There's been a fair bit of discussion recently of Monkeys and Ninjas, both terms used widely down here to describe different climbers and their abilities. Apparently Monkeys are climbers who mostly climb walls, alpine or trad. Apparently you don't have to be 'strong' to be a monkey but it helps. Ninjas are climbers who have climbed 5.14 or bouldered V12, either or both is fine to meet the definition. By that definition people have called me a Ninja but after climbing here I don't feel I deserve the title. It's supposed to be easier for a Ninja to become a Monkey than vice-versa but I might be the exception to that rule. After fifteen years of sport climbing it's hard to break old habits and climb square to the rock, get baggy shoes where your toes aren't curled and trust the rock with the back of your hands. It's all foreign to me! Once the discussion turned to include Samurais, Wizards and Jedis I tuned it out. I can tell you one thing for sure. Will is one talented Monkey.

Last Friday was a rest day but we finished it off with a local party here in Moab. It was pretty fun but because I didn't drive my truck I didn't have anywhere to sleep. Around 3:30am Micah and I borrowed some sleeping bags and crashed near the fire. At least he had a sleeping pad. It's been a long time since I've slept in the dirt, in fact I can't even fathom the last time and it's not something I aim to repeat anytime soon. At around 6:30 am the early sleepers returned to the fire disturbing out sleep and we hitchhiked back into Moab for coffee. On the suggestion of Zach, another local climber, Will and I tagged along to a bouldering cave nicknamed The Ninja Training Center. It's a rather large, high cave with about five or six problems. They are more like routes since I think the shortest one is 15+ moves. The rock quality was suspect at best but damn the climbing was fun. I did a few of the problems and spent most of the day working this hard crack problem that finished at about 20' in height above this little tree. Super fun line but really, really hard for me. Eventually we all left exhausted pretty much negating the benefit of the rest day prior and Will and I returned to Indian Creek to camp. A late supper and some time around the campfire with new friends finished us off.

On Sunday we went to an area called Scarface where Will wanted to try a route called Death of a Cowboy that he had tried previously but had not done. I warmed up by onsighting a 5.10+ route that while I felt secure on I still sewed up with gear. Next up I tried to onsight a 5.11+ route that started up some ring-locks but flailed miserably. I just haven't discovered how to climb that size. It's so awkward and weird for me. I can get a ring-lock when it fits but if it's slightly off then I start scrambling and clinging on desperately. I made it up the climb but it wasn't pretty. Will sailed up both routes effortlessly and then we hiked over to Death. Will went first and went slow on purpose trying to re-learn the sequence. After working the lower moves he came back down and cleaned the gear for me to try. I started up, placed two pieces and launched into the crux. I was trying Will's beta but couldn't even fathom getting my fat fingers into those locks down low. I ended up falling and pulling out one piece (actually it exploded the rock around it) but the second piece caught me. I didn't want to yard up on a single piece so I lowered to the ground and rested a bit. Will was ready to try again and without hesitation I handed him the sharp end of the rope. He climbed up, removed the piece that I lowered off of, put it back on his harness only to take it off and re-place it. He wanted to make sure his attempt was a true redpoint, and good on him for it. He put in an extra backup piece and went into the crux. He moved through with effort barely holding on while his foot slipped right at the end but with a grunt he was back on the rock and launching for a big rest hold. From that rest it was still 90-100' of easier climbing. With limited gear he made his way to the top - way, way out of sight. Eventually he yelled that he was at the top and I lowered him down. I then tried the route on top-rope, found some better beta down low but I didn't lower and try for the redpoint, maybe next time. The top part was just long and tiring. It seemed like endless climbing with rounded, cupped hand jams in a corner. My feet were on fire by the time I got near the top and I gladly lowered. Nearby some people had a top-rope on a notorious 5.11 offwidth called Big Guy and Will wanted to try it. While he was motoring up that route I did another 5.11 nearby and finished off the day exhausted again.

Monday was a rest day spent in town capped off with pizza at Zach and Sasha's. Tuesday we found ourselves back at the Ninja Training Center. This time with Matt Segal from Boulder. After warming up with padded the crap out of the roof crack and set about trying it. On one attempt I made it about three moves from the top before spacing out and deadpointing for a non-existent hold. That was my high point and I couldn't repeat the effort. Zach was trying his project and we had to move pads back and forth which helped force some resting. Early in the afternoon Matt redpointed the roof crack and not long after Zach almost did his project. I tired myself out by alternating between the roof crack and Zach's project.

On Wednesday we hiked out to The Wall, a route with only a few routes on it but the routes are high quality. Included among those routes is a climb called Learning To Fly, a short, steep finger crach that arcs out a super clean face. Will had tried it before and was psyched when the finger locks felt better than ever. I played on it but don't think I'll be able to do it. Instead I did a low 5.12 and a mid 5.11, both of which I was happy to onsight. Learning To Fly went in the sun in the early afternoon and Will waited until the sun was setting to go for the redpoint. He was looking strong, motored through the bottom crux, placed a piece in the middle of the crux and was just preparing to bust for the rest when his lower hand jam exploded from the rock, leaving some skin behind and tearing off a calous. So close but with a wound like that Will looked to be out of commission for a few days.

Thursday found us back at the Battle of the Bulge area. I was hoping to redeem myself from our first day here after climbing cracks for a few days now. Things didn't start well when I warmed up on Battle of the Bulge and laybacked the whole thing! I was pretty pumped by the time I got to the top. I then belayed a friend (Troutman) on it and watched him style it, just jamming the whole way. I got back on it and forced myself to jam up it. I was pretty happy to make it almost all the way, only laybacking the actual 'bulge' part. Next up Troutman led this 120' 5.11+ corner system and I followed on toprope. It was pretty amazing. It started out with some hand jamming then you had to switch cracks before finishing up about 50' of corner climbing where I actual did 'scissoring' for the first time. The crack went from comfortable hands, to fingers, to impossibly tight fingers. Thank god I was on toprope. Next up we tried one of the few fully bolted routes here at Indian Creek. It follows a pretty pure arete and while it is bolted it was anything but a simple sport route. The bottom boulder problem was really hard and I didn't onsight it. After spending awhile at the first bolt to work it out I lowered to the ground and fired it first try. I had taken a quick look at the route and estimated the number of bolts but missed about five bolts. I only noticed that when I had three quickdraws left and could see at least six more bolts. The route was alot longer than I expected and wandered around. I skipped a few bolts, downclimbed to retrieve quickdraws but fortunately managed to onsight the upper part. All in all it was super fun and highly recommended. Troutman cleaned the route on toprope and had me cracking up as he kept claiming that it was weird to have to grab face holds or weight his feet on actual footholds. Completely different from my perspective of Indian Creek. After resting a bit I finally went over to try Sweden Ringle, a low 5.12 that I had flailed on on our first day here. I was hoping to do better on it but was disappointed to fall in the exact same spots and seem to be suffering from the same issues. My hands just didn't fit, I couldn't get ring-locks on it, my feet were to blunt to feet in (sport climbing, bunched toes) and basically I just sucked at it. I did make it up it but hanging every four feet or so. I took some falls so at least I got some practice at that now. I cleaned the gear for Troutman and watched him just cruise up it. Pretty impressive. After three days on I was feeling like I needed some beer so Will and I headed for Monticello to buy some beer. We decided to take a shortcut that went up over a pass and unfortunately there was too much snow near the top. Thinking we could make it we pushed on through the snow only to get hopelessly stalled out in about two feet of heavy, wet snow. It took us about half an hour to dig, collect branches and rock my truck out of that position. We turned around and took the long way back. The beer tasted good and was well worth it.

Today is another restday. My hands are sore and slightly more swollen than normal. I think tomorrow we'll head back out to The Wall so Will can redpoint Learning To Fly. Wish him luck!

Whoa... Where am I? The whole world has turned upside down and I know I'm not in Kansas anymore. As a sport climber I think a took a wrong turn and headed south off the I-70 instead of continuing on to Rifle. One day I'm cruising up 5.13 at Smith Rock and the next day I'm flailing on 5.12 and top-roping 5.11. After two days here in Indian Creek I feel worked; I've got weird marks on the back of my hands and the side of my shins are sore from foot jamming. Maybe it's the sun but I feel dazed and confused and loving it.

I left Vancouver with Will Stanhome early Sunday morning. Not quite early enough to miss the line-up at the border but we still made it down to Smith in time for dinner at The Depot with some friends. We spent Monday stretching out at Smith before heading into Bend for some St. Patrick's day beers and celebrations. Ben Moon took us on a tour and we crashed at his place Monday night. Tuesday morning we stopped in at the Metolius factory to chat with the folks there and grab some gear. I'm excited by the new Master Cams and managed to grab a few of those while we were there. We headed down for another afternoon of climbing at Smith before busting out for Indian Creek. Will took the crazy midnight to 4:30 am shift and with only a few hours of sleep I hit the bad traffic near Ogden but around 2:30 we rolled into Moab for supplies and by 4 we were in Indian Creek, staring at splitter cracks baking in the sun. I was terrified.

We hiked up to The Battle Of The Bulge area and set up shop below Air Sweden, a 5.13a with a 12a lower section called Sweden Ringle. Will led up a 5.11 corner crack and I jammed my way up it on toprope. Then Will did Sweden Ringle, climbed a bit up Air Sweden and took a big whipper onto one of the new Master Cams. No marks, nothing, and it came out good as new. Will cleaned it and I started up on lead only to hit Ring Locks about 15' in the air. I've never actually done a ring-lock before and flailed madly. Trying to avoid defaulting to laybacking and eventually backing off. That's right, backing off... Will cruised up again and I went up on top-rope to learn how to ring-lock. I flailed but started to feel the technique. After that we just hiked a little farther along to cliff to check it out before calling it a day.

On Thursday we met up with Alex Honnold, a climber I had met in Maple Canyon and Rifle last year, plus DJ and Micah whom I had met during the Petzl Roc Trip at the Red River Gorge last fall. Alex is a young talented climber who is onsighting pretty much everything at Indian Creek and had his eyes on a classic splitter called Optimator. Will and Alex elected to warm up on a 12a and for some reason I followed them. The crack itself was apparently a 'sporty' climb with easy hand jamming down low and finger locks up top. I barely made it through the lower section, adding three pieces more then Alex and Will but then felt comfortable in the upper section. Yup, almost fell on the 5.9 section but cruised the 11+ part. I did the route two more times on top-rope and felt more comfortable on the hand jamming each time. Who knows, maybe I'll learn something down here. Next up Will and Alex were continuing the warm-up on a 5.12b thin corner crack. Will went up and looked a little shaky through the bottom. In fact he used up all his gear down low and resorted to running it out to a ledge a ways up. I flashed this on top-rope and actually did it, leading and placing gear even! I placed probably five more pieces over Will but felt good doing it. Alex onsighted Optimator, making it look easy and Will quickly followed suit. After Micah tried to redpoint Optimator I made him feel better by flailing all over it. My hands were sore! I couldn't link four of five moves up in the crux ring lock section. I ended up trying it twice on top-rope but not even making it to the top. Still, after seven pitches in one day I felt worked and my hands were a little puffy and painful.

We camped with those guys and are spending today (Friday) in Moab. I'm planning on hanging out at this coffee shop most of the day to work and spend time online. I have no idea where we'll be climbing next, pretty much whereever Will wants but I'm looking forward to it!

After much deliberation and discussion I've decided to head back out on the road and go to Indian Creek, a climbing area famous for splitter sandstone cracks. Something I'm not so good at but I'm hoping a few weeks in the southern climbing area will teach me a few things. Fortunately I'm also going with the famous Will Stanhope, a young man I used to coach but who has carved himself quite the reputation as an all around climber and technician on the sandstone. I'm sure Will is ready for a little role reversal. Those of you who haven't been blessed with the presence of young William are really missing out. He's one of the most hilarious people I've ever met and I'm looking forward to a few weeks of his antics.

I guess it's been almost a month since I've updated this journal so I'll try to bring you guys up to speed. I flew out of the warm southwest and headed for an extended winter in Alaska. Alaska Bruce had convinced me to fly up to Alaska to help out with some routesetting for a comp and to run a few clinics. As I stated in a recent rave I was very impressed by the routesetting staff at The Alaska Rock Gym and by the positive reception to my clinics. Having just spent time in the south I didn't have the clothing or equiptment with me to enjoy any outdoor activities but was impressed by the Chugach mountain range and the fact that I could see Denali from Anchorage.

After flying back to Seattle on a red-eye from Anchorage I continued my journey up to Kelowna and spent a few evenings with Mike Shannon and April Smith, owners and operators of Beyond The Crux, the climbing gym in Kelowna. They were hosting a members night on Saturday night and I helped set a few boulder problems including the appropriately named Puckered Picker Upper or something like that. As always it was a blast hanging out with Mike and Apes and I was psyched by the number of people they have passing through that gym. While in Kelowna I also grabbed my truck and fixed up the bed in the back. Once the weekend was over I was back in Vancouver and getting ready for work. Actualy work in an office...

While I was freezing and working hard up in Alaska Audrey was playing around between the Pacific coast and the Virgin River Gorge, finishing off her trip down south with an impressive redpoint of Joe Six Pack, 5.13a.

So far I've spent a week and a half in Vancouver and I almost have to force myself to leave. It's easy to fall back into the routine of work in the office, hang out with friends, climb in the gym, and wait for good weather. Argh... the waiting for the weather. Fortunately I have made some plans to drag myself away for a little bit longer.

Audrey is going to stay up around the Seattle/Vancouver area and you can check out her website for more updates and photos. I'll post an update once I've lost a bit of skin on the back of my hands and have some good photos to share.