New River Gorge

We traveled as a three-man extractive industry.  We sought to better mountain-top removal miners with our unbridled crushing capacity.  However, the EPA summarily banned us, citing stream pollution, deforestation and general habitat destruction.  Go figure.

 

Beautiful scenery...

Pleasant company...

Ice cold beer...

Edward Abbey might disapprove...

Anthony on Tribe of Two Sheiks

 

John on an unknown, but quickly realized problem.  (Yikes -- epistemological disarray!)

See John Dubose and Anthony Lett for more.  I call that blogging by proxy.

Matt's Prow

I am opposed to the death penalty, and, as it turns out, execution of all sorts.  My climbing performance on Sunday was illustrative of this aversion to completion.  I took a day trip to Boone, which is no zippy commute, only to climb to the top of and back away from Matt's Prow (v8).  Three times.  

To be sure, the fall is harrowing.  It's not exactly tall, but it is rocky and uneven, and seems to scream "COMPOUND FRACTURE!" or "BACKWARDS CATAPULT!"  One should have a spotter, and I was alone.  Nevertheless, I chose to go ahead and climb on it, and should have finished it.  Otherwise, I should have chosen not to climb on it and expended my effort elsewhere.  There is plenty of elsewhere in Boone.  

The inability of a 26-year-old college grad (who is also uninsured) to make intelligent and mature decisions about which little piece of rock to climb is sad.  The inability of said grad to conjure up some balls and see those decisions through is utterly disgraceful.

And now for my public shaming:

Sorry for all the self-laceration.  Perhaps my upcoming trip to West Virginia will dry my sodden spirits.

The Dali

Ah, The Dali...  A jolly warm-up for many, but a project of monumental proportions for yours truly.  The day that I finally climbed it was fraught with frustration and emotional discharge.  It was to be my final attempt to send before moving to South Carolina for an indefinite period.  My motivation couldn't have been greater.  And, as you will see in the feature film below, success appeared to be fleeting as the session wore on.  However, I managed to pull it together just before the alpine sun peeked over the Eastern Ridge, which on previous days signified the end of my “workday” (at about 9:00 am).

I’ll spare you the verbiage regarding my level of psych or white-kid-introspection or fulfillment or whatever.  I’m sure all that noise is implicit.  It’s not that I’m being flippant about personal achievement; indeed, I’ve remarked on it plenty of times before.  It’s just that I sound so trite when I do.  Ultimately, better people have expressed wiser thoughts about harder climbs.

Then again, the above statements could be perceived as some sort of false modesty, or a futile attempt to rise above the fray.  Fuck it.  Scrutinize my ego as you see fit, just don’t say shit about my tank-top. 

Take Note: The Columbia Scene is on Fire!!!

Eat your collective heart out, Boulder, Chatt-Town and SLC...  Columbia is officially a SCENE!!!  Barrister/Boulderer John DuBose and Longman/Strongman Anthony Lett now have blogs.  Ignore them at your peril.

John Dubose -- petrocasuistry.blogspot.com

Anthony Lett -- wwwantsrant.blogspot.com

Patio Roof

Here is a video of my ascent of the Patio Roof (v8), on the west side of Rumbling Bald.  Critical viewers might mistake my unabashed body slinging and complete lack of style as gestures of disrespect for this little jewel.  But please understand, I know no other way to climb.  The citadel of my athletic repertoire is too well fortified to be penetrated by something as timorous as grace (read: I'm heavy and stubborn).  Anyway, I hope you enjoy.  

Full size?  I don't get it.