Nuclear Arms Proliferation + Eric Varney Direct

My annual winter visit to the Colorado front range has started off fairly well. On December 21 I managed to send "Nuclear Arms Proliferation" on the Beer Barrel boulder. Following that, I managed to send the "Eric Varney Direct." What a goddamn sandbag.

Summer into Fall

I've had an extremely busy summer followed by an equally busy Fall season. Highlights of the summer include:
-Over 30 days of guiding at Smith Rock.
-Some great days cragging in the Lower Gorge at Smith.
-A few awesome days mountain biking.
-One particularly enjoyable day of climbing at Beacon Rock, WA.
I climbed some great routes and went on some good rides, but really it was all about guiding for me this summer. I put all of my focus and energy into guiding and overall I'd say it payed off. I had plenty of private guiding days and became much more comfortable in that role, which I previously found intimidating. There were certainly days--particularly when it was extremely hot--that felt tough, but all of that has been easily filtered through my seive-like memory hole. Toward the end of summer, Jordi and I beat the heat by swimming in frigid rivers:
Since school started, my climbing has been fairly limited. My attention has been focused on redpointing a route called "Bela Lugosi," a 5.12c at Broughton Bluff. The route is super technical, pumpy, and complex. It is the antithesis of straightforward sport climbing--the kind you find at, say, French's Dome. To stay in shape for "Bela," I have been training almost exclusively in my garage. I haven't gone to the gym much at all, which is fine by me for now. The other big news, which is bigger than anything else, is that our daughter was born!Her name is Anika Isabel Blumenstein Struck. Jordi's five-day labor was more trying than anything I've ever witnessed or experienced. We're both glad that is over and that now we can get on with having fun raising Anika.
'Cross season is in full swing, and I have only managed to get to one race--Alpenrose on October 3rd. Things were going ok until two laps to go, at which point I dropped anchor and had to drag my stinking carcass to the finish line to rot. No matter! As I've been saying for 13 years now, there's always next Sunday!

Weekend Warriorship

I took it to the limit this past weekend & pulled off the Trifecta, which went like this:
Saturday: While Jordi and her aunt Amy went cross country skiing around Timberline & Government camp, uncle Andy and I spent the day skiing at Meadows. The tele turns were feeling groovy!

Sunday: The infamous "Bear Springs Trap" x-country MTB race. I have done this race many times over the years, and it is never easy. I managed 9th place in the Cat. 1 35-44 year old category, with a time of 2 hr. 56 minutes. I'll take it.

Monday: After Sunday's race I drove to Smith and spent all day Monday climbing with my buddy Aaron Webb. After a couple easy pitches, I sent my project, "Liquid Jade," (5.12b), and then we climbed a sweet 5.12a further up on the Shipwreck wall (a full 35 meter pitch--great fun!), and capped off the day with "Crossfire," 5.12a on the Karate Wall. Damn, what a climb! What a wall!

The only thing missing from this weekend are photos! I was too busy having the time of my life!

Spring Breakdown

I've managed to send a few high quality routes during late winter, early spring. Highlights include "Dracula" (5.12a) at Broughton's, and "E-Type Jag" (5.11a) at the Upper Gorge at Smith. The Upper Gorge is a great crag and nobody was there during our two days spent there during spring break.

Our spring break ambitions were cut short by snow and rain, but I did get in one awesome day of skiing with my old friend Bernhard. Four cans of food earned us each a full day lift ticket at Ski Bowl. We were both feelin' it in our legs by day's end, but man, what fun.

FontaineBLUES

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