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September 20th 2006 -  Hello everyone! Much has happened to the
gang since I last reported.  Squamish was a blast, Siemay sent Mosquito
Incubator, and I did Worm World Cave but really felt weak.  It's hard to get back
my strength since it takes me a long time.  I had a funny tantrum in front of
Worm World one day--I was very frustrated indeed!  Anyway, I recruited Jeremy,
Alex, Tim, Ben (Butters), and the Chillster to check out the boulders I saw from
the sky from our recent flight.  We embarked on a 14 km uphill hike at 6 AM
followed by a 5 km heinous bushwhack to get to the "Not Worth It" boulders.  
We got to the knee high boulders at about 4:20 in the afternoon and stayed in a
wicked hut that night.  The wine we brought went undrunk as we all crashed for
the night with the sun still up.  I estimated that we burned over 10,000 calories
each day.  The next day we skirted Garibaldi Lake, bushwhacking 3-4 km around
the lake over small boulders and trees.
Brian and Marion's wedding was the following weekend, and everyone had a
blast. There was slacklining and dogs frolicking during the ceremony.
Thomo had a baby shower and she's due in Oct.  We had a couple fun movie
nights including a slideshow of the epic journey to the "Not Worth It."  The best
flick we saw was "The Chumscrubber," a film recommended by the legendary
Jim Gray, MD.
Above: This is a cool project in Yosemite at the
Ahwahnee boulders that I finally got on and sent.  It's
called the "Front Seat" and the grade is inversely
proportional to your armspan.  It's super fun and is
probably about V8 if you're in the 6 ft range.  There is so
much bouldering still to be done in Yosemite.  New areas
are hiding for anyone willing to hike the 5 minutes to find
them.  Sick.  Matt (Wilder) told me about a new area,
"Candyland" which is under the Lost Brother.  It has 5
classic V8s and a super rad V12 called the "Shadow
Warrior."

Left:  Benny from Squish performs a slackline "First
Slack" called the "Butter Toes" maneuver.  Sick.  
Probably about S7.  Ben is a super cool cat.  An
incredible swimmer, Benny is also one of the shortest
dudes to pull off "The Egg" in Squamish.  Rad!  Let's
hope he can boulder in the states someday...  We did
some fun slacklining while in Squamish, but nothing big
since too much fun climbing to do.
Right:  After Squamish, we
picked up my parents and hit
the road, back to the states
down Hwy 101.  We went to
the Lost Rocks which were
truly amazing.  Mom and Pops
got to whip out their shiny
shoes and do some rock
scaling on perfect stone.  The
Lost rocks is where Siemay
and I want our ashes
scattered.  It's a timeless place
of surreal beauty.  The
climbing is sick cool, very body
oriented.  The tide comes in
and out and the rocks
dissappear and reappear.  The
Natives Americans have
names for the rocks and hold
the place as a sanctuary.  Put
it on your list.  It's heaven.  At
one boulder, we saw some
"Spooky" art.  Doll heads and
limbs on sticks.  You could
explore this place forever.  We
walked 4 beaches down and
the boulders continue endlessly
... every stone and every piece
of driftwood is a fantastic work
of art.  It's mind boggling that
such a place exists in reality.  
Pictures and words do no
justice to this place.  None at
all...
Below:  Next was the Redwoods which were also life altering in their
"perspectogenicity." (I just made that word up.)  A highlight before the buzz
of the wine country tour was the Tillamook cheese factory/plant.  This
amazing place is the true Willy-Wonka factory replete with free cheese of
every sort, "white licorice" ice cream and amazing smoked oysters.  The
factory was great! Every worker was awesome at the one task that they did,
many listening to their ipods and dancing while they worked.  yum!
September has been amazing.  We started out with sweltering weather in Yosemite.  I fell off the mantle of a super greasy
Midnight Lightning.  Siemay is working out her beta, but may need Lynn Hill's help!  Now we are working in Tahoe.  I've joined
a group of super cool guys out here: Tahoe Emergency Physicians.  This place is gorgeous and the shifts are short and fun
with a cool patient population and super nice staff.  Working 5 days a month is much better balance for me compared to
residency.  Every morning I wake up and am ecstatic to be past that horrid time.  My friend Jesse Bonin who is a major
developer of new routes has showed me several new areas in Tahoe and there are so many classic rad lines, both done and
undone.  It's more than a lifetime of great stone.  In fact, I like some of the rock better than Squamish.  Most of the "guidebook"
areas are a little chossy with gritty granite.  The really rad stuff seems to be hidden by secretive locals...  But never fear!  Our
hero will find it ALL!  From here we go to a wedding in Washington DC then it's back to Yosemite, Bishop, more work in Tahoe
(5 days),  Phoenix/Flagstaff, and finally Hueco Tanks for the winter.  I'm not sure if anything will come of it, but NBC has called
and asked me if I'd fly out to do some slacklining on their live morning "Weekend Today" show.  I'll keep you posted if it's going
to happen.  Hope everyone is having fun and living life to the fullest!
December 25th 2006 -  Yo!  I'm in Tahoe now. Siemay has gone to
see the family further west.  Why, dear reader, have I not written in several
months?  BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN HAVING A BLAST!  Here's a quick
recap:  September we did the Yosemite thing.  Brian (Arnold) did Midnight
Lightning and we both did Bruce Lee and Little Blue Anastasia, a MEGA
new Randy Puro line.  It was hot in the valley so the team actually did a
bunch of big-wallin' including an epic adventure up the 12 pitch East
Buttress of Middle Cathedral (taking the classic left off-width variation!)  
We summited in the eerie moonlight and had an amazing and magical
sleepy descent.  Speaking of magical, I'm reading the best book right
now...  It starts with a beet...  It's "Jitterbug Perfume" by Tom Robbins, and
I recommend it very highly.
  So Yosemite was a blast--hot, sweaty--but a blast nonetheless.  It would
prove to be a smokey prelude to a wine-drenched two weeks in November
with my good friend Matt Wilder and a happy-go-lucky Bay area crew.  
After another short stint in Tahoe working in the Emergency Department,
we drove to Flagstaff, AZ, and I then flew to Yosemite again to meet up with
Matt.
  In Yosemite much wine was consumed and many new lines were
opened.  The six degrees crew showed us the numerous hard, proud 3
star lines that they had established.  Neo-classics such as "Drive On," "Six
Degrees Arete," and "Across the Tracks" were all solid V10s and beautiful
new additions to the park.  Matt repeated most of these problems quickly
and opened "Shadow Warrior" V12.  Paul Barazza picked a plum that Matt
and I had found introducing the 4-star "Heart of Darkness" V9.  Randy,
Paul, Courtney and Lyn as well as Tim Medina and Daniel Soto all showed
Matt, Josh and I a great time.  I did suffer some rather intense poison oak
rashes as a reward for rumaging for new lines, and my anti-hydral was
working too well causing severe tip-splits that cost me climb time.  Matt
worked on his guidebook and a Climbing magazine article concurrently in
the cafeteria while I slept in most mornings.  We also had a great day with
Tommy and Beth on the Yabo Roof, a line that Tommy did recently at V11.  
The last night of my mystical stay ended  with dancing and
laughs-a-plenty in San Francisco with my new friends.
  Hueco in December has been rad, just totally rad.  I finally beat Brian at
chess, after 50 games or so.  Everyone has been cranking. Siemay and
Ang are strong.  Ang did Daily Dick Dose.  Siemay has done a ton of
classics and showed some real strength by making short work of her third
V9.  Brian and I did two V10s our first day, and later Brian sent his first V12
"Bleeding Brothers," a Fred Nicole problem on North Mt.  (I am super close
having done all the moves several times.)  I did "Loaded With Power" V10  
second try,  "Anal Intruder," a super rad V11 (see video right), "Crimping
Christ on a Cross," "Dean's Journey," "Fern Roof," and "The Wonder
Hole Dyno," all cool V10s that felt a bit soft to me.  Our list of projects is
huge and continues to grow.  We've turned Joey and Lisa from Boone as
well as Pete Cimazzi on to the mysteries of anti-hydral. (I'll review it soon
and lay down some beta and a medical opinion.)  Hueco seems to get
better and better as we get stronger and stronger.  It's also cool to note
that everyone is cranking. V12's are going down frequently and many of
the hardest lines are being worked to submission by Nick Duttle, Herm
Feissner and others.  Slashface's jug broke, but the line is now better as it
takes a bolder upward arc at its end.
  Rob is doing well too.  We all went to karaoke a couple nights ago and
had a blast at Esther's bar on Zarragoza.  Jody Mial, a member of the "old
guard" and a great old friend from my first season back in '97, is here.  
Plans for the near future include Arkansas in January and then back to
Hueco for Feb.  March and April will be Colorado and Utah.  Summer is the
real deal... ROCKLANDS!  Yep, South Africa.  6 weeks of climbing bliss.  
Isn't life grand?  By the way, read Jitterbug Perfume.  Tom Robbins is a
genius.
Above: "Anal Intruder" V11.  Super fun.
Really hard match if you're tall, really hard
undercling throw if your short.  Some
other climbers were yelling for me and
were unaware that the problem becomes
easy after I hit the final jug.  It made for a
funny moment, for sure...  I love this
problem!
Above:  "the wonder hole dyno" V10.This
problem is mega.  The funny thing is that I
feel pretty weak at Hueco now that V10
seems to be a moderate grade!  Everyone is
so strong these days...  It's amazing to see
the difference at Hueco since my first trip 10
years ago.  There are so many new problems!
November 5th 2007 - Back from South Africa.
Had an absolute blast.  Here's a video of black
velvet in Rocklands to keep you psyched.

Recent happenings: Got a job in Yosemite as
the clinic physician.  Amazing job!

Siemay sent Cholos V9 in Bishop, CA

I sent two great lines at Way Lake, Mammoth,
CA:
Wavecatcher V10 (a Wills Young problem)
Prune Candy V9

Tony and Wills did Thunderbird a stout Sharma
line in about 2 tries each.

I took my Emergency Medicine Boards!

I've been filming a ton for "Try Harder!"
Black Velvet, a V11 in Rocklands