Let the Adventures Begin!

It’s been a cold winter. There have been climbable days here and there, but for whatever reason, my schedule hasn’t lined up for me to take advantage of them, so I’ve been spending most of my time in the gym. It’s been great to focus on training, and getting better at climbing, but I didn’t realize how much I’d been sucked into that side of things until this past weekend.

A couple years ago, I went to Zion to climb Touchstone with my friend Lynn and his son Tobin. It would have been Tobin’s first experience sleeping on a wall, which was the main goal of the trip. Unfortunately, at the second pitch, my friend took a whipper into a slab after some fixed gear broke, and his ankle got severely jacked. We had to retreat and save the climb for another day.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I had a short window to fit in a longer trip, and it was time to go back for another round on Touchstone with Lynn. We left Carbondale at 6am on Friday, and were at the base of the route around 2pm after picking up another friend along the way. The sun was shining, the air was warm, and it felt good. We fixed the first three pitches and then headed into town for some dinner. Hanging out around camp, peering up into a star studded desert sky, feelings were awoken that had been lying dormant all winter long. The craving for rock and sun and sky, for big open vistas, for grand objectives and the camaraderie that comes with them.

I’ve had a blast climbing in the gym all winter, working on weaknesses that I hope will make me a better climber on real rock. But finally getting outside again made me realize how much I’d been missing this part of it. Like I’d only been seeing things in black and white, and thinking that was pretty good, until this incredible world of color was unfolded before me.

The weather on Saturday was perfect, in the upper 60’s, with some high clouds to keep it from getting too hot on the south facing climb. We had a great time on the route, and I’m more psyched than ever that climbing season is here. Let the adventures begin!