New Look

If you like what you see here, go get your own makeover too. I think I look soooo sexy.

Weekend Update

Spent the weekend in the Valley again. I'm really missing just living there, ugh. All this driving too and fro sucks. The weekend was great though. It was Nora and Lyn's birthday and they arranged for everyone to stay at a house in Foresta, which was excellent because we could all prepare yummy goodness in the warm comfort of a big clean home and not the cold dirty nastiness of someplace like Camp 4.

Lyn's main squeeze Paul finally got around to loading some Rocklands video on vimeo and I'm going to share it whether he likes it or not. As bummed as I was not to have sent this line, I was really excited about Paul and Randy's sends. Oh, and speaking of Paul and Randy...them two of the both sent 'Thunderbird' in Tuolumne meadows this weekend. RAD!

Black Shadow [v13] from Paul B on Vimeo.

Yeah Rockclimbing (and dinner too)!

This weekend, while I was bouldering in Yosemite, my cousin Cameron went abalone diving with my other cousin Brian. Cameron was nice enough to bring one back for me to try out. Above you'll see my creation. First I sauteed the abalone in olive oil with mushrooms, onion, garlic, and basil. Then I added some Heavy cream and let it simmer for a long time. Finally, I added some pasta, served it with a lite salad, and voila! I think it turned out pretty damn good. Thanks Cameron.

Now, in the spirit of awesome climbing weather, here is a little video with two great problems that were established last spring in Yosemite. The first problem is one I established that is still waiting for a second ascent. Not that hard but a little spooky (sockhands: it is your favorite grade so you should hop on a plane and do it). The second problem is called 'Adventureland,' Tim Medina cleaned and climbed this classic first but took FOREVER to name it. As a result I mislabeled the problem 'Something French' because he kept saying he was going to name it something in french to honor his new french friends from Fontainebleau. Whatever, its called 'Adventureland' now so get it right. Its awesome. Watch the video.

NewInYosemite from Princess on Vimeo.

Done With Trees

Since I last wrote I've climbed a few more trees but I've also climbed some rocks! Actually to be honest the trees were more exciting. Particularly the Giant Sequoias. The last tree I climbed on Thursday was a 240 foot old growth monster. We had to invent a few new (to us) techniques to climb it, but we still managed to reach the uppermost branches right at sunset (see photo above). Unless something totally unexpected happens, this will have been my last tree for the year, at least the last I'll be paid for. Of course, I think I've said that at least three times in the last several weeks so you never know...

Trees from Princess on Vimeo.

As I said above, I've had the chance to do some bouldering on real rock recently. My favorite rock in fact, Yosemite granite. The last two weekends have been really nice. I've spent most of my time just playing on whatever happens to be near bye, trying to regain some bouldering strength. Hopefully I'll be ready for projects soon. I'm ready to be out of my post-rocklands doldrums now.

Captain Kirk is Climbing the Mountain

This is priceless, behold!