Birthday

My former students outside Fulford Cave in Eagle, Colorado. They got a little muddy, tired, scared, bruised and full of new and awesome memories! Great job guys. Hope your car didn't break down on the way home.

Yeah, it snowed on my birthday. Kebler Pass outside Crested Butte.

Matt Peacock being belayed by my lovely wife Jane. We hung out in Crested Butte, climbed at Taylor with her brother Matt and watched the A-Team after a nice dinner with a crappy waiter. The picknick on the river before the rain came was pretty sweet.

The view from Crested Butte South. Jane's brother lives just down the street right next to Cement Creek and is always great about inviting us over.

The view from Cottonwood Pass (looking to the west). Jane and I took the pass to Crested Butte and played catch with the softball at the reservoir on the Taylor River. It's a beautiful drive and pretty mellow for a Colorado mountain pass.

So I turned 34 this weekend. What have I learned? Well, that I am not invincible anymore. When I was in my later teens and even through my 20's I felt invincible. I would ski fast, bike hard, climb days in a row and never feel the pain. Well that is all changing. No matter how much I train or work out or run, I still have those days where I feel like a beat up doormat.

Currently, I am feeling rough from establishing a route on Mt Evans. My back is killing me from jugging and swinging around the overhanging wall putting in bolts, cleaning and working the route. Now that it's been a week of waking up with major back pain I have realized that rest is going to be the only solution. I guess that is just the way it is for us humans. We wear out just like a pair of climbing shoes.

Enjoy the pictures of my birthday weekend. I climbed, caved and hung out with my wife and some close friends. That is what it's all about anyway.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog. Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.

Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites: http://www.scarpa.net/ http://www.arcteryx.com/ http://camp-usa.com/ http://sterlingrope.com/ http://coloradomountainjournal.com/ http://www.wunderground.com/ http://climbing.com%20http//rockandice.com http://deadpointmag.com/ http://urbanclimbermag.com/ http://andrewburr.com/ http://ladzinski.com/

Sikati Cave

Last day climbing in Kalymnos! What to do to make it memorable? Sikati Cave!

What to say? Epic crag. Huge hole in the ground, 100m deep at the lowest point, covered in stalactites. My first trip here in 2008 I did the runout classic Lolita 7a. This time I had to step it up and onsighted the long Mort Aux Chevres 7b and also Morgan and its extension Adam, given 8a in the guidebook(!)

The first pitch (given 7c) is mostly very steep 6c-7a climbing to an admittedly hard section. It probably is 7c. Then the extension is only another 8m of climbing and you can start it fresh because there's a great bridging rest at the first anchor. I won't spoil it for you, but it's definitely worth having a try for the extension. I was happy I did.
 

Me on Morgan, still a ways to go. T-shirt carried as sweat towel.

© Mark Kochanek 2010

I was so zorched after that effort I bit the dust.

And then it was time to say farewell to Kalymnos and hello to Turkey. Thanks Kaly, see you next year!

It's a Homonym, 5.12 (new route on the P-Wall)

Just the other day I was able to open up a new mixed route at the P-Wall at Mt. Evans.
It has two bolts and climbs out a steep part of the wall on big holds until the crack eats up cams and nuts.
Take a minute to look at the photos that Dan Gambino took on the actual first free ascent.
http://www.dangpix.com/p_wall_6_10/index.html

I am really glad that you have visited my blog. Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon. Rob Pizem
And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites: http://www.scarpa.net http://www.arcteryx.com http://camp-usa.com http://sterlingrope.com http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com http://www.wunderground.com http://climbing.com http://rockandice.com http://deadpointmag.com http://urbanclimbermag.com http://andrewburr.com http://ladzinski.com

Bouldering

Beliche,Great Beach for Bouldering nr Sagres.

Possibilty Wall, Mt. Evans Colorado

This is where I have been hanging around on my awesome and durable Sterling Ropes. It may have had a different name back in the day, but when I started playing on the wall nobody spoke up about it's history, nor was climbing up there, so I called it the Possibility Wall or P-Wall for short. I have been able to complete a few lines and there are still plenty to go in. Currently my project is the yellow line out the steepest part of the overhang.
I love hiking out to the wall, seeing the bighorn sheep that I pass almost daily and even trying to keep the marmots from peeing and eating my pack. It can be really windy, cold and uncomfortable, but the climbing is unparalleled and views breathtaking.
Most days that I climb at the P-wall, I get out of the truck and feel a stiff cold breeze the second my door opens. I quickly put my Arcteryx layers on and grab my Arcteryx pack and Camp hiking poles and head to the wall. Hiking through the alpine bowl in my Scarpa approach shoes to get to the wall is pretty casual as it is down hill the entire way. In a few weeks will be covered in alpine tundra flowers of all sorts and colors. It will be amazing! The snow is continuing to melt rapidly and I fear for a very dry season this summer. Then as I approach the wall I will normally see some kind of wild life, sheep, goats, marmots, elk and eagles. Once on top of the wall, I will gaze up and down the valley and take it all in before I head down a warm up climb.
Once I begin climbing, my heart rate raises and levels out quickly. I am normally able to gauge how well I have acclimated by my heart rate during the warm up. Then its time to eat and try the project.
What makes this route challenging for me is the fact that there are very few, if any holds to pull down on. Nearly every hold on the route is a side pull or gaston (meaning vertical) and only half a pad of my finger tips. I have found it difficult to train for this due to being unable to replicate the movements indoors or find other routes that climb similarly. What a joy to find something so unique and challenging. Well, time to head to the P-wall.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog. Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon. Rob Pizem
And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites: http://www.scarpa.net/ http://www.arcteryx.com/ http://camp-usa.com/ http://sterlingrope.com/ http://coloradomountainjournal.com/ http://www.wunderground.com/ http://climbing.com/ http://rockandice.com/ http://deadpointmag.com/ http://urbanclimbermag.com/ http://andrewburr.com/ http://ladzinski.com/

El Rito

Dave being belayed by his wife on the cobbles of El Rito, New Mexico. We climbed for two days over the long weekend on these highly featured rock climbs.

Jane and I had time on this casual weekend to hike after climbing to a waterfall near the camping area. We stopped and checked out this lean to someone had made in the woods.

The waterfall just up from the camping area at El Rito. It was a small falls with a small pool of crystal clear cool water. Below there was a grassy area to hang out of the sun where the late spring heat coudn't get to you. I haven't been on many climbing trips where I had time to relax and this one was a nice change.

Jane and I at the waterfall. I rarely get her in front of the camera and was lucky enough on this day! She's nice : )

The Meyer's. Dug (the fiesty Jack Russel Terrier) the dog was grumpy and did not want to be photographed at this moment in time.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog. Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon. Rob Pizem And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites: http://www.scarpa.net/ http://www.arcteryx.com/ http://camp-usa.com/ http://sterlingrope.com/ http://coloradomountainjournal.com/ http://www.wunderground.com/ http://climbing.com%20http//rockandice.com http://deadpointmag.com/ http://urbanclimbermag.com/ http://andrewburr.com/ http://ladzinski.com/

Lee Cujes interview by Whipper Magazine

Whipper Online Climbing Magazine just published an interview with me on their site. I talk a little about my background in climbing and also about some of the climbing camps Upskill has been doing over the past few years, our upcoming camps and our plans for the future. Check it out!

Lee Cujes - Interview on Whipper Magazine