When I found out that I had been awarded a Live Your Dream Grant from the American Alpine Club, I was extremely excited, of course.  But I was also a bit confused.  I don’t crush super hard.  I am not trying to put up first ascents in the Hueco backcountry.  My dream was simple, and essentially this:

There had to be some sort of catch, right?  No catch.  I am extremely grateful to the American Alpine Club for this grant that has allowed me to put climbing at the top of my to-do list.  For most of December, I get to be outside all day, every day and focus on climbing.

I have been in Hueco for almost two weeks now, and it feels like I have been on a classics tour the whole time.  Every single day, I go out and discover new problems and think that it can’t get any better.  And every day I go out there, it does.  These classics come in all shapes and sizes, from the long and pumpy Ghetto Simulator (V2) to the tall and scary See Spot Run (V6) and all the roofs in between like Moonshine (V4) and Girls of Juarez (V4), I have been loving it all.  And despite my shredded skin, I even managed to send New Religion (V7) which is the first of its grade I have climbed yet.  And at the end of the day, I get to watch the sun go down over the desert.

Mostly, I am humbled and honored to climb with the people who make up the Hueco Tanks climbing community.  Whether I am out with climbers who are in town for the weekend or local Hueco legends, I always feel supported and accepted.

I have a little less than one week left to climb here.  Yesterday, I sent my project, Baby Face (V7).  I was extremely psyched that I was able to complete this climb despite its intimidating arete and my chossy labrum. For the rest of this week, I hope to continue the classics tour of Hueco and to spend each day playing on rocks in the Texas sunshine.

For now, it’s time for me to go back to my home at the Hueco Rock Ranch:

Saturday, June 15th 2013

Come join us in Leavenworth for the fourteenth annual Rockfest climbing festival. Festival participants can enjoy camping at Gibbs Organic Farm Saturday night after climbing during the day or taking one of the clinics led by guides from the Northwest Mountain School.

John Frieh joins us from Portland to present a show on some of his latest trips in the Alaska range. He is the winner of numerous AAC climbing grants, has a string of modern first ascents and has perfected ‘smash and grab’ climbing.

$15 for AAC members / $25 general public

Festival admission includes:
- camping Saturday night at Gibbs Farm
- BBQ dinner Saturday night sponsored by Black Diamond and Petzl
- John Frieh Slideshow
- one ticket for the world famous Rockfest Raffle
- Sunday morning breakfast sponsored by Mountain Gear

Clinics are $35 per person and will be held all day at Peshastin Pinnacles State Park starting at 9am. Meet at the picnic tables next to the parking lot.

- Beginning Climbing
- Off-width crack climbing
- Efficient descent / managing multiple rappels
- Gear anchors and multi-pitch belay stations
- Self-rescue and belay escapes

Sign up and register for Rockfest and clinics at: http://rockfest2013.brownpapertickets.com

Presented by the American Alpine Club.  With much support from The Alta Group, Black Diamond, Northwest Mountain School and Mountain Gear.

Fifty years ago today Jim Whittaker and Nawang Gombu stood atop Mount Everest. Jim was the first American to go there. He went in close partnership with his Sherpa friend and employee.

Today we see lines of people staked up like ants, tent cities at base camp—and this week we hear reports of fights between independent climbers and Sherpa workers on the mountain.

What’s gone wrong? Maybe nothing. Tom Horbein makes it clear in the video above that he is not sad about it.

When the AAC last hosted Reinhold Messner he divided climbing of today by using terms from the European ski world. “On piste” climbers follow a known track, often with guides. Sometimes the track is even prepared, like Everest’s Southeast Ridge, with a fixed icefall, fixed lines on the route, and preset camps with food and oxygen.

“Off piste” climbers go everywhere else. And sometimes we all end up near each other. There is room for both as long as we have a little respect.

Both sorts climb on Mount Everest. This week, the most cutting edge of off-piste climbers bumped up against one of the most entrenched traditions of the on-piste climbing world: the fixing of the lines for Everest’s pre-monsoon season.

People are different. They have different circumstances. Climbing is dangerous and how one approaches the heights is a very personal decision. Those style choices are freedoms we all enjoy until they affect others or hurt the mountain. Yes, the domination of the guided routes on Everest affects others. But that is a concession I think we can make given the near limitless opportunities in the off-piste world.

Climbing evolves. Our crampons now have front points, we use ice tools to climb rock and multiple big walls are now free-soloed in a day. Everest has two heavily guided routes on it. Denali and Cho Oyu have one heavily guided route, the Grand Teton has a few, and Rainier has several. Choosing to climb one of those routes, with a guide or without, is a personal choice. The climber with the guide expects to see others and receive help from his or her guides. And if there are other guided parties around, one can reasonably expect that those guides will work together to keep the mountain clean and safe. The climber without a guide knows that choosing an on-piste route brings the hazards (and joys?) of other people.

It also means that those who are expanding the envelope of human potential in their off-piste pursuits must play by the rules of the route. Generally this has been dictated by the mountain, but when numbers are added to the environment, the environment itself changes and so must one’s approach to it.

Every spring on Everest, the climbing teams get together and make some rules: when the icefall will be fixed, who will do it, what the budget will be, and how other climbers will operate while it’s going on. Disregarding these facts of the mountain is like disregarding the avalanche conditions or weather. It puts one on a path with real hazard and inflicts a real or perceived hazard on others.

Judged from the eye of a dedicated off-piste climber, the Southeast Ridge can look pretty unattractive. Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder. To someone whose passion is the Seven Summits, a Grand Slam, or the magic of standing at the world’s highest point, the Southeast Ridge is a shining objective.

Jim Whittaker reminds us that just a few hundred yards to the side of either the Southeast or Northeast Ridges, Everest is the big, wild, and foreboding mountain it has always been. People have changed two of its ridges, and climbers cannot ignore that fact. On Denali one is wise to take direction from the guides when negotiating the fixed lines above 14,200; on the Grand you might as well organize with the guides at the rappel; and if on Everest the Southeast Ridge has a protocol. Indeed, if anything, more protocol is needed. The Sherpa and guides are the people who profit from Everest, who return every year, and who offer it to the world. They—who profit from those routes—must lead. And whatever evolving structure that leadership takes, the Sherpa must be in it.

Some of the wisest actions on Everest this week came from guides like Melissa Arnot who calmed the aggressions at 22,000 feet and later wrote:

I cannot recount the events of this past week on Everest, nor do I want to. I understand that people want to hear the story and know the details, but, honestly, the details are sad and they are in the past. They cannot be changed. Everyone will have their version of what happened and why it happened. I, too, have my own version. I came here to climb Mt. Everest. I came here for the challenge, adventure and type of friendship that has become a mark of this place for me. On this expedition, I have had some of the best times of my life, laughing into the late hours with friends who were supporting each other’s goals. I have had some of the worst times—standing in front of those same friends to protect them from unexplainable violence and anger. Something shifted the balance for a moment. My only hope is that it shifts back quickly, and everyone can resume their jobs, their passion and their goal of climbing. I am resting now, both my body and my mind, in hopes that I can resume the reason I came here. I am thankful for the good moments that have occurred this year. I am sad for the events of the last week. I am hopeful that the adventure ahead will be one of collaboration, support and rebuilding the relationship of trust between everyone who has chosen to be here.

In his video interview, Dave Morton notes that there is no stigma against choosing to climb with a guide on Rainier. I would argue the same is true about other ambitious objectives from the Matterhorn to Denali. Perhaps our scrutiny of Everest is heightened by its anniversaries this year: the 60^th of its first ascent and the 50^th for Americans.

Climbers need only remember to follow the lead of the mountain. Our climbing decisions follow the terrain, the conditions, and the weather. On routes like Everest’s Southeast Ridge, we must consider other people as well.

One group which has their annual spring stewardship activities nailed down is the Oregon-based Smith Rock Group. Overseen by the “Mayor of Smith Rock,” Ian Caldwell, the Smith Rock Spring Thing has really been growing over the years. It blurs the line between party and stewardship day once you throw in over 200 volunteers, free burritos, outdoor yoga, slacklining, an auction and a raffle.

“It would have taken us years to pay for all the materials. The AAC Cornerstone Grant knocked it out in a single year.” –Ian Caldwell

Fun and festivities at Smith Rock Spring Thing 2012

In 2011, the AAC awarded a Cornerstone Conservation Grant to the Spring Thing organizers, who put the funds to good use for the 2012 event by purchasing pressure-treated wood and rebar to build new stairs to the Dihedrals and add nearly 100 extra steps on Misery Ridge. According to Ian, “our fundraising efforts keep our program going from year to year… It would have taken us years to pay for all the materials. The AAC Cornerstone Grant knocked it out in a single year.”

Building stairs to improve access to climbing at Smith Rock

The wood used for the steps is designed to withstand the elements and protect against insects, microorganisms, and fungal decay for up to 20 years. Choosing these materials for the project really demonstrates the Smith Rock Group’s dedication to conservation and the long-term sustainability and protection of this revered climbing area. “The Park Manager was amazed of all the work we got done,” said Ian, and now “it is so easy to hike to the cliff that I have no excuse for not sending my project.”

“Increasingly, we realize that we must give back, in whatever way we can, to preserve these natural resources and our access to them.” –John Connor

Repairing the steps to the Dihedrals at Smith Rock

The 21st Annual Smith Rock Spring Thing is happening soon, and the AAC is one of many proud sponsors of this volunteer-driven park maintenance day. According to John Connor, AAC Oregon Section Co-chair, “climbers’ impact to our favorite crags, walls, and alpine areas now outpaces the existing infrastructure, and funding, for their maintenance. Increasingly, we realize that we must give back, in whatever way we can, to preserve these natural resources and our access to them.”

So, if you live nearby, be sure to trade in your climbing helmet for a hard hat on May 11, and join in the fun! Check out the 2013 Smith Rock Spring Thing Facebook page to get the dirt.

Not in Oregon? Contact your AAC Regional Coordinator or Section Chair to find out about stewardship activities happening in your area. Would a Cornerstone Conservation Grant help you get your local stewardship project off the ground? The application period is approaching (June 15–August 15). Get the skinny here, and for questions about this grant opportunity, contact your Regional Coordinator.

All photos courtesy Ian Caldwell.

This event was powered by hard-working volunteers

AAC: How did you get into climbing?

Steve: As a teenager and into my early twenties, I was an armchair mountaineer. I read a lot of climbing literature. I was really hooked on that. Everything from Herzog to you name it, I read it. I was also a hiker in those days. And over the course of my marriage to Paula Mae, I have managed to schlepp her on dozens of treks. So we’ve done a lot of long-distance hiking as husband and wife. And I always had an interest in climbing, but it wasn’t until I met Mark Richey…this is a pretty wild story but I actually won a raffle to have dinner with Mark decades ago. Our dinner was an epiphany for me. He set me up with Maury McKinney, a great guy, who was a climbing instructor in the White Mountains at the time, and that’s how I got started.

AAC: What attracts you to climbing?

Steve: There’s so much. I guess the singularity of purpose, the purity of it. I remember I started climbing during a period when Paula Mae and I were building our first company. And it was a period of enormous stress. And with climbing, I had to just focus on the rock and being in the moment. I hate to use these Zen clichés, but while I was climbing, I couldn’t be thinking about anything else. It was a very helpful and cleansing experience. Whenever I was climbing, I wasn’t having monkey-mind about the business. And of course, it was also very satisfying being outdoors. I love being in the outdoors. That’s been a lifelong passion.

AAC: What’s your favorite climb or trip that stands out?

Steve: I would say the prettiest area I’ve ever climbed is where I climbed last summer, the Dolomites. That was just awe inspiring. But it’s a conga line in the summer, as you can imagine.

AAC: What climbers inspire you, who are your heroes?

Steve: Mark Richey for one. He’s been able to do this juggling act, to start and develop a significant business while being a really serious climber. Also high on my list would be Jim Donini: still pushing it at 70! And Messner is a hero. I’ve never met him but I would say he was the most out there and had the vision to do things that had never been done before, and the daring to actually do it. I’m also a fan of his lyrical writing.

AAC: Have you thought of doing any climbing movies?

Steve: I have two climbing movies in development now. One of them, HIDDEN MOUNTAIN, is fairly far along. I’ve been working with Pete Takeda on HIDDEN MOUNTAIN for several years. Renan Ozturk will be our climbing director of photography. The other film involving climbing I’ve just started, with John Long and Jeff Jackson. This is a film that John has been thinking about for years. Both are very exciting projects; I think they have the juice to get made.

AAC: You’ve had a pretty adventurous career, if you got a second run at life, would you ever consider a career somehow related to the outdoors?

Steve: I do think about that from time-to-time. I look back and think it’s been an interesting life. I was Jack Welch’s speechwriter when I was a very young man, and that was exciting and challenging. I was on the original management team of a first-generation software company that got to go public. Then my wife and I started a marketing agency that was on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies. And now the film business for the past decade. So all of this has been engaging. But I think it would have been an interesting life to do mountain exploration and to have written about it. I doubt that even if I had started young enough that I would have been able to develop that level of talent. But it would have been fun to try.

AAC: Any words of wisdom for those considering climbing?

Steve: Climbing is wonderful as an end in itself. But it’s also a great learning experience. You learn a lot about life in the mountains. You learn a lot about yourself. You get to do things you never thought you could do. There’s the whole notion that you have to imagine yourself at the top before your body can get there. Your mind has to get there first. There are so many of these pieces of homiletic wisdom that become real from the experience of climbing. It is a way of focusing your mind, of learning to defeat monkey-mind. And, of course, there is the pure pleasure in it. Any activity that gives you pleasure that isn’t hurting other people is in-and-of-itself a good thing. Also, I find that once I’m back on the approach trail and can reflect on what I’ve done, I often get flashes. It’s like my mind’s been cleared of all the baloney and all this interesting stuff is coming into it.

I love being on the route, but it is so much more than that. It’s the anticipation beforehand and the recollection for years after that are almost as fun.