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?!

This is a test to see if we can successfully post video.

Paramedic

You have to admire my new, impressive belt buckle. If you live in Colorado, guess you gotta have the belt buckle... so I went and bought myself one... no, not really. This impressive belt buckle was actually a gift to me from the ambulance company I work for as a congratulations gift for actually becoming a paramedic. I'm not sure if people actually wear things like this for real... god I hope not. In case you can't read it, it says: "The EMT-Paramedic. An American Hero." Uh-huh

Flippac 2.0 and Ibex!

Ibex! For those of you not familiar with this desolate place: it is a great bouldering destination out in the middle of the Utah desert, near the Nevada border about 2.5 hours south of Salt Lake City. The closest thing resembling civilization is about 50 miles away. This place is way the hell out there and it's a desolate, harsh environment: perfect place for some fun! :) Randomly in this place are quartzite boulders strewn around. Quartzite is an interesting rock: it is incredibly hard, yet very chossy in spots. The holds are slick as hell, but good crimps do present themselves. The climbing temps were perfect. We went climbing out in Ibex for four days saw only two lost souls who roam the area setting traps in random places for coyotes or bobcats, or whatever. They dropped by to make sure we weren't lost and that we were ok, because if you break down out here, you're pretty much screwed, or you're in for a very long walk. We climbed our asses off during the day in the pleasant warm sun and then bundled up at night for the sub-zero (Fahrenheit!) night temps, where everything freezes (even my contact solution (which is salt water). I think the only thing that didn't freeze at night was the wine ;) The night sky is unique and awesome (though you can still discern the glow of SLC in the distance in one of the corner's of the sky. Prior to our trip out to Ibex, I was able to finish up our Flippac accomodations. I learned from our last one and was sure to make this one all that much better, and indeed it was! Our new set-up is definitely pretty sweet. This was test number one for the new truck/Flippac: many more to come :)
Upon returning home, we went for a nice long run up Glenwood Canyon along the Colorado river in the snow and sun appreciating the winter wonderland beauty of this place, then we went home and had some delicious "Raclette" wich was sent over by Chloe's grandmother: the perfect winter meal. Chloe then headed off to Junction that night to work at the hospital. I work at WECAD the next day and then we both patrol at Sunlight on Monday (MLK day).
Cheers.
-Brendan

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!!!! Here is 2009, rolling already. We started the year off with a trip back to San Francisco to visit friends and family. I hadn't been back since I moved out here to Colorado last year. It was a lot of fun to climb with all our fiends at the gym getting psyched on some plastic: just like old times :) We'd almost forgotten how social climbing be. I could tell I lost some of the habit due to the amount of distraction while climbing. Several times, I couldn't help breaking out in laughter while I was climbing, due to the random discussions ranging from anal sex to kids eating chalk..and trying to climb hard while laughing is pretty much impossible.
We rejoiced in roaming the isles of Trader Joes, and Rainbow rediscovering all the good food we lack out in here in the boonies. It was great seeing our families and spending some time with them.
Also, I have been progressing on the Flip pac improvements. As you can see in the pictures above, the bench is finally in. I actually just about finished it today, I'll post further pics later. We have been having some great weather out here, and it looks like it's going to continue for little while. Nothing like a perfect bluebird winter day: sounds like some climbing to me ;)
Also, I start working as a Paramedic for WECAD at the end of the month, which is very exciting, and should be good.
That's it for now, but I'll post another soon with some more pics. Cheers.
-Brendan

Back in business!!! :)

Hey guys!! Well... Merry Christmas! I can't believe it: we moved to Colorado a year ago! It feels like we just moved, and never went through summer!! But we did... and winter is back around. We have just had the first big dumps of the season and yesterday we got 15 inches over 24 hours... go Colorado powder! Sunlight needed it, and now the patrollers are happy: the whole mountain is opened, and covered ;) We have just put the flip pac back on the new truck today: it looks much better with the flip-pac on... and we are super psyched to have it again :) Minnie, my grandma, sent me some French cheese just in time for our holiday celebration, so Fondue tonight!!! The downside is I can't drink anything because I'm on call, but I'll eat all the cheese I can eat ;) Joyeux Noel!!! -Chloe

Coucou les poulets! Joyeux Noel!!! C'est dur a croire, mais ca fait deja un an qu'on a demenage!! On a l'impression que c'etait hier, et qu'on n'a pas encore eu d'ete... mais si... et c'est de nouveau l'hiver! On vient d'avoir les premieres tempetes de la saison, et il est tombe presque 40cm en 24h (38cm exactement!) ... vive la poudreuse :) On en avait besoin a Sunlight, maintenant les ski-patrols sont contents: toute la montagne est ouverte aux skieurs, et enfin couverte de neige :) On vient de mettre le flip-pac sur le nouveau camion cette apres-midi: il est beaucoup mieux avec le flip-pac dessus... et on est ravis d'avoir de nouveau notre petit camion :) Minnie, ma grand-mere, nous a fait un petit paquet de fetes plein de fromages, juste a temps pour pouvoir se faire un fondue pour Noel ce soir!!! Je suis de garde, et donc je ne peux pas boire de blanc avec, mais je vais me ratraper sur le fromage ;) Merry Christmas!!!!! -Chloe

Quick Update

Sorry, this is going to be another pictureless post. We'll get some on soon.
We found a replacement vehicle. Pretty much the same thing we had beefore, only newer and better. It was already the perfect truck before, so no reason to change too much. We are in the process of getting it suited up for roadtrip/living capability, like the last one.
We finally opened our local ski mountain last week, and were skiing a lot of rocks and grass, but thanks to some persistant snowing these last few days, conditions are dramatically better and the ski season is now officially on! Working as ski patrol for a small mountain like Sunlight is eternally entertaining. It seems that the mountain will be changing medical directors and we will be working towards acquiring some ALS (Advanced Life Support) equipment and having me operate as a paramedic on the hill, which will be fun. Meanwhile I'm pretty much just waiting for my official certifications to come in the mail, and will then begin orientation and working as a paramedic at the ambulance company (WECAD).
Until next time: happy holiday shopping ;)