WAGG Day 15 - Goes 42-44

09/13/15

It has been more than three months since the last time I was on Whiskey. I spent the summerr away because humidity sucks for hard rock climbing, and I was doing so much cardio getting ready for the Tetons. It was good to get back on the route last Sunday, I took three real goes on the thing, all on TR. I managed to one hang it on TR again, so at least I haven't lost anything since June.

The route felt good, but my core gave out in the crux, my arms and fingers felt solid, so its core focus on the training plan from here out.

Psyched again...finally!

It has been about 3.5 weeks since I returned from Wyoming, and the trip must have taken more out of me then I thought. I haven't been able to get into the habit of training and I've only gone climbing a few times. I've been slowly trying to get myself back in the groove, but it's tough. I've been catching up on work and family obligations and there is only so much energy to go around.

Last night I made the drive down to Madison to meet with some friends to watch Meru and while I was there I made plans to go to Necedah this weekend and get back on Whiskey. Some combination and the re-aligning of my sight on an old goal was just the right recipe to get me back in the mood to train. Since I returned from Wyoming, I've been training but it felt forced. Last night I was psyched driving home and almost went out to the shed at eleven o'clock when I got home, but decided to wait. This morning I did a quick session of deadlift/campus intervals...I was psyched and it felt good!

By the time I get to Whiskey on Sunday, it will have been over three months since I was there last. I think I've given the route 43 tries on fifteen different days since last August. I don't know when or if the route will go for me, but I know now that the weather is improving and autumn is here, that it's time to try again...hard.

Throwin' it Back to "Living the Dream" Last Summer

Last summer my good friend Phil and I went on a climbing trip to the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. You can revisit that post if you'd like, or you can just enjoy some of the photos set to music in the video below.

Wyoming 2015

A Quick Note from the Tetons

I've been in the Jackson area for a little over 24 hours now. I landed in SLC Friday night about 10pm Mountain. Jon picked me up at the airport, and we drove for a few hours before crashing at Allred Flat Campground in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The next morning (yesterday) we finished the drive in the morning, and checked in the American Alpine Club Grand Teton Climbers' Ranch (GTCR).

The weather was questionable at best, Jon wanted a nap after a long week of working the Outdoor Retailer Show - I wanted to breathe some thin air and get myself a little acclimated. So Jon napped while I carried a light pack to the Lower Saddle and back. When I got back, we had dinner and spent some time hanging out in the GTCR Library with the other climbers staying there. Sitting around the fire, swapping stories, looking at photos from a Liberty Ridge trip. Sitting in that room, surrounded by stocking-footed (no shoes allowed in the library) climbers and artifacts from well-over a century's worth of climbing I felt I was surrounded by close friends, despite only knowing one other person in the room. One of climbing's greatest strengths, and pulls for me is the community of people it brings together.

This morning Jon and I were both slow to rise from our bunks, but the fog was slow to lift from the valley too - so it didn't matter. Mostly it's been a slow day of resting, eating, and getting our kit put together for the next two days. We plan on starting up Teewinot tonight around 2am en route to do the Grand Traverse over the next two days. We had hoped to get a warm-up route in beforehand, but the weather looks questionable later in the week - so we'll use the two days of good forecast to go for it.