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

Someday We'll Start Posting Regularly

Ok... it's time to buckle down and actually keep this blog thing going. Brian and I are basically slackers, but we promise to keep things going this time. I guess we'll give it a couple months and see what actually happens.

So much has happened lately. I finally legitimately graduated from college! Before I decided to finish up though I got a job on a cruise ship in Australia playing drums for four months. It was an amazing experience! I got to see areas of the South Pacific, New Zealand, Fiji, and of course, Australia. Let me make it very clear though, that New Zealand is basically the best place on earth, and no other country can compare to the average New Zealand breakfast.

I had so many awesome experiences during my four month contract, but a cruise ship job can easily turn into a lifestyle, and it wasn't one I was willing to commit to for too long. There are too many things on land I miss, like family and friends, climbing, and most importantly... real ketchup. So, I got back in February and hadn't climbed in over four months. Needless to say, I'm still pretty rusty, but it feels so good to get back on real rock and climb. Climbing is a huge part of my life and living without it definitely made my "negative, ghost rider" list. I've been getting back into it slowly but surely, and recently secured a job at Edgeworks Climbing gym in Tacoma, so I'm really psyched that I can put real life on hold for just a bit longer.

Brian on the other hand, has been crushing all season long. He's been competing in the NC3 series (collegiate comp series) all school year, and ended up getting second overall! He also looks set to graduate this spring, which is really exciting! Brian is such a gangsta, and even though we're on opposite sides of the state now, we're still trying to find time to climb together. On a side note, it was Brian's birthday on may 4th, so if you see him out at the crags give him a big Happy Birthday!

Stay psyched,

Mike

NC3 Season!

Well its been a while since I have posted and mike is on the other side of the world so here we go.

As of now I am in the middle of the NC3 climbing competition series. This series if a group of 8 colleges around the northwest that host climbing competitions. At each comp the schools and individuals are ranked. This year I have been coaching the CWU climbing team, which has double in size from the previous year. This team is almost entirely new climbers and they show a lot of promise. I am really excited to see how they do though out the season.

Brian

New Video!

Here's a link to a video of Jen, Brian and I sending some of our projects in late spring. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXRNbK1B7OM

Did you know it's actually Antivenin?

I have not posted in a while (as usual) although so much has happened I am actually a little ashamed of myself for not posting it. Anyways, on to the news. About a week after Brian sent the practitioner, Brian and I (and our respective love interests) decided to make the hike up to the Labrynth. We only make it up there about once a year, so we were really excited to get back there and try to finish our longstanding projects. Brian and I were trying The Bone Collector and were getting really close. Brian hit the lip and peeled off, and we instantly ran seperate ways to find which spot on the lip we should hit. Brian rounded the corner of the boulder, and an instant later we heard a shriek. Brian came back around the corner, and his finger was bleeding. It turns out he started to jump up on a boulder and startled a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake reacted and bit him. We were all nervous for him, but told him to sit down while we packed everything. We all desperately hoped it was a dry bite, but soon Brian started complaining about his lips going numb and feeling dizzy. At that point we knew it was serious, and we had to find some way to trek the 15 minute downhill hike back down to the car. Once we got to the car, we rushed him to the Leavenworth hospital, which in turn rushed him to Wenatchee Central Hospital. He ended up needing 11 vials of antivenin, but now he is doing much better. His arm swelled up to the size of Hellboy, but he is doing way better and is almost completely recovered. We got some wicked pictures of his arm, and I will post those soon, along with a video of Brian's send of the Practitioner. We're all so happy he's okay!

A New Hope

Needless to say, it has been a weird spring weatherwise. The normal rule of "60% precipitation for leavenworth on wunderground.com means climbtime" did not apply this year. It was a very wet season, but fortunately, alot was done in the small window of good weather. Now that it is getting quite hot outside, I would say mine and Brian's climbing season is going to slow down, but that's never the case. We're still going to be outside trying to send our projects, being much to stubborn to listen to the scorching sun telling us we should not be invading its summer territory with our screams of how everything is greasy, and it's not our fault that we are falling. The rock is just sweating too damn much. Oh well, enough about the present and future, let's dwell in the past for a while shall we? Thankfully, Brian and I had the opportunity to take advantage of the last few perfect days of spring, and quite a few projects were ticked off, especially by Brian! That guy crushed this spring, and is getting so strong it makes me sick! We went out with Jen and our friends Cassidy and Andy, and it was a very productive day! I am happy to announce that Brian has done The Practitioner! Congratulations Brian! He worked really hard on that problem and he totally deserved to reap the rewards of that send.

Brian getting ready for the send

Jen has also been crushing lately! She had been climbing a few times before this school year but after she got a job at the rock wall, she started climbing a ton and can't stop won't stop sending! She defeated her arch nemesis Sunshine Daydream, and in the same day, ticked off Occum's Razor! That day was definitely a sendfest!

Jen making her way up Sunshine Daydream

Lexi being super cute, as always

The next time we got to go out was a week or two later, and Brian and I really wanted to go up to Mountain Home and get some longstanding personal projects done. We started off with a double team send of Emperor's Lightning, and Jen hopped on Darth Maul for the first time that day. She'll definitely be back to get that one under her belt. Next, Brian and I went down the hill to Darth Vader. Turns out that this problem is as evil as the sith lord himself. I ended up taking a fall and hitting my ankle on a protruding rock, which HURT!!!! Then, Brian slapped the lip and started to mantle, but halfway through his mantle he popped off a micro-crimp which pulled his fingernails back! He was bleeding all over the place, so we surrendered to the dark side and retreated farther down the hill to the cattleguard arete, which is a problem I had wanted to try for quite a while. I pulled on, and very surprisingly, flashed it! I was stoked, and that was a good end to an otherwise painful day. After an evening at Jen's cabin, we trekked back to L-town and wanted to try I Heart Jerry Garcia. This problem is pretty technical and balancey in the beginning, which is not really Brian's or my style. But regardless, we hopped on the send train! It's an amazing feeling standing on top of something that you thought would be impossible. Later in the day, Brian continued being Brian by nabbing The Sail. What a stud! Our last trips were Brian and I taking our friend Colin out for the first time, and he had an awesome time, and pulled off some pretty hard sends! Good job Colin! Also, yesterday Jen and I went and visited tumwater canyon for a bit. I hadn't been to tumwater all season, and it felt good to be back, and get a different taste than the Icicle for a while.

Brian looking very Darth Sidious on Emperor's Lightning

They love getting their pictures taken... really.

Jen working the moves on Darth Maul

Brian sticking the first move of Darth Vader

Colin sending one of his first Leavenworth problems. One of many to come.

I apologize for the terribly long post. Maybe this'll teach me to not procrastinate on this stuff. A video should be up soon, and I'll post a link to that when it's done.

Stay psyched!

Mike

Another glorious weekend in L-town

School is almost out! We are finally nearly free from the confines of the prison that is higher education. As for me, today does actually mark me being done with college! If I choose, I don't ever have to take another class again! This feeling is, of course, ruined by the fact that I am going to grad school next year. Bummer. Well, even more time gets to be spent climbing while I'm out of school so I am going to soak it up! This monday, Brian, Alicia, Jen and I got to get outside for "dead day", which is a day the school gives students off to study for finals. Hmmm... study or climb. Not really a fair choice. Brian was really psyched to go back to the practitioner, and he has been making really good progress on it, so our first stop was the forestlands. We stopped in lower forestlands to warm up, and the girls made really good headway on the real thing, which is an awesome technical problem, and one of my favorites in the forestlands! After a good warm up, we headed up to the practitioner. Brian had a couple B.S. burns, then hit the lip his next two goes! It was awesome to see Brian come so close to his project, and he is going to send that problem soon! We met up with Jeff at Kobra Kahn, and worked that for a while. That line is so classic and has great movement! None of us got it but I'm psyched to go back to it!

Alicia on The Real Thing

Brian nearing the lip of The Practitioner

Me not nearing the lip

After we had finished up in the forestlands, we went to egg rock, where Jen had some unfinished business with Sunshine Daydream. She made a lot of good progress, and she had amazing pogo beta which worked awesome! Unfortunately, the girls had to leave so they left Brian and I to massacre our skin and fall a lot!

Shhhh... don't tell Jen!

Jen on Sunshine Daydream

After the girls left, I decided I would try Musashi since I was at egg rock. I strapped my shoes on... and sent! I was really surprised and so happy! Definitely one of the coolest features in Leavenworth! Finally, Brian and I capped off our trip by going to check out Droppin the Kirschbaum. We made some decent progress on our first day, and we can' t wait to go back and try to link all the moves! SO MANY MOVES! However, the most exciting thing to happen to me was the arrival of my new Asana crash pad. So sick! I love it so so much! Asana is a great company, and these guys will do anything for you!

Me lovin' my new pad!!!!!

Well, it's another day of climb time tomorrow so expect another post soon!

Mike

It's been a lifetime!

Oh my goodness! So, Brian and I are finally getting back on our game and restarting to post this blog. It's been quite a while, and a lot has happened! The fall season was really rough! I took a break from climbing over the summer because of a finger injury, and I ended up not climbing until February! After this break that lasted waaaaaayyy too long, I felt so so weak! But everything is improving and I'm feeling much better. My finger isn't bugging me, and the spring season went really well! I've been out climbing in Leavenworth a ton with Jen, and we have an awesome time! Jen has gotten super strong in such a short amount of time! It's been really impressive and it's inspired Brian and I to work even harder because she is kicking our butts!

Crushing The Sword

Working Fridge Right

Unfortunately, I don't have any new pictures of Brian. We've been taking pictures with like, 5 different cameras, so it's been hard getting them all together. But here's some pictures of me in Leavenworth.

Me on Scrambled Eggs

Hanta Man

Working The Practitioner

Finally sending Off the Couch

Also, Brian is so so so so close to getting the practitioner, and I'm sure he'll get it really soon!

Jen and I also got a chance to go to Smith Rocks for memorial day weekend, and it was an awesome time! We realized that our endurance is miserable, but we had a lot of fun anyways!

Jen cleaning Blue Light Special

Me finally nabbing Heinous Cling Start

Well, that's it for now. We promise we'll keep better tabs from now on!

Stay psyched,

Mike

The New Season is Upon Us!

Mike Dove has finaly graduated from school!... Well almost. He still has one more test. However, he has so much free time that all he gets to do is practice and climb. Mr Mike has been out in leavenworth crushing all kinds of problems such as Hanta Man, Ressurection, Scrambled Eggs, and quite a few others that I can't remember the names.... There will be some cool pitctures of some of these problems as soon as Mike puts them up. Today I'm taking 3 people out who have never been bouldering outside and there all gonna have a blast climbing on the AMAZING granite that we have here in Leavenworth. Well thats the short version of how the begining of this season is going, and I need to go pick everyone up!

Brian

School is starting!

So... for most of the summer Mike and I have done almost nothing in the endever of outside climbing due to lack of funding and hot weather... :( However, now that school is fast approaching and the weather is getting better we are hoping to be able to climb again! whoo hoo. So keep checking and we will have some new stories for ya!

Brian

Ahhhhh! nothings happening!

Well.. its been a long time since there has been anything crazily exciting so here is a run down of the small stuff!

Mike and I haven't been able to climb together for almost 3 weeks, :( so I have been climbing with a few other people. A few weeks ago, 3 I think, Karlyn and I went climbing in Leavenworth were Karlyn Completed a long standing personal project the Hole. After that we drove to the Camp Serene boulder in Gold bar were Karlyn then dispatched the awsome Serenity Now. Later that day I was itchen' to go work the bottom of Ross Bongo so Karlyn and I made a quick drive over to the Five Star boulder and I spent the rest of the day light trying to link the actual start with the rest of the problem with not send in the end but i did figure out how to like all the moves. During all of that Mike and Britt took a trip to Seatle and when climbing at the wonderful Stone Gardens were they enjoyed a quite evening of awsome climbing with amazing walls!

2 weeks ago Mr Mike Dove had a gig playing with a band! So left to my own I decided to go climbing with Karlyn again. So back out in leavenworth we went to the Forestlands and spend some quality time on the amazing rock there. I wanted to try the back door ass attack before the sun hit it, well I wasn't successfull in that but i was able to somehow mantle on the sloping nothingness that is the topout, though I don't think I could do it again! Inspired by my work ethic (I dont know why haha) Karlyn decided to try another one of her projects, the insainly cool and scary Ruminator! Having been super close to the top out severl times before Karlyn was pretty nervous getting ready for the climb. Once the pads were set and the shoes were on however, Karlyn made quick work the problem sending on her first go!

so this last weekend was an exciting one for Mike as it was his B-Day! whoo hoo! He is now an old geezer like me at the ripe old age of 22! So this weekend Mike and I could have climbed together.. but no.. I thought he had gone home but he didn't. So like the goober that I am i went climbing with out him :(. but only because I thought he wasn't around... I took a trip out to Vantage in the late evening with Derick, Laura, and Karlyn. it was Dericks and Lauras first time climbing out side so Karlyn and I put up a rope for them and they both climbed on real rock for the first time. That was a ton of fun! after Derick climbed I was itchen to climb something so I asked him if he wanted to go free solo a route... and to my amazement he said yes! ahh! brave man! So Derick and I went and climbed the easiest route there but with no ropes and Derick did great never got scared once and never stoped either. Pretty impresive for his first time climbing!

Well now that we are caught up in all the cool climbing news and I have written a book, I think I'll go eat some breakfast!

Brain

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!

Oh man! Is it time for some updates!

So last Wednesday, Britt, Brian and I went to Leavenworth for the day, and it was awesome! Brian finished up Pimpsqueak, which is super awesome! It's an amazing line and you're completely horizontal for quite a while. So sick! I couldn't quite pull it off, but I knew I'd be back soon to try it again. After a short dinner break at Heidelburger, we went to check out Musashi and Brian nabbed that one also! We were all stoked for Brian! Woo! After Brian spanked Musashi, I went back to Pimpsqueak, but just couldn't pull it off. Fast forward to Saturday. I was really itching to get back to Pimpsqueak, so we warmed up in the Mad Meadows proper area, and then trekked to the awesomeness that is Pimpsqueak. I nailed it first try of the day, and was really excited about it! Brian and I find it so much fun and so much more satisfying when we go through the project rollercoaster. Experiencing every emotion, becoming so angry with an inanimate object, and eventually, finishing a sequence on this piece of rock that you have somehow become intensely attached to. But after we finish, there's always the lingering question: What's next? We decided that we had some unfinished business over on the west side, so we traveled to the Camp Serene boulder, and both got Chemical Imbalance, officially ticking off that boulder for us. The next stop on the agenda was the Five Star Boulder. Brian ticked the Five Star Arete very quickly, and then we went to work on Ross Bongo. I wasn't too psyched on it until Brian unlocked the sequence and got painfully close to topping it out. After being inspired by Brian, I managed to send... well, sort of. After watching videos of others doing it, we realized we weren't starting low enough, so we gotsta go back. Anyways, super long post but super productive weekend. Stay tuned for more pics and video. Didn't get too much on this trip.

BATMAN

Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you a story.
There is one boulder problem I have been too afraid to attempt since I found out it existed in Leavenworth. It's name... is Batman. I was never afraid because of anything the climb had to offer, except for its name. You see, I love batman. I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with him and would never want to disappoint him. So, I never tried the problem in fear that if I blew balls all over the climb, I would disappoint. Finally, Friday, June 19th, 2009, with the help and encouragement of Brian, I gathered the gonads and summoned the gumption to go visit my idol. I stood in awe at this superproblem I had built up in my head everytime I drove past it. Brian and I set the pads, and quickly sussed out the beta. I threw myself at the problem with reckless abandon, wanting so badly to prove to the dark knight that I was ready, that I was worthy of this send. I am fortunate to say that even though I did not complete the problem (fell off the top a bunch of godforsaken times), it was everything I've imagined. It is rare that a line holds the attention of Brian and I for any significant amount of time, since we both suffer from a severe case of I'mboredalready-itis, but this one captivated us, and we will be back to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.
-Mike

Headspace

After a wonderful history with the beautiful boulders of Leavenworth, Brian and I found ourselves in a little bit of a psych slump. Since we were feeling a bit down, we decided to check out a couple boulders we had never seen before. So we called up Nathan, and trekked over to Gold Bar to visit the Camp Serene and Five Star boulders. After a long drive, we found the Camp Serene boulder. It was big and beautiful, and had some amazing quality problems, all of which came with a bit of an adrenaline rush!

Nathan on Ryan's Problem

Somebody had an accident

We managed to dispatch 4 of the 5 problems, and all got dangerously close to the super "chemical imbalance". Definitely added to the tick list. After spending a few hours at the Camp Serene boulder, we decided to head up to the Five Star Boulder. I had heard a ton of spray about this boulder, and it definitely did not disappoint. It is a HUGE boulder, with about a dozen quality problems for those who are willing to test their headspace. We got a few done, but have plenty to go back to. Ground Zero will go down soon...

A video of Brian and I on Sobriosity, one of the Five Star's less highball lines

Enjoy!

Mike