Straying from the wedding and portrait theme lately, but hey, I think this stuff is cool.

Our home!

First, something with big paws and big claws visited us the other night — we think it was a bear trying to get into the hot tub for a soak. Notice the claw marks on the cover.

Then there’s our new stereo cabinet, which I think is spiffy. I’ve never been good at making stuff with my hands, so I’m kinda proud of this. We pulled a bunch of cedar off the walls in the basement, but we didn’t want to throw it out. So I made a coffee table out of it. The table was supposed to be square, but it turned into a really ugly trapezoid (lots of character at least). I figured I’d have to redeem myself so I made this thing. Cool, huh?

Then there’s our new drywall project. Check out the before, middle and after pictures. We couldn’t deal with the water-stained roofing shingles in our living room.

And last is my super cool birthday present!! We watched Shaolin Soccer the other day on a huge projector and got a little too into it. If you haven’t seen it, rent it. Best movie EVER! It’s about a bunch of Kung Foo masters who start a soccer team and try to win the Chinese national championship. So good. So good.

So then I got a Shaolin Climbing Team shirt (that’s what the front says) and here’s the back of it…

And I also got a Big Baby shirt (see the previous post). I screamed and cried like a baby climbing the Big Baby, so it’s only fitting. I think the diaper is full…

Yes!

About time! We’ve been meaning to go to Indian Creek and Penitente Canyon for months, and we finally did a few weeks ago. The usual suspects consisted of me and Alicia, Toots, 5 crazy Norwegians (two of whom are good friends we met in New Zealand) and a Canadian guy named Tee, who just started a 6 month climbing trip and is now probably half way to Mexico to hit up El Potrero Chico.

The two Norwegians we already knew are Maja and Terje. Maja is pronounced “Maya,” while Terje is pronounced “Tah-dee-uh,” which is too complicated for me so I call him TJ. So meet Maja (at our campsite), TJ (on Supercrack) and Tee (on Binge and Purge).

TJ works on oil rigs in the middle of the North Sea doing real safe stuff like changing the spouts that spew out all the flames. Not sure exactly why, but he’s looking for a slight career change, and photography is his top choice. I copied my outdoor sports website, spruced it up a little bit, changed the logo and let him use it — check it out: http://www.terjeaamodt.com. For the first time ever, I’m the guy on the other side of the lens. Kind of weird.

Indian Creek was awesome, as usual, and we did all the classics. Supercrack, Incredible Hand Crack, The Wave, Fingers in a Light Socket, etc. For some reason I got the not-so-bright idea to go climb wide cracks, including the Big Baby (100 feet of 5 to 6-inch 5.11c offwidth) and Binge and Purge, another 5.11 with a squeeze chimney that lets you rest only when you inhale. So to move up, you exhale and don’t breathe, and to stop and rest you inhale and don’t breathe. That enables you to get a nice torso jam, but it also makes you want to purge. Not sure where the binge comes from. TJ took the next two shots of my struggles. They were worthwhile, though, because when we got back I finally ticked off the Crack of Fear, an offwidth in Estes that I’ve wanted to climb since I started 10 years ago.

TJ also took this cool shot of Tee on a cool 5.9 near Supercrack. I think he’s got some awesome images. Norway, represent!

Here’s a shot I scored of TJ climbing the Cave Route, a 5.11 lieback that’s hidden behind a giant slab of sandstone that fell down once upon a time. Great place on a hot day.

After a few days of beating ourselves up, we cruised on to Penitente Canyon, in the middle of Colorado’s San Luis Valley. It’s my favorite place to climb, and I’m not sure why. The routes are short, but oh-so-nice and the whole setting is just kind of magical. Even Toots liked it:

It’s home to a lot of super-mega-hyper-awesome classics, including what many consider the best arete in America, Bullet the Blue Sky. Here’s TJ falling on his second try (but he sent on his third, which is stupid fast for a 5.12c).

Then TJ got these awesome shots of me on my faves, and I have to show them off because I’m so excited to have, for the first time in my life, cool pictures of me climbing. First, the infamous Stemmroids, a .12d open book overhung stemming line with an off-balance deadpoint/dyno at the top that I’m about to do. And then my still-undone project, a .13a called Virgin No More that I’ve yet to send because 1) the last move is insanely hard and 2) every time I try it, it starts hailing, raining or snowing. I came —-> <—- THAT close to getting it, but I screwed up my sequence at the top and bailed. Again. The cool thing is that I have to do it again, and the line is superb and the climbing is like a dance. So no worries.

Yay for climbing!

What a great way to end the season: at Steph and Scott’s wedding at Convict Lake, on the east side of the Sierras just outside of Mammoth. Totally awesome wedding, despite it being rainy all day. Not that it mattered much — I think everyone had a rockin’ good time. I decided to set up a photo booth in their ceremony tent (first time ever) and it was a hit. Guests were in there all night taking pictures of themselves, but sometimes there were just one or two people alone in there clicking away… Mayhem! I found some surprises when I looked at the images the next day! I think I might set up a photo booth whenever possible, though, since the shots are just too funny. Anyway, congrats Steph and Scott — you’ve always got a place to crash when you’re climbing in Colorado!