Peter Terbush Memorial Leadership Summit

Each spring, I am fortunate to be a part of the Peter Terbush Memorial Leadership Summit. Peter was a student at Western State College in Gunnison, CO when he was killed in a massive rock fall in Yosemite 10 years ago while rock climbing with friends. Peter was know as an ultra friendly, outgoing guy with tons of energy and a way of motivating people to extend their limits in the mountains. Peter died while maintaining the belay that saved the life of his friend and climbing partner.

Through the generosity of the Terbush family and Western State College, around 25 participants a year gather from around the country to learn leadership in the mountains. Students select from single pitch rock, multi pitch rock or alpine climbing for a week of hard skill instruction as well as the softer skills of leadership, mentorship and guiding. This year I instructed the single pitch discipline, with all the cushiness of car camping in Taylor Canyon and at Hartman Rocks (Perfect since recovery from ACL surgery this spring seems to be taking FOREVER). With a crew of 6 students, my co-instructor Laura Chase from Crested Butte Mt. Guides and I spent the week teaching the basics from knots and belay techniques to haul systems and rescue scenarios while preparing a feast each evening by the campfire.

The Summit has become important for me to instruct each spring because of the energy and spirit of servant leadership Peter’s legacy has brought to the program. I am inspired each year by the enthusiasm of the participants as well as by the keynote addresses given by Peter’s father Jim on leadership. It is great to see such enthusiasm from the students as they prepare to head into careers such as guiding or running academic outdoor programs.

SteveBanks

IFMGA Guide

Our work here is done...

Photgrapher, Nathan Smith shooting Heather Lords at Trogir, Croatia

Yup!

Beautiful stone

Waiting for the rain to stop, or at least slow down!

Climbing fast trying to stay dry - Omis, Croatia

Trogir, Croatia

Our journey is quickly coming to an end. Nathan, his wife Cheri, and Christine Balaz left this morning for Germany. Heather and I will take an overnight Ferry to Italy for a few days to play tourist before returning to Split for our last couple of climbing days here in Croatia. We've enjoyed this place; visiting almost every climbing sector in Dalmatia.

The weather has been rainy the last few days making it problematic for climbing - wet pockets and dripping tufas. It appears the weather is looking poor for several more days. Hopefully we can squeeze one or two more climbing days in at the tail end of the trip. I do look forward to returning to cooler temps in Idaho and many cragging days with friends... and Ranch Dressing... and chips and salsa... and...

Storm Skiing and Climbing in the Tetons

It has been a stormy, wet Spring in Jackson Hole, leaving limestone seeping and locals surly. But up high, above 11,000' the snow has been sticking to rock slabs and filling in the couliors making skiing and alpine climbing conditions perfect. The problem is, once the sun comes out (today!) will it is all come down like a house of cards? Luckily, I got a guided ski descent of the Grand in yesterday, mid storm, as well as some other ascents and descents with clients over the last two weeks. Below are a collection of photos from the last two weeks of ski guiding and climbing guiding on the Grand.

Approaching the Eye of the Needle.

Top of Owen Chimney.

Topping out on the Owen Route.

Climbing the Owen Spalding route in a storm.

Hiking up the Teepe Glacier, skis on our backs.

Ascending the East Face Sneak.

The Chevy Coulior looking as filled in as I have ever seen.

Slogging up the Ford Coulior in deep summer snow, in a cloud.


Steve Strong making his first turn at 13,770 in pea-soup.

Ski belaying a client into the Ford off the East Face of the Grand during one of the only clear moments of the morning.

A Panoramic View of Paradise

I've officially been out of the US now for almost a full week. Two of those were eaten up with travel and time zone leaps- but the other five days have been enough for us to recover from jet lag, explore the town and climbing of Split, meet up with Nathan and Cheri, ride the ferry to the island of Hvar, and climb for a day-and-a-half at Cliff Base (www.cliffbase.com). And take a rest day.

Dean, Heather, and I arrived in Split on the afternoon of June 10; Nathan and Cheri would not arrive in Croatia until the 13th, so we decided to kill a few days in the town proper, sleeping away our jet lag and checking out the local climbing.

Turns out that Split is an awesome town. It's downtown is definitely a bit touristy, but in an abnormally digestible fashion. The architecture of the town is an amalgamation of old and new-- and it's pretty apparent that the town has not seen any kind of tectonic activity in the last 1000 years, looking around at all of the towering and aged stonework. 

At the heart of the town, right on the coast, is an old Palace into, onto, and around which many newer structures have been built. The town is a maze of architectural entropy that has actually turned out to be quite beautiful. Tall and narrow buildings are fitted into, on top of, and around each other at odd angles and impressive heights. 

As for the climbing in Split- we didn't have a car, so were restricted to climbing within walking distance of the town. (We were too jet lagged to try to rally the bus system.) It turns out that the walkable climbing was more than enough. 

The crag we went to is called Marjan. It's on a peninsula west of the downtown, and is just a 30 or 40 minute walk from our "hotel" (or: room in the basement of a random building). Though the climbing looked less-than-stellar, each route we did climbed quite well, and we learned that the ratings here a full-value. 

Climbing seems to be well-accepted here. At the base of the routes were enough names lacquered  to the rock to help orient you, and park-style wooden benches were scattered along the base of the crag. Even given the nearness of the climbing to Split, the beautiful scenery, and the fun climbing, we still never saw another climber. 

On the 13th, Nathan and Cheri arrived and we hustled them through our version of the Split tour. We downloaded to them all that we had learned: that the ice cream wasn't as good as it looks, that pizza-by-the-slice is not as good as it looks, that the palace has a really cool dungeon underneath, and that you walk directly up hill from the popcorn vendor to get to our room. 

The next morning, we hustled to the pier with our crazy amount of luggage- climbing gear, photography gear, dismembered bodies... and rocked the two-hour ferry ride to the Stari Grad on the Island of Hvar. We took a taxi immediately to Cliff Base (www.cliffbase.com), a privately-owned seaside climbing mini-paradise with nearly a hundred routes, a climber hostel, and deep water soloing. 

Miroslav, the owner of Cliff Base, has been there for seven years- and over that time has developed what is a high-quality limestone crag with nearly 100 routes. Though many of the routes are very, very near each other, each still climbs well and seems to take its own line. Most of the routes are long, too, at 30 to 40 meters. An 80 m rope is the recommended length here! But you can get away without one, as most long climbs have a mid-way anchor. 

Cliff Base is located in a miniscule town with one small food market, one restaurant (the local hang, for sure), and one bar. Miroslav knows everyone, and we've been introduced to the big local vintner, the owner of the restaurant (who is also the owner of our apartment, which is located directly above the restaurant)... Turns out that speaking German is super handy here. Equally as many people speak German as English- so between the two languages, we have been able to cover almost all of our interactions with words!

The climbing is great- usually very solid at the grade. Mostly vertical, technical, and highly dependent on trust-of-friction. There is a small selection of slightly steeper climbs- but most of these are juggy, globby, gaping deep-water solos. 

This is my first go with deep-water soloing, and here it's incredibly fun. The water is beautiful- clear, aqua blue (no way!), and and the perfect temperature. 

We've climbed for 1.5 days here at Cliff Base. No projects yet- all onsighting. But soon I'd like to get on something a bit harder. 

We all agree that today is a mandatory rest day. Muscles tired. Skin shot. Shoes and chalkbags wet. (Deep water soloing!)

The nights I've gone out have been really fun. In Split, I went out with our restaurant hostess, a Croatian girl Yelena -we went to a pier of super cool open air, seaside clubs w/ DJs. 

In Hvar, I got to celebrate by eating a lamb roasted for the women's soccer team who won the year-long, island-wide tournament. When the lamb was eaten (in the town's only restaurant), the party moved downstairs (to the town's only bar). Ended up staying late, listening to the Croatians sing their croatian songs as loudly as possible, joked around, and, predictably (but also understandably), fielded questions about American foreign relations. Slapped high-fives to all the familiar faces around town suffering from hangovers the next day. 

Looks like we'll probably stay here for another night or two- then head off to climb at the island of Brac, and then possibly onto mainland Croatia- Possibly to Paklenica?

Bye from Christine (and Dean, too).

A peak at Paradise

I wish i had the time to write a proper blog post about our frist week here in Croatia. But i don't! People say a picture is worth a thousand words, so i hope this makes up for the lack of text! Enjoy...

Dean Lords - East Idaho (but currently on the Island of Hvar, Croatia!)

Gravity Brawl 2009

Hey everyone (who reads this blog),

It’s been exactamente two weeks since the Gravity Brawl and I decided to write on its biweekly-versary. Late in the season this year, Mammut and Native Eyewear put together yet another kick-a$$ comp that once again set a true bouldering comp standard. That’s right: a bouldering… comp… standard… I’ve been to many comps in Russia, attended tons of junior comps in the US, and I’ve been to Italy, France, Bulgaria, and even Spain… and I’ve never seen better and more exciting comps than these!

Picture this: a citizens comp with problems of 20 styles and ratings, DJ spinning sick music, one of the best indoor bouldering gyms operating solely on the climbing energy (yes, it’s an alternative energy source that might be the answer to our oil dependency). This battery lasts for several hours until Pete Ward, Jason Danforth, Kyle McCabe, etc. are forced to put a huge metal lock on the front doors until 6pm. The comp isn’t over, it’s about to begin! Crowds rush into the gym to get good seats while 10 male and 10 female competitors ease their way through the back door and straight into their panic room, where they try to distract themselves from the harsh reality of being stuck with their arch enemies for the next hour.

Lights out, visibility: one person in front of you and one person to the side. Yet you know there is another hundred somewhere around that are breathing heavily in anticipation. You wonder for a second what it’s like in the panic room. There, male specimen already wearing their game clothes: shorts or pants, khaki or spandex (based on preference), always a T-shirt and it’s always a lucky one whether you take it off during the comp or not. Guys’ hearts are beating fast yet they pace slow, trying to hide any possible anxiety; if their cover is unveiled, they will pay the price of mental defeat. Gals have chosen what to wear the previous night, yet they are unsure in their minds about their decisions: tight pants, booty shorts or booty shorts… color, color, color: black or bright red? What about striped? Tank top or T-shirt, that would depend on… well, you can never go wrong with a tank top.

Finally, there comes the moment, you own it, you better never let it go… The 20 finalists come out with all they got: 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will… something about pleasure and pain, and another 100%. No matter what each brings, her heart races, but her arms are steady, ready to show explosive power on the overhang behind her. “Climbers, begin climbing!” – Jason’s words penetrate through the heads and the chosen finalists turn around in an instant. Bright lights suddenly shine on Problems 1 through 4; “I know what I’m doing… cross here, match, dyno, heel hook or toe hook?” echoes in your head, 4 minutes remaining and it’s time to start climbing… All those percentages from before add up to 200 I believe, and you grab the finishing jug. Hop down, the lights turn off. “WTF,” - you think – “The lights knew I finished the problem! Technology…” The bright lights remain focused on Problem #4, the last and hardest of them all. Only one energy can get the competitor up to the top, and it’s the climbing energy! Music fades, crowd’s cheering becomes a continuous noise, and gravity lowers to slightly below 9.6m/s2. Unreal, unheard of, and absolutely the most fun climbers can ask for.
To top it all off, a live band starts playing and an after-party fueled by more climbing energy pushes Mammut Gravity Brawl to the top of any ranking system! I have to admit that adding giant 20-person paellas to NE2C competitions would result in the greatest climbing party of the year… every year. Enjoy the pictures!

Check out the highlights at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs3-1c_UnWo

Yours truly,

Vasya Vorotnikov

Results by Max Breslow

Me on Problem #4 by John Maier

Cool photos by Tim Kemple:

Me on Problem #4 (about to fall)

On Problem #4, again...

Maple Canyon, Spring 2009

We just returned from a great, 1-month climbing trip to Maple Canyon, Utah. Initially, we were reluctant to leave because we were both dealing with some climbing-related tendonitis, but we took the first week of the trip easy and the injuries became very manageable. In fact, both Pam (my wife) and I exceeded our climbing expectations – usually it’s the other way around!

Maple is a great sport climbing area and the massive Pipedream cave has got to be seen to be believed. The climbing here was really up my alley – steep, sustained and long on generally positive holds. I don’t really know how sport climbing could get much more enjoyable than this! Success on the cave routes at the Pipedream usually requires a lot of fitness, the ability to rest in bizarre positions (upside down double kneebars anyone?) and the “guts” to skip bolts. This takes some getting used to because if you skip a bolt in the roof of the cave, it usually means you are about to get really pumped and might not be able to clip the next bolt! Big falls are par for the course, but totally safe. Good luck “boinking” up the rope, though. My best effort was the route “Whole Shot”, tentatively graded 14a (8b+). It suited my style so it’s hard to comment on the grade. I also managed some 13a’s on my first go, which is always a nice surprise!

So now we are back to Squamish for the summer. I’ve got my eye on a couple of first ascent projects and think I should get out my crashpad for some bouldering. I want to update my guidebook Squamish Bouldering this summer and the research could be good cross-training! If any of you have problems or suggestions, please get in touch (info@quickdrawpublications.com)! We plan to go to Rifle or the Bow Valley in August and then hope to hit Kalymnos for an excellent fall trip. If only we can all stay healthy and uninjured. Enjoy the pics!

Pam Bourdon redpointing “Dry Times” (5.12b)





David Raska redpointing “Eulogy” (5.14a/b)





Heather Robinson onsighting Zoaster Toaster (5.12a)


Marc Bourdon redpointing “Whole Shot” (5.14a)




Rosie Cahoon sending “Orgasmo” (5.12c)