And now the season begins!

It is a real joy being out this time of year, showing up at the crag with a hoodie on and leaving the bug dope behind. This past week and weekend were some of the best weather days of the year and I have been feeling energized by it.

Jeff Myers came up to climb on Friday. He is an English professor and is lucky enough to be able to get away pretty regularly on that last of the weekdays. Jeff has been re-learning skills and picking up new ones this season to climb independently, especially with his sons, but Friday was just for climbing. Especially cool was Overhanging Layback, a steep line with beautiful rock and a great feeling of exposure on the upper pitch with the long, sweeping arete that is the right edge of the MaCarthy Wall below.

On Sunday I visited a quiet hideaway with a group of sales reps for Primaloft. These were all athletic folks who make their living in the outdoor industry and were a lot of fun to be around. I led a bunch of routes and set top ropes from 5.5 to 5.11 and everybody got something done to suite their ability/experience.

Earlier in the week I got out with Paavo Thabit to Lost City. We both needed to get out and get a burn and then back to other tasks. I led Stannard's Roof. It took a second try after I got the gear in and couldn't make the lip. This huge roof is intimidating and though the holds are huge it is so improbable to be climbing upside down for so long. After pulling the lip I jumped off and lowered to the anchor, we pulled the rope and then Paavo led it too. I took another lap and pulled the gear. We also top roped the 10+ just right of Stannard's and then did some laps on Persistent. I felt strong on the steep long moves of Persistent and got a boost of confidence from being able to do it three times without falling.

Next comes Enduro Man!

It has been super hot this week. After such cool temps the last week or more of August it is a little tough to go back to nearly ninety and muggy. Next week looks like it'll be back to fall.

Marty and I visited Lost City yesterday and set top ropes on three routes; Red Wall, Texas Flake and Forbidden Zone and ran a pair of laps on each. Marty is working hard to be fit for a trip to the Cascades that is just a week away and so we dashed out for a quick work out and stayed cool in the sort of corridor in which these great routes hide.

Personally, I feel like it is time to crank it all up a bit. After a long summer of climbing mostly moderate pitches it's time to do something hard (at least by my somewhat lame standards). I got a taste of the Adirondacks last week with a client from the city. We visited the west face of Mt. Colden and climed Colden Slide, a thousand feet of cruiser slabs in a back country setting that landed us right at the summit. We also went to the Beer Walls by Chapel Pond and climbed a number of reasonably good pitches. I am amazed at how featured the rock is up there, very nice.

Hoping to visit Canon Mt. next week for a long route or two. The weather dictates.