Apologies, trips, and a ZBL update!

So I have been quite remiss in updating my blog, so I apologize to everyone. First of all, I want to say thanks to everyone who has been reading this, I'm extremely flattered! So the last week has been pretty crazy for me, and I'm not even sure why.

Easter Sunday, the day when all good Christians are supposed to recognize the sacrifice that Jesus made, I was out climbing with my Jewish friend. I'm going to hell. Anyway, I got the chance to play guide to him. We went out to Leavenworth to climb R&D, a 5.6 climb on the Yosemite Decimal System.

For those not down with the YDS, it is a numerical system used to rate the difficulty of climbs. Originally 5.9 was considered the hardest climb conceivable. This was back when people climbed in boots and used hemp ropes tied around their waist to climb.

Now a 5.6 is considered an easier climb, approaching moderate. I brought out my buddy, Lucky, to climb. This climb was a 4 pitch climb (4 rope lengths, roughly 500ft long or so total) that I had to onsight (climb without any real knowledge of the moves of the climb). This was great for me, since it is a realistic thing I would do with clients.

I was able to get through all the moves pretty easily, despite the cold snow falling on us off and on all day. Some of the route was wet, all of it was cold cold cold granite. Our fingers were freezing and Lucky had on a very uncomfortable pair of rock shoes. We were on the route for almost 4 hours. At the end he had a big smile on his face, since he got to do the hardest climb he has ever done.

That smile was all I needed to know that I am definitely in the right profession. It was a great day, and he was spent at the end of it. We drove back home without incident, and relaxed over some pizza at his place. He paid. It was a great tip to get as a homeless guide. Oh, and he let me use his shower. AWESOME! It's the little things that get me excited.

I worked the rest of the week, and went climbing with my buddy Ian (an amazing guide) Friday.
We hit up Leavenworth, and got to climb a bunch of harder routes. Again, the snow was falling on us intermittently, and the rock was COLD! Luckily all we had to do was shove our hands into the even colder cracks, wedge the backs of our hands against the sharp granite, and pull up our body weight. Over and over again.

Of course the cold makes the skin a bit more fragile, so I have some stellar cuts and scrapes. It's awesome.

ZBL UPDATE: He was pampered Thursday, getting new rear brakes (to the tune of $335, still cheaper than rent!) and a bath. That's the first bath since leaving Jersey. I'm pretty sure I heard him thank me somewhere in there. He is quite the champ, making both trips to Leavenworth over the past week. He totally deserves some pampering. Also, he has been given the past couple of nights off, as I am couch crashing for a couple of days. Don't worry though, I won't be getting too soft on everyone now though :-)