6JyxijlTYsA3tqdprGWYYPE9J3yufyB9EovFdB1DY5zCwLEVMKl0jAuY3gVqspopJKjTXb5bDnn1eS_/s1600/10903395_852721821454965_1814049180_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger and I starting off the new year with some high jumps. Windy Peak, Red Rocks, NV.</td></tr>
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The rest of this post are just a few images from trips, fun days, good times etc. Wanted to share a few to share but no need to talk about every moment too long! I was excited to hit the slopes skiing in Brian Head for the first time in maybe 8 years? Before that during the summer I was able to head out to Southern California to do some video work. It was great to get more familiar with the area, spend time on the ocean, and get get my first attempts at surfing during good swell. It was very summer-like, and I got very sun burnt. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winter sky skiing/snowboarding up at Brain Head, Utah. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYkjuejO-MawO05GdGvxJL_y-btS4TEFIl6NswO03RoOtLIuHz4un2eE_jpMz7qhozzGT0lWcUBfMSW_PQ1C-30VvaWSqHyXCwfb5qwD9BsuaRlpW3_aNx2pLXNBiyZ6wDdzr0QTtlR6l/s1600/10408046_10152477011368612_8258420294937289388_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYkjuejO-MawO05GdGvxJL_y-btS4TEFIl6NswO03RoOtLIuHz4un2eE_jpMz7qhozzGT0lWcUBfMSW_PQ1C-30VvaWSqHyXCwfb5qwD9BsuaRlpW3_aNx2pLXNBiyZ6wDdzr0QTtlR6l/s1600/10408046_10152477011368612_8258420294937289388_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Documenting some serious dance moves in Southern California. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLAx5jNVW-oSCGyoDsC0dgExKcawdVhrNngQyjq1YgeXFY7r_0PxVl9-s8CUDGAvAGAw3b4aF5lBxFYiQhrKOW1DynxIKXhSDyDOHUULQcakhhybRWXc8KwoiIuH1cqaLprWCnvjcCM9i/s1600/10411300_557083374366_5824468051337792101_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLAx5jNVW-oSCGyoDsC0dgExKcawdVhrNngQyjq1YgeXFY7r_0PxVl9-s8CUDGAvAGAw3b4aF5lBxFYiQhrKOW1DynxIKXhSDyDOHUULQcakhhybRWXc8KwoiIuH1cqaLprWCnvjcCM9i/s1600/10411300_557083374366_5824468051337792101_n.jpg" height="395" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger and I getting in on some "surfing" action. Mostly swimming. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMG4LbeoWZ4zj9hlUfP7UhTiMA3uQQdb1PGkfV5sItFa7zDNRHj6aGFP3yNFeGimjBtFT_wrII6Vgh529crJ0Gv0r3hI5b9BtEc2I0KrD7gfTxe3qzqZVECnkond9JfcemfmpJq_zHL0bu/s1600/Pitons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMG4LbeoWZ4zj9hlUfP7UhTiMA3uQQdb1PGkfV5sItFa7zDNRHj6aGFP3yNFeGimjBtFT_wrII6Vgh529crJ0Gv0r3hI5b9BtEc2I0KrD7gfTxe3qzqZVECnkond9JfcemfmpJq_zHL0bu/s1600/Pitons.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A collection of old Pitons. </td></tr>
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One last note... If you haven't checked out John Long and Peter Croft's "Trad Climber's Bible" make sure you do. It's a great read and there are good selection of photos from the Matt Kuehl Collection. It's an honor to be a part of the book, and if you see one on the shelves make sure the page through it at the very least. Climb on!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take a look in this for photos of some of my past adventures! </td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-10899845307431935122014-06-30T09:54:00.001-07:002014-07-01T18:44:27.579-07:00More adventures near Flagstaff, Arizona.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XhvRve9GyYnz6-sWagror834JvEQ4FKU6PXe3s4BZ9rtN_E3962VUoCCk2Q-b7aRxfytlVIKv1WWJTCO67_jL7LANqsysM4i24-oldQrC1_CmHvynh6LhommMipE6fTNtMFV83xYTXXj/s1600/_MG_3533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XhvRve9GyYnz6-sWagror834JvEQ4FKU6PXe3s4BZ9rtN_E3962VUoCCk2Q-b7aRxfytlVIKv1WWJTCO67_jL7LANqsysM4i24-oldQrC1_CmHvynh6LhommMipE6fTNtMFV83xYTXXj/s1600/_MG_3533.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zak Romuald on <i>Crystal Clear </i>5.13a in Northern Arizona.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oqUj3raqXEe1D8YNBVtqJdGN2lNUO7XMH0NZEl1GA8Uff-qOyQ6tb73XNrC4TBzpgh34VVn_Bor5b9ZkZYmatBXXPEEYsuFi0eWjcCbEDhd5VPaL7-NgaB5NePP__LFIRP6e7HKnsjuo/s1600/_MG_3471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oqUj3raqXEe1D8YNBVtqJdGN2lNUO7XMH0NZEl1GA8Uff-qOyQ6tb73XNrC4TBzpgh34VVn_Bor5b9ZkZYmatBXXPEEYsuFi0eWjcCbEDhd5VPaL7-NgaB5NePP__LFIRP6e7HKnsjuo/s1600/_MG_3471.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Kuehl on <i>The Grim Reefer</i> 5.9. Limestone offwidth in shorts?<br />
Northern Arizona</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger digs deep on <i>Mary Jane's Guillotine</i> 5.10</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zak Romuald on the slab by start to <i>Crystal Clear.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Oak Creek / Waterfall area near Sedona. Basalt splitters! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger doing a top rope run up Black and Tan 5.10<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz3QuQCq3JPnocOS4wZX3czRSBs9fvh3ycYPWzEhtXX3vVzicwBpXlSd9R-Rv9jW_Or7LXo-mUanpgFudnKDwUA7qU6oPplHf9iTCyTE4yBn2vcHhkMrH558MUO87_cwk8E4XSMfY7uVV/s1600/InnerChi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZz3QuQCq3JPnocOS4wZX3czRSBs9fvh3ycYPWzEhtXX3vVzicwBpXlSd9R-Rv9jW_Or7LXo-mUanpgFudnKDwUA7qU6oPplHf9iTCyTE4yBn2vcHhkMrH558MUO87_cwk8E4XSMfY7uVV/s1600/InnerChi.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And at some point we also went to Zion and climbed Inner Chi 5.11. It was sweet. </td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-64433272597316677612014-03-14T12:52:00.000-07:002014-03-15T12:07:34.234-07:00Pinnacle Cave, Mt. Potosi, NV.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAesyYYh8QZMomo0H9AnA2gKm6zpagV2V3kBoR1OCTOiwpaqvMXBb9aBsa77z56o13ZWVCcmUK6SqF0_Z8fFwSxVOrb9lqgIefi62Zb3Y7yviWRxQVsX_ygN-ZdQ7O9ea82ZpBiuuuLkFC/s1600/PinnacleCaveStalactite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAesyYYh8QZMomo0H9AnA2gKm6zpagV2V3kBoR1OCTOiwpaqvMXBb9aBsa77z56o13ZWVCcmUK6SqF0_Z8fFwSxVOrb9lqgIefi62Zb3Y7yviWRxQVsX_ygN-ZdQ7O9ea82ZpBiuuuLkFC/s1600/PinnacleCaveStalactite.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Recently I was informed of a (relatively) new discovery in Thailand. This natural wonder was found only four years ago, and is now regarded as the largest cave currently surveyed and explored on our planet earth! Being a big fan of the great unknown, spontaneous discovery, and continuous adventure, I was pretty interested to hear more about this wonder. After doing some reading I found out that <a href="http://www.sondoongcave.org/son-doong-cave-overview.html">Sơn Đoòng</a> cave or "Mountain River Cave" in Thailand is large enough to house it's own city, has a forest, and also a river. This all sounded so awesome to me, and shortly after hearing about this some friends and I started discussing all the caving in Southern Nevada. My good friend and climbing partner Andy mentioned that he knew of a cave up at Mt. Potosi just a 30-40 minute drive from the house. Although not the worlds largest, Pinnacle Cave is an adventurous limestone cave with several mind-bogling caverns that we could check out that day. Without much delay, we started driving Southwest of Las Vegas to see what this local cave was all about.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view looking up after dropping into the cave.</td></tr>
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This would be my first time caving, or what's also called "spelunking". The only experience I've had that might resemble plunging into a cave is having done <i>The Maze</i> in Red Rock Canyon. This canyoneering route required some 22 rappels and many miles of hiking as well as swimming through narrow canyons with a pack and gear! The two resemble each other mostly because you use rappelling as a means to get into places that would otherwise be too difficult to travel through. They are also similar because both follow a route that was carved by water over an almost unfathomable amount of time. This type of terrain appeals to me for the adventure and the unique way in which it makes you face the unknown constantly. Generally once you start you can't exactly "give-up" and turn around. It is a process but generally the easiest path is the one you're already on, and it's gonna be an exciting ride. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanessa and the rubber chicken about to take the maiden voyage. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down while rappelling in the dark abyss. </td></tr>
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Our crew for the day was a rowdy bunch. Equipped primary with party shirts, vintage hemp ropes, and a rubber chicken, we forged ahead expecting almost certain death… or at least to loose a limb or two. Alright well maybe not exactly, but we did have some funky shirts and a rubber chicken. It is true that only Andy and I had any extensive climbing/rappelling/ascending experience. Next in line on the expert list was Vanessa, who first exploded onto the adventure scene after she mutlipitch-rappeled Solar Slab Gully by moonlight sometime last year. Then there was Chris, who was likely the most intelligent individual of the group. He was excited to take part despite never having ascended a rope (to get back out) before. His attendance in the cave reassured us that this was <i>indeed</i> a good idea. Last but not least was our new house-mate Kristi, who was about to make her rappelling, ascending, and caving debut. She likely had no idea what she was getting into, but her willingness to embrace the adventure was becoming inspirational. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A no-flash look at the descent.<br />
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Caves are very dark places. Pitch black actually. It is funny how easy it is to forget this. The only bit of light that exists is at the very surface, or mouth, of the cave. After you lose sight of that there is only darkness and silence. Our team brought a good selection of lights including personal head lamps, small lantern style lights, and a large flash for my camera. I made a point throughout the journey to turn off my personal light and take a look around using only the reflected light from other's lights. I thought this helped put everything into perspective and made a larger impact of the remoteness and these spaces. As I was rappelling down, I shot the funky-colored photo above. My camera is set to 6400 ISO and still the image took some post-processing to present itself. What you see above is Andy rappelling down, as the rest of group waits below. I am hanging mid-descent and my shadow was faintly cast on the cave walls by the groups lights below. Although it's a pretty grainy image, I was really excited by the unexpected results. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handed over my camera so I could squeeze through the "Birth Canal".</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kristi preparing for the head-first exit of the "Birth Canal".</td></tr>
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One of the most exciting moments of the cave is encountering the "Birth Canal". This tight constriction seems quite improbable to pass, not to mention you've got to worm through about 10 feet of tightness to get through it. The best, and probably only practical way to travel through is head first. This way you can see where you're going, and hopefully not wedge yourself into the wrong hole. To exit this section you have to semi-invert and walk on your hands for a second to get your feet back to the ground. It was pretty radical. The whole caving experience was enhanced by this tight and somewhat mentally challenging constriction. I can only image being the first one to ever try and fit through! Talk about adventure...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Music Room in all it's greatness. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rowdy bunch of cavers. </td></tr>
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The highlight of the day was hanging out in the "Music Room". This cavern has the most aesthetic stalactites and it truly looks like something from Planet Earth the series. I was super inspired by these formations and was really glad to have lugged my camera along with me. I shot some photos and arranged the lights a few different ways to create some unique effects. In the end I would love to revisit this room with more time and also bring a tripod and some addition lighting. Such a beautiful space really should be documented well, and I feel privileged to know about it and have the ability to record it. Some of the features here are extremely delicate, so anyone entering this space needs to treat it with respect. For those who are looking for an adventure and not afraid to get dirty, Pinnacle Cave has got it all. For those who prefer not to get stuck in pitch black crevasses, I hope the photos help to share the experience. </div>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-85013616267989885372014-03-04T18:45:00.002-08:002014-03-04T18:46:14.356-08:00Red Rocks Maternity Shoot w/ Adrian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0aBSDjBt02HtaBi0ad406591DsPeIH1d0iv1VlO81Q1iwVxfqQVVZtquZQZybpjsXfKNrVPo3oMhKaD_Iu5jc21Zi0L7A37DF33-zyPRAZq-VF-LHwAgTgGiXd1Bqj8GZpcYP19x22j9/s1600/KuehlMaternityShoot3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0aBSDjBt02HtaBi0ad406591DsPeIH1d0iv1VlO81Q1iwVxfqQVVZtquZQZybpjsXfKNrVPo3oMhKaD_Iu5jc21Zi0L7A37DF33-zyPRAZq-VF-LHwAgTgGiXd1Bqj8GZpcYP19x22j9/s1600/KuehlMaternityShoot3.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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I recently had a unique opportunity to shoot a few maternity photos out in the beautiful Red Rock Canyon. Adrian was looking to do something a little different and Red Rocks was the perfect setting for some adventure-inspired maternity images. It was a fun change of pace from the climbing photography/videography I shoot more often. Here are a few photos from our day. </div>
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For rates and information about scheduling a portrait session feel free to <a href="mailto:mattkuehlphoto@gmail.com" target="_blank">email me</a> anytime. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3DX2Fvy2U_ZWZpTPkKvAsUZAYTN5By1mE8ZanKF10XMm0CAwX1RErgtPmZ3YW9qwsb10n7Dn1rIB6KHZxHpAAUog90KLzcmIlUbdP4A4mAYL0qPojOpLS7AP7J1dh_CQlCUaBejtR6pLp/s1600/KuehlMaternityShoot2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3DX2Fvy2U_ZWZpTPkKvAsUZAYTN5By1mE8ZanKF10XMm0CAwX1RErgtPmZ3YW9qwsb10n7Dn1rIB6KHZxHpAAUog90KLzcmIlUbdP4A4mAYL0qPojOpLS7AP7J1dh_CQlCUaBejtR6pLp/s1600/KuehlMaternityShoot2.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvh4tDShL7fJ2gFvHWHWgXvOXq2Tld4kot9PYp82b2bqqpmZGMc42iyt7y4MQY_pH2GhFmOvwr0CJHKWoBOJaBBWpTH0ytSy8df9aueh5R3coFTVM8QlCFghyphenhyphensXhn9Vv6EUFHwBDIyYUFX/s1600/KuehlMaternityShoot1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvh4tDShL7fJ2gFvHWHWgXvOXq2Tld4kot9PYp82b2bqqpmZGMc42iyt7y4MQY_pH2GhFmOvwr0CJHKWoBOJaBBWpTH0ytSy8df9aueh5R3coFTVM8QlCFghyphenhyphensXhn9Vv6EUFHwBDIyYUFX/s1600/KuehlMaternityShoot1.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08E-sNzqOvuMp7osgyLEvori45acEe-I7xfy7sDEzEkUqbGvgx6Qjm40ibK5a4izFFfLXzLvjkTDCFkH3PMQ-vfb__aaz6eD9DNLAPPpeaOahVPrLZNp4K3I5MV92DpWTDT3-CUS5qSDu/s1600/Adrian_2780.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08E-sNzqOvuMp7osgyLEvori45acEe-I7xfy7sDEzEkUqbGvgx6Qjm40ibK5a4izFFfLXzLvjkTDCFkH3PMQ-vfb__aaz6eD9DNLAPPpeaOahVPrLZNp4K3I5MV92DpWTDT3-CUS5qSDu/s1600/Adrian_2780.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-27044500393620998482014-01-19T10:50:00.002-08:002014-01-23T16:24:24.463-08:00New Year Updates: 2014<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger on his journey up Wise Guys Off Size 5.10c, Red Rock, NV.</td></tr>
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Happy New Year! … A little late, but now that I've said that I can move on with slightly more interesting ramblings. The motivation and time to climb or shoot has fluctuated around the holidays as usual. This phenomenon (as it seems) is actually relatively normal for those of us who choose to see our families, eat lots of great food, and have a few glasses of egg nog to unwind. But now with the new year, the motivation is back in full swing and the great American West is looking like a lovely playground once again. This year I plan to expand a little from the regiment of offwidth and aid climbing I have somehow found myself adhering to. Not to say I will leave these fun disciplines behind, but rather I plan to take some time to explore a handful of challenging boulders, climb some finger cracks, and maybe take some massive sport lobbers off something I should probably be able to send by now. Plenty of climbs to work on!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slogging upwards after the crux on Malicious Mischief 5.10c.<br />
Red Rock, NV.</td></tr>
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For the first adventure of the year me and good friend Andy Reger decided to head up the non-classic <i>Malicious Mischief</i> 5.10c. This route receives very little attention; I haven't talked to anyone who's been up it. Its position directly next to the classic <i>Epinephrine</i> 5.9 means that pretty much nobody really considers going up this climb anymore. At first I thought it must be because the crux pitch is described as "scary" and begins in a "10-inch down flaring offwidth", but to me these things seemed relatively intriguing and moderately inviting. Even before entering the crux, some complications were encountered and I soon had a few additional descriptive words to include. We pressed on through the sea of loose rock and on one pitch Andy selectively avoided the remains of an old webbing anchor wrapped around a now completely dead bush and opted for building a belay stance 15' below the crux pitch. I then headed up the crux, which involved an unprotected traverse to gain the offwidth. After a few fist jams I was able to plug a piece and kept climbing. I offwidthed my way through the flaring fun and soon was wedged into the base of long squeeze chimney. 35' feet of unprotected squeezing led to a neat flared tight hand crack corner, where I placed my second and third piece of gear on the pitch. This brought me to a nice ledge which was an easy rest, but the spice was not over. </div>
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This is when it got more interesting, again. The climbing kind of halted, and it appeared that I would need to traverse 10' left to get into another wide crack system, which would continue to the top. I envisioned a traverse route across, and as I started to climbing I ripped off a nice chunk of stone and stepped back down to the ledge. Yikes. Opting out of another unprotected free traverse on questionable rock, I chose to tension-traverse over (with the rope) and swung to the next crack system off to the left. From here you enter another squeeze and offwidth up a ways until the crack becomes a tighter corner. The rock quality is still pretty crunchy and many features are questionable. I will leave it at that, an adventure for sure!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inches from the send on Chinese Handcuffs 5.11d/5.12a.<br />
Red Rock, NV. </td></tr>
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A little burnt-out on some of remaining obscure wide climbs in Red Rock, I decided to venture out into some smaller splitter cracks. The Monument in Black Velvet Canyon features some nice splitters of the finger sized variety and a lot less loose rock to rip off. It felt great to crank on just my fingers and toes after so many days spent jamming my whole leg or arm. I still need to hone in on this smaller size, but overall I felt pretty good when I think about how these climbs felt over a year ago. We'll be heading up soon for more work on these great crack features. I sense sending soon. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snapshot from some preliminary moonrise time-lapse shooting. </td></tr>
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In my spare time I've also be pursuing a variety of video based projects. I have been eager to explore some new shooting and editing techniques, so I found the challenge in time-lapse shooting. I decided to start with shooting various moon-rises over Las Vegas and the desert at large. As many of you know the colors at this time of day/night in the desert are incredible and very conducive for time-lapse work. I have found time-lapse photography to be conceptually easy but more difficult to execute. Lots of editing steps and lots of images to string together. The procress has been exciting and things are coming together well. Check back soon for some examples of this work. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Experimenting with some angles for a video project on cycling. </td></tr>
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Being a regular bike commuter I have also been pretty interested in creating a cycling short video. The concept remains mostly in my head, but the basic idea is to shoot a short ride using one camera placed in as many possible angles as I can think of. Using a GoPro, this idea might seem trite before I even begin the project. But using some artistic judgement I think this project could take on a life of it's own, and avoid being the helmet-cam catastrophe I see all too often. Although it might be a little time consuming. I am currently in the preliminary stages of the project and have been working on bringing the ideas from my head into actuality. A new and exciting process that I'm looking forward to figuring out. Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone is having a fun a productive 2014. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flying above the snowy mid-west.</td></tr>
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<br />Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-1055424423888140972013-12-09T09:31:00.000-08:002014-02-22T19:13:21.631-08:00Action In Solitude: Red Rock Profile<div style="text-align: center;">
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Thanks to Kevin and Ian with <a href="http://www.actioninsolitude.com/" target="_blank">Action In Solitude</a> for working on this great video short.</div>
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Featured Routes: </div>
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<i>Offwidth AKA Desert-erata</i> V2 - In Calico Basin beneath Alternative Crag.</div>
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<i>Plumbers Crack</i> <i>(South side)</i> 5.10 - In the Kraft boulder field in Calico Basin.</div>
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<i>Trophy Crack </i>V2<i> - </i>In Sandstone Quarry just East of the Trophy Wall.</div>
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<i>Chrysler Crack</i> 5.9 - In Sandstone Quarry at the top of the Sandy Corridor.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also featured by Climbing Magazine <a href="http://www.climbing.com/video/matt-kuehl-climbing-offwidths-in-red-rock-nevada/" target="_blank">here</a>.</td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-80161620896978800462013-10-27T15:40:00.004-07:002014-06-28T12:29:16.038-07:00Zion: Desert Shield, Space Shot, and Prodigal Sun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Hansen works his way onto the steep headwall of Desert Shield V 5.11 C3</td></tr>
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A few months Andy and I hatched a plan to climb a wall route in Zion, something I've been eagerly waiting to do all summer. The steep clean cut walls of Zion are always amazing, and there are so many great looking walls to choose from. I suggested that we get up on Desert Shield, a mixed aid and free climb that goes up onto and impressive steep headwall that looks practically blank. It had some 5.11 free climbing down low to psyche Andy up, and two moderately hard C3 aid pitches to satisfy my cravings for big exposure with exciting gear placements up high. The icing on the cake was also the sweet bivy ledge mid-route that allowed us a place to hang out and sleep at the end of the day to rest up and do the upper portion the next day. After all the route is Grade 5(V) and to us that meant it would be more reasonably done in two days.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy and I about to head up Pitch 2 of Desert Shield. </td></tr>
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But not so fast! It's not gonna be that easy... Just weeks before we were set to head up the Shield the government shut down and closed all of the National Parks. Who would have thought! Needless to say there was a lot of disappoint all around. My local crag of Red Rocks was minimally affected by the shutdown, it just made everything more of a walk and more of a pain in the ass. But who wants a police helicopter buzzing around them while they are climbing? Still doable I guess. Zion was a different story, there would be no access permitted to the main canyon and thus putting Desert Shield out of the picture and even out of sight. Bad news for us. So we let the time pass hoping the government might open the doors before our mission was to get started. Weeks passed and our departure date was soon approaching. Out of necessity we formed another plan. I guess the Rainbow Wall is pretty cool, but nothing that similar to the route we were gunnin' for. Seemed like fun still though but it was no Shield. After giving up hope a day before our departure day, Utah Governor Gary Herbet made a deal with the National Park Service to reopen Zion and several other of Utah's parks. Amazing! The psyche was way high again! That night we gathered all our gear and started packing up to head out to Zion the next day. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snapshot of The Desert Shield Headwall in the fleeting sun. <br />
Taken from the descent of Space Shot. </td></tr>
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Our strategy for the climb was to do it over two days, hauling gear, water, and food to the bivy on top of pitch 3. From here we would leave the haul bag behind and continue up the next two pitches. Our high point on day one would be the top of pitch 5 just below the first headwall pitches. We then were going to fix a rope there and rappel back down to the "Jungle Bivy" for the night. Of course, things just couldn't be that easy for us. After getting to the bivy ledge like planned and just before we we were going to head up pitch 4, it started raining. There we were, starring up at the headwall with all our gear in tow, and the weather takes a leak on us when it was forecasted clear. There was really no choice what to do, and we had to head back down in the rain. We got good and wet, but by the time we were back down the rain had more or less stopped. We made the best of it by hanging by the river for while, forming yet again a new plan. Spirits were low, but I was also encouraged by the ordeal. At least our plan was going well before the bad weather, and hauling wasn't actually that bad, dare I say fun? That night we made a fire and dried out our stuff. Still no back up plan. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leading up Pitch 7 C3/C2+ on the headwall of Desert Shield.</td></tr>
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The next morning I woke up and knew there was no way I could go home after climbing only 3 pitches of Desert Shield. We had to go back up. The next day we waited as long as we could, and headed up the lower pitches late in the day. It seems our plan was back on! Psyche was high as we enjoyed our time on the Jungle Bivy and watched the sun set across Zion. As we settle down for the evening I was especially "in my head" thinking about the upper pitches. How hard is this C3 gonna feel? Am I gonna be scared out of my mind? Am I gonna pee myself shaking in the aiders and have to ask Andy to come rescue me? What if I drop my harness? Is that even possible? Some of these concerns were reasonable, while others a product of excitement and anticipation. The thoughts filled my head and I couldn't really sleep, not to mention its wasn't really even that late and I was laying in the dirt. Then later, as I was laying down in my sleeping bag trying to sleep, it seemed as if somebody had turned on a light. It wasn't Andy's headlamp, but rather the almost full moon rising and coming right across the top of Desert Shield. An amazing sight that I will never forget. Then as I was laying there day dreaming a lizard scuttled across my sleeping bag and went right past my face. I was startled back into reality by the little creature and I laughed to myself. A friendly reminder that this would be a great adventure. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0RtnxaiuYEqdh1g5WPeLaRAoJZ6_HnP0R8jmQMrQoQ2FRVb1IWKwp9TuaPV3lc0yYh629XGjM58XF-_lNhznS7fUnAdNb2cGpAZnGDnmlvFBhQAapf3eoK37tUEitzU2Y03dVBrNoPW_/s1600/JungleBivy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD0RtnxaiuYEqdh1g5WPeLaRAoJZ6_HnP0R8jmQMrQoQ2FRVb1IWKwp9TuaPV3lc0yYh629XGjM58XF-_lNhznS7fUnAdNb2cGpAZnGDnmlvFBhQAapf3eoK37tUEitzU2Y03dVBrNoPW_/s400/JungleBivy1.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No trip report complete without a photo of the "Jungle Bivy" on top of Pitch 3. </td></tr>
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After finally getting some sleep, the morning came. We got up before the sun was up and it was hard not to feel a little tired and cold. I think we finally got climbing at 7am. This was a little later than expected but still would maybe just give us enough time. Because of our one day delay, I now would have to drive straight back to Vegas to be at work by 4pm after climbing the headwall. Not ideal. There was a bit of a time crunch but we went for it. Andy lead the very exposed and exciting bolt ladder/hook pitch and brought us up to the thin crack section that goes up almost the entire headwall. I jugged the line up to him and couldn't have been more exited to finally get my chance to head up! I racked up as many sets of small offset brass nuts as possible, I think we had 4-5 sets all together and a couple sets of tiny cams and a grip of screamers. My adventure was on! I started up the C3 and C2+ pitch, carefully but confidently placing small wire after wire. There were a few tricky placements, but generally speaking I felt the placements were straight forward, although many consecutive tiny placements. Would they all hold a fall? Probably most would… but I didn't have to test it. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGI4wp2sYrYfxJiD5qAH6tJcYr-1tbBzPmbYD83tYmpe8yt3ZEkYwRbkwPlTwuCJgSqfO09O4o0w6M4ue8znDwq3AhCTB4Wta2jvCkZUX-IgulRme6Zbmd2o08qz7j1QIWfbXEoBayymlG/s1600/IMG_0924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGI4wp2sYrYfxJiD5qAH6tJcYr-1tbBzPmbYD83tYmpe8yt3ZEkYwRbkwPlTwuCJgSqfO09O4o0w6M4ue8znDwq3AhCTB4Wta2jvCkZUX-IgulRme6Zbmd2o08qz7j1QIWfbXEoBayymlG/s400/IMG_0924.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy cleaning Pitch 7. Excellent thin clean aid climbing.<br />
Instagram @instantmattkuehl</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: start;">I let out a nice loud hoot at the anchors and celebrated a successful pitch up the wall. Andy started jugging and I starred upwards at the next C3 pitch. It looked classic as hell! I wanted to go up it without a doubt. When Andy came up to the anchor we were both super psyched, but our "turn around" time was approaching quickly. We estimated it would take at least an hour to lead and clean the next pitch, and another 2 hours to get down and back to the car. We simply didn't have the luxury of time. I probably should have skipped out of work, but I made the less popular decision of making it to work on time. I drove straight to work and made it there with just enough time to wash my hands before punching in right on time. I was a little disappointed, but I was also very encouraged and excited by what we had done so far. Everything in our control went pretty smoothly, and being high up on the headwall revitalized my soul. Ultimately I was still pretty excited and I knew it was the first of many wall routes I would have the experience of climbing. Now I just have to head back for the other C3 pitch soon! To the summit! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCy1bvdnFGJYgfx95ebzOI1X-LkgvV0Pp7_p0H1DqbP8jSVINi-9Iw5egCvcel2drLdjhyMCwBtkTTqlGBYBX-o6SaUdQb0lVfq7YBY5-1hLlldCju2McqcXL54wNlsZlIKv_lQ2auClD/s1600/AndyPitch5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCy1bvdnFGJYgfx95ebzOI1X-LkgvV0Pp7_p0H1DqbP8jSVINi-9Iw5egCvcel2drLdjhyMCwBtkTTqlGBYBX-o6SaUdQb0lVfq7YBY5-1hLlldCju2McqcXL54wNlsZlIKv_lQ2auClD/s640/AndyPitch5.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger aiding up Pitch 5 on Space Shot IV 5.9 C2</td></tr>
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After a few days to reminisce about our incomplete ascent/attempt on Desert Shield, I contemplated what we could have done to make the ascent more successful. Ultimately it came down to one element: Speed. We had the skills, we had the gear, but we didn't have the time. You can never predict the weather, but you can control your climbing pace and strategy. So I hatched a plan with another climbing partner of mine Andy Reger, and we set our sights on two walls in two days. The routes would be Space Shot and Prodigal Sun back to back. This wasn't by any means a huge "link up" or speed mission. But it was a challenge just difficult enough to make us work hard while also having a good chance of success. Not to mention this would be Andy's first wall's in Zion, and only my second true wall with aid climbing. My focus and our strategy was to do these routes efficiently and "hassle free" with no hauling, no going back to the base, and no bivying mid route. Simple.</div>
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We got up early, before the sun was out and headed right into Zion in anticipation of catching the very first tram into the park. We quickly ate some cold breakfast in the parking lot and kept our energy moving forward to the next step. We racked up and walked to the tram stop. Going lighter meant we only had one small backpack, which could pretty much only hold water, some food, and two jackets. We wore all the gear and both ropes on ourselves and clinked and clanked our way into our seats. Lots of looks of course. I talked to the driver and they had no problem dropping us off right at the base of the climb, how rad is that! I later found out the rock climbers are the only people that the tram drivers are allowed to drop off or pick up outside of the regular stops. Which explains why we never had any trouble snagging a ride or getting dropped off. Thanks Zion! So we did the short approach hike and got to the base with plenty of time for our mission and we started climbing as soon as possible. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDrfnLAfldiKQrmtfiJb8vcnTRrGtz-k4-sG96Ppa5j5ecX4_fMajYD1VWzk5Ury2ZRH0j2tOqhP3pOf669YBvB9wyeWjThVLYVvR7TTt-S1L1cIrCerm5SWeje8mIVkvH5cMYUTsqOOE/s1600/SpaceShotP8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDrfnLAfldiKQrmtfiJb8vcnTRrGtz-k4-sG96Ppa5j5ecX4_fMajYD1VWzk5Ury2ZRH0j2tOqhP3pOf669YBvB9wyeWjThVLYVvR7TTt-S1L1cIrCerm5SWeje8mIVkvH5cMYUTsqOOE/s640/SpaceShotP8.jpg" height="640" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger about to get his "Space Shot" on the exposed hook move on Pitch 8.</td></tr>
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We simul-climbed the first 3 pitches, which go from 5.5 scramble to 5.7 offwidth, pretty manageable. That brought us to the base of the 4th pitch very quickly, and from here the aid climbing would begin as we worked our way up the headwall's right-leaning crack. Andy started us off and got into his aid-climbing groove, which sometimes can take a few placements (or routes) to get dialed in on. He took his time, but moved efficiently. After all, we were both trying not to waste time and energy. We swapped pitches, leading alternating sections and getting higher and higher with every move. We took time to monkey call over at our friends David and Carmen who were across the canyon from us climbing the ultra-classic Moonlight Buttress. It was a damn good time on the wall! The aiding on this climb was considerable easier than on Desert Shield, but the challenge was really efficiency after all. There were a few tricky placements though, and two consecutive pieces were especially hard to place. A few preliminary pieces ripped out while I was bounce testing then, eventually I found just the right trick piece for the spot. Andy also had his fair share of exciting moves, including THE move in which I believe the route gets it's name. THE move is (very) exposed hook move between piton and bolt, its a straight drop back down to the base and when looking down your body gets that adrenalin "Space Shot" direct into the veins. In the end we climbed the route in 8 hours and 20 min. About 6.5 hours short of the speed record, but still not too bad! Great climb.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZijLQUsYhwuVEIxdCusfGb9xgZZDVll1wYaAwNjPwT3DeMu7rSKCplcWIw4Q3TDNIyL7qci62sxZwaM6ypRu1y1ZISWu0ro6whMgv_cNej__jOcRrR_dyLp3yEAzFnCtHiz9XYoM_mMJ/s1600/EarthOrbitLedgeZion2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZijLQUsYhwuVEIxdCusfGb9xgZZDVll1wYaAwNjPwT3DeMu7rSKCplcWIw4Q3TDNIyL7qci62sxZwaM6ypRu1y1ZISWu0ro6whMgv_cNej__jOcRrR_dyLp3yEAzFnCtHiz9XYoM_mMJ/s640/EarthOrbitLedgeZion2.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self Portrait from the Earth Orbit Ledge atop Pitch 7 on Space Shot.</td></tr>
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The second half of our mission was to climb Prodigal Sun the next day. This route has caught my eye since I first visited Zion, and ascends the steep wall below Angles Landing, a very popular and adventurous hike in the park. The route is more sustained, and has only one pitch of free climbing and all the rest C1 or C2 aid. This meant that there would be no free pitches we could easily cruise through, essential meaning more aid = more work. I was psyched on the challenge though, and I was ready to get my aid game more speedy. Andy was also pumped, and it seemed that despite the previous days effort, we were still (if not more) energetic on route. I don't think we had a choice to be tired after having to take off our shoes and role up our pants to cross the Virgin River to get the base of the route. Another element of adventure I suppose!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTVEsa1Fgtg5bZemjr9EeEqYv9pkMXljYNr43Xyr9pbe9HwuKOEcAUtpLGNd2yQoIU2T_4bQ-leVQcCOOQg05QyvIbiswFYoUjarX88ZXPLSdZyG0qPdcwq7DvBaafqup5QzEgiw73O0x/s1600/ProdigalSunOverview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTVEsa1Fgtg5bZemjr9EeEqYv9pkMXljYNr43Xyr9pbe9HwuKOEcAUtpLGNd2yQoIU2T_4bQ-leVQcCOOQg05QyvIbiswFYoUjarX88ZXPLSdZyG0qPdcwq7DvBaafqup5QzEgiw73O0x/s640/ProdigalSunOverview.jpg" height="640" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overview of Prodigal Sun V 5.7 C2 on Angels Landing Wall</td></tr>
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I thought this route was a ton of fun, and getting to work your way up this massive wall is pretty unique. Both Andy and I were feeling more confident after our success the day before, so we had a lot of fun up there. I linked the first two pitches to get us started and cranked through the easy bolt ladder as fast I could and begun the long string of placements to get me to the second set of anchors. Andy quickly jugged up the line and was ready to lead the next pitch. My rope management could have been better here, but every transition after that was more smooth for the both of us. Just gotta find that groove! We alternated pitches from here to the top and each had some exciting hook moves and tricky C2. Andy also got to experience his first tension traverse on lead (sorry Andy I probably should have given you the heads up on that) and he also got to do a big lower-out when cleaning the last aid pitch. For me the most exciting moves were the hooks and also doing some big top steps between offset nuts. For the first half of the route we were both in concentration mode, but after gaining a great and exposed ledge mid-route and putting on some Talking Heads, we really started to get a little wild up there! Hooting and hollering at each other, often like monkeys, singing along to the music loudly and declaring to the world "How did I get here!?" It was a blast, and for about 5-10 minutes we had attracted a small crowd of onlookers both from the tram stop below and from the people hiking Angels Landing above. After a little bit of ridiculousness we went back into climb mode and continued the push upwards. Our energy was really high and I think we both probably wanted to lead every pitch. We topped out the climb before it was dark out and clocked a time of 10 hours and 40 minutes on route. Sweet! <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1jCVczj1Nk8ouf5MxAke0NRXA63tgMGf48hwADqM7I4nUXRFYRuiOmTsuoq6uuUWjvea-bypUPs43-XtUVjeb5HZl5igFSTF7E-3A9UZEhGsJ2_L_83Sxa4WL8-3U3koQHpXMG4mUJQ2y/s1600/GetDownProdigalSun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1jCVczj1Nk8ouf5MxAke0NRXA63tgMGf48hwADqM7I4nUXRFYRuiOmTsuoq6uuUWjvea-bypUPs43-XtUVjeb5HZl5igFSTF7E-3A9UZEhGsJ2_L_83Sxa4WL8-3U3koQHpXMG4mUJQ2y/s640/GetDownProdigalSun.jpg" height="640" width="479" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Andy Reger getting down to the Talking Heads before he starts up Pitch 6 of Prodigal Sun.<br />
"How did I get here!?"</td></tr>
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What a great experience it all was for me. Zion is truly a special area for climbing and I can't say enough about the quality of the routes I have done so far. Its a great place to learn the methods and also a great place to be challenged and also get tons of sand all over your face. I should be heading back to Zion again in a week or two for another two wall weekend with Andy. At the moment I am thinking Touchstone Wall V 5.8 C2 and Disco Inferno V 5.8 C2+ back to back. Slightly harder but still very reasonable. After that I think I will start to hone in on some more difficult routes to spend a little more time on, not to mention finish Desert Shield. A few harder routes that I'm day dreaming about are the Lowe Route V 5.9 C3 on Angles Landing, The Fang Spire IV/V 5.9 C3 and Swoop Gimp Or Be Dust V 5.9 C3. Not to mention hitting up some mostly free routes like Moonlight Buttress V 5.12d C1 and Tricks of the Trade V 5.10 C2. So much to look forward to! If you've made it this far into the post you must really be psyched too! Want to climb? Thanks for reading...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeGHLbhCNOGuSP3iKzxC5TguiKUmKoXhgx-VGbM3V8d-rANa-S7Rj5Zvn2ftsv_opQTLoWTsA1w-NC9B82dZY4LiFLrTdl-obBYeD8Evx6G66yRXZcCZX_n5yZBzzt6xdRXaU-i7FcBBG/s1600/crushedhex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeGHLbhCNOGuSP3iKzxC5TguiKUmKoXhgx-VGbM3V8d-rANa-S7Rj5Zvn2ftsv_opQTLoWTsA1w-NC9B82dZY4LiFLrTdl-obBYeD8Evx6G66yRXZcCZX_n5yZBzzt6xdRXaU-i7FcBBG/s400/crushedhex.jpg" height="400" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Found this smashed in hex on route! Damn that's crazy! <br />
Sick whipper perhaps? </td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-1599062943021937052013-09-10T09:05:00.000-07:002013-09-10T11:11:15.699-07:00Vedauwoo: Still Damn Offwidth!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbhPI-Nylg_IEA5sk4MAW-N2XW-dUOQBi0V5JgHDoaq2yUVymTitzsnA7-1J2j2bIusYDv2wpazIV_9wmd1DAsElyCIiLOYRTv6N4fR8axVdGtOEL0sINwQgMn5G8966b-VR7Pf8yvp6F/s1600/ScrambleViewFull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbhPI-Nylg_IEA5sk4MAW-N2XW-dUOQBi0V5JgHDoaq2yUVymTitzsnA7-1J2j2bIusYDv2wpazIV_9wmd1DAsElyCIiLOYRTv6N4fR8axVdGtOEL0sINwQgMn5G8966b-VR7Pf8yvp6F/s640/ScrambleViewFull.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying the serenity of Vedauwoo on the scramble up to the "Eight Ball" formation.<br />
Photo: Jason Molina</td></tr>
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Summertime living in Las Vegas is not necessarily a climber's dream. Consistent 100+ degree temperatures and a scorching sun beating down on your back aren't exactly inviting conditions. The beautiful Aztec sandstone of Red Rock Canyon is pretty much all out of the picture, unless you're climbing at night during a full moon. Luckily, some other options do exist. Probably the best local alternative is to take a 45 minute drive Northwest up to Mt. Charleston for what some consider to be a limestone paradise. Here you'll find impressive caves, beautiful surroundings and perma-drawed sport test pieces waiting to pump you out of your gourd. For me, the journey to find great summertime climbing would take me a bit further away. Determined to crush myself on some hard offwidths, I knew exactly where to go. So (once again) I packed up the van with oodles of wide gear, a dozen roles of tape, and some disposable clothing and bee-lined it to Vedauwoo, Wyoming. Offwidth paradise!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason Molina gettin' squeezed out on the burly start to Christie's Ultimatum 5.12a</td></tr>
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The usual suspects were involved of course. Jason Molina was van co-pilot and in it for the long haul with me. Pamela Pack and Jay Anderson were also our "partners in wide" and deemed the resident offwidth experts. Jim, Danny, Greg, and Scott also joined our motley crew to crush and be crushed by anything wider than your fist. Once assembled beers were cracked, hands were taped, and bodies were unnecessarily inverted. We started climbing some of the classics at The Nautilus, one of Vedauwoo's most easily accessed and popular climbing areas. The highlights from the day were getting on <i>Right Parallel Space</i> 5.9 and the <i>Left Torpedo Tube</i> 5.10a (more like 5.10+). Both of these climbs are really impressive and aesthetic lines. Don't let the grade fool you, you're gonna sweat and have to implement some try-hard on these classics.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Packing up after climbing Mainstreet 5.10a the crack on the right. Classic</td></tr>
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Another classic of a moderate grade is <i>Mainstreet</i> 5.10a. At 120' this is by far one of the longest and most sustained offwidths that I've been on in Vedauwoo. The crack does not really change much in width, and its almost entirely #6 Camalot size for its entire duration. The crux is negotiating a steep bulge in the first 25 feet, then the rest is enduro arm bars and heel-toes with a lot of foot pain. I learned a lot on this pitch and on <i>Left Torpedo Tube</i> the day before. The offwidth technique required in Vedauwoo is much different than in the sandstone wide cracks I am more familiar with. In Vedauwoo, the cracks tend to open up (flare) on the outside, so jams are typically deep inside the crack or not possible at all. On a sandstone offwidth, it is typically more "splitter" and the walls of the crack will be very parallel, making the climbing technique a little more obvious and less tricky (in general). Another main difference in climbing offwidths on the Vedauwoo Sherman Granite is the large quarts crystals that can be used for foot holds outside the crack. Using some outside features on the granite is often the difference between 5.10a and 5.11b, so going "straight in" isn't always going to serve you well. In example, on <i>Mainstreet</i> I climbed it the burly way, utilizing fist stacking throughout the entire crux section. Jay was watching me and said that it was a pretty cool way to do it, which made be psyched. But when I asked him how he climbed it, he said that he faces the other way and utilizes face features and arm barring to pull the crux. Considerably different. In conclusion, I climbed it like a 5.11- sandstone offwidth and Jay climbed it like a 5.10a Vedauwoo offwidth... Ultimately his experience on the unique stone reigned superior, and my creativity and persistence came in as perhaps the second best option.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing The Spins 5.11b as Jay Anderson comes up the unknown chimney.<br />
Photo: Jason Molina</td></tr>
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Later on we explored an area I've never been before to get on <i>Someday Kid's This Will All Be Yours</i> 5.10 and <i>The Spins</i> 5.11b. <i>"Someday Kids"</i> is a pretty unassuming wide crack tucked away in corridor between some boulders. It is a corner crack that gradually widens as you get higher and higher. To me it was very reminiscent of <i>Chrysler Crack</i> in Red Rocks, although shorter, slightly more flared and little more difficult because of the slick granite. This route was a great warm-up and also a great opportunity to not-thrash and focus on efficient movement. If I were to do this climb again I would forgo bringing large cams, instead placing mostly Big Bro's for protection. The reason for this is because once I got back to the ground I realized most of my energy from the climb was wasted pushing large cams up with me, despite the climbing being pretty straight forward. The "Bro and Go" method has become a much more appealing way to protect these moderate offwidths and I really like the "giv-er-hell" mentality that comes from placing a long string of Big Bros.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhOxWtPR7Ia2WGxYBd__Nz9fCgVygd1plh2gAcp2Z9bBg0pywlNs7hVimSHXBD72PoxZ4CEr0GSfT-isz0XqKWiKBFO-VYeP5Yegb_jM3XfBVjY5iNjQNC0kNd7eBQ9r5c44ssKW1eIYO/s1600/GregBurningMan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhOxWtPR7Ia2WGxYBd__Nz9fCgVygd1plh2gAcp2Z9bBg0pywlNs7hVimSHXBD72PoxZ4CEr0GSfT-isz0XqKWiKBFO-VYeP5Yegb_jM3XfBVjY5iNjQNC0kNd7eBQ9r5c44ssKW1eIYO/s640/GregBurningMan.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg Cameron on Burning Man 5.11</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jim on Burning Man.</td></tr>
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The crew also jumped on the excellent (but deceptive) <i>Burning Man</i> 5.11. Despite looking more friendly than fierce, this climb is like a human jig-saw puzzle with no correct solution. Everyone who attempted this climb had their own bag of tricks, different methods, and a different vision of how this could go down. Collectively we tried right-side in, left-side in, kick through, face holds, head jamming, and even desperate sidewinding, but nothing seemed to do the trick. In the end Pamela was the only one able to send this 5.11 today, but a lot of us were damn close! Either way it was great watching everyone work this route and I look forward to getting on it again when it isn't on my "rest day".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2uDDOIly-G3QgOyV0EyBCsv978mg4pY-82cNjx_yihuiJpCSnND7RnFVKcsUYgkOMMX0NlzXJ0z30QRMhDCxnHmlua2bEDfYiL3L0MM4oXQ7ACP8iGiMxLoJLQu1QsheDVDrmZeQn3F5/s1600/DannyBobsTR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2uDDOIly-G3QgOyV0EyBCsv978mg4pY-82cNjx_yihuiJpCSnND7RnFVKcsUYgkOMMX0NlzXJ0z30QRMhDCxnHmlua2bEDfYiL3L0MM4oXQ7ACP8iGiMxLoJLQu1QsheDVDrmZeQn3F5/s640/DannyBobsTR.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Parker inverts Bob's mysterious top-rope test-peice. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jay gives the invert method a shot. Pretty entertaining! </td></tr>
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One of my favorite moments from the trip was when Jason and I went and climbed <i>The Gates of Ladore</i> 5.11c. This line always stood out to me as an impressive, inspiring, very clean line. This route splits a huge boulder and is about 60 feet tall and features a squeeze start that gradually tightens down to fists. Although the climb itself was excellent, the excitement really came from an impending storm that loomed overhead and threatened to strike us down. Getting a late start to our day, we got to the crag with the storm already lookiong a little to close for comfort. We were also surprised the van could make it down the "4x4" road but we were psyched it drove us within a stone's throw of the climbing. As time quickly passed, the storm gradually got closer and closer, lightning and thunder booms were beginning to crash quite near us. We took a quick moment to drive the van out of the steep terrain before the rain hit. I ran back to the crag and in a moment of eagerness quickly told Jason I was still gonna go for it. I taped up my inside (right) hand and figured that should be good enough. It was time to get climbing! I started up the crack and made as quick progress as I could up the squeeze. There was a good 15'-20' of climbing before I could get my first piece of gear, a blue Big Bro. Above this gear the climbing became more difficult, requiring some real solid technique to the next gear placement. From here I placed a #6 Camalot and kept moving.... fast! I plugged and chugged as fast I could and tried to avoid rushing and thrashing. Soon enough, I was at the anchor bolts and gave a nice solid "Waaahooo!" to celebrate. The storm, now in the close distance, was starting to unleash the rain. I cleaned the anchor and rappelled back down to the ground as the rain increased. Before we knew it, Jason and I were running back to the van (I was still racked up!) in a full-on downpour dash to the finish line. We fumbled with the keys trying to get into the van but eventually open the sliding down and jumped in! A little bit wet in the end, but a damn good time. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scott on his first Vedauwoo offwidth Penetration 5.9+</td></tr>
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So many good stories, photos, and beta to share still, but some must remain to be told over beers and a crackling campfire. After all, that's were they are most appreciated right? Thanks to the crew from making it another successful trip to Vedauwoo, I'm looking forward to more soul crushing next summer! Never been to Vedauwoo? Take a look at some of these climbs for your first visit too...</div>
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<i>Mother #1</i> 5.7, <i>Straight and Narrow 5.8+</i>, <i>The Convict</i> 5.9, <i>Spectraman</i> 5.11c, and <i>The Shocker</i> 5.11d</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me climbing Spectraman 5.11c. Another classic!<br />
Photo: Scott</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another beautiful night of free camping in Vedauwoo. Living the dream. </td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-51808395119333336002013-08-14T18:24:00.003-07:002013-08-14T21:14:25.923-07:00Don't Just Wing It: Climbing Magazine<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzWB_RsTU349h_QU0YNk_D01szuCr2jXl_IrMG4_XamTwABpPRzOwSX1EIvKAivHY4LkHYChFhKp29bmJaNi0dK672UkIcdLZg0qkmCNFl57b83XJHFriAQzzQAv1EA-ePNlKWEmRBVzd/s1600/1044702_537298832746_266462579_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzWB_RsTU349h_QU0YNk_D01szuCr2jXl_IrMG4_XamTwABpPRzOwSX1EIvKAivHY4LkHYChFhKp29bmJaNi0dK672UkIcdLZg0qkmCNFl57b83XJHFriAQzzQAv1EA-ePNlKWEmRBVzd/s400/1044702_537298832746_266462579_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The article featured in Climbing #317 (August 2013)</td></tr>
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I am glad to announce that an article I wrote on offwidth climbing technique was featured in Climbing Magazine #317. The article covers some essential techniques such as Heel-Toe cam, Chicken Wing, Arm Bar, and several different Hand-Stack variations. I am grateful to contribute something to the climbing community and hope those who is interested to offwidthing will learn a few things from the article. I also shot the technique photos for the article, and have written a little about that process in my last post. Now go climb a wide crack and enjoy!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcISmYItD5KtRkJPM031apqt2HmyYCeuFUgNZqzwR674U_P8guazkdZxHG3PUpou4WBEiWrDGI_ZH7vFSWZq5dEReN7ImCrU98hwvUrFLwtBcm-lAfCMhTwpb4HKTu33FlG_ifS9it2kc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-08-14+at+6.13.19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcISmYItD5KtRkJPM031apqt2HmyYCeuFUgNZqzwR674U_P8guazkdZxHG3PUpou4WBEiWrDGI_ZH7vFSWZq5dEReN7ImCrU98hwvUrFLwtBcm-lAfCMhTwpb4HKTu33FlG_ifS9it2kc/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-08-14+at+6.13.19+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The article can also be viewed online <a href="http://www.climbing.com/skill/dont-just-wing-it/" target="_blank">here</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGKNYY2GAws0Ew4wIu0xcOLlkMD0MLmURHv9luV8JYppQK5pCkSaDEnKeZUTMCfA2n3gcMaotjREvENjYZkvKEtUestWpO5MokFb3c7gSFdwi-Q32hOI75ff6oUrAlbGsF5nVdAXSza9L/s1600/MPArticle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGKNYY2GAws0Ew4wIu0xcOLlkMD0MLmURHv9luV8JYppQK5pCkSaDEnKeZUTMCfA2n3gcMaotjREvENjYZkvKEtUestWpO5MokFb3c7gSFdwi-Q32hOI75ff6oUrAlbGsF5nVdAXSza9L/s400/MPArticle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also featured on the <a href="http://www.mountainproject.com/" target="_blank">Mountain Project</a> homepage (mobile version shown).</td></tr>
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<br />Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-50093952779443767852013-05-24T13:54:00.000-07:002013-06-15T18:41:23.237-07:00Photo Happenings<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0N4fD0MnCIvJJxKHfDMVrY6PMGE91E_O0peTJlViqwLoF3uIEtYtaposN54abfiZZrM5V-WCD6_exhDzaWUHO8M-J2fbwQGq9054LIVZfNSsi591kG2kIc7U2IukSJPULwB3dHwEV2I9s/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-24+at+10.03.21+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0N4fD0MnCIvJJxKHfDMVrY6PMGE91E_O0peTJlViqwLoF3uIEtYtaposN54abfiZZrM5V-WCD6_exhDzaWUHO8M-J2fbwQGq9054LIVZfNSsi591kG2kIc7U2IukSJPULwB3dHwEV2I9s/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-05-24+at+10.03.21+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serious camera rigging in the name of offwidth climbing photography. </td></tr>
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Here are a few photos I've shot recently that I'm pretty excited about. At time's it can be hard to convince myself to lug around the big SLR and I occasionally settle for snapshots on the mobile device, especially on long all day routes. Sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you, but that's no excuse not to get quality images when you have the time. There is nothing quite as rewarding as the process of getting a high quality, thought provoking, well composed climbing photograph. It's an adventure in itself just trying to get into position and anticipate the best shot. These two photos from Zion were actually from our "rest day" from doing longer climbs, but I managed to convince the boys to get on the Intruder 5.11+ with no warm up. They did pretty damn well! My part was easy, I just aid climbed it in 5 minutes and made sure to bring a beer to drink at the top. The three of us seemed to gather some attention from the passing by tourists and some bikers stopped to take photos of us climbing and shooting photos. Rock climbers might be one of Zion's main attractions... they should let us in for free... and feed us! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5UYtnxSBAOhZKlvBxNDa-wemiz4mmdz8R7QDJqK6M0ozQBkEtanrut0XB5weoo4tDEqgoEqiLkh_7cNLPeJH00_0uwlpDaqQ6Z1Gm4q5vCg-46An4vBLPpN_3QFZbBUGLZtFsL-FnAqo/s1600/Kuehl_Intruder3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5UYtnxSBAOhZKlvBxNDa-wemiz4mmdz8R7QDJqK6M0ozQBkEtanrut0XB5weoo4tDEqgoEqiLkh_7cNLPeJH00_0uwlpDaqQ6Z1Gm4q5vCg-46An4vBLPpN_3QFZbBUGLZtFsL-FnAqo/s640/Kuehl_Intruder3.jpg" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Hansen on Intruder 5.11+ in Zion, Utah.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan Strong on Intruder 5.11+ in Zion, Utah.</td></tr>
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I also have just recently started to experiment with a photo idea I've had some time. Often I encounter problems with a lack of people to shoot, not enough belayers, or a hard to get angle where a person doesn't really fit (i.e. deep inside a crack). My solution to the problem was clear, I needed to experiment with camera rigging with an automated shutter release. The concept is easy to understand, but the execution is the real test. So recently when stuck with no available climbing partners and a photo deadline to meet, I went to see what I could do. Rigging the camera up inside a crack was my first objective, and it was a precarious and delicate process consisting of much jingus-ness and improvising... my strong point! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self portrait solo on Chrysler Crack 5.9 in Red Rocks.</td></tr>
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My second objective was to do a more full-scale shot of a climb from a distance with the camera set to shoot in increments of 10 or so seconds. Keeping with my wide-crack ways I decided Chrysler Crack would be a fitting climb. I have climbed this crack many times and it's difficulty lessens significantly with every passing arm bar. A while back, this was my first true offwidth I attempted. On that try I couldn't even figure out what to do! The second time (after climbing many other harder offwidths) I did it without any trouble and only placed three Big Bro's for protection in the whole 90' feet. The third time I did it in 2 minutes and 30 seconds and set the new "world's most pointless" speed record. And the fourth time I did it sans-rope. Clearly, once your figure this thing out it becomes pretty mellow. Whatever way you climb this thing it is a classic! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkcgYEtdIu1sR9PkBPckkUOFa05Smrh_wmuz53wZR1rB8CHZ_6XOfJxIM3-qxR9N7BMDtN8rkDaf4S1QGARxle43cN1YVQ_crZVZitGbPvZ3xIrEoSR9_hu0Q_Y28p0xxTo_Kuq-bgXkFX/s1600/JasonStacks1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkcgYEtdIu1sR9PkBPckkUOFa05Smrh_wmuz53wZR1rB8CHZ_6XOfJxIM3-qxR9N7BMDtN8rkDaf4S1QGARxle43cN1YVQ_crZVZitGbPvZ3xIrEoSR9_hu0Q_Y28p0xxTo_Kuq-bgXkFX/s640/JasonStacks1.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason Molina on Beelzebub 5.11 in Red Rocks, Nevada.</td></tr>
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I also finally got around to shooting the obscure wide route Beelzebub 5.11, which I think is one of Red Rocks most impressive and clean cut offwidths. This route tackles a long offwidth crack that splits the center of a beautiful streaked wall and is about 70' of a clean cut 6 inch crack... Woohoo! Finally burly fist stacks and heinous thigh scums and heel toes for a looong while. This thing is a beast and I can't wait to get more images of it once the desert temps drop more in the fall. But in the mean time, these two images should give you a little taste of what it's all about. Cheers! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UmFpLZO9yUkcMmO6ht9YEboN2QfIk8BdRvlkPvrx5Mdm6cYn7vEPLBrsB-IaCcih2xNCP8XjjaWouBSuVPolky3yaXiGG0aAQRVpycczJjyjUeElUAbvoQUWBn9KLEQyz2DX8SZedlWU/s1600/CamCrackView.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UmFpLZO9yUkcMmO6ht9YEboN2QfIk8BdRvlkPvrx5Mdm6cYn7vEPLBrsB-IaCcih2xNCP8XjjaWouBSuVPolky3yaXiGG0aAQRVpycczJjyjUeElUAbvoQUWBn9KLEQyz2DX8SZedlWU/s400/CamCrackView.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from the offwidth cam, but this time my head was also in the crack...</td></tr>
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<br />Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-31413854541439114182013-04-26T14:34:00.005-07:002013-05-03T14:57:05.351-07:00Everyday Adventure: Photo Post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapXeHj55hnnmVfTtGilKbOwgq602dr8yzGIcjM9HnI6o9_BywNw9FO2wUZxsWwEW6927VBTuXYVlAFg9T9xSKFbNXq6gEnifLK-wGzCUCeQgGX4wUiV_ogxCsNN3_NIduZJP7jUZGctNX/s1600/photo-10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapXeHj55hnnmVfTtGilKbOwgq602dr8yzGIcjM9HnI6o9_BywNw9FO2wUZxsWwEW6927VBTuXYVlAFg9T9xSKFbNXq6gEnifLK-wGzCUCeQgGX4wUiV_ogxCsNN3_NIduZJP7jUZGctNX/s400/photo-10.JPG" width="397" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Climbing everywhere!</td></tr>
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Over the last four months I have been doing a good amount of exploring, climbing, and spontaneous adventuring. Indian Creek, Salt Lake City, Joshua Tree, Gunnison, Zion... Most of this time I have been soaking up the experiences and absorbing as much as I can without taking too much time to share on the good ol' blog. Instead my time reflecting has been on long drives, between belays, over beers, before bed, and spacing out in my natural peaceful state. I could write an intense blog post about it all, but honestly, I think that would detract from the big picture. I wanted to explore and live life so thats what I've been trying to do. Here are some photos from along the way... Credit to Andy Hansen and Ryan Strong for shooting some of the awesome shots from Zion. </div>
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Enjoy</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOaC9xYn9-X9dU79SgZZ6XmM0-W6MRrNmFe2sEuTqqXwmFo5rDhrdGIiG9QJIYyshqIexdJoEii_7NBC0oC4FDUra5EgbwtxumqNd6_kxdQXTqp7IpFuRT2ANz74VJyM9-3dEsZKuRZOP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.20.45+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOaC9xYn9-X9dU79SgZZ6XmM0-W6MRrNmFe2sEuTqqXwmFo5rDhrdGIiG9QJIYyshqIexdJoEii_7NBC0oC4FDUra5EgbwtxumqNd6_kxdQXTqp7IpFuRT2ANz74VJyM9-3dEsZKuRZOP/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.20.45+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My van broke down in Gunnison Utah on the way home from Salt Lake City.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjYNIUvdM-i5_zpvO2g3juaqcYB-fbzdc6dr6MPkZ-Lye3jfM1wAXUypkulSZgmehUGMR_K1xPA97_JkZxR2mbLv1qeu3EMW4cH4ujz_yUoZrJcQh-zkHeD3WR-ozE7YQd0zP96FbI8Ls/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.26.19+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjYNIUvdM-i5_zpvO2g3juaqcYB-fbzdc6dr6MPkZ-Lye3jfM1wAXUypkulSZgmehUGMR_K1xPA97_JkZxR2mbLv1qeu3EMW4cH4ujz_yUoZrJcQh-zkHeD3WR-ozE7YQd0zP96FbI8Ls/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.26.19+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I attempted to aid solo the Rainbow Wall via bicycle in a two day effort.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgBCARe-iKLXaVk_y66T3xTyZWytOcDt9eoGWZ_kbZ4RmTzLWLHltZ8ZcMx7LV7aPnSadW-Oyv1tWU8eqpOYcpXFbovD6Zjo9rFUHWlYcVe5evV7EWjfvsB2hDdZEecwdJqvhphe8E10p/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.32.01+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYgBCARe-iKLXaVk_y66T3xTyZWytOcDt9eoGWZ_kbZ4RmTzLWLHltZ8ZcMx7LV7aPnSadW-Oyv1tWU8eqpOYcpXFbovD6Zjo9rFUHWlYcVe5evV7EWjfvsB2hDdZEecwdJqvhphe8E10p/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.32.01+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home Sweet Home in the canyons.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFKz5nj5NPsCSVbqON9MJiK3TiYEwwUu0SoZhnkZgkFILsu7PGX-py5KZ9oimK2-ElorXbhWGag1fAt5KIp6ulDCO-4fVOFZ54kfTr3mRmMeas5CwMXa7Cmlaw9rCT9Dygv8NW0fyX0y4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.46.38+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieFKz5nj5NPsCSVbqON9MJiK3TiYEwwUu0SoZhnkZgkFILsu7PGX-py5KZ9oimK2-ElorXbhWGag1fAt5KIp6ulDCO-4fVOFZ54kfTr3mRmMeas5CwMXa7Cmlaw9rCT9Dygv8NW0fyX0y4/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.46.38+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discovered some cool street art while biking. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-WlojJAmmruMZFHjhvc6aCIDFTTKlgYQudAz-pv7oqY3NO_AT-0aM03jwMN4mukoi8cDFByrbv0a_SkLltRPvGk3ZfuAHqZBzZNxqPwe_ohnlXtqYXrODNQyWtPl8WfAWIiLbB5FUSfr/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.41.23+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-WlojJAmmruMZFHjhvc6aCIDFTTKlgYQudAz-pv7oqY3NO_AT-0aM03jwMN4mukoi8cDFByrbv0a_SkLltRPvGk3ZfuAHqZBzZNxqPwe_ohnlXtqYXrODNQyWtPl8WfAWIiLbB5FUSfr/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.41.23+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Offwidthing hungover and almost barfed but didn't. Woohoo!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0gTDk_s6hwuDpLPcRck3y7IqfjOnpE1a-ufSVWKRUfoWMZWG_jcrMN4s1TBQ1MxwpG41QSKlc8JqLJ6HBtbwN_nYqv1ZCrdIjzj7ByeoJ1NktU28nYDfF2IklIKrMF_kQvgbZI-BIlgCZ/s1600/Kuehl_WillYinYang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0gTDk_s6hwuDpLPcRck3y7IqfjOnpE1a-ufSVWKRUfoWMZWG_jcrMN4s1TBQ1MxwpG41QSKlc8JqLJ6HBtbwN_nYqv1ZCrdIjzj7ByeoJ1NktU28nYDfF2IklIKrMF_kQvgbZI-BIlgCZ/s400/Kuehl_WillYinYang.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will Stanhope came by and freesoloed Yin and Yang. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwORAu8ekE5paH-63A5KTCOyGdvh5qkx9lv0v58AIQ5YPYe5Ym3AqxmjjAXGTxK9AQxmGqzd_DIFH54amuxSqewjj5RnUzeWMnHjldfyRel90IXWKhf4gt8bVJ2CrpXM35DGD_2tRgG75-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.50.44+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwORAu8ekE5paH-63A5KTCOyGdvh5qkx9lv0v58AIQ5YPYe5Ym3AqxmjjAXGTxK9AQxmGqzd_DIFH54amuxSqewjj5RnUzeWMnHjldfyRel90IXWKhf4gt8bVJ2CrpXM35DGD_2tRgG75-/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.50.44+AM.png" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hummingbird flew inside the house to say Hello. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5bcQMM_VGtAvgYelMYMnfniQs8L4tGqXK5EX0QYvVfew2dFRFrBkYt4r5NpM_sH3U-HoO0OwO3uCw0ECu-ccoTuVdAqBkfoavxnfVHUvfFGCl3cmBywZosiom3n5GX7OZ02-lSAMJDrY/s1600/AdamBBBW1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg5bcQMM_VGtAvgYelMYMnfniQs8L4tGqXK5EX0QYvVfew2dFRFrBkYt4r5NpM_sH3U-HoO0OwO3uCw0ECu-ccoTuVdAqBkfoavxnfVHUvfFGCl3cmBywZosiom3n5GX7OZ02-lSAMJDrY/s400/AdamBBBW1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adam and I went to Joshua Tree and did some wide bouldering.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnnZHHHnkvzfaaAPNTtzZmKxCRsQXeRNYp8cy2WzC7SosVvCuDnKLlW9FZOsrbqgAkNksXhyphenhyphens73Su5ZnJ0J02J9b-8VIt4Hluj5wez-oRrGGpI7peICv4oYqD6UffT-bBp3clDE0VjD92/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.59.43+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnnZHHHnkvzfaaAPNTtzZmKxCRsQXeRNYp8cy2WzC7SosVvCuDnKLlW9FZOsrbqgAkNksXhyphenhyphens73Su5ZnJ0J02J9b-8VIt4Hluj5wez-oRrGGpI7peICv4oYqD6UffT-bBp3clDE0VjD92/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+10.59.43+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My van broke down in Gunnison again after being "fixed". </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5beDvbAL3Lp5Tlr_Kr8gblUHIw3kDqNansPDrKkg34om6hBHiCT-eEKTWsPhP5Q3m976RYbd8ghcTLkgj6f8p1_SJqU_JimGqEJoOgSu4w8kE2NVZE_tEsKqqPdmG2GYECpmI0ycDe6_/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+11.02.22+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5beDvbAL3Lp5Tlr_Kr8gblUHIw3kDqNansPDrKkg34om6hBHiCT-eEKTWsPhP5Q3m976RYbd8ghcTLkgj6f8p1_SJqU_JimGqEJoOgSu4w8kE2NVZE_tEsKqqPdmG2GYECpmI0ycDe6_/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+11.02.22+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy came to visit and we visited the monster offwidth. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5-QvL9vKD9gPjx_RHGsUB9Pyx7dyS8OMaO3a8b0-biqaNsjmwnLNda-Bz5WX-KcQfvbJGyXH-9XIIXOycO39UP_CtyiPFn6O8sBZ5P-lecscB0M8yag2e0C9nlFp53O8JQr9zQo_XJpB/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+11.06.45+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC5-QvL9vKD9gPjx_RHGsUB9Pyx7dyS8OMaO3a8b0-biqaNsjmwnLNda-Bz5WX-KcQfvbJGyXH-9XIIXOycO39UP_CtyiPFn6O8sBZ5P-lecscB0M8yag2e0C9nlFp53O8JQr9zQo_XJpB/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-19+at+11.06.45+AM.png" width="397" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave and got on Desert Gold.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidjDPgQ9naLLZmt-0rw1cwtCtq66dxYq4PLEXD7_m8oZgQqjbHMmKY0lzvfjHK5l-reShVhxwQiELT4tU4loRB5GypBmf9rzJDCvU_xz-1DwRGNe5d24vlnQ0CtOzZMe9oM5vIhpZRFGR/s1600/35095481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidjDPgQ9naLLZmt-0rw1cwtCtq66dxYq4PLEXD7_m8oZgQqjbHMmKY0lzvfjHK5l-reShVhxwQiELT4tU4loRB5GypBmf9rzJDCvU_xz-1DwRGNe5d24vlnQ0CtOzZMe9oM5vIhpZRFGR/s400/35095481.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I discovered grumpy cat and laughed for days.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgH294Icu2Q-YooOe2qCzVw6rxInh3H_dE01quO1veQGbwDUHHVIhLx5a5rH6gjJbYV38BuW1fe2qTasLvVA5MoHLUPW9L-vMC8JFjTKcLe0Vnsbs3wQJmR4gd7rNMF-xy3kqVPBegfqFR/s1600/photo-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgH294Icu2Q-YooOe2qCzVw6rxInh3H_dE01quO1veQGbwDUHHVIhLx5a5rH6gjJbYV38BuW1fe2qTasLvVA5MoHLUPW9L-vMC8JFjTKcLe0Vnsbs3wQJmR4gd7rNMF-xy3kqVPBegfqFR/s400/photo-3.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Built up a new bike then went thrifting. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The good ol' boys join forces for some climbing shenanigans.<br />
Top of Shune's Buttress 5.11+ in Zion.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A3 hook practice at Keyhole Canyon. Both my hooks ripped shortly after this photo, radness!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Megamahedral 5.11 climbs the left corner system on the Minotaur tower.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zion river crossing after climbing Megamahedral.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inspecta-nut hangin' in Zion. Ain't no thang. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging belay on Shune's Buttress in Zion.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy gave me an "on belay" hug.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belay party on Shune's Buttress. Way higher and less comfortable than it looks!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High above the canyon floor about to top out Shune's.<br />
Take note of the double long bus for scale.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan and I keeping things real. </td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-43559124924029095772013-01-18T10:52:00.001-08:002013-01-18T11:33:55.137-08:00Rope-Soloing: Solar Slab and One-Armed Bandit<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2bwUDYQxhS8-8wmxhjaHkd3MCO9tziQIn5G8OB5pJ38YgCvgML7GHKZKjiz4JEPX2boiDCP4XEVwqu6yZoOEcyNFmGjf4Ika37KxEHkZJ5p7iWmiJ4VNJUQ81l-kAOxi03-_KF1nzirw/s1600/photo-6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2bwUDYQxhS8-8wmxhjaHkd3MCO9tziQIn5G8OB5pJ38YgCvgML7GHKZKjiz4JEPX2boiDCP4XEVwqu6yZoOEcyNFmGjf4Ika37KxEHkZJ5p7iWmiJ4VNJUQ81l-kAOxi03-_KF1nzirw/s400/photo-6.JPG" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rose Tower summit shot after rope-soloing One Armed Bandit.</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_1138991792"></span><span id="goog_1138991793"></span>The desire to climb big walls has been my driving force in climbing ever since I first read about it in John Long's book "How To Rock Climb" back when I was in middle school. Since then I have been gradually building the skills necessary to get close to accomplishing some of these goals. This process has always has been a pretty natural exploration and it's really helpful that the skills build on each other and that one thing leads to another. For me the next step towards big wall climbing seemed to be comfortably rope-soloing multi-pitch routes (aid or free). Being able to do this serves many purposes and is an excellent test of efficiency and rope management on the wall. For me the main attraction was having an entirely independent and self sufficient climbing experience on terrain that usually involves two people. To me the process seemed challenging and work intensive but it also seemed uniquly satisfying and meditative. So after gaining some confidence in a single pitch environment I soon geared up from my first multi-pitch rope-solo of One Armed Bandit 5.7 (5 Pitches, 500'). </div>
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The challenge for me was not going to be the climbing difficulty (5.7) of the climb, but rather successfully implementing the rope system in a timely fashion in order to finish before dark while keeping myself protected and not getting stuck. Rope-soloing is considerably more complicated and physically demanding than the conventional two person rope team because while rope-soloing the lone climber is responsible for <u>every</u> aspect of the ascent and must lead, rappel/clean, and ascend each pitch before being able to move on to the next. (Not to mention carry/haul all the gear, ropes and water.) This up and down repetitive process zaps strength and time while adding an extra challenge that the climber must be prepared for. Beyond the physical depends of rope-soloing it is also more technically difficult and requires an expanded knowledge of anchor systems, lead climbing, rope management, problem solving, and obviously a thorough understanding of the solo belay system. Although this knowledge isn't anything too "out there" the experience is typically more serious and is often made a lot scarier (exciting) by being all alone on the wall. There are many dangers and risks that are unique to rope-soloing and this style of climbing should not be considered by anyone lacking the proper skills and experience. Climb smart my friends!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An abbreviated explanation of the multi-pitch rope-soloing process.</td></tr>
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I am hesitant to write too much about the actual rope systems involved because I don't want to be too brief in my explanation causing some people to overlook certain important elements. That being said, <u>this is not a rope soloing lesson</u>. If you're interested in this process get proper instruction and experience while safe on the ground. In this post I will simply explain the general concept and process that is required when rope-soloing free climbs with enough provisions and gear for a one day outing alone (Grade III or less).</div>
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<b><u>The Ultra-Basics:</u></b> The climber will begin by setting a "ground anchor" for upwards pull at ground level. This is your belay anchor and setting this up properly is one of the most essential components of the system. The climber attaches to the rope (on the side attached to the ground anchor) with their solo device of choice (Soloist, Gri-Gri, etc.) and begins climbing up, placing gear as needed while clipping it into the lead line to protect the pitch. The tail side follows and also hangs down towards the ground where it is neatly stacked. Great rope management is your friend here and back up knots are your best and only companion. Eventually the top of the pitch is reached and the lead rope is tied directly (fixed) into the high anchor in preparation for a rappel back down to the ground. The climber now rappels back down the rope and cleans the gear from the rock on the way down. Once back down to the ground the climber gathers the remaining items (bag, ground anchor, rope) and prepares to ascend back up the rope to reach the current high point above. The climber ascends the rope with bag (otherwise a haul must be set up) and docks the bag at the high point anchor. Another "ground anchor" is set up form this high anchor point and the process is repeated. In essence the solo climber... 1) Leads the pitch. 2) Rappels and cleans the gear. 3) Ascends back up the rope and brings all additional supplies. This process is repeated until the route is complete! Having fun yet?! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solar Slab (on left) in the early morning sun during the approach. </td></tr>
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After a successful ascent of One Armed Bandit I wanted to keep the soloist energy flowing and decided to aim for something much longer and more exposed than my previous ascent. I decided on Solar Slab 5.6 (13 Pitches, 2000') which was a sunny and classic long route I've been meaning to climb for a while. The soloist approach allowed me to wake up early and easily get out there before any two people could probably organize themselves. Getting there first also meant I had the longest amount of daylight to complete the climb and without having any complications from other parties I was able to maintain my climbing cadence naturally. I made quick work of the first 4 pitches up the Solar Slab Gully (an easy approach 5.3 scramble) up to the top of the lower tier to start my day.</div>
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After this I began climbing up the higher tier and into the heart of the route where I implemented the rope-solo system until the top. This route has all bolted anchors which sped up the process a good deal, but my first anchor off of the big ledge was still a gear anchor because no bolted anchor existed at such a good stance. (Most people don't need an anchor at the ground here.) I set up my belay and immediately left the ledge and climbed up until the next anchor was reached after about 150'. I began getting into my rope-solo groove. So back down to the ledge I went, then back up to my high point with all my stuff in no time. I re-set the system and began climbing upwards again towards to next anchor above. It was on this pitch that I started hearing distant voices of another party coming up gradually beneath me. I fixed my line and started rappelling down just as the leader beneath me rounded over and onto the big ledge below. This lit a fire under my already psyched ass and I knew it was time to cruise this thing! It was my goal to not get passed by any other parties and I knew I could keep a similar pace to an average team of two climbing Solar Slab for the first time. So I reached the anchor below and quickly grabbed my bag and hastily flung it over my shoulder in preparation for ascending back up. Immediately I heard a loud bang/bounce noise and realized I had just sent a full Nalgene bottle flying out of my still open pack. "Shit, ROCK!" I yelled in loud embarrassment and watched the bottle hit the ledge two pitches below and explode with a Bellagio-esque fountain display. Luckily the team beneath me was well out of the way, but still my mistake hung heavy on my head for the rest of the route and I was reminded I had ALOT more stuff that could still be dropped with much more adverse results. I kept my pace but now with a new attention and focus to these "smaller" details. Luckily for me the water bottle incident turned out to be my biggest blunder of the day and was only minimally stupid since I had came prepared with another full liter in the bottom of the pack anyway. From now on, everything gets a keeper loop. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solar Slab summit shot after 6 hours on route.</td></tr>
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I continued upwards (and downwards) in a meditative yo-yo like trance always compelled to stay moving towards the summit. Although the party beneath me was gradually gaining ground, I was able to stay ahead of them until the very last pitch when a big natural ledge is reached and easily shared. From here I let them pass and apologized for the accidental water display earlier. They seemed unfazed and were in return quite curious of my solo methods and even took the time to compliment me on my speed (thanks guys!). We talked casually as their leader headed upward and we exchanged the last small amount of beta and descent info before the summit. At this point I was pretty relaxed and took my sweet time climbing the last pitch and was soon scrambling to the summit. Once arriving at the top I took in the amazing view and breathed a sigh of relief as I checked the time and realized I had climbed the route in 6 hours. I was pretty psyched on the time (for doing it in this fashion) and started contemplating what other long routes might be possible solo in a day. In reality the whole route could more easily be free-soloed (without a rope) in considerably less time but to me that wasn't the point. I set out to implement an advanced and efficient rope-solo system to accomplish the route entirely independent and protected. These methods and skills will continue to develop as I plan explore the more difficult and aid intensive routes solo this spring in Zion. The perma-pyshc is still very much alive!</div>
Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-52228401383037827032013-01-11T15:54:00.001-08:002013-01-13T21:00:37.266-08:00Offwidthing in Moab, Utah.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the base of Sorcerer's Crossing</td></tr>
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Back in mid December I took a trip over to Indian Creek and the Moab area to get crushed by as many offwidths as my body and mind could simultaneously handle. When I arrived in the land of endless cracks my perma-psyche was at an all time high and I was eager to get out and climb! But unexpectedly my pysche was at a level that sleeping seemed next to impossible despite being exhausted from the day's drive. So in preparation for tomorrow's offwidthing we stayed up till 4am drinking beers of questionable quality blathering about who-knows what until we saw the people camping next to use waking up for their early morning start. At that time we decided it was appropriate to get some rest because soon we were going to meet up with Pamela and Jay to go climb some cracks in Long Canyon. I was eager to explore the area and having these two show us around was more than rad. Onward!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pamela Pack shows us the art of route finding in Long Canyon. </td></tr>
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Long Canyon might be one of Moab's best kept "secrets" so make sure to forget all about this post! Essentially this area is a lot like Indian Creek, except most of the lines are unclimbed and first ascents are everywhere! It seemed a lot more adventurous to me because of the lack of other people around and the absence of some conveniences (poopers and good trails) that exist in Indian Creek. Pamela pointed out a handful of Craig Luebben's route's and some of her own newer routes. My mind was blown and they all looked awesome and hard! So the only reasonable option was to go out and try a few of them... <span style="text-align: left;">For me the most memorable routes I tried in Moab were <i>Slither and Scream</i> 5.11 and <i>Done Lubin'</i> 5.11. Both these routes were featured in Pamela's article on Craig Luebben's "Top Ten Dessert Offwidths" that was featured in Climbing magazine and can also be read </span><a href="http://www.climbing.com/route/craigs-list/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="text-align: left;">. Both of these cracks stood out to me as not only being aesthetic and impressive but they also demanded a truly unique amount of concentration and persistence that I might'a just had enough of. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Kuehl on pitch one of Done Lubin' 5.11.<br />
Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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I happened to try <i>Done Lubin</i>' first. The rack for these types of climbs is always unbearable HUGE and makes even the "easy" climbing seem hard. The start of this climb is a cupped-hand crack with a funky little foot-less section that would typically be no big deal, but now became surprisingly tricky with massive amounts of gear. After this section you can kiss your hand-cracks goodbye because it's nothing but offwidth for the next twenty minutes of your life (if you're lucky). The climbing was very sustained and tricky throughout but the crux of the whole shebang has got to be when the crack widens and you can no longer hand or fist-stack the beast. This 8" wide crack seems like it goes on forever and you can forget about trying to "rest". You better love arm bars and thigh scums because that's all you get for quite a ways. Simply and delightfully brutal. I distinctly remember getting off this climb and looking down at my hands and arms and was convinced that this route had shrunk them and that I was forever a smaller and weaker human. I was completely exhausted and nearly threw up. It was the time of my life.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Matt Kuehl on the first pitch of Craig Luebben's <i>Slither and Scream</i> 5.11<br />
Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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The next day we went to check out <i>Slither And Scream</i> 5.11. I looked up at the route with an eager nervousness and debated internally about leading the climb or just taking the easy way out and top roping it, but the choice became clear to go for the lead. After some discussion about soft rock and ground falls I decided it would be wise to pre-place my first piece of protection for the soon-to-be lead attempt. So I went up on top rope to place the peice and sure enough I ripped off a huge chunk of stone and took a 10 foot top rope whipper right back to the ground. Gnarly! Somehow this gave me confidence and after I placed the good first piece I pulled the rope down and geared up for a lead attempt. </div>
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Pamela made it seem as if this route would fit my strengths (she always sandbags me!) so I was psyched and ever determined to make it to the top without a fall. A majority of this climb is hand stacking and knee jaming on a sharp edged crack. Excellent movement that is pretty burly and exhausting. Eventually the crack widens and you happily squeeze yourself in the crack for a rest. What you soon realize is that the route is about to get seriously hard and that the rest of the climb is protected only by Big Bros. I delicately worked my way up as the moves became more precarious and difficult. I placed an "OK" Bro that did not inspire much confidence in my now shrinking body. I tried not to think about it. Continuing to slither up the crack I eventually got squeezed out and was now dangerously dangling outside the crack with nothing more than a brutal arm bar and leg scum holding me in place. I somehow managed to place a better Bro but my confidence didn't really increase. I worked my way up a few more feet and suddenly it hit me... I'm gonna fall onto this Big Bro! And I thought to myself...</div>
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"DAMNIT YER GONNA DIE!"</div>
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Obviously I was a little dramatic in my own head, but after 30 minutes of climbing and then leading hard offwidth above Big Bros was, lets say, significantly intimidating. Luckily for me this inspired me to push myself beyond my perceived capabilities. At this point I knew I was totally committed and that I wasn't going to give up until I passed out from exhaustion. So out of necessity I immediately development a new technique that has since been coined the "Super Try Hard" technique. It is a mysterious technique that can only be used in very limited quantities, typically 30-60 seconds, before it is no longer useful and you are either completely screwed or undeniably sending. So after implementing the "Super Try Hard" I was able to place one last Bro and squeeze up farther to gain the last portion of squeeze chimney. From here you can catch your breath before running it out to the anchor. YES! Success! Once I returned to the ground I had wondered why Pamela didn't just send me up there with 9" and 12" <a href="http://www.mountainproject.com/images/50/23/107235023_medium_591633.jpg" target="_blank">Valley Giants</a> so I could more easily protect the crux section. I pondered this for a few moments before realizing that I had just sent one of Craig Luebben's classic offwidth's using Big Bro's (a device that he invented!) to protect the crux. Whoa, it all became clear and it was an amazing realization. I felt Craig's energy overwhelm me and I welcomed it all around. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rack for Slither And Scream 5.11</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason, Jay, Pamela and Andy looking up at Pamela and Patrick's route Dark Passenger.<br />
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On a rest day we got to explore some other routes in Long Canyon. Pamela decided to show us her and Patrick Kingsbury's new route <i>Dark Passenger</i> 5.12 and it was sick! We hiked into the base and it was truly wild looking crack, I've never seen anything like that before. The crack on pitch two "squiggles" back and forth and I could only imagine it would be totally brutal to climb. The am pretty sure Pamela ruptured a disc in her back on this pitch. Read all about it <a href="http://pamelashantipack.com/2012/06/29/outside-tv-athlete-profile-about-the-routes-and-training/" target="_blank">here</a>! SOOO much more to share but I feel I have reached my capacity for this post. More offwidth stories from Moab and Indian Creek will be added here and there for a while... as for now I am still taking it all in! Thanks for reading and a special shout out to Pamela and Jay for showing us around this awesome place. Respect!</div>
Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-22280460660189068822012-11-12T11:20:00.001-08:002012-12-19T11:52:51.408-08:00Bro's Before Holes 5.10cIt's not often that a single pitch route in my own backyard stays on the to-do list for almost an entire year. But the route <i>Bro's Before Holes</i> in Red Rock Canyon has captured and maintained my interest ever since I laid eyes on it in Jerry Handren's guidebook. Described as an "impressive offwidth" that is "burly and sustained" the book recommends racking up with two #6 cams and six Big Bro's... an equally burly rack. At the time I first read about it I only owned one of the recommended pieces. A single #6 clearly wasn't gonna cut the mustard. So I began the slow process of tracking down all the gear needed to get on this beast of a route with a realistic chance of being able to protect it.<br />
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Big Bro's are mysterious pieces of climbing gear. The adjustable tube chokes are coveted pieces for the offwidth junkie, but the majority of the climbing community has never placed one... especially not on lead. Like offwidths, many people consider Bro's difficult to place, mostly scary, and a completely foreign experience. But with a little experimenting and practice the tubes become your adjustable buddies on your journey upwards into unknown territory at about the pace of a constipated turtle. That being said... once the gear had been gathered and the psych was ridiculously built up it was time to finally give it a shot. I got my opportunity with Nick Rhoads and Jason Molina on an unsuspecting day in November. What followed was certainly an unforgettable experience...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Kuehl enjoying the burly and sustained Bros Before Holes.<br />
Photo: Jason Molina</td></tr>
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It was the first of the cold days to hit Red Rocks this fall and early winter. Temps in the shade topped out at about high 40's and the light wind chilled any bit of skin left uncovered. The hike in up the steep and loose terrain was a great warm up for the day, but once we arrived I was eager to stay moving and start climbing before I chilled too much. So we compiled all of our Bro's and I started eyeing up the crack. At the base I scummed myself into the start and starred upwards at the massive crack and left the rest to be discovered in the spontaneity of my immediate future. I felt prepared to do the pitch because I had done a handful of other cracks of this nature in the area. But no crack is the same and this was truly a unique and challenging size demanding thorough concentration, commitment and strength. The beginning isn't the most technically difficult because of some occasional fragile face holds, but as you work your way up you can feel the weight of the ground beneath you. So you pluck the first Bro off your rack of seven and start precision fiddling, yanking, and bashing to secure your first piece. More arm-baring and heel-toeing will keep your progress moving upwards as you gradually work your feet above your last piece of gear. So you place another Bro and continue the grind for another 15 feet before all the would-be holds entirely disappear. Now pleasantly forced to rely on true offwidth technique, I felt the character of the route really set in. Only being able to occsaionaly rely on a chicken-wing and not being able to get my body fully squeezed inside the crack definitely made placing gear more difficult and strenuous. I managed to place gear at about every body length until now... but now I'm stuck with a tipped out #6 and a significant amount of climbing to go.<br />
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Focusing my energy on moving upwards and relaxing my breathing I gradually slid the #6 up with me until the placement became more secure. I placed another #6 above that and then slide it along for the ride, now entering the most technical portion of the climb. This section required fist/fist stacking and some delicately insecure thigh/heel toe jam trickery. If you are able to summon the ancients and not spin your wheels too much here you'll be just fine. Remember it's <i>only</i> 5.10c offwidth. After this section you are able to gain a small ledge which is an excellent rest spot and the ending of the truly wide difficulties. What is left after the ledge is a 15 foot right-facing corner that could take a #5 or old #4 cam (that I didn't have at that time). Although this section seemed easier, it was still hard enough and I was already 10-15 feet above my last piece of gear. I carefully moved upwards with foot jams, calf locks and baggy fist jams. The rock was starting to get very questionable all around. I delicately grabbed a small edge out right and begun to weight it while still quite run-out. In an instant the entire section of rock in front of me had dislodged and crumbled apart hitting me directly in the forehead and torso. I immediately yelled "Rock! Rock! Rock!" and watched as the sandy blocks hit the ledge beneath me and shattered into thousands of pieces raining down onto the ground. The rope went taunt and I feared rock fall had pinned the rope. Beneath me Nick and Jason were just getting up after having just jumped into adjacent chasms to avoid the rockfall when they yelled up to me "<i>Are you okay?</i>". To their surprise I yelled back down "<i>Yes... Don't take!</i>" (The tension in the rope was pulling me down into the what-woulda-been scary as hell whipper.) Nick fed me slack as I brushed the piles of sand from my overalls. I delicately continued upwards and managed to top out the route to complete a action-packed onsight of a route that's been on my mind for what seems like forever. After I got down we played some Talking Heads and I believe these lyrics best sum up my experience...<br />
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<b>"Watch out! You might get what you're after." - David Byrne</b></div>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-40966184420099634022012-10-30T17:59:00.000-07:002012-10-30T18:39:03.072-07:00Trophy Crack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Click above to watch the video of me on Trophy Crack. </div>
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While paging through the new Southern Nevada Bouldering guidebook recently I couldn't help but notice a photo of an awesome looking splitter crack problem. With a little investigation I located the climb in the Sandstone Quarry area of Red Rock Canyon. The crack is about 12-15 feet tall and goes from about 2 1/2 inches to 5 inches in width. The crack is also cut very clean with no face holds to help you along the way. This splitter crack problem is a great way to practice crack climbing technique and it especially caters to those looking to learn some offwidth techniques. This problem can be done in several different ways (probably) but the "kick-through" method seemed to be the easiest way for me to climb it. Enjoy the videos and hope it's not too much beta spray!<br />
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Click above to watch my explanation of this climb.</div>
Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-46605611158391001962012-10-02T15:59:00.002-07:002013-01-18T11:57:16.143-08:00Adventure Skunks<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger pulls off a pretty sweet little solo FA action.</td></tr>
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Now officially back into the full swing of things here in Vegas means lots of work, climbing, and intriguing binocular findings out in Red Rocks. So far Andy, Jason, and I have checked out a lot of obscure areas that house a few less mentioned routes and a lot of unknown territory. Most of these areas are tucked away far from other routes and always provide us with an excellent adventure and an exciting hike. I think we all have something different envisioned for what route we might like to find out there, but I mostly look for clean cut cracks of wide nature. This area is stacked with amazing features, cracks, and even unclimbed walls if you're willing to do the hike and pack in an increasing amount of ropes and equipment. To me this is what this area is most unique for and I think we really enjoy embracing this adventure. On our last climbing day we stumbled upon a great looking chimney that was long and clean cut. A few moments after Jason and I walked past it we looked back and found Andy mid-chimney casually working upwards towards the top. I think his eagerness to climb this pitch and also ability to embrace the unknown really sums up our climbing mentalities lately. Nice solo Andy!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason Molina on the first version of our approach pitch.</td></tr>
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We've found a few intriguing routes that we will soon be paying a weekly visit to. This will be our rock homage where we celebrate all aspects of adventure climbing by bushwhacking, walking into cactus' with sandals, and sometimes even do a little climbing! It's really a good time if you're into that sorta thing. As of now I don't have much information to reveal but it goes without saying that I'm psyched to "stay after it" with many attempts and failures in the near future. Because at the end of the day weather you win or lose you've always got that amazing Red Rock view... Now to the summit!<br />
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-52066965735219976372012-09-03T13:43:00.001-07:002012-09-03T13:50:52.389-07:00Craig Luebben on Offwidths in Rock & Ice #95<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These can be easily viewed by enlarging each photo in Blogger, then </div>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-65386691940388079852012-08-30T12:27:00.001-07:002012-12-21T19:42:08.297-08:00The Fox, Risk Brothers, and the Mystery OW<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy Reger gets gear on The Fox 5.10d</td></tr>
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The crew and I are back to the same ol' shenanigans in Red Rock again and I've been feeling productive climbing these last few days. We've been dodging the heat and searching for shade like a bunch of fast moving slugs not wanting to dry up in the sun. Luckily for us there are many excellent crack climbs in the area that get shade. Two climbs that are too fun to pass by are The Fox and Risk Brother's Roof in Calico Basin. Despite the fact that there are "no splitters in Red Rock" these two climbs are great clean-cut cracks that demand true crack technique to complete. The Fox is one of the most popular crack climbs in the area and I've heard countless people try to compare other routes to it... but luckily it is unique in its difficulties and nothing else is quite like it here. This time around I was able to shoot photos of the aesthetic line, which is something that has been on my list for a while. So sweet!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy further up on The Fox.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Masai's performing great on Risk Brothers Roof 5.11-<br />
Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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Afterwards we hiked over to another great crack climb "Risk Brothers Roof". This thing is short and stout like George from Seinfeld and occasionally as fumbly if you mess it up. I've found that this route is pretty much a roof crack boulder problem with a short crux with some potential for thrashing in between. Too many falls working this thing and your rope WILL get core shot... too few and you're destine to make the same mistakes. This fun little diddy also has a great chillin' ledge beneath and gives you a great few of Calico Basin and Las Vegas. I haven't been on this route since last year around this time but I felt pretty good on it. One of the biggest difficulties I expeireced this time was negotiating around the #3 cam that I placed exactly where I wanted my hand to be... rookie mistake! Luckily my footwork felt solid and the new shoes from Teneya really worked well on this.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rounding the roof bulge...<br />
Photo: Andy Reger</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason on the Nameless OW. 5.10+</td></tr>
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The next day we went to an excellent mystery line that we had scoped a few times before. The route looked like a great #5 size offwidth splitter in a small corner on good stone. We couldn't find any information on the climb, but we knew it had been climbed because there were two old protection bolts next to the crack. The odd part was there was no bolted anchor or any other descent method, so we brought enough of a rack to complete this thing clean in it's entirety. This included cleaning all the gear by down climbing at the end of the day. It was all worth it and what we found was awesome offwidth climbing at a consistent size with adventurous moves and just enough burliness. We were pretty psyched about this and I knew we would have to find out some more information on it soon.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mind blown! Jason Molina in an offwidth trance.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacking my way through the crux. </td></tr>
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I was lucky enough to climb this route twice, three times if you include down climbing it. On my first attempt I brought a lot of gear and had no idea what the really expect. I found myself relying on knee jams a little too much in the crux and eventually getting my knee stuck. I'm kinda getting used to that though. What I've discovered is that it's best not to get bomber knees unless you want to rest. Otherwise climb using calf-locks or high heel toes which are easier to progress and remove. Little tricks like this are why I love trying these routes. If you're doing this right it should feel pretty relaxed, although you'll still be sweating at the end. Yesterday I asked the Urioste's about this line because they have established a lot of other nearby climbs. What I found out was a pretty entertaining story and a conclusion that they climbed this back in the day. When they climbed it they were disappointed in didn't continue further and because of this didn't deem in worthy of a name. Jorge and Joanne weren't interested in single pitch climbs at the time and were more interested in the alpinist style of first ascents. The bolts were also not placed during this time, and they appeared sometime later in the routes history by who knows? We didn't clip 'em. This is a great line that I'm excited to know a lot more about now. And if you're into this sort of thing you might like the slightly more known Weenie Juice 5.10a in Icebox Canyon. Check it out!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weenie Juice 5.10a.</td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-71082426673191072832012-08-22T14:30:00.000-07:002012-08-23T10:43:33.487-07:00End of Summer Updates<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQupxbBwYK6meULZta4WF26uEdCZ4l3Xk_SInD9NlusBzTh29I-bBOIVYdkYKSOh_NxmbH4zeGPZEmiHFgPfMxO9dwXEcMOZsnTNvrR1unTSHMsrTWRZN062hHnJajdfFHI2Sz3IRH9MY0/s1600/_MG_5073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQupxbBwYK6meULZta4WF26uEdCZ4l3Xk_SInD9NlusBzTh29I-bBOIVYdkYKSOh_NxmbH4zeGPZEmiHFgPfMxO9dwXEcMOZsnTNvrR1unTSHMsrTWRZN062hHnJajdfFHI2Sz3IRH9MY0/s400/_MG_5073.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snapshot from driving out of Black Velvet Canyon in a big storm.</td></tr>
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Happy traveling to everyone out there! I'm back in Vegas again after spending the summer exploring Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Now the adventure continues back in Red Rocks. So far it's been a lot of exploring, some shady climbing, and completing Epinephrine 5.9 IV all the way to the top! Lots of exciting cracks have also been spotted through the binoculars but perhaps they're just mirages. The van has been taken on an official Safari though Black Velvet Canyon and survived the storm, river, and road. That was intense! But on another note, here are some recent media tidbits that I contributed to. Keep an eye out for this stuff!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJsXpvzUW_dIloWnwvPZGEHtF6_S4IgS32NQmhhVeOeMFFX-jwy7DhzRYRG1MD1ZWkirfK_hNmGPhyeys7pGAGeonXAuTHe7VZRiUhK9dGF2AhraltDIvCcwXfA3SrQ7vjE22FZPa7q6g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-08-20+at+9.42.50+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJsXpvzUW_dIloWnwvPZGEHtF6_S4IgS32NQmhhVeOeMFFX-jwy7DhzRYRG1MD1ZWkirfK_hNmGPhyeys7pGAGeonXAuTHe7VZRiUhK9dGF2AhraltDIvCcwXfA3SrQ7vjE22FZPa7q6g/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-08-20+at+9.42.50+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason is Trango's new cover boy, at least for a while.<br />
Route: Chrysler Crack 5.9</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beta photo I took of Ginger Buttress / Unimpeachable Groping 5.10+ in Sept issue of Climbing.<br />
(not the cool photo of Tommy Caldwell)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some photos in a <a href="http://www.climberism.com/pamela-shanti-pack-wins-the-forever-war/" target="_blank">write up</a> on Pamela on Climberism.com about her newest route.<br />
Simiantics V9 (pictured here)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me climbing two Devil's Lake classics in the WI/MN Book... Photos: Sarah Brengosz<br />
Routes: Upper Diagonal 5.9, Flake Route 5.10d</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This blog now linked to on the offwidth climbing site Widefetish... Thanks Russ!<br />
Also have a good amount of personal climbing photos posted here too.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJibGBIxtuAAQiFbxborxdRdAAlK3aPiQczeUDj9ER_WKhcI4tX77wO0HSMRliK6m9r7EOiPiHGEXDy_O167muZuwQOGUyEvP8n1I7x6r52cIQ6l2EZa4lVFLwEm7z4RbGgM6PSt5qZU5/s1600/Climbing_Magazine-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJibGBIxtuAAQiFbxborxdRdAAlK3aPiQczeUDj9ER_WKhcI4tX77wO0HSMRliK6m9r7EOiPiHGEXDy_O167muZuwQOGUyEvP8n1I7x6r52cIQ6l2EZa4lVFLwEm7z4RbGgM6PSt5qZU5/s400/Climbing_Magazine-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Make sure to check out the October issue for more goodies from Red Rocks!</td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532583907939399280.post-74647609356862742722012-08-10T11:15:00.000-07:002013-01-18T11:57:45.775-08:00Work In Progress: Trench Warfare 5.12d<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Kuehl riding the wide pony on Trench Warfare.<br />
Photo: Adam Floyd</td></tr>
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Trench Warfare has to go down as one of the most awesome and difficult tradition climbs I have ever attempted. This 50' foot straight horizontal roof crack leaves a lot for your imagination! Your creativity and ability to fight the pain in this inverted arena might be the only chance to come out of this war alive. When you're on this beast you might find yourself attempting moves you previously thought were impossible but now seem to be a reasonable solution to your problem. This awesome looking offwidth crack packs a real punch for it's relatively short length and it feels like it's at least a mile long. This crack will undoubtedly have you questioning your commitment to handstacks and your personal well-being as you attempt to unstick your feet before you might just come slipping out upside-down towards the trench below. But that's just the beginning of the fun stuff, you're in for a wild ride.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking out and up at Trench Warfare... it's horizontal. </td></tr>
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This route is mysterious in nature and its hidden existence under a huge toppled boulder in Little Cottonwood Canyon makes it an adventure to find and a true experience to climb. When you arrive at the crack you will find yourself under the huge boulder crawling through the V-slot "trench" looking up at the crack just knowing you've found something great. This route is truly one of a kind and an unforgettable burl-fest. After finding the climb on a solo mission and getting my first actual view of the crack I knew I'd have to return and give it a go. A few days later I returned with good friends Molly and Sean to give the route my first attempts. Although a little intimidating, the approach slab to gain the start of the crack is actually easier than it looks and you can plug gear in the crack before even leaving the slab. Once getting a piece or two and chalking up several more times it's now time to commit. So you stack your hands and kick your feet up and the madness begins! It can be difficult to become comfortable hanging like this at first but soon you get used to the horizontal difficulties and technique and creativity really takes over. Although my first attempts were cut short on time, I started to get a good feel for the crack and knew my next visit would be much more productive because of it. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark Gaguire working out the first section.<br />
Photo: Adam Floyd</td></tr>
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The next morning I posted on Mountain Project looking for climbers who were interested in spending a day working on Trench Warfare. Shortly after two enthusiastic and skilled climbers with an interest in the wide and a curiosity towards the route responded that they were interested in joining me. Neither Adam Floyd or Mark Maguire had visited the route before, but that didn't stop us from giving the route a run for its money. I got back on it first and progressed my way across the initial wide crack using hand/hand stacks and a lot of foot jam trickery. I found the crux of this section to be the middle of the crack where it no longer easier accepts my size 12 boots. I found myself spending more time and energy unsticking my feet than I really wanted. Another common difficulty was efficiently placing gear and not burning precious energy. When relying on handstacks which require your hands to be used together as one, removing one to place gear means your hands are no longer useful to hold you up. Because of this most every piece of gear I placed was while hanging primarily from my two feet in the inverted sit-up position. Occasionally there would be small features to occupy one hand, but these where always quite minimal. Whenever the crack allowed it I would climb in the "wide pony" position with my feet on the outside and my handstacks in the middle. (Almost like you're on an inverted bucking bronco) I found this position to be ideal and very secure, the only downside is the crack wouldn't always allow me in this position because of my wide feet. One funny moment from this section was when I "fell" out of the crack just to discover I was still dangling comfortably from one foot with all my other limbs out of the crack. So I grabbed an old #4 Camalot from my harness and nearly placed it before my one remaining foot slipped out entirely. A pretty hilarious position to attempt to place gear from! I refined my technique until this section felt smooth and do-able then eagerly approached the wide pod. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tomrandallclimbing.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Tom Randal</a> enters the wide pod. <br />
Photo: Alex Ekins</td></tr>
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The distinct second half of the route is a lot different in nature because the crack opens up allowing you to struggle inside and become nearly upright for a short while. Although deceiving in most photographs, the wide pod section is still horizontal and doesn't round up to a vertical squeeze like it often looks. The harsh reality is you're still on a roof crack and your only hope of crawling out is to try and relax, get gear, and flip back upside-down when you're ready for round two. The wide pod presented a really neat challenge as well the unforgettable "reverse birth" sensation when first entering it. I ungracefully struggled upwards inside using aggressive chicken-wings and a desperate crimp mantle until I found myself in the claustrophobic wide chamber too tight to even turn my head. Unable to relax for more than a few moments I placed gear above my head and began the slow and agonizing "cartwheel" back into the inverted position. Once here you know you're in for a wild ride and you have to simply find your happy place void of pain and gravity. Getting into the wide pod was a more difficult squeeze than I had imagined, mostly because of the one really high foot and absence of anything for the other foot to really "push" off from below. Luckily the chicken wings are totally bomber, and as long as you relax and breath you should be just fine. Whatever you do don't get too tired to unweight your chicken wing, because then you'll be stuck, bad stuck... (that may or may not have happened to me).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jay Anderson in the inverted shuffle in the wide section.</td></tr>
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Once in the full body inversion I felt like a was bending space and time with every shuffle towards the outside. The crack is pretty flared and tightens up a lot where your feet are jamming which makes it pretty do-able once you get your feet up there. As I progressed I found increasingly secure foot jams and it was great to no longer rely on chicken wings and inverted arm bar nothingness. While upside-down I was able to use small edges and crimps to help aid my sideways progress, but eventually they disappeared and stacks or magic abs were required to keep on truckin'. This was another section where I don't think my big feet really helped my struggle, and perhaps it just made it a little more painful... it's hard to compare I suppose. I wasn't often able to get straight heel-toe cams, but rather most of my foot jams were heel and side of foot jams which were generally just more uncomfortable than I wanted. Either way it worked and I eventually stopped thinking about it and just shuffled my body towards the best hold on the whole route. Once gaining the flat jug you're almost to the lip where there original 5.12d line finishes. At this point I was totally exhausted but very psyched to have to just done all the moves on this awesome line. I experienced much difficulty on the way, but it's was what I was looking for and working this route was pretty meditative and gratifying. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPglivSAdA3VmNUQViqEFK0pG2OVvlmWB_-Vavu9mUxewZGeu30S-xAyfx5YQFzJciH-fiKIE_Onh9B3DNrWA4cKzFTxcj24M1vFhVSbvT5zpoOKp5kQeLgjz9pV110mcgg_vjICsv4OA/s1600/Brad_TrenchWarfare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzPglivSAdA3VmNUQViqEFK0pG2OVvlmWB_-Vavu9mUxewZGeu30S-xAyfx5YQFzJciH-fiKIE_Onh9B3DNrWA4cKzFTxcj24M1vFhVSbvT5zpoOKp5kQeLgjz9pV110mcgg_vjICsv4OA/s400/Brad_TrenchWarfare.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brad Jackson approaching the lip. <br />
Photo: Kennan Harvey</td></tr>
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So at the end of my session I left myself just enough energy to clean my gear off the route and belay Adam on his first attempts for the day. Once the projecting process was complete I was free to evaluate all the cuts and bruises I'd accumulated from Trench and a nice warm shower helped me realize my soreness. As I write this a few days later I must be honest that I am still sore and still doing my best to recover by climbing anything with face holds and big ledges for me to sleep on. I never thought my legs would get so exhausted, but yet they are the most sore. This route was another great learning experience for me and a trad project that I will keep until it gets completed. Each attempt brought me drastically closer and I know that in time I will learn the intricacies of the crack and unique body positions to enable me to climb it clean. Until then I'll be heading back to Red Rock Canyon for a productive Fall where I hope to keep building strength and climbing with new friends and maybe even finding some new ridiculous wide route monstrosities to attempt. All in all my time hanging with Trench Warfare and the people of Salt Lake City was an unforgettable and positive experience. I can only hope for more of this in the future and can't wait to see what's around the next bend.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8i6blIW1jP6ZXIR_7ItqywMggaDgKwqBMhggtPZKKaUCuvrmkIuRuWAZH8kSZ1ddUHRkJ1lWXD1KhOOQlfajExYzx7eg8aQoW4fPg3kZk_aJthmZtZ6GOCm37jmxnU2IHfx99rKwlVzq/s1600/TrenchBeta3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8i6blIW1jP6ZXIR_7ItqywMggaDgKwqBMhggtPZKKaUCuvrmkIuRuWAZH8kSZ1ddUHRkJ1lWXD1KhOOQlfajExYzx7eg8aQoW4fPg3kZk_aJthmZtZ6GOCm37jmxnU2IHfx99rKwlVzq/s400/TrenchBeta3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not tired yet? Turn the lip and top out to send the extended version Wench Warfare 5.13a</td></tr>
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Matt Kuehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08923960872855629689noreply@blogger.com1