Livin in Portland

I have just recently moved down to Portland to take a job working as a route setter and the head coach for the climbing team at the Club Sport Oregon! It's pretty much the job I was hoping for right out of college, how cool is that?! With route setting I get to work with Molly Bead and Kyle Van House, both of whom are supper cool and very good route setters! As far as the team goes I understand that this team has had some of its members go to world competitions and do not so bad. I am very excited to be working with such a great group of kids and professionals in an awesome facility! Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon cuz this gym is huge and super cool (oh and it has valet parking! But I can't use it cuz I am an employee, but that's ok cuz my car is a mondo granny mobile!)

On another note, I get to see my girlfriend after she has been in France for the past 2 1/2 weeks working on a vineyard! I cant wait till tomorrow night! And to make things even better I'm gonna go hit up a climbing comp in Seattle the day before with my best bud Mr. Mike Dove and we are gonna see how much plastic we can rip of the wall!

Chicago and the SBP

My sis has finally headed back to the windy city of Chicago to do another season of dancing with the dance company Luna Negra (i think that's how you spell it). Her plane left at 11:40 pm so of course my parents didn't want to drive back that late so we hit up a hotel in the area and stayed the night. My mother, being the utmost concerned with proper fitting shoes (maybe that's why i fit my climbing shoes so tight....) when shopping for shoes and Seattle. Of course I couldn't stand the thought of watching my my mother shoe shop, so I hit up one of the new gyms over in Seattle today, the new Seattle Bouldering Project. The gym is pretty cool with a wide variety of problems and a truly stunning selection of walls to climb on. The gym staff was buys working on a new selection of routs which was pretty fun to watch as they pieced together their latest masterpieces to mystify climbers. I managed to decipher a few of their sequences but there were many more that I would like to come back and try to figure out.

On another note here are some pictures of the trip that me and my sister took down to the Oregon beach.

My super cool sister being not so super cool on the car ride!

Renee climbing at the Portland Rock Gym

Renee crushing a problem at The Circuit

My big sis and I at the beach!
You can't go to the beach and not build one right? The finished castle!
and yes that is a bridge with space underneath it!

Climbing gyms! and the real thing....

Well it has now been 3 weeks since I have touched a boulder made of real rock and I am starting to feel the effects..... But I was able to climb some over this last weekend! I made a trip down to portland with my big sis and hit up a few gyms there. Any time I visit a new gym I have a hard time taking my time and within a few hours I will be toast and still trying to climb problems (ya know its a good day when you can't climb a v0 at the end of the day). After a few days of muscle thrashing my sis and I made a mad dash for the ocean where my required sand castle building was fulfilled! This weekend should be a bit more promising in the relm of real rocks as I will be spending it a mere 20 mins away from Leavenworth in Cashmere. Then on sunday Mike and I are gonna tear it up ( and avoid the rattle snakes!) in Goldbar! As always im sure that Mike will have a video of me being silly that will instatly make its way up on this blog..... (I really don't know how he always manages to get thoes pictures or videos.....)

Brian

Make the Switch

Ladies and gentlemen, the stars finally aligned for Brian and I to get out climbing together for more than a day at a time. With Brian just finishing school and me getting a freak of nature three days off in a row, we decided that is was time to do some climbing in Leavenworth. Brian's girlfriend, Mackenzie, joined us, and we were on our way! Our first day in Leavenworth was productive, with all three of us making progress on our projects. I also finally put Busted to rest.

Brian working Thunderdome

Me squeezing on The Strainer

Day 2 was a day of sends. I polished off The Strainer, and Brian crushed Thunderdome! After that, we hit the beach to try The Fin, an absolutely amazing compression problem, and Goicoechea. We all felt super weak though, so Brian and I wanted to go try and send some moderates down at the south seas, which I had never been to before. Mountain Home has a spectacular view of Leavenworth, and going up there always means a great time.

On day 3 we were going to try and go to Little Si, but the weather looked a little iffy, so we headed to my old stomping grounds, Vantage. It was a pretty quiet day other than my onsight (and second) attempt of King Connection. A mental faux-pas means that I have to get back to Vantage sometime soon to try and scratch that route off. I have focused mainly on bouldering for about three years, and even though I love every second of it, I realized how much I miss the quiet bond that people share while sport climbing.

I'll also readily admit that I can only take so much of the bouldering "scene", and I'm getting tired of the egos, rookie stripes, and the shirtless/beanie combination. I love climbing gyms (I work in one), and they are very necessary to stay in shape when the weather sucks. But gyms have created a new breed of climber complete with a unique outlook on style (no... tribal tattoos are not cool), ethics, and respect, for both climbers and the places we love to climb. In the end, climbing is all about having fun, but we shouldn't be having fun at others' expense, including nature. I think it's up to the more experienced climbers to help guide the newer climbers so we can all sleep a little more soundly about climbing, and mainly... access. Always remember to pack out what you brought in, and that includes tick marks.

Stay psyched,

Mike

The last few weeks!

So now that school is almost over I have been climbing outside a lot more! Over the last week or two I have had some awsome accomplishments come my way. First off Superman went down two weeks ago on a trip out to levy with Mackenzie. During that trip Mac crushed several problems that had been thwarting her such as the hueco route and the scoop. This last thursday Mr. Dove showed me the Thunderdome problem up in the JY boulders and it shot instantly to the top of my routes I need to do list! just like Mad Max, Thunderdome is one of thoes problems that almost every move takes a lot of attention. This weekend might have been the most fun ever because Mac showed me how to ride her amazing horse! Riding a horse might be the coolest thing ever. However there was also some climbing this weekend. I started out up in Moutainhome where I finaly sent my fingernail tearing Darth Vader. After that it was back to the grind on Thunderdome which thwarted my attempts at the seend, but I feel like its gonna go down soon (but not too soon cuz then I would be out of projects again).

Brian

Climbing Baby!

Ok, I couldn't help but share this. It's pretty great.

What the Future Holds

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future lately. After I got done with the cruise ship gig, my goal was to secure a full-time job and start making lots of money. It was time for me to grow up and start living the American Dream. I was applying for anything and everything that looked like a great career option. It wasn't until I went on a job shadow with a business-to-business sales company that I realized how truly miserable I would be if I got a full-time job that I wasn't really psyched about, and how much my climbing time would decrease. Since that experience, I realized that I had to make a choice that will affect the next few years of my life. Do I a) get a full-time job, make a lot of money, and just deal with not having much personal/climbing time, or do I b) have a part-time job, make enough money to support myself, and be able to go on climbing trips, and pretty much climb whenever I damn well please. After some heavy internal dialogue, I realized that there's no need to rush, and I need to enjoy my free time while I have it. Am I getting rich off of my job at a climbing gym? Absolutely not. But (when the Washington weather allows) I get to climb more than I ever have, and I'm having a blast with the way my life is currently going! Why mess with something that makes you happy? Money isn't worth it if you're miserable, period. Climbing is such an important part of my life, and at this point I'm really not willing to sacrifice it at all. So, do what makes you happy in life. Obvious advice, I know. But when you think about it, how many people do you know that are in a position that makes them unhappy that they could fix at least relatively easily? The day something stops being enjoyable is the day you should stop doing it.

On a lighter note, Brian's gonna update the blog on the last few weeks, so stay tuned! And I am a recovering youtube addict, but unfortunately had a relapse this morning. However, I think this video is something the world should see, so I'll do my part in spreading it. Let hilarity ensue.

Stay psyched,

Mike