The Adventures of EZ

Life Span of Rock Climbing Shoes?

2011-03-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

After a few years of doing product demos, I am finding that I am asked some standard questions that require very professional and thought out answers. The big thing I find, is that by answering these questions with "WE", "OUR", or "US", my answers are more of a group effort apposed to just my personal opinion which is usually met with a lot less resistance.

The most asked comment/question I receive is,
"I have only had these shoes for 4 months and I am very unhappy that they fell apart so quickly, what are YOU going to do to help me"? Along with the comment is the usual upset look and the stare down. This is a fun situation in that, each customer is different in how they react to my "standard" reply.

"Standard Reply"
"I do apologize for how quickly your Evolv climbing shoes have worn out"
"How long have you been climbing in the Evolv product"?
"How long have you been climbing"?
"Are these your first pair of climbing shoes"?
"Did you happen to purchase them as a comfy fit(big)"?
"How many times per week do you climb"?
"Are these your only pair of climbing shoes"?
"Do you mostly climb indoors"?
Size of climber is obvious.

After evaluating the situation, I execute my answer as tactfully as possible.

"We at Evolv pride ourselves on producing the best product in the industry". Depending on how many days per week you climb, how many pairs of shoes you ware per that week, how often you climb indoors, what model of climbing shoe you currently own, and the size of climber you are.

Equation;
3 days per week + 1 pair + 3 days per week indoors + Defys + 200ish pounds = 6 months to 1 year, which is what the unhappy climber had them for.

I explain that, if they are learning how to climb, if their shoes are a "comfy" fit, if they climb 3 to 4 days per week indoors and if they are a larger(muscular) climber:), that the product may only last 6 months to a year or so. I explain to them about Evolv's Variable Thickness Rand and how that is designed to prolong the life of the climbing shoe, IF THAT SHOE IS TAKEN CARE OF PROPERLY. Keep the shoe out of the sun, wash the shoes from time to time, indoor climbing is very rough on climbing shoes, make sure the model of shoes you purchased, soft, stiff, etc. are a good pair for your size.

The best part of this story is that, right after my second unhappy Evolv climbing shoe owner, came this tiny young lady that wanted to thank Evolv for producing such a great, long lasting product.
She just purchased a new pair of Electras because her old pair of Athenas lasted her 7 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She climbed in them 3 days per week or so without any gaps in her climbing other than being sick a few times. CRAZY COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do believe that Evolv produces the best product in the industry and if taken care of properly, the new answer when asked, "how long should the Evolv product last"?

SEVEN YEARS:)

Art Website

2011-01-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be kind of neat to have my artwork somewhere where folks cold see it or even buy it. Here is the link to the site where I hope my artwork will be seen.
portraits drawings
child portrait drawings

Durango X Rock clean up

2010-11-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

The Durango XRock clean up was awesome!

XRock is the oldest established climbing area within Durango. Josh and his Kling Mountain Guide group did an awesome job putting all of the logistics together creating wonderful new and improved trails, replacing old anchors and adding new ones. Not only did folks dig, move rocks and establish new trails, everyone gave a hand in picking up trash as well. The strangest thing they had found was a rotting skunk carcase. Yes, they cleaned it up and got it the heck out of there, thank god, it stank something fierce.

Backcountry Experience, Pine Needle Mountaineering, Gardeswartz Outdoors, Ska Brewing, Durango Parks and Recreation, San Juan College, Evolv, Metolius, Trails 2000, Leave No Trace, Access Fund, and Outdoor Pursuits were all supporters in the first annual crag clean up. All the supporters gave out great stuff to all the participants for their hard work and efforts. Ska Brewery had a great after party with lots of great beer and brats for all that were involved.

X Rock

Getting ready to clean.

Skunk be gone.

Participants receive goodies for their hard work.

Ska Brewery gave us a tour!

Evolv team member Byron and local fireman Dan psyched!!

MMMMMMM, bbbbbbeeeeeerrrrrrrrr.

Come on, we had to get some climbing in.

Goodness.

More goodness.

The Box Car Boulder.

All in all, the event was super cool and everyone had a great time.

Thanks Durango.

Shoes Heading out to Haiti

2010-10-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon and evening, Cyn and I met with an awesome lady who is now are connection I Haiti. As we all know, Haiti was rocked by a powerful earthquake, killing thousands and injuring masses to large to count. In all that craziness, people were losing limbs at an alarming rate, and with the heath care being that of a 3^rd would country, people are forces to get by on what ever is around. I had heard of the plight and after speaking with my man EZ Harrison and Brian at the trade show, we all came up with a plan of getting our sample shoes out to people who need them. Being an amputee myself, my heart goes out to these groups, and here in the states I’ve been able to pass our shoes out to the ones who need them. But, then Haiti came along with the mess there and I wanted to step in, enter Alice. She is working with a doctor there and his clinic to pass on our shoes to the ones who need them, we are passing on not just approach shoes, but flip flops since the tropics are a bit toasty and we try to fit them the best we can.

As we talked with Alice, she filled us in on the day to day there and it makes you want to cry. If , through the generosity of Evolv, we can help in any way, we were psyched to step in and help out. Brian and Donny made sure I had the shoes in plenty of time and last night she picked them up on her way to New York to meet with the doc’s team and get ready for the trip over. We will keep sending shoes as long as there is a need, and you can’t believe how a small act on our part, impacts the greater world.

Super cool. A huge thanks to the Evolv team, showing the world, again, how cool the vibe we own really is.

Story and photo by Evolv athlete, Craig Demartino.

October Events

2010-10-04T08:28:00.001-07:00

October events in our Rocky Mountain area:

Oct 7- R&J 1 comp.
Oct 8- Lakewood Rec Center Comp.
Oct 9- Wilderness Exchange Parking Lot Gear Swap.
Oct 14- Reel Rock Tour- CO Springs.
Oct 15-22- Stone Age Prime 8 climbing festival.
Oct 23- Santa Fe Climbing Center Comp.
Oct 23- Spot SBS Comp.
Oct 28- San Juan College Comp.
Oct 30- Durango Co. Clean Up through Backcountry Experience.
Oct 30- Adams State College Comp CCS.

Paradox Sports Vedauwoo climbing weekend

2010-09-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Subject: Paradox Sports Vedauwoo climbing weekend September 10th, 11th, and 12th

Hi Gang,
You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in coming to our climbing weekend up in Vedauwoo, Wyoming. Named after an old Arapaho indian name meaning "earth-born", Vedauwoo is a magical place of tumbled rocks, winding trails, dark skies and near-constant wind. It is wild Wyoming at its best. It also happens to offer world-class rock climbing at all levels, great mountain biking, hiking and star-gazing. At an altitude of around 8,000 feet it is a wonderful respite from the heat of Denver and Boulder but that altitude also bring cold nights and the possibility of wild storms.

We are about 2 weeks away from our Vedauwoo climbing weekend September 10th, 11th, and 12th. We are really excited to see everyone and get some climbing in. Along with climbing Vedauwoo offers some great mountain biking, hiking, trail running, stargazing and fishing. If none of those are your interest just come out anyway and hang. Vedauwoo is a fee area. You will be able to get in with your National Parks Pass. For those of you with disabilities it is FREE for you with your Access Pass. Here is information on how to obtain your Access Pass.

Here are a few links with information on Vedauwoo:
Mountain Project
vedauwoo.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedauwoo

Location:

From Denver Take I-25 North to Cheyenne. From Cheyenne go West about 30 miles on I-80 to the Vedauwoo Road, Exit 329. If you are headed there from Laramie, it is about 18 miles east on I-80 to the exit. It takes about 2 hours to get there from Denver/Boulder. Map

Location:

From Denver Take I-25 North to Cheyenne. From Cheyenne go West about 30 miles on I-80 to the Vedauwoo Road, Exit 329. If you are headed there from Laramie, it is about 18 miles east on I-80 to the exit. It takes about 2 hours to get there from Denver/Boulder. Map

The Plan:

Friday September 10th - Arrival at Vedauwoo. We will setup our camping site and depending on arrival time climb a few pitches. All meals will be the responsibility of the participant. Paradox Sports will provide a camp kitchen.

Saturday September 11th - Climbing, Biking, Fishing, or hanging out. Breakfast and Lunch will be the responsibility of the participant. Dinner will be provided by Paradox Sports.

Sunday September 12th - More Climbing, Biking, Fishing, or hanging out. Depart when you need to.

Camping:

There are no hotels at Vedauwoo so we will be camping. Since the camping will be first-come, first serve, our local crew will go up there a day early and try to secure the group camping sites. If these aren't available look for Paradox signs and directions. Bring the following:
Bring a good tent (remember the wind)
A sleeping bag that will keep you warm to freezing
A sleeping pad.
Flashlight or headlamp (better)
1 Bundle of firewood
Camp chair
Personal necessities: toiletries, sunscreen, hand lotion, first-aid stuff (See: offwidth climbing)

Food and Cooking:
Paradox Sports will provide dinner on Saturday night. All other meals and food are your responsibility. We will have cooking facilities set up and have pot and pans available. As with any large group of uncertain lineage, however, it would be wise of you to bring a small backpacking stove and pots if you have them. In addition, be sure to bring your own:
Fork, knife and spoon
Plate
Bowl
Drinking cup
Insulated cup
Trash bag
Cooler with ice
For breakfast we recommend cold or hot cereal or granola (don't forget the milk or yogurt), fruit, coffee and juice. Lunches should be snack bars, fruit and munchies. Sandwiches if you like them. Dinner? Be creative. Saturday night will be spaghetti, salad, bread and wine. Don't forget appetizer stuff. Cheese, sausage, crackers and Cheetos are favorites. Don't forget personal (adult) beverages.

Clothes:
The weather is wild and unpredictable: it could be blazing hot and, half an hour later, it could be freezing, windy and raining. In addition, the rock is very coarse so tough and bulletproof clothes are a must. Here is our recommendation:
Tough cotton shorts
2 t-shirts
long-sleeve pullover top that won't get trashed by the rock (rugby shirts used to be cool)
Long pants that are tough. (Carharts are a favorite)
Sun hat
Beanie or warm hat
Fleece jacket
Down sweater
Rain coat
Bandana
Sunglasses

In order to purchase the correct amount of food and secure the correct size of campsite we would like for you to RSVP to me (chadb@paradoxsports.org) if you are coming for sure. We need your response by Tuesday September 7th.

If you have any other questions or concerns please let me know.

See you in two weeks!

Chad
--
Chad Butrick
Paradox Sports
(303) 210-1996
chadb@paradoxsports.org
www.paradoxsports.org
www.chadbutrick.com
---------------------------------------------------------
Paradox Sports provides inspiration, opportunities and equipment to the disabled community, empowering their pursuit of a life of excellence through human-powered outdoor sports.
---------------------------------------------------------
Paradox Sports is a U.S. I.R.S 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization. Tax ID# 26-0153796.

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

Territory Evolv Dealers

2010-08-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hey team, I thought it might be a great idea if I acquainted you with our dealers in the areas you live.

There have been a couple of new dealers that I have opened in last few months that I thought it would be great if you could stop by from time to time and just hello.

There are also dealers that I have been working to get, that it would also be great if you were in the area, to stop in and say hello.

Thanks team, I really appreciate your help to continue to move Evolv into the #1 ranking climbing shoe company in the world.

Colorado
Backcountry Experience- Durango,CO
Bent Gate Mountaineering- Golden,CO
Estes Park Mountain Shop- Estes,CO
Jax Outdoor Gear- Ft Collins, Loveland, Lafayette,CO
Montbell America- Boulder,CO
Mountain Chalet- Co Springs,CO
Neptune Mountaineering- Boulder,CO
Outdoor Diva- Boulder,CO
The Boot Dr- Telluride,CO
Rock'n & Jam'n 1- Thorton, 2 Englewood,CO
Rock N Roll Sports- Gunnison, CO
Summit Canyoneering- Glenn wood Springs, Grand Junction,CO
The Mountain Shop- Ft Collins,CO
The Trailhead- Buena Vista,CO
Ute Mountaineer- Aspen,CO
Wilderness Exchange- Denver,CO

Accounts I am trying to get that if you are in the area, stop by and say hello.
Bristlecone Mtn Sports- Basalt, CO
Ouray Mountain Sports- Ouray,CO
The Edge Pack and Paddle- Pueblo,CO

New Mexico
Mudd N Flood- Taos, NM
Stone Age- Albuquerque, NM

South Dakota
Granite Sports- Hill City, SD
Take A Hike- Rapid City, SD

Utah
Al's Sporting Goods- Logan, UT
Black Diamond- SLC, UT
Camp Saver- Logan, UT
Canyon Sports- SLC, UT
Gear Heads- Moab,UT
Hansen Mountaineering- Orem, UT
Kirkhams Outdoor Products- SLC, UT
Mountain Works- Provo, UT
Pagan Mountaineering- Moab, UT
The Maple Leaf Company- Ephram, UT
Utah Mountain Sport- SLC, UT

Wyoming
Eclosure Climbing Center- Jackson, WY
Teton Mountaineering- Jackson, WY
WIld Iris Mountain Sports- Lander, WY

Accounts I am trying to get that if you are in the area, stop by and say hello.
The Great Outdoors- Pinedale, WY
Sunlight Sports- Cody, WY

Evolv shoes for a great cause.

2010-08-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

Shoe Give Away

Sometimes doing the right thing looks really cool. You know what I mean, like the guy who jumped on the subway tracks in New York City to save the kid who had fallen on the tracks. I mean, that’s cool! Other times the right thing is not as glamorous but just as cool. Sometimes it takes one company who sees a need and decides to step up and do the right thing.

A little while back EZ Harrison got a hold of me and asked if I knew of any guys who had one leg like I did and might be in need of a shoe. It seems that when Evolv moves from a style or has demo models, they had a wealth of one sided shoes on hand and didn’t want to just add to the landfill. Being on the Evolv Team has been such a great experience for me, and I thought if I could spread some of that love around to some folks who needed some help, well, that would be the right thing to do.

I put the word out and sure enough, the responses came in.

And so did the shoes?!

Donny loaded me up with two huge boxes of one sided beauties. My wife Cyn and I went through the shoes one by one, pairing when we could, and separating the sizes out. Once we got that done, I started the mailing and connecting with the guys and gals who could use the shoes. My friend Pablo who lost his leg in a climbing accident and has not been able to work since, flipped out at the idea Evolv was going to give him shoes. He’s returned to climbing, it’s a huge part of who he is and I think we can all understand that, but to see his thanks really blew me away. He understands the cost of these shoes, and to have a company want to help him spoke volumes. Then there is Todd from Decatur IL who is not a climber, never heard of Evolv, but was shocked we wanted to send him shoes! He has Cerebral Palsy and wears out the fronts of his shoes from the shakes. Two pairs are in the mail to him tomorrow to help him on his way.

The other huge box of singles will be re-boxed and sent to my friend Gary Falleson. Gary runs an organization of climbers who do amazing service projects around the world when they go on climbing trips. He’s built schools and wells in almost every third world country out there, and recently was very active in Haiti. Before the huge earthquake there, they had built a school in a little village where they met a boy named Gilbert. Gilbert had lost his leg after falling off a roof, and through some generous donors, been flown here so I could help him build a leg to walk on with the team who makes my legs. He can only use his leg part time and has to crutch around the village on a pair of wooden crutches and a pair of manky flip flops.

That is till now.

In January, Gary will take a box of shoes over for us and deliver them not only to Gilbert, but to any other kids and adults who are in need after the quake. It seems there are tons of people who lost limbs after the quake and are still in dire need.

All in all, the right thing is pretty cool no matter what shape it comes in. So from our dingy garage to the hills of Haiti and the front range of Colorado, Evolv stepped up and did the right thing in a big way. Thanks!

Paublo digging his kicks.

The Man, the myth, Craig Demartino helping others.

Story written by Crag Demartino, Evolv athlete CO.

Bent Gate Night and Nick Duttle

2010-07-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

Every third Wednesday of the month, Bent Gate in Golden putts on a "Community Night".

It is a lot of fun because Bent Gate does a great job at bringing in interesting folks within the climbing community to talk about various topics.

This last Wednesday's "Community Night" had Evolv team member, Nick Duttle giving a great slide show and informational segment on training, cross training and balance. Originally from Las Cruces New Mexico, Nick has been a fixture in the Hueco Tanks scene and is now a Colorado crusher. As a climber of 13 years, I learned quit a bit myself from Nick's presentation. He was very informational about his training techniques and about nutrition.

Nick giving a great presentation at Bent Gate Night.

Here is a great article on Nick I found that you may enjoy. Nick is one of the nicest and hard working climbers out there, enjoy.

Nick Duttle: American Hero

Written by Kerry Ellard

by Kerry Ellard

When you hear that Nick Duttle is a champion rock climber who is one of only a few in the U.S. to have ...

... climbed a boulder with a V14 rating, it would be a fair assumption to think that his skill and success in this area is the most interesting and impressive thing about him. However, once you get to know Duttle’s story more fully, you realize that his success as a rock climber is really the pinnacle of a life of even greater challenges and triumphs.

Duttle says he his perseverant personality is why he likes climbing, and from the time of his birth in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1981, it was clear that he would need tremendous inner strength in order to just survive, let alone thrive as he has. He was born with Hypohydrotic Ecodermal Dysplasia, a genetic condition that affects the development of many bodily structures, such as skin and hair, and in Duttle’s case impeded the development of his sweat glands, which was especially dangerous because he grew up in the desert, and as a result experienced heat-induced seizures and other health problems. He faced social discrimination due to his sparse hair and other physical issues, but Nick never let such issues hold him back, instead choosing to focus on his positive attributes. Nick’s optimistic and driven personality and natural athleticism allowed him to overcome these difficulties and participate in activities like soccer, which allowed him to develop ways to get around his condition, such as dumping ice water over himself during games to simulate sweating.

Nick’s athletic skill and work ethic made him a standout competitive runner from 6th grade on, and he took part in Junior Olympic track events until he suffered a severe injury to his ACL at age 15 while playing soccer. He was unable to pay for the surgery or continue competitively participating in soccer and track, but still he did not give up. Instead, Duttle was amazingly able to rehabilitate himself through swimming, hiking, and cycling, and moved on to excel at a new sport: rock climbing.

Initially, it was hard for Duttle to even hold on to the rocks, because his lack of sweat meant it was impossible to achieve the necessary friction. But after attempting to climb immediately after swimming, he learned that if he applies moisture to his hands before climbing, it allows him to grip more easily, and, combined with his skill and strength, allowed him to succeed at boulder climbing. He was able to climb a V14 rated boulder, which is a world class level “only thought to be achievable by climbing
legends”. Despite these accomplishments, the “legend,” as he has been referred to, has not lost the desire to challenge himself, and has branched out even further into sport climbing,

Duttle is skilled in more than just the athletic world, having graduated from New MexicoState University with a bachelors of science in Geography and a minor in Mathematics in 2006. He hopes to climb 5.15.c or harder despite his struggle to balance work and climbing and his ongoing health problems, including continuously deteriorating vision due to his Hypohydrotic Ecodermal Dysplasia. However, with all Duttle has overcome and accomplished so far, it is clear that nothing will hold him back if he can help it, and it is only a matter of time before he moves on to his next achievement. As he humorously puts it, "I hope to inspire but I just can't perspire," and he’s definitely an inspiration.

NOTE: Nick Duttle is represented by nationally prominent attorney David C. Grossack. To learn more about Nick, please contact Attorney Grossack at dcg3@ix.netcom.com

Here is a video of Nick crushing Esperanza V14 in Hueco Tanks.

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

Wyoming International Climbers Festival

2010-07-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

Hey all, this is EZ, the Rocky Mountain sales rep and I just got home from my rounds around Wyoming and my first WICF event.

Wyoming is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. I made my way up to Jackson Hole to say hello to our retailers and climbing gyms on my way to Lander. One of our retailers, Teton Mountaineering, http://www.tetonmountaineering.com/, is situated dead center of Jackson Hole and has everything you could ever need for your outdoor adventures.
Enloseure, http://www.enclosureclimbing.com/, is a beast of a climbing gym that is located just outside of town on your way up from I-80. Not only do they have tons of steep terrain, but they also have a really great retail shop that carries many Evolv models. I was bummed to have to leave Jackson Hole, but I had to get to the WICF and represent.

The Grand Tetons.

Teton Mountaineering's main man Neil Starrett.

Enclosure's owner, Randall Townsand.

Lander Wyoming is situated right below Sinks Canyon, one of many world class climbing destinations in the Lander area and is home to the Wyoming International Climber's Festival. http://climbersfestival.org/

The town has a great vibe with super friendly locals that are very accomidating and strong as shit. The local mountain shop is Wild Iris Mountain Sports, http://www.wildirisclimbing.com/, and is located right on Main St. Just outside of town to the south is Wild Iris, also a world famous limestone crag that boasts 100's of super fun and inspiring routes.

Brian Rhodes warming up at Wild Iris Wyoming.

The 17th International Climber's Festival was in full swing this last weekend and Evolv was there to represent. Ryan Arment busted his ass running this awsome event and is a wicked climber in his own rite. There were parties, pull up contests, arm wrestling contests, clinics, demos, slide shows, crate stacking, slack lining, dyno comps, running races, and beer of course. The Lander Brew Pub kept everyone in great spirits as the four day event unfolded.

The Evolv booth in City Park.

Vendors, vendors, vendors.

Oh yeah, the Crate Stacking contest.

Free camping in City Park.

Pretty shoes with Wild Iris in the background.

The ever hard working Ryan Arment.

The watering hole.

Laif in the Dyno comp.

5.10's very own Ronnie Jenkins gettin some.

Bikers in Wyoming love watching dyno comps.

Ryan Arment getting his dance on!

Free camping in Wild Iris.

Evolv team member, Brian Rhodes gettin his Wyoming on.

Laif Gasch is one of our team members that is from Lander and has been a part of the WICF since it's infancy. He pretty much knows every single person in town and helped me with my first WICF, thanks Laif.

Everyone had a lot of fun and Evolv was welcomed with warm hearts and happy feet.
I look forward to having Evolv being part of the 18th WICF. until next year, happy climbing:)

Smiles from all around:)

Happy climbing from your Rocky Mountain Evolv sales rep, EZ.

Outdoor Industry Becoming Conscious

2010-02-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, these babies are sexy!

I have read all of the reviews on the Nike Lunar Glides+ and I have to say, these bad boys rock! I have gone to various running stores and have been fitted a couple of times. One place said I needed shoes with more support, while another said I was fairly neutral. I purchased a pair of Nike AirZoom Triax 13 to help with my overpronated stride. On one of my long runs, my knees and toes started to hurt so I started to my own research. The description for the Lunar Glides went as such, The LUNAR GLIDE'S DYNAMIC SUPPORT system responds to a runner's changing needs, constantly adapting to your stride to deliver just the right amount of comfort and support. LunarLite cushioning provides excellent shock absorption and responsiveness for a bouncy ride. A wedge of firm foam on the back side of the midsole offers pronation support for those who need it.

Once I tried these on and actually ran in them, I was totally blown away. They seem to have great response with a very fluid heal in to toe out flow. The heal section of the shoe is mildly rounded which I think decreases the clunky feeling of some shoes. I am psyched to do a long run in these bad boys to see how comfy they are at mile 8 once again.

I have been getting into running a bit this winter. While at the Out Door Retail Show for Evolv Sports, I found myself over in the running shoe area whenever I got the chance. Being the shoe whore that I am, I found it very intriguing to check out the new running shoe technologies.

One of the coolest technologies I saw was Brook’s MoGo, a biodegradable midsole. The midsoles are designed to break down in landfills within 20 years. Along with Brooks, much of the running shoes out there are utilizing recycled materials on their uppers, water based adhesives and other recycled materials within their midsoles. Check out Brook’s environmental involvements at, http://www.brooksrunning.com/Green+Room/

Nike has had their recycling program for some time and is called the “Nike Reuse a Shoe Program”. http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/ Nike utilizes their recycled material for a plethora of athletic services that includes, children’s playgrounds, weight room flooring, outdoor synthetic courts, running tracks, indoor wood courts, and many more applications that are listed on their website.

Another company I found super intriguing was New Balance. Their line of recycled running shoes, the New Balance 70, http://www.nbwebexpress.com/newbalanceME070SN.htm were cool looking and super light. Along with their recycled running shoes, their environmental quest is note worthy as well. You can check out what New Balance does to be more environmentally conscious at, http://www.newbalance.com/responsible-leadership/#/ei/eihome/

At Evolv, we have been trying to move the climbing industry forward with our recycled materials within our climbing shoe line, called EcoTrax, http://evolvesports.com/traxrubber.htm

I am super psyched to see all of the outdoor industry manufactures trying to decrease the footprint on this wonderful planet of ours. Not only are the products becoming more environmentally friendly, but they are getting cooler and cooler looking as well.

Updated schedule

2010-02-25T10:08:00.001-08:00

Evolv Events 2010


Collegiate Climbing Series- Rocky Mountain Region

1) Comp schedule
Feb 20th UNM-Albuquerque
Feb 27th UCCS-Colorado Springs
March 6th Western-Gunnison
April 3rd Adams-Alamosa
April 17th CU-Boulder Regionals (Spot)

27-Jan	The Front Bouldering comp
Jan 23- Grand Junction Bouldering Comp.

Jan 30- Sport Climbing Center Bouldering Comp (shoe demo), Co Springs.

2010 SBS Series-National- $2000
May- Out Door Pro Comp- Spot
Feb 6- Miramont Ft Collins Shoe Demo/ Duttle Clinic @ 9a.m.-12 p.m.

Feb 6- Lakewood Rec Center Comp.

Feb 13- Grand Junction comp- Ben

Feb 25- Rockn and Jamin 1 Thorton, CO Comp.

Feb 27- School of Mines Climbing Comp- (shoe demo), Golden Co.

Feb 27- Colorado High School Nationals- Co Springs, The Rock.

March 5-6- Camp Saver Grand Opening- Logan Ut

March 8- Shoe demo- The Spot Bouldering Gym- Boulder CO

March 13 The Rock Climbing Center, Co Springs- (shoe demo), GRAND OPENING.

March 27- Irock Climbing Gym comp- Ogden Utah

May 28- 24 hours of Gunnison.


October 16- Stone Age Climbing comp- NM

Hera Climb For Life
Boulder 6/11- 6/12
Salt Lake 9/16- 9/19

Horse tooth Hang ?

Weber State University –Ogden Utah Comp series
Feb 6- Collegiate Comp

Weber University - April 9-10 Climbing festival
9^th- Demo multi vender.
10th- climbing comp.

10 miler!:)

2010-02-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

Wow, I still can't believe I actually ran a 10 miler! I have been running a fair amount lately because of our damn winter here in Colorado. Climbing has been sporadic at best this winter, but I have been trying to at leased keep a base fitness level.

Our weather this weekend consisted of snow, snow, and more snow. Danielle and I decided to get a little climbing in, but we both really wanted to get a run in before the end of the day. I took a break from Evolv and met D at the Erie Rec Center. We both have been just trying to get some miles in to build our base up to start training for the ROCK AND ROLL MARATHON this coming fall. Danielle has been doing a walk/run program and today she completed her first 4 miler with minimum walks. I am soo proud of her:) I had a wild hair up my ass to try and complete a 10 miler. My longest run to date has been a 7.5 miler a couple of weeks ago. I have been keeping my mileage to 3's, 4's, 5's and a couple of 6's. I have noticed that my lunges and legs have been feeling stronger and stronger.

The 10 miler went as such;

I started off casual for the first couple of miles and sped up slowly until I was doing 8's. I felt really good at mile 5 and 6, but my left toes started to hurt. I really tried to keep my technique up and not get too sloppy. I noticed around mile 8, that my left knee started to hurt and the indoor track's corner's were becoming a pain. I have had this knee issue before and a friend told me that I needed to stretch my IT band more often. The indoor track is an 11 lap miler, so the corners are way too frequent for my taste. This may be what aggrivated my knee. I did have thoughts of stopping, but I was letting my body do what cam natural. The toe pain decreased and my knee pain just became more manageable. It became harder and harder to keep up my form and my pace slowed down as well. I focused as best I could to finish the run. I was pretty psyched to actually do the 10 miles, but was pretty wiped out. I stretched, drank my recovery drink, sat a while and went home. Danielle cooked a great dinner of fish, veggies, rice and finished it off with cheese cake.

I ran my first 10 miler in 1:28:00. I felt like a ran for an hour and a half, that's for sure.

Winter, Rock Climbing and Running.

2010-02-14T11:02:00.000-08:00

This happens to be one of those winters where rock climbing is not all that motivating. Having to work full time, does not allow me to go on climbing trips to warmer, drier locals. Plastic is cool and all, but I tend to get burned out if I have to pull on plastic too much. I used to get my winter on and hike through the snow, deal with the cold, not worry about getting wet, but this year, I think I may have lost my edge or motivation.
My lovely wife Danielle, had gotten us the Nike+ sensors for Christmas. http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/
Danielle wanted to do a half marathon this fall and needed some motivation to get her through the arduous process of running as well as myself. She did some research and found that the Nike + program was very hands on and super motivating. Having to deal with nursing school and not being able to climb as much as she would like to, she thought running might help her to stay in shape while keeping her motivated. Don't get me wrong, rock climbing will aways be our main hobby, but running is a whole different world. The feeling of just putting on your running shoes and going for a run is so carefree. The really cool thing with the Nike+ program is that you can log all of your runs via the sensor and transmitter to your personal Nike web page. The Nike+ sensor goes into a special oval void in the insole of the Nike+ line of shoes. There are small velcro pouches one can buy at any running store and place on the laces of any shoe to utilize the Nike+ chip if you don't want to buy the Nike+ line of shoes. The program logs your average pace, distance, and calories burned per each run. Once your transmitter is plugged into your ipod, you can choose distances you would like to run or times you would like to run and from time to time, the program will remind you how far you have run during your work out or if you just ran your fastest mile to date, so on and so on. The program is very motivating to say the leased. It becomes almost addicting to go run because you can see progress.

Within the Nike+ program on your personal web page, their are training programs, coaches, and chat rooms to ask those oddball questions about your running. For Danielle and myself, we are actually excited to train for the half marathon this coming fall because of Nike+.
Since I have been trying to run farther, faster and more efficiently, I have signed up and ran a race or two to put the training to the test. Running races are so great to do something totally different than what D and I have been doing for years, climbing. This past Saturday, I ran the Sweetheart Classic 4 miler in Loveland. Danielle was going to run it with me, but decided she would like to watch this race until she felt she was ready. It was a really fun race with lots of mom's and dad's with their kids. There were runners of all levels, just like climbing comps. The weather was perfect, sunny about 45 degrees. The only downer was the insane wind. It seemed like every time I came around a corner, there was a massive head wind. Mix the wind in with a couple of long hills and wow! All in all, I really enjoyed myself and beat my personal best for 4 miles. I came in 49th out of 312 with a time of 30:42 and a pace of 7:41. Not bad for never racing a 4 miler and having crazy wind and hills, I'm psyched! After the race, Danielle and walked around and ate great food, drank great recovery drinks and I personally felt as though I accomplished something. The nice thing about running is that we can go out, run 30 minutes and be totally satisfied the rest of the day. I can't wait for the next race, The Running of the Green 4 miler next month. Then we have the Boulder Boulder and the Rock and Roll Marathon.

Rocky Mountain Territory Events 2010

2010-01-30T10:44:00.001-08:00

Here are some events coming up in the Rocky Mountain territory for 2010. I will post more as they come up:)

Evolv Events 2010 Collegiate Climbing Series- Rocky Mountain Region 1) Comp schedule

Feb 20th UNM-Albuquerque
Feb 27th UCCS-Colorado Springs
March 6th Western-Gunnison
April 3rd Adams-Alamosa
April 17th CU-Boulder Regionals (Spot)
Jan 23-Grand Junction Bouldering Comp.
Jan 30- Sport Climbing Center Bouldering Comp (shoe demo), Co Springs. Jan 30- Spot Comp.
Feb 6- Miramont Ft Collins Shoe Demo/ Duttle Clinic @ 9a.m.-12 p.m.
Feb 6- Lakewood Rec Center Comp.
Feb/ March ??The Rock Climbing Center, Co Springs- (shoe demo), GRAND OPENING.
Feb 25- Rockn and Jamin 1 Thorton, CO Comp.
Feb 27- School of Mines Climbing Comp- (shoe demo), Golden Co.
Feb 27- Colorado High School Nationals- Co Springs, The Rock.
May 28- 24 hours of Gunnison.
Weber State University –Ogden Utah Comp seriesFeb 6- Collegiate CompApril 9-10 Climbfest9th- Demo multi vender.10th- Comp/ slideshow.
?? Hera Climb For Life
?? Horse tooth Hang

New Problem at Carter Lake

2010-01-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

My buddy Jim Fuller called me the other day to tell me about a new problem that he and Scott Blunk had just put up on the Kahuna Boulder at Carter Lake. He told me that it was super tall and that it had a horrible landing. I guess they set up a top rope and rapped down to clean holds and work out the upper moves. Jim was able to boulder it and called it "In A Pickle" V7. The line is to the left of the "Big Pickle" and starts on a left hand shallow pocket and a side pull crimp for the right hand about chest high. A big foot allows you to throw right hand up to a descent pinch. The problem works it's way up the faint seam trending right to a big angled slot. The feet are small and most of the holds are small crimps besides the large slot. The problem tops out on ok holds that keeps it pretty sustained.

I decided it sounded intriguing enough to bring a rope and some gear. Anson, Danielle and I rolled to Carter meeting Jim there for beta. Once Anson and I saw the problem, we decided to just move some rocks to make the landing a bit flatter. I think we had three regular crash pads and Jim's Mondo. Jim sprayed me down and I gave it a whirl. I flashed it, but it was pretty committing and scary, but super fun! Anson was a bit hung over and wasn't in the highball mood. After doing the stand, I gave the sit a go. A really good left hand crimp in the alcove and small right crimp with a super good right heal hook allowed me to go up right hand to the two finger pocket and punched left hand to a small dimple on the upper corner, once there, I reached over to the good pinch right hand and then I was in the stand up problem. I am guessing the sit moves are around V4-V5 and then you end up in the regular problem which I am guess total grade maybe hard V7 to soft V8. I called the sit, "Tickle My Pickle". Both problems are really good and committing which I think are great additions to Carter Lake.

Bring pads and balls, your going to need them all.

Winter

2010-01-11T20:25:00.000-08:00

Well, this winter has been interesting to say the leased. I have taken on the sales rep position for Evolv and am setting at the Spot Bouldering Gym. I quit my full time job and and am making things work with two fun jobs.
Climbing has come to almost a complete stop because of Colorado's winter this year. We get dumped on in October and the ground has had snow on it ever since. Not only has it been snowy, but it has been damn cold as well. This week is the first week in a long while that is has been warmer than 30 degrees. Plastic climbing is the way of things until I can get out and get on rock.
Wade, Josh Mitchell and I tried to climb on "Burn Out", but got chased out by rangers. I had no idea that Walker Ranch is closed to off trail traffic. Apparently, it has been closed for the last 5 years and they are talking about shutting it down to all trail and off trail traffic. We decided to go to the Hobo cave at Flag. I have never been there and it was nice outside so I decided what the hell. It was real rock, kind of. I wasn't all that impressed, really. I should have just climbed on plastic and got the work out in.
Hopefully the weather stays nice and I can get out at leased once this next month.

The Spot Bouldering Gym

2009-12-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

Loving the “Spot”

Personally, the Spot is one of the best climbing gyms I have ever climbed in. Five years ago, I moved to Colorado to be closer to the outdoors, climbing specifically. My first week in Boulder, I had to check out the Spot Bouldering Gym. I had heard it was pretty much the best bouldering gym in the U.S. Not being a huge gym junkie, I walked through the doors for the first time and about crapped myself. The climbing gyms in San Diego California were ok, but nothing like the gyms up north in San Francisco or even L.A. Still, “The Spot” is a place where I have met so many insanely strong climbers.

I remember my first session very well, it went like this, I was working on what I thought was something fairly hard, when some older guy came up and asked if he could try. Of course he flashed what I was falling on and said thanks for “letting” him try the problem. Better yet, I some how ended up bouldering with a group of women one night. Not knowing who they were, I thought I would be able to keep up. Wrong, as it turned out, I ended up bouldering with some of the strongest women in the world. On any given day, you can stroll into the Spot and see a list of names that usually are in some climbing publication like Rock and Ice, Climbing Magazine or Urban Climber.

Coming to Boulder Colorado as a mid range climber can be a bit intimidating. Given some time and being pushed to get stronger, climb harder and just plain being motivated by world class climbers has increased my love for the sport and the “Spot”. When I came to Colorado five years ago, I was bouldering V10. Living in an area with so many talented climbers, I never considered myself a great climber. Now, being in my 40’s, I have done multiple V12’s and it is all because I have met and climbed with some of the nicest, most humble and strongest climbers in the world. To top it off, I met all of them at the “Spot”.

When I lived in San Diego, I mostly rope climbed. I used to frequent Joshua tree, Yosemite, and other smaller areas. I put myself through school full time and worked full time. That didn’t leave me much time to stay in shape, so I started bouldering more. Next thing I knew, I was only bouldering. There weren’t that many boulderers that were motivated to get strong at that time in San Diego. The gym I climbed at was mostly a route climbing gym, but they did have a couple of small boulders. The routes on the boulders were awful and I asked if I could set since all I did was boulder. Next thing I knew, I was their only setter for the boulders and I loved it. People enjoyed my problems and I started to get stronger.

A couple years later I moved to Colorado and thought it would be kind of cool to set again at some point. The setting crew at the “Spot” are serious about what they do. The comps that the “Spot” puts on are some of the funnest comps I have ever seen and climbed in. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of getting to know some of the setters and have built great relationships with them. They are all by far some of the nicest, strongest people I have ever met. I had always hoped that one day I could be a part of such a great crew and now I am. I am now setting at the “Spot” a couple days a week and am learning a lot. Some of the setters have been doing it for years and for very large comps like the World Cup. I believe with my 15 years of climbing experience that I will be able to set fun, challenging problems for people like myself who walk into the “Spot” for their first time.

Evolv rep

2009-12-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

Yeah buddy, I am now the Rocky Mountain sales rep for Evolv. I have finally quit my job that crushed my climbing this last summer with tendinitis and couldn't be any more psyched! I love to talk shop and help promote a product that is top quality. Along with the sales part, I am still the team captain and am always looking for great people that want to a part of such a great family. I have had a fair share of conversations about how Evolv is one of the most grounded companies and I am the first one to say that we by far have the most quality people representing the brand. I have been with Evolv for the past 6 to 7 years. Chris Lindner and I met Brian, the owner at the Phoenix Bouldering Comp when he had two models of shoes, the Docon and the Kaos. He was selling them for $40 and we told all of our friends back in San Diego. At that time. Boreal USA went under and Brian offered Chris a sponsorship. He took it and the rest is history. Buck came into the picture a year or two later and then became their first sales rep for So Cal. He pimped all of us discounted shoes and for that I started going to the trade shows to help out at the booth. Even then, I felt like I needed to give back for allowing me to purchase discounted shoes. I was by far not the strongest climber, but I was receiving the "Bro Deal" for helping to promote the brand that I truly believed in. In 2003 I moved to Colorado and got in touch with the territory sales rep to let him know I could be counted on to help out in any way he needed. I helped out at shoe demos and started learning about the different models and what they were designed for. Since I was doing all of the demos, team stuff and knew everyone at Evolv, any time they needed me to fill in when a rep moved on, I could be counted on. I started to get Evolv involved with events around Colorado like the Hera Climb For Life, The Horse Tooth Hang, The Spot Bouldering Series and other smaller events like college comps, high school comps and really started supporting Jr teams. In 2008, Evolv helped support five Jr Teams and it keeps growing.

I think this is a good move at this point in my life. Danielle graduates in May and we both decided that I might as well be happy and as long as we can pay the bills, why not. I hope I can grow the brand in the Rocky Mountain Territory and have a good time along the way.

Hueco Tanks

2009-11-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

Cool Hueco Tanks Indian Art.
Jacinda crushing "No One Here Gets Out Alive".

Way too warm for Loaded With Power!!!

Me, getting my ass handed to me on "The Mexican Chicken".

Joel go for the "The Sweedish Slot".

Cory on "Lobster Claw".

Danielle on "Lobster Claw".

The Harrison family headed it down to Hueco for Thanksgiving this year. I have only been there once and only for one day years ago. Danielle has spent quit a bit of time there and I was psyched to finally go to Hueco for more than one day. A couple of friends of ours, Cory and Jacinda, headed down with us as well. Poor Danielle has been loaded down pretty heavy with school and really can't climb as much as she would like to. Any time she has a chance to go on a small climbing trip, she is pretty much climbing off the couch. She gets frustrated because she is not in the climbing shape she would like to be in. For her, just getting to go and climb without stressing about school is good enough. I've been feeling as though I'm getting back into the shape I was in, before taking so much time off for tendinitis this past summer.

Hueco was pretty much dead. I think everyone was in Bishop this Thanksgiving which was really nice. Joel, Erin, and Kelly were down there for the entire week and told us that the temps were in the 50's earlier in the week. When we arrived on Thursday, the temps were in the upper 60's to 70ish. We all climbed at North Mountain the two days we were there. I got to see a bunch of problems that I have only seen in videos. We started at "No One Here Gets Out Alive". Joel, Erin and Kelly met us there and Joel gave me a list of problems I should try. He got me on "The Mexican Chicken". Wow, what a great problem. Horizontal is not my terrain and I got a bit worked right off the bat. He then got me on "Loaded With Power". Oh my god, what an insane problem! It had just gone into the shade and Joel sprayed me down with beta. I gave it a couple of goes, but when I started sweating, I decided it was too warm. We all headed over to Chris's arete. Danielle had worked on this problem a couple of years earlier and wanted to try to finish it. It is in a really small cave that does not accommodate very many people. She got kind of frustrated because everyone was either doing the problem or working moves on it and she just could not focus. When I say everyone, I mean at leased 8 people. Near by, Kelly showed me what is known as the Swedish Slot. It is this insanely small slot between two boulders that you have to squeeze through. It is the funniest shit to watch someone try and squeeze through this slot without getting stuck. After that, we headed over to "Girls of Juarez". Just another insanely classic roof with gigantic huecos. Toe hooks, heal hooks, under clings, and a nice top out. After that, on the way back to the parking lot, we stopped at "Loaded". The temps cooled down a bit and there was a large French posse there working on Loaded and Loaded Direct with lots of pads. On my first try, I got all the way to the last crimp and could not figure out what to do to dyno to the lip. My tips were pretty much gone at that point. I was kind of bummed because I truly believe that if the temps were better the first time I got on it, I would have done it. My tips were sweaty pretty much the entire day which made them hurt pretty badly at the end of our first day. We all partied at a great Mexican restaurant that night and crashed out hard. The next day, we headed to "Lobster Claw". Cory, Jacinda, Danielle and I were pretty cooked already and it was only the second day. We hung at that area for a while, so I got on "Schwerer Gustov" and "Anal Intruder". Yeah, way too warm for "Schwere" and I was way too cooked for "Anal Intruder". After that, we headed back over to "Girls of Texas" and I tried "Baby Martini on the Rocks". I was able to do all the moves after the hueco, but my tips were way too thrashed to do the first move. I think we were all pretty much done after that and sent out for margis. The trip was pretty fun, but I wished it was a bit cooler. I would of loved to have sent "Loaded With Power", but that will only make me want to go back to Hueco. There are a bunch of other problems we looked at that I think I may have stood a pretty good chance of sending because they never see sun and stay cool, oh well. We all had a great time and can't wait to go back.

My Review of XY Custom Rock Shoe Gift Card

2009-11-24T06:10:00.001-08:00

Originally submitted at Mountain Gear

You're a unique individual and you rock your own one-of-a-kind climbing style. Now Evolv is giving you the chance to "Express Yourself" with the XY Rock shoe - a fully customized, made-to-order shoe, just for you. Choose from one of 3 Evolv shoe styles, then customize it further with ...

Really Fun Idea

By EZE from Boulder, Colorado on 11/24/2009

Sizing: Feels true to size

Width: Feels true to width

Best Uses: Outdoor, Sprint Climbs, Indoor, Long Climbs, Bouldering

Describe Yourself: Avid Climber

Being able to cusomize the shoe's midsole(stiffness), heal rand hight and upper's rubber configuration(Optomus Prime, Puntas lace up or standard)is a great way to build a shoe to your personal flavor. Adding custom color is a bonus that personalizes the shoe all the way around.
Personally, I like a sensitive shoe with lots of rubber for toe hooking and aggressive heal hooking. My sensive velcro Pontas with the lace up rubber configuration and extended heal rand is an amazing technical shoe. Change the colors to match the Denver Broncos and BAMM!!!

(legalese)

A super good friend's passing.

2009-10-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

Darrin, Eric, Bill in Yosemite.
Bill on "Ship Wreck", Joshua Tree.

Bill, always the safest guy.

I would not be here climbing if it wasn't for Bill Burges. About 14 years ago, a good friend that I grew up with, Darrin Steiff, started climbing with this really nice guy Bill. They were going to Joshua Tree every weekend. Darrin and I grew up surfing the Ventura coast and climbing was the last thing on our minds. One day, Darrin and his wife Christy, asked if I wanted to go to Stoney Point to go climbing. I finally broke down and went. Bill had been teaching Darrin how to place gear and build anchors. I saw that Darrin was really having a lot of fun doing something different. I ended up buying a pair of shoes and started going to J-Tree with Darrin and Bill. I was living in Manhattan Beach at the time and Bill lived about 15 minutes from me. Darrin lived about an hour away and would meet Bill and I in J-Tree or where ever we decided to go.

Darrin, Bill and I were mostly trad climbing at that time and bouldered every once in a great while. I started climbing almost every weekend with these guys and really became addicted really fast. Bill and I had many epics on our adventures. Those were the days of getting off a multi pitch route in the dark and trying to find our way through the dark back to the truck. So many memories, so many stories. One in particular comes to mind; Bill and I were in the Valley and he wanted to do "Braille Book". I think it was like a 6 or 8 pitch 5.8. We got up the base of the climb way too early in my mind. We took off trading leads and only had small Gatorade bottles hanging off our harnesses. There was a party of three that were moving much faster than we were coming up from behind. The leader had done this route before and asked if they could pass. We said, not a problem and then proceeded to wait for far too long. By the time the party of three finally got far enough past us, we were blazing in the sun and almost out of water. On the next pitch, I was fallowing and could not get out a cam that Bill had placed, so I left it not knowing what to do. When I got to the next belay station, I had told Bill and he wasn't even pissed. He had to rappel down to clean the piece I had left. I think we still had like 5 pitches to go. Once the other party got far enough along, I began to lead the next pitch. As I got closer to the next belay ledge, the two followers were sitting were I needed to get to so I could set up and anchor. I waited while stemming for at leased 30 minutes or so. Bill started tugging on the rope because he had been waiting wondering what the hell was going on. I managed to slide my ass between the two followers and set up an anchor. By the time Bill climbed up to me, the other party were off and running. The next pitch was an off width that spooked the shit out of Bill, so he came down and told me to go for it. I did it and we meandered our way to the top of the route. There was a point during the last pitch were Bill was belaying me, dieing of dehydration, thinking to himself, Eric, just run it out and lets get the fuck out of here. He told me what he had been thinking when we were hiking down through hordes of mesquites and dry mouth so bad, I could barley swallow. Once we got to the truck in the dark of course, we headed to the Valley store and drank gallons of water, Gatorade, soda, you name it. Darlene, Peter and Korene were waiting at Darlene's house in El Portal to have a barbecue. We got there way after dark explaining our epic adventure. That was a typical day for Bill and I.
We did many routes together including, Reeds Pinnacle Direct, Royal Arches(simo climbing), Nutcracker, Braille Book, Bishop's Terrace, After Six,Positively 4th street, Beverly's Tower, Weat Thin, Catchy, Central Pillar of Frenzy, The Regular Route on Fairview Dome, Sail Away, Ace of Spades, Invisibility Lessons, Opes Crack, Sidewinder, Touch and Go, Loose Lady, Young Lust, Exorcist, Bird of Fire, Heart and Sole, Right Baskerville Crack, Solid Gold, Tossed Green, Tax Man, Caught Inside on A Big Set, Effigy Too, Party in the Desert, Clean and Jerk, and so many more. It has been many years since I have climbed with Bill, but I can remember every single route we had done together.
I had a good friend in high school, Demeat Fritz that I hadn't seen in a long while. He was now bouldering a ton and we reconnected. He really showed Bill and I what being strong really meant. We started going to a place in Ventura county called the Swimming Hole. We would go every weekend. We would mountain bike in, boulder all day, then bike back out in the middle of summer. We had a really great crew of guys that pushed each other. Demeat, Jeff Johnson, Bill, Darrin Stieff, Ray Ray, SpoMan, and myself. Bill and I were by far the weakest climbers, but tried to keep up the best we could. We did crazy shit with very small pads because this was back when crash pads were not being made yet. Lots of sprained ankles. Those were really good times.
I move to San Diego and sort of lost contact with Bill. We had met in J-Tree a couple times, but life stated to get pretty hectic for me. I think Bill moved back to Hawaii for a short bit, but ended up back in Redondo Beach. I managed to get a hold of him a couple months ago and it was really nice to hear his voice again. I feel really bad for not keeping in touch more often. He was by far the nicest guy in the world. He loved surfing, climbing, running, mountain biking, and reading. Bill was a super smart guy that always encouraged others to do their best. Bill will be missed.

Back on Track, Hopefully

2009-10-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

I do believe I may be back on track to getting back into shape. It has been about two months since I started climbing again. I decided to just climb through the tendinitis and be super careful. I have been feeling better and better and more psyched than ever. This weekend, I wanted to get back up to the Matron area in Eldo. Last year Ryan Silvan and I started working on what was a project in the on line guide. We figured out the beta and began to put it together. Ryan was able to do it that day and called it "Fake Empire" and weighed it in at about V9/10. The next day, the area closed due to a Raptor Closer. Super fun compression prow/ arete. The boulder sort of sits up on a ledge and the start of the problem is down in a pit, very Huecoish. A hard heel hook is very necessary to hit a left hand slot that is super awkward. Heal hooks and toe hooks get you to the sloping lip that trends left and then you heel hook to pull yourself through a three boulder slot. I thought it was one of the coolest problems I have done in a while. I like problems that have really unique moves no matter how tall or small they may be. If the rock is good, then it's worth the effort.

Today, I went up to Clear Creek to finish off "Recession Proof". Some folks think that the problem is a "turd", but they should only climb the five star problems and leave the garbage to us weak asses. Why do some people climb something and then report that it was stupid or too small or something negative. I can understand if downgrading needs to happen if there is a general consensus. I typically look at a problem and decide weather or not I'm psyched to climb it or not. I tend to not get on something that doesn't look fun, duh. I think the problem is super cool. It lays down in the creek below the Primo Wall. The rock is super good with crimps, heel hooks, slopers, compression moves and big throws. Joe V. FA'd this fun problem last winter. I went down there early so that the rock was still cold. I warmed up and sent on my third try. Joe gave the problem 10 points, but some are saying it is more like 9. I think it is a hard 9 if that is the case. I have tried the problem two other days, three total. It had been pretty warm on my earlier attempts, but today, the temps were pretty nice. I guess if it were 50 degrees or so, it would be easier and worthy of a 9er. I guess I am just a bad judge of grades since I have only really started to try and climb harder again in the past couple of weeks. What ever the lame grade, the problem is really fun in my opinion which means nothing.

The addiction of Ink

2009-10-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

Once you start, you just want more. Ink is a funny addiction because at the time when your in the chair, you think to yourself, no more! Once the pain has gone away and the scabbing is gone to clean, new skin, you forget. Some people stay in the chair for hours on end, while others only last minutes. I can do about 3 hours and that is my limit.
I had started my leg piece years ago and just went back under the needle once again. I saw this great piece where someones dog was standing in a pair of checkered vans, it was hilarious. I love my doggy and thought, why not. So I had a piece done of our Peanut. This way, I will always have her close to me. I love art and always appreciated how much work goes into tattoos. I find the medium committing to say the leased. One f-up and ... Anyway, the last time I was in the chair, I thought to myself, no more ink! The whole process gets kind of old when you get tore up, keep it clean so no infection, don't bump anything or ouchy, itch, itch some more, scabbing, and a month later, new skin with a super colorful piece of ink artwork. I like having my leg inked. I can ware pants and no ever knows I have a big leg piece. I really do think I am done though. I don't want to go any higher because the pain is at the point where I don't know if I could handle it. I love ink and probably always will, but I want to keep it somewhat tasteful. I dig some of the sleeves I have seen, but once you go there, that's it. People are funny about judging others they don't know. I think that tattoos have come a long way in the fact that it is seen way more like an art form than ever before. Some of the artists out there are some of the best artists I have ever seen. The artists that did most of my work, paint, draw, and do many other types of artwork other than tattooing. Joel Long at Boulder Ink did my Japanese artwork and Greg Fuller at Tribal Rites did Peanut. Both artists are super good at their particular styles, check em out:)

EZ's Wine and Shoe Review

2009-10-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, a couple glasses of wine and it's time for "EZ's Wine and Shoe Review".

My lovely wife picked up a bottle of Yellowtail Cab Sav from Costco for $5.00. Before I start the shoe review, I have to uncork and let the 2008 Cab Sav breath. It's fruity aroma has my taste buds salivating, so I will pour a glass and begin the review.

Evolv has upgraded the ever classic Talon for this Spring 2010. The old Talon was by far one of the best shoes Evolv has ever designed. The new Talon has kept most of the previous qualities and upgraded a few more. The upper synthetic is now perforated for better breathabiliity, Evolv has decided to incorporate their antimicrobial liner within the new Talon which makes the shoe even more comfortable out of the box than it was previously, the slingshot heal rand is a bit more aggressive than the previous model, and the Evolv logo is now molded into the slingshot rubber, cool. The heal has also been modified by incorporating a "Knuckle" type of patern for better heal hooking. The toe rand has been brought up even further on top of the toe box and slimmed down with thinner perforated rubber for better sensitivity. The one difference that most folks will notice first off, would have to be the bright Evolv green rubber in the arch of the shoe. Evolv has decided to change up the look of the shoe with neon green, non-high friction rubber in an area that just simply does not need to be high friction rubber. I think it is a super nice look that brings the new Talon to the forefront of the entire line. The performance of the new Talon surpasses the old model in sensitivity, looks and durability. The upper, as before, is soft right out of the box, but retains it's down turned profile even when "broken in". I do believe that Evolv has once again nailed it, as it does with every new or redesigned model it brings forth.

Well, my wine glass is empty and this shoe review has come to a close.

The Yellowtail is a wonderful, yet inexpensive red wine that doesnt break the bank. It is an Austrailian wine that delivers quality. Its undertones of Blackberry and Chocolate caress the palet and encourages adventure.

Untill next time, drink wine and all will be fine:)

I will have to leave this shoe review with happy thoughts and sweaty palms knowing that I will for sure be able to climb grades harder in the new and improved TALONS, sober of course:)

Joes Valley

2009-10-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Grand Junction Wine Country
Cory giving it on "Filla Void".

My wife, Danielle on "Pimpers Paradise".

Jacinda puttin in the effort on "Frosted Flakes".

Working moves on the "Hulk".

Cory on the "Rail".

Mrs. Peanut

D on Riverside Traverse

Cory doin the river crossing.

"High Tide" super classic V6.

This last weekend, Danielle, Peanut, her friend from school Jacinda, her husband Cory and their doggie Denali and I went to Joe's Valley. The girls went out on Wednesday and Cory and I met them out there on Friday. Jacinda's parents let us use their tent trailer which was really nice. The weather was pretty cold during the week, but was perfect Saturday and Sunday. It was sunny and warm, yet windy which kept it pretty cool. Cory and Jacinda have never been out to Joe's, so D and I gave them the classic tour. We mostly stayed in Right Fork. I just realized that Joe's Valley is the land of the V6's. Their are so many freakin classic V6's, it's insane. I always want to go to Joe's and crush something hard, but I always seem to get sucked into doing way too many classics. Some folks might get bummed, but I really enjoy all the super fun mid range climbs. This trip, Danielle really wanted to finish "Moby Dick", but she was already cashed before she even got on the problem. She said that on the next trip she will get on the problem the first day instead of the third. She will crush it for sure. Cory and Jacinda mostly rope climb, so bouldering is sort of new for them. They both did really well. There are a lot of high, funky top outs, but they both went for it. Jacinda crushed "Sling Blade", "Sweet Seam" at Black and Tan and did really well on "Frosted Flakes, Cory was able to finish "Frosted Flakes", "Pimper's Paridise", "Pimper's Paridise Right", "Cave Traverse" and did really well on "High Tide". Danielle, Cory and I did the ever classic traverse over the water on the riverside warm up boulder as well as the Angler. I didn't really push myself too much because of a cold and my tendinitis. My list of climbs include, Better Than Coffee- V4, Scoop able V0 highball, 3 Weeks- V9, The Cave Man- V4, Sling Blade- V4, Dem Bones- V3, Todd's Easy Arete- V2/3, Shorty Pie- V3, Filla Void- V6, The Prow- V7, Blue Eyed- V5, Classic Crack- V3, Pimper's Paridise- V5, Pimper's Paradise Low- V6, Buoux Crack- V2, Buoux Problem- V3, Tradesque- V4,Buoux V4 face, Frosted Flakes- V4/5, Low Tide- V6, The Angler- V2, and the riverside warm up boulder's water traverse- V2.
It was a super great weekend with no injuries, lots of classic climbs and good company.

Horsetooth Hang 2009

2009-10-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Horsetooth Res.
EZ workin the Evolv booth.

Evolv booth going off!
Team member, Byron Johnson.

Team member, Ben Schmitt.

Peacefull Warrior coach, Alec Salimao.

Team member, Sebastian.

Team member, Brian Rhodes.

Once again, the Horsetooth Hang has come and gone. The Hang is a climbing festival put on by Cameron Cross and the Northern Climbing Coalition every October. http://www.horsetoothhang.net/
Horsetooth Reservoir is a sandstone bouldering area that sits up in the foot hills just above Ft. Collins, CO. Horsetooth, also known as Rotary Park, has some of the most famous boulder problems in the U.S. Problems like, The Pinch Overhang, Left and Right Eliminator, and Meat Hook are just a few problems put up by John Gill, the god father of bouldering.
The weather was perfect for a good day of climbing outside. I went to the Hang to represent Evolv Sports http://www.evolvesports.com/by setting up a booth and running a shoe demo along other shoe companies like 5.10, La Sportiva, and Scarpa. Other vender's that supported the Hang were The Access Fund, New Belgium, Northern Climbing Coalition and many others. The turn out was really good with lots of folks curious about the new Evolv product line. There were lots of good questions about the shoes and I hope I was able to help climbers with their next climbing shoe decision. I always enjoy helping climbers with climbing shoes and Evolv is by far the best climbing shoe out there, which makes it pretty easy. We had lots of team members show up to participate in the event and to help out at the booth, Brian Rhodes, Ben Schmidt, Byron Johnson, Nick Duttle, Paul Desatco, Wolfgang, The Peacefull Warriors and myself to just name a few. Most of the Evolv team members are always up to give a helping hand as well as discuss the products they utilize as athletes. We thoroughly enjoy participating in events like the Horsetooth Hang and love being part of the community.
Thanks Cam for putting on yet another phenomenal event.

Shoe reviews

2009-10-01T05:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of links to great shoe reviews on the Evolv K-2's and the new Talon.
http://climbingshoetests.blogspot.com/search/label/Kaos%202
http://www.facebook.com/l/37c70;oldguydotcom.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-revamped-talons.html"

RMNP

2009-09-13T11:28:00.001-07:00

Having been on the injured reserve list this entire summer, I have looked at Rocky Mountain National Park in a different way. RMNP means a lot more than just a place to go and climb. When I am healthy and fit, all I want to do is go to my projects and work them into submission. This summer, I have seen “the park” through a non climbing set of eyes.
Hiking up the trail heading to Chaos Canyon, I think to myself what an amazing place rocky is. The climbing is world class and the rock is amazing, but what about all the other things that make the park so impressive? For me, there are so many things that make the park one my favorite places to get away. Not being able to climb, I have been doing some hiking around the park and up to Chaos Canyon. There are so many things I took for granted only because the park was a place that I could go and be a selfish climber. Pushing my own personal limits in climbing requires a selfish approach unfortunately. Usually while hiking up the trail, I would focus on my project’s sequences or try to tap into that focus that for myself, is sometimes required to complete projects that are at my limit. In doing so, I thought I took in the amazing surroundings, but I really wasn’t seeing. Within the almost 1,000 square miles there are 359 miles of hiking trails, some of which are Alberta Falls, Dream Lake, Ouzel Falls, Mills Lake, Cub Lake, The Loch, Flattop Mountain, and Longs Peak. There are about 900 different species of flowers, 60 mountains exceeding 12,000 feet, topping off at 14,259 feet, and 60 species of mammals; more than 280 recorded bird species; six amphibians, including the federally endangered boreal toad; one reptile (the harmless garter snake); 11 species of fish; and countless insects, including a surprisingly large number of butterflies. The park is one of the most amazing places in the world. As a climber who mainly focuses on his goals, (bouldering), sometimes seeing things differently puts other things into perspective. I love climbing and always will, but opening my eyes to seeing what is really out there and I mean what is really out there as far as this earth is extremely refreshing.
Here are some other cool facts that make up RMNP.
Establishment
President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation on 26 Jan 1915 to create Rocky Mountain National Park. In 1976 the natural ecosystems of the park, which represent the Rocky Mountain Biogeographic Province, received recognition through the United Nations "Man and Biosphere" program as an international Biosphere Reserve. The reserve is part of the network of protected samples of the world's major ecosystem types that is devoted to conservation of nature and genetic material and to scientific research in the service of humanity. It provides a standard against which the effects of human impact on the environment can be measured.

Protecting the Rockies
In 1903, F. O. Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, came to Estes Park for his health. Impressed by the beauty of the valley and grateful for the improvement in his health, he decided to invest his money and his future there. In 1909, he opened the elegant Stanley Hotel, a classic hostelry exemplifying the golden age of touring.
Largely due to Stanley's efforts, the Estes Park Protective and Improvement Association was established to protect local wildflowers and wildlife and to improve roads and trails. "Those who pull flowers up by the roots will be condemned by all worthy people, and also by the Estes Park Protective and Improvement Association," they warned. It was the start of a conservation ethic that has become increasingly important and complex.
Even more important to the future of the area was Enos Mills, who came to the Longs Peak area in 1884 when he was 14 years old. A dedicated naturalist, he wrote eloquent books about the area's natural history. Not long after his arrival, Mills bought the Longs Peak Inn and began conducting local nature trips.
In 1909, Mills first proposed that the area become the nation's tenth national park to preserve the wildlands from inappropriate use. It was his vision that you would arrive here years later to experience the wonderful Rocky Mountain wilderness he knew. "In years to come when I am asleep beneath the pines, thousands of families will find rest and hope in this park," he proclaimed.
Unleashing his diverse talents and inexhaustible energy, he spent several years lecturing across the nation, writing thousands of letters and articles, and lobbying Congress to create a new park that would stretch from the Wyoming border south to Pikes Peak, covering more than 1,000 square miles. Most civic leaders supported the idea, as did the Denver Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Mountain Club. In general, mining, logging, and agricultural interests opposed it. The compromise drafted by James G. Rogers, the first president of the Colorado Mountain Club, was the establishment of a smaller park (358.3 square miles). On January 26, 1915, under President Woodrow Wilson, it was declared Rocky Mountain National Park.
Today, the park stands as a legacy to those pioneers who looked beyond its harvestable resources to its more lasting values.
Size and Visitation
The park has grown to more than 415 square miles. In 1990, it gained an additional 465 acres when Congress approved expansion of the park to include the area known as Lily Lake. The National Park Service, the Conservation Fund, and some diligent legislators successfully halted land development in this area adjacent to the park's boundary. It now is an important buffer zone that helps protect the migratory routes of wildlife in the park.
Visitation - FY 2000Total Recreation Visits - 3,180,889

Midrange boulder problems

2009-09-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be kind of cool to put together a list of the mid range boulder problems in Colorado frontrange. I had sent out a message on Face book to all the other climbers that I know in Colorado to respond with what they feel are their favorite V6- V8 boulder problems. I am putting the list together and will post it as soon as folks hit me back. Colorado is known for it's really hard problems, but it seems as though the mid range problems get over looked. I wanted to bring to light our phenomenal mid range problems as well.

Balloon Ride

2009-09-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Danielle and I received a balloon ride as our wedding gift from all of our friends at Evolve. We finally took advantage of it and scheduled our ride for this last weekend. We were hoping to wait till October so that the fall colors would fill in, but we couldn't wait any longer, we were too psyched! Fair Winds was the Hot Air Balloon Company we went up with. The entire staff and the owner Jeff were the funniest people ever. They totally love their jobs and you could tell.
The Fair Winds Balloon Company has about 5 balloons. You can fit about 4 to 8 people per balloon basket depending on the basket. We had to be at the launch site at 6:30 a.m. in Gunbarrel. We took off around 7:30ish and stayed up for about 2 hours. It was super calm, about a whapping 4 miles per hour. The views were spectacular and the weather was perfect. There was not a cloud in the sky and it was actually warm that early in the morning. We thought it was going to be cold higher up in the atmosphere, so we dressed in pants and brought sweatshirts. Because you stand right below the burners, it felt like your hair, neck and shoulders were going to catch fire. It gets really warm in the basket, especially when the pilot hits the burners.
We floated along the Boulder skyline and enjoyed all the views of the Rockies, Plains and Front Range. Jeff, our pilot gave us all kinds of Boulder trivia and some cool history lessons of the area. We took tons of photos and just relaxed, enjoying the peaceful calm of the balloon ride. Because you float with the wind, you actually don’t feel any breeze at all. The balloons fallow wind currents and can change their direction by lifting or falling to other wind currents. The wind currents blow in different directions depending on the elevation you are at. The only time you feel any breeze is when you rise or fall to a different wind current. The balloons go up early in the morning because of wind speeds and because of air temp. The cooler the atmosphere, the easier it is to heat the air within the balloon, giving them the lift they need. I guess the wind speeds needs to be pretty minimal or it gets really difficult to control the balloon on the ground and in the air. Jeff told us that he has clocked himself at 40 miles per hour once. Landing in those conditions can be very dangerous.
Now, trying to find the right place to land sounds pretty easy, right? I guess in Boulder County, you can’t land in open space. Each balloon has a catch team that fallows them. Once the balloon lands, their catch team rolls up in either a van or a towed trailer. They then break down the balloon and away they go. The owner Jeff has been landing in various areas around Boulder for 30 years and knows just about everyone. We had landed in a spot, but realized we were in open space. We took off again and looked for another landing spot. Jeff started to land on a farmer’s property while asking his ground support crew to ask the farmer if it was ok via warlike talkie. We came in kind of hot. Jeff had to bypass a pond while trying to avoid a tree and land quick enough to not take out the farmer’s fence. It was as pin point as you could get. Jeff dropped us right between a fence and a fire pit. We were all impressed to say the least.
After we all helped break down the balloon, we met back at the launch site. Jeff and his crew gave everyone that flew that day a goodie bag with a t-shirt, a small bottle of champagne and a bunch of coupons to help support local business. The tradition goes; in France where ballooning started, farmers thought that ballooners were devils. When the ballooners landed, they would give the farmers either a bottle of wine or champagne to show where they were from. Today, ballooners carry bottles of wine or champagne to give to the farmers where they have to land to say thanks.
Danielle and I had wonderful time learning about hot air balloons and the traditions that encompass them. The Fair Winds team gave us a wonderful experience that we will remember for many years to come. We can’t wait to do it again.

Edward Abbey

2009-09-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

A cool paragraph from the book, "Desert Solitaire".

No, wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the pinciple of civilization itself. If industrial man cintinues to multiply his numbers and expand his operatinos he will succeed in his apparent intention, to seal himself off from the natural and isolate himself within a synthetic prison of his own making. He will make himself an exile from the earth and then will know at last, if he is still capable of feeling anything, the pain and agony of final loss. He will understand what the captive Zia INdians meant when they made a song out of their sickness for home;
My home over there,
Now I remember it;
And when I see that mountain far away,
Why then I weep,
Why then I weep,
Remembering my home.

Non Climbing Summer activities

2009-09-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

Staying fit and positive is going to be my motto for a while. Not being able to climb is always a tough non-motivating situation, but channeling that energy into other pursuits will ultimately be a positive. I have been getting out and hiking with my dog while finding other beautiful places in Colorado that I normally would not search out.
Climbing has been my way of staying fit for many years and a great way to escape the stressful dramas of life. Now that I have contracted the dreadful tendinitis in my left elbow and possibly a torn bicep in my right arm, staying fit will be a different pursuit. Not having an upper body to keep in shape, I figure maybe going hiking to keep my lower half in check would be a positive way to escape those pesky, stressful dramas.
There are so many hiking trails in such a close proximity to our home that I have been able to hike a new trail weekly. I have taken Peanut up to Nederland and hiked the trail around Nederland Lake, the Green Mountain Trail in Boulder Canyon, the Rabbit Mountain Trail in Lyons, and a bunch of open space trails along the plains. The wild flowers are still in bloom and are rich in their colors of yellow, orange and purple. Even though we are in the middle of August, with so much rain this year, everything is still alive and green which is a nice change from summers past.
Saturday, I took Peanut up to the Rabbit Mountain Trail in Lyons. It was warm, but not blazing hot with a gentle breeze and scattered clouds.Peanut and I hiked the three mile trail up to a look out that allowed us to see the entire Front Range and Flatiron areas. I have my snake eyes on so to speak for rattlers, but have been lucky so far. Even though it hasn’t been too warm, I know there are still snakes out basking in the sun. On our way back down the trail, Peanut, bless her heart, crashed. She is a small pit bull with very short hair. When the temperatures get one degree above 70, she moves like a slug. I was walking at a medium pace and noticed that she had been lagging way behind. I do admit that there wasn’t a lot of shade on the trail and Peanut does do ok when there is some shade for her to hide in. It was a pretty sad sight to see and at this rate, we would never get home in time to make Chris Schulte’s birthday party. I picked her up, wrapped her around my neck and she didn’t even put up a fight. She is about 38- 40 pounds which isn’t too bad. I walk her down to the base of the uphill section and place her back on the ground. As soon as I put her leash back on, she is in the lead and pulling on the leash as usual. She is such a funny dog, in that, I mean that she is so much like a little child. I have had to do this before because she more or less stops and gives you the, I’m dying look and just stares up at you with sad eyes. Her suffocating panting was also a sign that she was a bit overheated. I do know that her breed is from a cooler, moister region that is totally different from Colorado’s dry, high altitude, intense sunny region. As we closed the gap towards my truck, it did seem to be getting warmer and I felt a bit bad about dragging the Nutt up the sparsely shaded trail. Poor Peanut must think that every time I take her outside now, that I am going to torture her to hike some fiery inferno of a trail. She may at some point protest these hikes and just want to stay home in her air-conditioned castle. I think for Peanut’s sake and mine; I can get back out and get to climbing again soon!

Cool Photo

2009-08-11T20:57:00.001-07:00

A cool photo Wade David took last Spring on the Pony Keg Traverse, Eldo.

Taking time off of climbing:(

2009-08-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to be good and not push my injuries too much. My left elbow tendinitis is getting better, but is still there. I have had a small bit of pain in my right bicep for the past couple of months and now it is super painful. With the economy forcing companies to lay off much of their work force, I WAS doing the work of two large guys. I by no means am a large guy and I think I may have torn my bicep. Going from sales to loading and unloading lots of doors and material has beat me down. I thought I was frustrated before with just the tendinitis, but now I am about to scream. I went to the doctor and they took Xrays to find that there were no chipped bone issues, thank god. Now they are sending me to an arm specialist to probably administer an MRI. They also have put me on work restriction that only allows me to lift no more than 10 pounds with either arm, yeah, f-ing psyched. I have done my own research on line and have concluded that my bicep must be slightly torn. Hopefully it is small enough that I don't need surgery. Without surgery, I believe recover is around 3 to 6 months. I have pretty much stopped climbing all together and probably won't climb again for at leased a month. I will try to see how the bicep feels and then and go from there. I guess I will have to get my hike on and go check out other areas of the Park that I haven't seen before.
I still want to go out with friends still and at leased hang out and take photos.

Past vids

2009-08-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here a couple of vids, one from Clear Creek and the other from South Platt Colorado.

Camp Dick Day

2009-08-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

This summer has been brutal at work. My tendinitis is still there, but now I have torn my other arm's bicep. Now, both of my arms are wrecked and I am not too psyched about it. It has been extremely hard to work physically and climb as hard as I have in the past. This summer's climbing has been less than motivating to say the leased. I have been getting out once in a while mostly to just hang out with my wife Danielle and to just get our dog out. I have been doing some routes with Danielle and that doesn't seem to bother my tendinitis too much. I have been climbing about half as much as I am used to, but at leased I am still getting out. Routes have been kind of inspiring since they don't hurt nearly as bad as bouldering does right now. Plastic boulder is the worst by far, so I have only been trying to do plastic routes to stay in moderate shape.
Last weekend, I went up to Camp Dick with my buddy Jim in his crazy Jeep. We 4xed up the heinous road to the Omni Globe Boulder. I have talked to some folks who told me that it was not worth it to endure the hour and half hike up to the boulder. Once I saw the boulder, I about shit my pants. It is this HUGE boulder with two overhanging sides that you could still climb on in the rain. There are about a dozen problems that vary from slab to overhanging. The rock quality is bullet! I was pretty blown away at how fun all the problems were. We had gotten rained out and I thought it would be a fun place to go hang with the wife and let Peanut run around. This weekend, Danielle, Joel, Cory, and I decided to hike up to the Omni Globe. Danielle and I had plans later in the day, so we thought the park would be too much work and we really wanted to get the doggy out. It turned out to be a really fun day. I really wanted to do a couple of the V8's and a 9 that I couldn't do the last weekend because of the torrential rain. This weekend, the weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and there was a great breeze that kept everything fairly dry compared to last weekend. Danielle and Cory put the beat down on "The Maxi Pad" and Joel put the beat down on "Cleaners Call". I really wanted to finish "Put Some Hair Around It" and it's variations. There is a left and a right variation that in there own right are pretty damn cool. The finish of "PSHAI" is the business for all of the variations I thought. Once I figured out the beta on the top out, all of the variations came together. I think maybe with having to do routes lately, I have gained some endurance I didn't know I had. The problems were fairly long compared to the boulder problems I like to do. The rock was very Squamishesque. All in all, the problems were really fun, but the hike is longer than the park and Evans. I think we may have hiked something like 8 miles with pads and climbing gear. My legs and arms were a bit sore, especially my bicep. A little food, beer and Ibuprofen helped me feel better. Once I find another job, I can possibly heal and maybe start bouldering without pain once again:)

Cory "The Kine", RMNP

2009-07-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here is Cory gettin it done on "THE KINE" RMNP.

Trade Show

2009-07-28T20:01:00.001-07:00

Last week, I attended the Outdoor Retail Show once again. I go every winter and summer to help out at the Evolv booth. Last year, I actually worked by meeting buyers from the Four Corners area to talk about new climbing shoes and how to boost sales. This year, Evolv was able to find a full time rep to run the entire area apposed to me only being able to run the front range area. Having to pay the mortgage really kept me from doing what needed to be done as a rep. If I was able to find a couple of more product lines along side Evolv, I think I could make a solid go at being a rep. I know I can sell, I know I can. I do shoe demos for Evolv, attend climbing events like the trade shows, comps, and fund raisers to help support the product. I manage the Colorado Team and always help promote the product.
The show was pretty fun. It is always fun to talk about climbing and shoes with psyched climbers. Evolv has a couple of new models this season, which are the K2's and K-Laces. They have revamped the Talon and Predator which looks freakin insane!!!!!!!1Getting to see friends that I haven't seen in a while is super nice as well as meeting Scott Milton. Evolv rented a house this show which was much cheaper than renting hotel rooms. The house was pretty f-ing pimp! We had about 15 Evolv team members and friends hanging at the house. The parties were fun, but actually mild. Partying with Lisa Rands was an experience I will remember for a while. The booth was really nice this show as well. Aron did a super nice job designing and building the entire booth. There were actual offices so that the sales reps could have some privacy with their buyers. There was a professional energy that I have not seen at our shows before. GOOD SHOW!!!

Kaos 2/ K-Lace

2009-07-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

I just received the new Evolv Kaos2's and K-Lace. I personally like soft climbing shoes and these babies will feed my desires. I am not the heaviest guy on the block and stiff shoes are not as sensitive as I would like for the majority of climbing I do. For bouldering, the Kaos 2's will be a great soft, non aggressive, velcro slipper that will do amazing on slab and slightly over hanging terrain. The K-Lace is that and a bowl of cherries. The K-Lace has the same soft feel, but with the lace system, the heal seams to cinch down a tad better than the velcro K2's. Both shoes have perforated synthetic uppers that breaths amazingly. I can actually feel the breeze as it blows through my feet, awesome! . The rubber is the new EcoTrax rubber. The front 1/4 right at the toe box is new high friction Trax rubber, while the back 3/4 is the EcoTrax rubber. I feel no difference in the rubber compounds from front pointing to heal hooking. The shoes heal hook just as awesome as any other shoe in the line. All in all, I really like the shoe for slab to slightly overhanging terrain:)

Clear Creek Canyon

2009-07-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

Danielle and I met our good friend Brian Rhodes up Clear Creek Canyon to do some sport climbing. I have been battling my elbow tendinitis for a few months now and sadly, it is not getting any better. I decided to take a little bit of time off from bouldering and maybe try some rope climbing.
We met Brian up at the Wall of the 90's. I have done maybe one roped route this year and was kind of psyched to do some fun routes. Danielle has been doing a ton of roped climbing because there are way more routes for her to work on than there are boulder problems to do in the front range. Her nursing program is insane and she can't get out as much as she would like, so I am happy to see her psyched on climbing once again. I wanted to hang with my wife, so rope climbing I did. Once there, we got on a couple of long 5.10+ which were really fun. After the sun came around the corner, we headed over to the Wall of Justice. The routes there are super steep and super fun. Brian flashed The Great Escape, 12c and his friend worked on the route for a short bit to iron out some of the moves. Danielle wanted me to go before her so I went to battle. I was pumped out of my mind three bolts in! I think I may have lost a little bit since I have backed off of climbing to once a week. I DO NOT do anything longer than a few moves at a time since all I do is boulder, so rope climbing is is a bit intimidating. The route started off with some great holds and then got REALLY steep to an ok block you match on and then bust a big move to another descent hold. I got pumped as shit at the crux and tried really hard to finish the lip turn to a couple of slopy moves over the lip to then barley clip the chains. Danielle jumped on the route and did really well. She worked the moves up to the lip turn and wanted to be lowered before the rain came in. Pretty much as soon as she touched down, the rain came. It was hot as shit before the rain, but as soon as the rain had ended, it got even hotter. It felt like we were in South America with all the humidity. We all packed up and took off. I had a really fun day climbing routes with my wife Danielle and our good friend Brian Rhodes. I was even more psyched that rope climbing did not seem to wreck my elbow nearly as badly as bouldering. I really love to boulder, but if I can climb routes for now and not hurt my elbow, I am happy:)

Fun, casual park day:)

2009-07-11T20:30:00.001-07:00

Friday I had the day off of work and went with Danielle and Jacinda to RMNP. Jacinda is working on the Kind at Emerald Lake. The weather was a bit on the warm side, but we were out climbing and not working, f-yeah!
I have taken some time off of climbing because of my elbow, but really wanted to go up to the park and at leased get a good hike in. I brought climbing gear just in case my elbow was somewhat cooperative. Once we got there, the breeze was killer and Jacinda was psyched. Danielle worked with her to get her beta worked out. I decided to go around to the backside of the Kind boulder and play on all of the moderates. There were so many super fun moderates I have forgotten about around the talus field. I played for a couple of hours and made my way back to the girls. Jacinda was getting really close to doing the Kind, but she was spent and Danielle and I had to get back to the Nutter to walk her before she crapped in the house.
We all had a fun day with sort of warm temps, but no rain to chase us out for once.

Dragon's Den

2009-07-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

My tendinitis has had me a bit depressed. The job if am currently doing is killing my upper body and there is nothing I can do about it. I go climbing to stay fit and to get away from everyday drama with work, the economy, etc. I need to work in order to pay the bills, but at the same time it has interrupted my outlets like climbing. I am at a loss. I have tried to find a new job closer to home, but have had little luck. I am being as open minded as one can be in these trying times. Now that I am a married man, there is a personal goal to keep this family firmly planted and do what is right. I NEED TO WORK. I guess if I were single and this job was killing me physically, I would just say f- it and just quit. Climbing is pretty damn important to me as well. It keeps me mentally sane and physically content. Now that I can’t really climb because of my work related pain, I just want to turn and run. Having responsibilities sort of sucks.
Friends tell me that I should just go hiking or try not climbing as hard. Sunday I did just that. I took my dog Peanut out for a hike to find some boulders that I have heard about called the Dragon’s Den. Peanut and I went up to Big Elk Meadow which is on the way up to Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a canyon that brakes off the main highway and meanders along a lush, overgrown patch of mountain. Once at the pullout, the hike is minimal. The trail fallows along a quite, slow moving creek that has sprouted a thick, green blanket of vegetation from all of the rain we have had this Spring and Summer. There is a mild river crossing that Peanut flies across with the enthusiasm of a bunny rabbit which I laugh at. We start hiking up the karn marked hillside for about 10 minutes until we reach the first set of boulders. The lines looked awesome, but the rock was a bit subpar. The rock is a combination of granite and sharp knobby crystals. Some problems are more skin friendly than others, but all in all, the climbing was fun. I found about a dozen problems that were worthy of loosing some skin. This was perfect because Peanut could run around and be a dog while I played on some moderate boulder problems trying not to piss off my tendinitis. There were fun roofs, jug hauls, arêtes and highballs to test my new Evolv XY custom climbing shoes. I found the area to be beautiful, peaceful, but limited. The rain arrived right on time and we were out. Once Peanut and I made it home, I checked the area guide on Frontrangebouldering.com and found that the problems ranged from V0 to V6/7 which sounded about right. There were some Gill problems which I was not aware of that put a smile on my face. I am always taken back to know that I have been on a piece of rock that John Gill has climbed before.
Peanut and I had a fun couple of hours before the rain came. If it wasn’t for the cloud cover, there would have been no way to climb at these boulders in July because they directly face the afternoon sun. We hiked back out through the overgrown vegetation without running into another soul the whole time we were in the area. I am not sure I would ever come back to the Dragon’s Den for no other reason than to show Danielle some new boulder problems and to let Peanut be the crazy doggy she is.

Tendinits

2009-07-05T16:35:00.001-07:00

I have been fighting elbow tendinitis for the last couple of months, but now it is on fire. My job requires me to lift a fair amount of heavy material like doors and interior millwork. It really kind of sucks since this is the beginning of RMNP and Evans season. I was starting to feel relatively strong again since I blew out my finger last November. Now my elbow is hurting enough to probably take the month off and wait to see what happens. I was getting really close to finishing Whispers Of Wisdom. Whispers is the Midnight Lightning of the park and has one of the best highball finishes of any problem in the park. I suppose I will have to wait till Fall when the temps get cooler and my elbow gets better.

Tendinitis

2009-07-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yep, it happend. I have contracted the Tendinitis virus. Trying to fight it, but I think it's winning.