Southwest Airlines SALE!

I received an Email this morning from Southwest. I usually ignore these Emails as they never really have anything of interest to me. Today's news was different! Half off roundtrip air to VEGAS! Why does Vegas matter to a climber? Red Rocks of course! I am now busy trying to find someone who is willing to go to bed early and wake up even earlier while in Sin City!
Hurry up and get your tickets as the sale ends on january 31st! Weekends seem to be filling up fast but the weekdays are wide open and you can expect to pay $150 round trip from Seattle. Flight must be between January 13 and March 11. The weather would be more easily predictable in March I would imagine (although I have had it snow on me in Red Rocks in March before).
This recession can turn out to be very useful for the traveling climber!



Red Rocks is about a 45 min drive from the Las Vegas strip and includes some of the best multi-pitch moderate rock climbs I have ever done! And don't worry if you prefer clipping bolts because Red Rocks is loaded with sport climbs!
How can you resist?!
Here are some trip reports from a few of my Red Rocks trips.

Solar Slab
Panty Wall
Brass Wall
Geronimo
Dark Shadows

Just a quick update...

I spent another 3 hours in laughing Buddha on Tuesday getting some sleeve work done. Nina was able to finish all the water and the mountain on the top of my shoulder! I must be getting used to it cause it doesn't seem to hurt as much any more. I have another appointment scheduled for early January which should finish the whole idea of the tatto! I want the sky to climb up and over my shoulder and onto my upper back. The shoulder will be swirlls of yellow, orange and red sunset colors with my back being more dark and light blues like darkness. Maybe a couple cookie cutter stars? We'll see...

A bit late...

Just a quick update on my sleeve.  It is definitely taking longer than I was hoping!  My third session was on October 22.  I have been having issues with ingrown hairs, yuck!  So I am now taking some time off of the tattoo so it can completely heal.  As soon as it does I will probably make a 3 hour appointment to finish up the rest.  I will have more appointments later on to connect everything around my arm but I am not to concerned when that takes place.  I just want to finish the focal point.  

Session 2

I spent 2 1/2 hours under Nina's needle today. I originally wanted to go for 3 hours but it was definitely getting hard to ignore the pain so we cut it short. Now I know to just make 2 hour appointments instead! She worked on the alpine meadows today using a lot of greens and yellows. I get more excited after every session I have. I'll probably have my 3rd session in about 2 weeks but that depends on this wonderful Washington weather. If it's sunny; I'm going climbing! If it's raining; I'm getting inked!

On a different matter...  Stevens pass recieved snow!  Here is an image from the web cam.

...But I'm not done rock climbing yet!

The smell of FAILURE...

On Monday and Tuesday I was supposed to climb the North Ridge of Mt. Stuart. This climb has been on my mind for nearly 8 years. Everything was working out great! amazing weather, great temps... The only problem seemed to be my climbing partner! We ended up hiking 6 hours to the Stuart Glacier when he decided that we have gone far enough. We turned around and hiked 6 hours back to the car. Pretty lame.

People need to realize their limits! Just cause you have talked yourself into believing that you can do something doesn't mean that you are actually capable of doing it. I guess I am glad that we turned around at the glacier instead of on the actual ridge. That could of been a mess!

The approach with Ingalls Lake in the distance.

Me resting at the Stuart Glacier.

Mt. Stuart will have to wait till next year I guess.

The start of something new...

It's been awhile since I have updated my web page. Sorry, I'm to busy climbing to be coding. I have my priorities! I have finally updated a couple of my recent climbing trips and I will get to the rest soon. I have something different that I want to add here though. I have wanted tattoo's my whole life but for some reason or another I have always made excuses to not get any. I have finally started what I have always wanted! Yesterday I had my first session for a sleeve that I am getting permanently inked into my skin!
I have been trying to figure out exactly what I want for the last year or so and thanks to Nina at Laughing Buddha we have come up with the perfect design for me. It is going to be a landscape sleeve of the enchantments and prusik peak in Washington. The enchantments are an amazing place and Prusik Peak is a Washington climber landmark. The place is special to me and I can't wait to have my experience of being there and climbing that peak permanently attached to my skin. My only issue is the 2 week healing period; it's really messing up my climbing!

Here is the rough draft

here is the process

She was only able to work on it for about an hour. In the next 3 weeks I will be attempting the North Ridge of Mt. Stuart so I wont be able to schedule another appointment until afterwords. I don't want the rubbing and chafing of my backpack to mess with it at all.  My next session should be 2 or more hours long so a lot more will be done.  I can't wait to get it done!  Finally!  

Gannett Peak - Gooseneck Couloir -

I'm back in Seattle after a long 10 day vacation. It is good to get back to work as I obviously have a lot of bills to pay off. I still have a couple of weeks to raise money for Big City Mountaineers but even if I can't raise it all it was well worth the effort! For starters; I feel that I am a part of possibly changing the lives a kids who may otherwise never get the opportunity to spend quality time in the mountains. I know way to many people in Seattle who have lived here for a long time and have never been to Mt. Rainier! I can't comprehend this at all. I had parents that took me on backpacking trips while I was young. I never saw Disney Land but who cares when you are totally surrounded by the outdoors! I feel that these camping and backpacking trips have made me the person that I am today and I am completely ecstatic to help give these kids similar experiences!

The climb of Gannett Peak was amazing! I have never been to the Wind Rivers and i now know that I must find my way back! It was a complete thrill to be hiking at 10,000+ feet for 5 day's. Going in and out of valleys and lakes and camping below 13,000 foot peaks. What an amazing experience! A trip report will soon follow. If I could only find time!

2 WEEKS!!!!!

Well, in a couple of weeks I will be driving to Wyoming to climb Gannett Peak! I am pretty excited to explore the Wind Rivers! So far I have been able to raise $1965 for the Big City Mountaineers! Of course that leaves me with $2035 to pay. A lot of money but worth such a good cause! I've been spending a lot of time climbing in the North Cascades to train for my 40-mile round trip hike of this awesome peak. I'm in good shape right now and am not worried about the hike at all but I am a little concerned about the altitude. Living in Seattle I spend most of my time at sea level and I have not been above 10,000 feet for quit some time. It is a 5 day trip so I should have some time to adjust.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me and donated to this great cause! It means the world to me and to the kid's that will gain an unbeatable life experience. I still have about 6 weeks to raise money so if you are interested and/or have an extra 10 bucks to spare please donate.

Donate Here!

Slowly Trudging On!

Some people are just amazing! Others, not so much. A huge thanks go out to Armida (who helped me out at the last Safeco game), Sheri and Leizle for working another game for me! We all worked at Safeco on May 6th as the Mariners got their ass kicked! I think it was like 10-1 for Texas. We had a good time as it was not as busy as the first game we worked so we could actually chat a bit. I'm not exactly sure how much we raised but it's in the realm of $260-300. Thanks again ladies!
I also had a donation from Graham Hunter who donated $100 and another donation from my wonderful mother who donated another $110! You two are too good to me! Love you both!

How time flies!

I have a little over a month to raise $3000! Can I do it? Will my friends actually show their support or will they turn? Good question and I honestly don't know. I had a huge opportunity to make a lot of money and only 2 of my friends actually helped me out. We were still able to make $340 but if my friends would have actually come through I could have made over $1000. Disappointing? A huge thanks goes to Christina and Armida as they were the only two who could miss the 1st of the near 80 home games that the Mariners play. Christina, Armida and I volunteered at Safeco Field during the game and Ivar's donated $340 to the Big City Mountaineers for me.

Gwen and Ken Stanton donated $100 and a long lost friend, Stephanie Sampson donated $25. Thanks to you all!

Thanks to friends old and new!

My brother Bryon donated $100 to help me raise money for Big City Mountaineers! Thanks Bryon, you rock! It was great to see you and the rest of the fam in Utah. You are so lucky to have access to all of that cold Utah powder! I miss it.
Last night my friend Nick Barfuss donated $100. This was a complete shock as I haven't seen Nick for like 10 years! We spent the Logan High School years hanging out and playing angry music together. Nick lives in Perth, Australia now. I think. Thanks for your support Nick!

As spring is right around the corner I have to really start focusing on fund raising. If you are a Mariners fan you may find me and a bunch of my Seattle friends working at the consession stands serving you chowder and beer. We will be donating our time to Ivar's and in return they will give about $75 per person to my "Summit for Someone" account. This will take a big chunk out of the $4,000 pledge I have given.

Thanks Matt!

Matt Wilson donated $25 to help inner-city kids have an experience of a lifetime! Thanks for your support Matt!

Donate here