Spring is in the air...

Yes, the snow is melting away, the sun is shinning, and the rock is warming up! After one of the biggest overnight snow dumps in Colorado last week, and carving up some some good deep snow (while my mom was in town), we switched over to the rock. Chloe twisted/sprained her knee at the end of last week in some of the deep stuff that was turning heavy and slushy with the warm bluebird weather at the end of the day. So, Chloe took a few days off of work, rested up some, and did some knee rehab on the good rock walls of Rifle Mountain Park. The climbing was great, some really warm moments and some cooler ones, but so nice to have the canyon to ourselves with no one else there. There is still a fair amount seepage and a lot of wet rock, but conditions are a million times better than this time last year. Chloe had to go easy on the routes because of her knee, but she still managed to pull down. It was nice to get back on some high stuff and work on getting back into route shape, after a winter of almost exclusively bouldering. We feel like we have good power, but just need to work on getting the endurance back. Now that were all sore and achy everywhere from all the climbing, looks like we're going to hit up the hot springs tonight and sooth the muscles :)

Skiing in Aspen with Janis!

Hey guys! We had Janis over in Glenwood for 3 days. First day we hit the Hot Springs, first night it dumped 20 inches overnight... so we skied the rest of her stay!! What else better to do??? We went to Sunlight for a couple, and then headed over to yuppy country, and skied the Aspen slopes for a day. Here are pics from Aspen. Thanks for making the trip over here Janis!!!! :)))))))

Fefe came to Glenwood!

We went snowshoeing at Sunlight... and decided to have some snow angel action in the pristine Colorado powder! Brendan did camera duty for the stars ;)
And yes, we still have the snowshoes on!

Chloe climbing the Pearl (V4/5) in Vegas

Just barely stuck that first move!

Vegas

We made it back home yesterday from our little trip out to Vegas. We had a good time climbing in the warm sun in the Nevada desert for three days. We climbed long and hard on Sunday and Monday, leaving our skin worn thin and our muscles weary. So the third day we ventured to a different climbing area known as the Black Velvet Canyon where a little more of an approach hike was involved. Unfortunately, due to some bad directions, we hiked around for about two and a half hours before we finally found the right area. The setting was little different, among the cacti and desert brush, making the geography look a lot like Mexico. We saw a large group of bighorn sheep roaming around, which was kind of cool. I finished the day off with a sketchy send and top out of a fairly intimidating boulder problem called the Fountainhead (V9). But luckily with all our pads and Chloe spotting, I had just enough confidence and energy left to accomplish the final mantel at the top. We went and checked out Wetdream (V12) just up the canyon after my send, just to see what it was like. It's a really amazing looking steep line put up by Ethan Pringle back in '05 (I think). I'll definitely have to return fresh for that one! I'm back at WECAD today and Chloe's doing the nurse thing, so we'll play some more in a few days.
Cheers.
-Brendan

Livin it up

So where did I leave off...? We were having quite the kick-ass weather. We both patrolled on the mountain on Monday and really enjoyed some beautiful bluebird weather. Days like that on the mountain really make patrolling the most amazing job sometimes.
After that, we went climbing up at the Fortress of Solitude for Tuesday and Wednesday. I think the weather was even warmer for those two days. Needless to say the climbing was great! With this south facing amphitheater of rock as long as there is sun without wind it can cook, and it did. According to our little key chain thermometer, the temps got up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of the day!!! Chloe sent Metropolis 5.12d and I worked on a really nice 5.13d (should be able to send it next time :). A lot of the routes here are long and it's definitely trying for our little forearms which have only been used to bouldering lately. So more than seven moves in a row starts becoming pretty pumpy. Metropolis is so long that one has to lower twice with a 70 meter rope! It's so incredible to live in a place where we can have great skiing one day and then killer rock climbing in shorts and t-shirt the next!
After all that we both worked for a couple days/nights, and then we climbed some more in Boulder on Saturday and went skiing on Snowmass mountain today! The skiing today was pretty windy and cold, but we had some great powder and very much enjoyed wacthing the high society environment of the Aspen/Snowmass area: always a great show :)
Looks like our weather is going to be a little more snowy for this week, so that should be good for the mountain. We leave next week for some climbing in Las Vegas!! In the words of the King: Vivaaaaa Las Vegas!! We'll see if we agree ;)
Oh, and I officially start as a Paramedic for WECAD on Friday! Yesss!
Cheers.
-Brendan

Video?!

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