January

2015 has gotten off to a great start with some incredible new areas and amazing climbing weather. This year of climbing began in Red Rocks, climbing classics like Johnny Vegas, Solar Slab, Classic Crack of Calico, and Bird Land. The weather was a bit chilly at night but we were still climbing in T-shirts during the day. Here is a photo looking up at the crux pitch of Classic Crack of Calico (5.9+). The climb pulls through the roof crack (fists) into a hand sized corner crack with beautiful dark varnished rock.

Not long after bringing in the new year, some fellow West Virginia dwellers flew out to join in on the fun in the sun. Alex Zachrel and Brittany Armentrout took their winter break from WVU to build on their trad climbing experience in Red Rocks. Here they are on their first day in town getting ready to climb the Panty Wall.

Had a blast climbing with these two! After a few days of climbing around Red Rocks we decided to take a rest day. Brittany and Alex had the idea to drive to Zion for the day. Seeing as I had never been there I was excited to go check the place out. Here is the road as you near the entrance to Zion National Park. 

Some beautiful walls within the park. Can't wait to go back and climb!

After climbing for a few more days in Red Rocks, Alex and Brittany flew back east just as rainy weather arrived in Las Vegas. Since the Red Sandstone in Red Rocks is so absorbent, it can damage the rock to climb it when it is wet. For this reason, I decided to drive the van down to Joshua tree where the rock doesn't absorb the rain water. Here's John Straub is at the top of Bussioneer (5.7). In the background you can see the hidden valley campground where our cars are parked below.

After a day of climbing, John had to head back to Las Vegas. Luckily another buddy from back east was arriving in J Tree the same day. Robin Pyle of Vertical Sandbox Productions got in from LA and was beyond psyched to be there! Heres robin climbing up the South West Corner (5.6) on The Headstone.

Robin managed to snap this sweet shot of me dangling off of the monster holds on Cryptic (5.8).

After another day of climbing classics I drove back to Las Vegas where the sunny warm weather had resumed. I helped out with a corporate event for Mountain Skills where we took a group from Red Rock Casino climbing and rappelling. After getting word of Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Gorgenson completing their free ascent of the Dawn Wall, our sights moved to Yosemite Valley. The weather was looking incredibly warm and sunny for January so Tom Cecil and I decided to make the 8 hour drive in honor of Tom's birthday on January 15th. Here is Tom leading Jam Crack (5.9) near Yosemite Falls.

Tom and I stayed in camp 4 and climbed classics for a couple days. We made sure to spend some time in the meadow admiring El Capitan as well. Man I can't wait to climb that wall!

We drove back to Vegas where our friends Harry and Tori had made the drive out west from Massachusetts. Here they are climbing at the Panty Wall!

Having lots of fun climbing with these guys out here! It rained last night so we are all taking a rest day today. January is almost over, looking foreword to more adventures in February!

2014 was an amazing year of climbing! It began new years day in central Oman. Richard Woodhouse, Michael Mason, and I woke up and climbed a 7 pitch route on East Al Hamra Tower in the Jebel Shams region of the Hajaar mountain range. The route is called En Attendant les Lents, a route established by Thierry Renault. The name means "while waiting for the slow ones." This photo shows the east Al Hamra Tower on the left.

Here is Richard enjoying the exposure on pitch 3.

The three of us on the summit! The top of Jebel Shams, Oman's tallest mountain, is visible in the background.

Two weeks later I flew from Dubai to Phuket, Thailand. From there I traveled to Tonsai bay on the Phra Nang Peninsula via taxi and long-tail boat. My mission was to climb classic routes and help Josh Lyons with the "Thaitanium Project" re-bolting effort.

For those that are unaware, southern thailand suffers from severe corrosion problems with stainless steel bolts. The only material corrosion-resistant enough to be used for climbing bolts in southern Thailand is titanium. Titanium is extremely expensive and making all of the classic routes safe is not a cheap task. The project is funded by sales of the "Thaitanium Project" documentary. The film download and more information can be found at thaitaniumproject.com Here are some of the Ti bolts that donations in 2013 bought.

As a project volunteer, the job is pretty simple. Climb the route, Make sure the anchor is safe, drill and glue the titanium bolts, cut the stainless steel bolts off. Of course there is a bit of finesse that goes into it all, but once each route is complete they are safe to climb for decades. Here is the Thaitanium crew hard at work re-bolting the Melting Wall in Tonsai.

In this photo I am using a cordless angle grinder to cut the old stainless bolts off of a climb on Wee's Present Wall in Railay bay.

Here's the 2014 Thaitanium crew! From left to right thats me, Tom Cecil, James Gorton, Johnny Witteridge, Josh Lyons, and thats Jonas Wallin hanging out in the back.

I spent a month in southern Thailand climbing and re-bolting before making my way back to the U.S. to kick off another season of guiding at Seneca Rocks. Here is Brendan Mulhern scoping out a remote wall in the North Fork valley.

The summer season was full of guiding days, adventure climbing, and first ascents. Here is Harry Bonaiuto on the first ascent of a hidden crack not far from Seneca Rocks.

Once the season wrapped up in West Virginia around the end of October, I packed up my van with gear and drove out west. A month of climbing in Red Rocks and Joshua Tree with the Seneca Rocks crew led to everyone flying back east for Christmas. Here is Tori Konovalchik climbing South West Corner on the Headstone in Joshua Tree.

Here is Erin Miller sport climbing on The Gallery Wall in Red Rocks.

After spending Christmas with family and friends I made my way back to Seneca for one more day of climbing in 2014. Here's Tom walking to the crag.

Tom and I then packed up his truck and made the drive back out west to Las Vegas. We spent new years watching the fireworks on the Las Vegas strip from our friends' house near Blue Diamond. Great year of climbing! Bring on 2015!