Rock Climbing

There is nothing like an east coast fall. The changing leaves turn the landscape into a burst of color and the crisp nights are perfect for camping. During the day the temp hovers in the 60s and the rock bakes making it perhaps the best destination in the world for a late October rock climbing […]  [ Read More ]

Fall. No not the pretty colors and crisp cool nights. Fall where you’re plummeting through the air and a world of pain is inevitably in your near future. I hate falling. In 21 years of climbing I have fallen exactly 6 times and every single one of those falls is a vivid memory. Of course […]  [ Read More ]

Former Anchorite Austin Thayer was visiting and the weather forecast looked halfway decent so we met up early and drove up to Hatcher in the hopes of getting in some climbing before the rains came back. Ignoring the puddles we pushed up Archangel road and were roped up and starting up the first pitch of […]  [ Read More ]

A sunny day in Hatcher Pass is a rarity… a sunny day in late August in Hatcher Pass is about as close to divine providence as you can get so we took advantage of it. Jake Gano and I met up at 7:30 and drove to the pass. We were racked up and had started […]  [ Read More ]

Those who know me know that I tend to be pretty down on Alaska cragging. Cragging in Alaska is pretty poor. The Seward highway consists of loose choss on road cut above an endless stream of cars honking and running into each other. I’ve always been told that Puriton has high quality rock – but […]  [ Read More ]

It’s another one of those summers. The forecast gave us one good day and then the rains were supposed to come back. Not enough time for an overnighter for weekend warriors but enough time for a day trip- or rather a 3/4 day trip. So we packed up the rope and rack and headed north […]  [ Read More ]

A fall, sprain and fractures in the tibia and talus meant I spent most of September and October on the couch watching bad Netflix, [reading] [a few] [good] [books] and learning how to code jquery mobile. No late summer / fall rock climbing trip for me. After the doctor said I wasn’t going anywhere tickets […]  [ Read More ]

The Tetons; will I ever tire of them? There are so many places to go so many mountain ranges scattered across the continent yet I am always drawn back to the magnificent view of the Cathedral Group towering above the valley floor. The tops of the peaks dusted with snow, lines traced with fingers of […]  [ Read More ]

Cragging. To a climber that’s all one has to say. The word implies good times, good fun – a vacation. To a non-climber how can I explain it? Cragging is when you go to a climbing area where all the climbs are an easy 5-10 minute walk from the car and the climbs are maximum […]  [ Read More ]

Winter lasted well into June in Anchorage. Snow patches lingered in the yard till June and we were still climbing snow couloirs like it was May in mid June. Then the July rains came early… rock climbing consisted of long drives to Hatcher only to turn around and drive home, mountain climbing was out of […]  [ Read More ]