"The Stolen Summer" Summer 2014

Lance nearing the summit of Dragontail peak via the Backbone ridge fin direct. Photo by Michael Rowley

Wow. It has been way too long since I've taken the time to sit down and share my adventures, quite a shame considering the climbing I've been doing in the last couple months. Buckle your seat belt and put your helmet it on, here we go!

The middle of May I broke my wrist falling off my bike. I took a corner onto a sidewalk just a little too fast. I crashed, concerned drivers stopped and asked if I was okay. Within 10 seconds of crashing, I  knew my wrist was broken and began my walk of shame to Hall Health. I texted Deni with defeat.....it was difficult texting with only my left hand...she met up with me at Hall Health, dripping in the coffee she spilled in her rush.

With some ice the pain subsided, but a colder realization took place. I was due to be an assistant guide on Denali in just a few weeks with Dave Hahn, an incredible opportunity and a dream I had been pursuing for the last couple years. The trip would be a landmark for me, a big step in my pursuit as an alpinist and guide. The dream was shattered, my summer was shattered, climbing was out of the question and what could fill that void?

It turns out the void was filled with more sickness. A few weeks later I went into surgery for a tonsillectomy. The six months prior I was constantly getting sick, every couple of weeks I would get something similar to strep throat, I repeatedly went to the doctor. Every doctor tested me for mono, strep and cancer. The fourth time of this I was fed up. My Uncle, an infectious disease specialist at Valley Medical, diagnosed me with Tonsillitis. This made sense so the cure was to get my tonsils removed, be miserable for a few days and then return to my healthy self and get on with my summer. It seemed great, my wrist was broken anyway so I thought doing the surgery now, before life got back in full swing was perfect. Needless to say, life is hardly perfect.

The surgery went fine, those tonsils came right out and anesthesia doesn't really bother me. Unfortunately the artery at the back of my throat refused to heal. My throat kept bleeding profusely even two weeks after the surgery. I spent many hours bent over a basin spitting up gobs of dark partially coagulated blood, cups and cups poured out of my mouth, once in a while a big glob of the red shit would clog my throat causing me to vomit into the basin adding half digested food and more blood to the mix. Staring down into a plastic basin full of my blood, spit and spirit surrounded by darkness and helplessness is one of the most vivid memories from my summer. The miserable ordeal lasted weeks. Through three surgeries I lost twenty pounds, and 40% of my total blood volume, at one point I wasn't allowed to eat anything more than simple chicken broth. This abuse left me with a pale skinny frame which could barely make it up the stairs of house twice a day.

I spent fourth of July on the couch sipping the delicious juices of the steaks my parents and best friend Cody, who was cool enough to hang with his bedridden friend, readily devoured.

The second unplanned surgery ruined my plans to visit Deni in Colorado. Apparently anemic folks don't do well on airplanes but my amazing girlfriend found a way pay for a flight home and found me in the hospital. She stayed for only a few days before returning to her field work in Colorado but the positive energy and love helped turn around my low morale.

I slowly got better and better, a couple weeks after my third surgery I began to feel like I was finally leaving behind the sadness that had consumed me so far that summer. My wrist healed remarkably well, I dedicated myself to the exercises my physical therapist gave me. I went through them as I watched my heroes on YouTube climb around the world for inspiration to get better. Eventually I was able to turn my hand all the way over without assistance and soon I was lifting weights and finally could do push ups again.

Throughout these ordeals I kept talking to RMI hoping I would be able to guide again by the end of the summer. This hope was crushed upon losing 40% of my blood volume, going to altitude was out of the question for my hemoglobin deficient blood.

By the end of July things were coming together but guiding was out of the question for the summer and finding a real job for the remaining summer was out of the question. I craved the mountains and the challenges they presented, I felt weak and unaccomplished. It was time to go to the mountains and make a comeback, prove to myself that I was still strong.

I set out with my buddy Jason Kowitz and half my normal red blood cells to crush the Serpentine Arete of Dragontail Peak, a cascades classic. I huffed and puffed all day striving to get oxygen to the muscles I hadn't used in months but we had a successful day!

The rest of the summer I climbed as much as possible with an aggressive passion usually planning my next trip while driving home from my last. I enjoyed the wonderful granite spires of Washington Pass, the alpine ambience of the Stuart Range, the low key vibes of Index and the grandeur of Squamish. I eventually got strong, actually I'm climbing stronger than I ever have in the past and finally pushing into the hard long climbs I've only gawked at in the past.

Now here are the pictures, hopefully they inspire!

Slide Show includes Pictures by: Michael Rowley, Todd Kilcup, Deni Murray and Chase Nelson

I climbed with a ton of people this summer and had so much fun! I gotta thank all you guys for the amazing pitches we had together. If I skimped you on gas money I'm really sorry but lets get out again and I'll drive!

Here is a list of the climbs I did and the people I enjoyed them with

Serpentine Arete 5.8 Grade IV 8-10 pitches Jason Kowitz

Direct East Buttress, South Early Winter Spire(SEWS) 5.10 C Grade IV 10 pitches Tucker Richards

West Face(twice), North Early Winter Spire 5.11a Grade III 12 pitches Tucker Richards, Sage Ebel, Deni     Murray, Erik Poulin

West Ridge, Paisano Pinnacle to North Face, Burgandy spire 5.9- Grade IV 15 pitches Tucker Richards

NW Corner, North Early Winter Spire 5.9+ Grade III 6 pitches Tucker Richards, Erik Poulin

Beckey Route, Liberty Bell to SW Rib, SEWS 5.8 Grade III+ 14 pitches Deni Murray

East Face, Minute Man Tower 5.10a Grade III 4 pitches Deni Murray (attempt)

Rebel Yell, Chianti Spire, 5.10b Grade III 7 pitches Todd Kilcup, Jeremy Prins

NW Face, Liberty Bell 5.9 Grade II+ 7 pitches Todd Kilcup, Jeremy Prins

Davis Holland-Lovin' Arms, Index Upper Town Wall 5.10C Grade III+ 6 pitches Tucker Richards

Squamish Buttress, The Chief 5.10C Grade IV- 14 pitches Deni Murray

Liberty Bell Traverse, Liberty Bell Group, 5.9+ Grade V ~20 pitches Chase Nelson 

Slow Children, Index Lower Town Wall, 5.10d Grade II 3 pitches Cody Mack, Michael Rowley

Backbone Ridge, Dragontail Peak, 5.9+ Grade IV+ 14 pitches Michael Rowley

Climbed somewhere around 150 pitches of rock on these routes!

So many great climbs but here are some highlights:

Surviving a flash flood with Deni Murray. It was insane! We experienced a sense of camaraderie and teamwork and survival we've never felt before

Backbone ridge with Michael Rowley. Such an incredible route! And Todd gave us perfect beta on gear. This route should be at the top of everybody's list. 

The "money pitch" on Rebel yell. So strenuous, but so splitter! Big hands and big fists! AAARRGH

Pushing myself like never before on the West face of NEWS with Tucker and then again with Deni, Sage and Erik. I don't think anything compares to pushing yourself way beyond the limits you set for yourself, its an awesome mental state that is incredibly rewarding when you succeed

Slow Children at Index with Cody and Michael, amazing route, amazing day, awesome partners. Another moment when I pushed hard!

LIVIN THE DREAM Indian Creek part 3

After climbing Ancient Art, morale was low due to the gray weather and the emotionally exhausting climb on the tower so we headed into town to find a mocha and organize our trip down to Indian Creek. From there we hit up the grocery store, a thrift shop and then headed South. 

The next day we woke up under some epic Indian ruins, everything was soggy from a rainstorm the night before which meant climbing on the sandstone that day probably wasn't going to happen. Despite the storm the night before, the day was epic and was not to be wasted. We decided to head up to the ruins on the cliff and check them out. 

Deni and Sage in the ruins

Eric being an Indian 

Eric and I with the tallest ruin

After exploring the ruins we decided to continue exploring the desert and headed to Canyonlands National Park. 

The gang

Crazy rocks 

Wow

Canyonlands is Awesome.

After our day in Canyonlands we arrived back at our campsite just before dark and settled in. A great dinner led to lots of fun and games around the campfire and then an intense discussion upon the next days climbing in the land of splitter cracks.

We woke up to another beautiful day in the desert, I was driven to climb hard and get a taste of this climbers paradise, a dream was lived that day.

Deni and I departed the trailhead first and made a beeline to Chocolate corner, one of the classic 5.9 hand cracks. I racked up and taped and began climbing, climbing in the corner was surprisingly strenuous and had me a little worried for the rest of the day. Soon I as at the top pulling on jugs to the chains where I set a top rope and celebrated my successful first pitch in Indian Creek. I was no longer an Indian Creek, splitter creek virgin. Meanwhile the rest of the crew had shown up and Rory was busy leading a sweet 5.10 called Elephant man which was full cool movements and jams of all kinds. Soon we had quite the top rope party going and quite the line to get on Chocolate Corner.

stoked

Deni on Chocolate Corner

Rory on Elephant man

Sage, Belay master

Contemplating a dream

From Chocolate corner we headed over to Binou's crack, another classic 5.9 featuring a finger crack and interesting offwidth leg jams. We waited a while to get on this classic but again I was stoked and cruised up it finding the perfect spots for each cam the guide book tells you to bring. In places you can tell that hundreds of people before you have put a cam in a certain spot because a perfect little spot has been worn into the soft stone. I set up the toprope again for Deni to give it a ride. She also cruised up and enjoyed the dynamic movements required at the top. Fingers in the finger crack and your right leg squished into the huge offwidth on the neighboring wall.

Deni climbing 

Deni in the crux near the top

After climbing Binou's crack we pulled down the rope and headed over to Sage and Rory who had a sweet 5.11 crack top roped. Deni and I both gave it a shot and felt like we could climb it clean on top rope with another try but leading on gear was totally out of the question. Hanging on those tiny finger locks trying to place little nuts seemed ridiculous. Above the 5.11 was a sick looking 5.12 finger that was slightly overhanging, definitely over my head.

Deni mock leading a 5.8 the 5.11 is on the right

After a lap on the 5.11 and Deni's 5.8 we headed to Generic Crack, an ultra classic climb at Indian Creek. Ever since I started technical rock climbing I've climbers cranking hard on the huge splitters of the Creek and I ached to feel the desperation they felt at the top of these amazing climbs. Climbing here, I was finally walking in the footsteps of my heroes. Generic Crack was more than a climb for me but an odyssey and a culmination of the journey I departed on a few years ago when I laced up my first pair of climbing shoes. At the base I racked up with a bunch of cams, all the same size because this crack was nothing but perfect hand jams and went to work. Twenty feet off the ground I negotiated a huge pod and then found myself in an endless hand crack for the next 100 feet. The climb was strenuous and sustained but determination kept me from resting or falling and an awesome zen like focus guided me to the chains.

Lance climbing generic crack

Deni climbing

After Generic crack the day was done, my arms were tired and I couldn't imagine a better way to end the best day of climbing I've ever experienced. Deni, Rory and Sage all got a lap on Generic crack and off we went back to the parking lot. At the parking lot we lounged on crash pads and snacked on peanut butter and jelly on Wheat thins. Delicious, Nutritious and Cheap. We spent that night under the Ruins before beginning the long drive back to Seattle the next day. 

LIVIN THE DREAM Moab part 2

From Zion we headed Northeast to Moab, the ultimate spring break destination. Driving highway 12 was surreal I have never enjoyed sitting in a car as much as I did along this drive. You really experience the massiveness and diversity of the desert and begin to understand just how old and awesome the earth is. Our drive ended at the Lazy lizard hostel in Moab where we enjoyed some hot showers, ice cream and a real bed.

Mooooooonscape

Our first day climbing in Moab we met up with our friends Sage, Rory, Eric and Jake who had been climbing on Wallstreet the last couple days. I was anxious to climb and rushed them out of the campsite. Climbing at Wall Street I managed to fall off a route called Nervous in Suburbia before clipping its really high first bolt and smashed my knee. A climbing trip isn't complete until I smash my knee on something hard. In search of some shade we decided to head to a crag called Ice Cream Parlor, but the name was misleading and it was just as hot. I wasn't feeling to hot to lead with my sore knee so Deni took the reigns and led a couple really fun routes for me to climb on top rope.

Driving up to Wall street. Shortest Approach

Deni in the classic corner

Deni on Wall street

Lance "climbing"

After climbing at the Ice cream parlor we headed to the grocery store to satisfy our appetite for ice cream! YUM! From there we headed back to Wallstreet to find the gang and and make plans for the next day. We decided to head to the Fischer Chimneys campground in order to climb Ancient Art tower the next day.

Sage and Rory on the first pitch

 We woke up early to get a head start on the brewing weather forecasted for that afternoon and headed out into the creepiest environment I've ever experienced. The towers stood eerily above us with a gray soup of clouds behind them, threatening to fall apart. No creatures stirred but the imagination provided many appropriately disgusting creatures to inhabit the little nooks and crannys of this desolate place. Eventually we caught up to our friends Rory and Sage at the base of the climb. They started climbing while we began to get ourselves organized.

Sage leading pitch 1

 I

Creepy mudstone towers

 Soon after we began climbing. Deni lead the first half pitch and then I took over to climb the harder pitches, but pretty soon I was shamelessly pulling on janky bolts. I pulled gently and evenly praying nothing would rip out and hardly trusted my feet on the polished pebbles that zillions of thrill seekers have climbed before. Eventually I was wondering why the hell I was climbing this scary pile of mud.

Looking up at Ancient Art. Summit is on the left

Deni following the second pitch 

Us and Rory at the Belay 

Lance in the mud chimney

We were freezing 

Sage near the summit

 All the time climbers get asked “why do you climb”. A valid question, climbers expose themselves to a lot of risk, so what is the justification? For every climber the answer is different, most climbers don’t even have a solid answer, rather a constantly evolving answer. We climb different things for different reasons too. Sometimes we climb to scare ourselves shitless because life in the city is too mundane and easy. Sometimes because we want to learn about ourselves, learn things you can only learn at the end of your strength and motivation in those moments of desperation. Sometimes just to have fun and enjoy the remotest parts of nature. This time on Ancient art we climbed for the epic picture on top. I wanted to be that daredevil, badass guy from the commercial. The showoff. This I learned, is one of the worst reasons to climb. I was climbing for others, not myself. Luckily I made it up and down that janky-ass tower and back on the ground, I’ve learned my lesson. But I made it down with an epic picture so here it is.

Lance on the summit

LIVIN THE DREAM Zion Part 1

For ten days I lived my dream; climbing and exploring the vast desert of Southeastern Utah, I shared this dream with my beautiful girlfriend Deni Murray who inspired me to climb hard, enjoy life and settled me down when the intensity of my spirit blurred my focus. Even now the trip doesn't seem real, there are scars on my hands, dirt in my shoes and vivid memories in my head but I can't help but wonder if it really happened. Coming back to the strange reality of school and responsibility sucks. Before I fully succumb to the dark messy void of homework and exams I'll share the adventure one day at time.

Entering Zion National Park

We arrived in Zion National Park the afternoon of March 20th after a day and a half of driving. We checked into our campsite at the Watchman campground overwhelmed by the immensity of the landscape around us. The huge sandstone walls intimidated and inspired us. After a hearty dinner we were anxious to climb something after being stuck in a car for two days so we headed towards "the boulder" at Zion. The boulder was covered in an endless amount of interesting and challenging holds and we quickly began designing our own traverse sequence around it. We bouldered long into the night with headlamps, laughing every time we fell off or smiling when we discovered a friendly new hold.

The Watchman

The next day we climbed the classic Ashtar Command on Ataxia tower. Deni led the lower 5.8 crack pitch in fine style, a few times she smiled down at me. She belayed me up to a comfy belay ledge where we snapped a couple selfies before I set off on the second pitch. I finished off the tapering crack and started traversing left on crazy rock features. The holds I was using were barely the thickness of stiff paper, a skin of the rock seemed to have peeled off providing good but doubtful holds. The long traverse right meant a long and painful fall would be in order if a hold broke or a foot slipped. Luckily nothing broke and soon I had a bolt clipped. From there the climbing was fantastic, the face was covered in perfect crimps and edges making for awesome balancy climbing. I fell into a rhythm and quickly found myself looking at the the chains atop the 100 foot pitch. WOOOO!  Deni followed up enjoying the awesome climbing! Atop the tower we soaked up the spectacular views and weather.

Deni leading

Belay ledge selfie

Awesome second pitch

Makes Hot yoga look lame

Our second full day in Zion we embarked on a canyoneering adventure! Canyoneering was totally new to both of us so we were at the mercy of the advice from park rangers and local outfitters. We ended up choosing Keyhole canyon the classic beginners canyon in Zion. After hiking a short distance into the desert we found the beginning of the canyon, a narrow slot in a hidden cliff, and dawned our wetsuits. We waded into the dark cold water at the bottom of the canyon wondering what was around every corner. The canyon was an amazing creation, carved into the beautiful sandstone by the hand of water. We continued to descend, farther and farther from the sun and the desert above, into one of nature's well hidden secrets. The adventure included three rappels and a couple long cold swims. All to soon we were squinting our eyes in the bright sun as we exited the canyon and walked back out to our car. We laughed at the passing cars, they must be wondering what we were doing in the desert wearing wetsuits. Our day finished with a complete tour through Zion and a another sesh on the boulder.

Start of the canyon

Rappelling 

Cold!

Beautiful

Deni Rappelling

Almost done!

We spent our last two days in Zion backpacking in the southwestern corner, checking out the petrified forest and enjoying some beautiful views. Zion is an amazing place, I'm sure we could spend weeks in Zion either backpacking, climbing or canyoneering. The immense walls were incredible and inspiring.

Lance Bouldering

Deni Bouldering

Smith Rock Zebra/Zion

As we headed down to Smith the excitement was overwhelming, my girlfriend Deni and I had plans to climb, ski, camp out under the stars, and have an absolutely amazing weekend void of homework, responsibility and the incessant buzzing of smartphones.

Our first sight of Smith's famous walls Saturday morning sent us buzzing around camp with excitement, preparing for a big day of climbing. Our goal was to climb Zebra/Zion, a big four pitch trad and sport route on Morning Glory Wall.

Hello Smith Rocks

Soon we were at the base of the route, looking up I was slightly intimidated having not been on real rock since October I knew I would be a little rusty and didn't know what to expect from the 5.10a/b crux pitch.

Morning glory wall 

Deni quickly dispatched the first pitch, a 5.10b sport climb called Gumby. I followed up the tiny crimps and edges into huge huecos and then joined her at the hanging belay.

At the Belay

After a brief visit :) I racked up and climbed up to the crux, plugged in a few cams and powered through the crux, then the subsequent steep hand crack to a perfect belay ledge. 

Crux pitch stoke! 

After the crux pitch.... an airy traverse....an epic juggy flake you want to last forever....

Thumbs up!

Enjoying the day!

Look no hands! 

Steps from the top! 

"following the paths others have laid, puts you in same destination as all those before you". This thought surfaced in my mind as I floated along the airy traverse of Zebra/Zion. A fragment of a novel or something I read at some point in the past. I cautiously settled into the first holds of the traverse, my left hand found a small pocket to put two fingers in and my right hand crimped onto a sharp end of rock. I looked down in search of foot holds to support my weight on, finally I found a pair of tiny edges just big enough for the soft rubber of my shoes to stick on. Between my feet tiny people milled around two hundred feet below, getting ready to climb or taking pictures of the incredible rock features, undoubtedly I was nothing but a small speck. Secretly I hoped somebody was watching with awe and fear, cheering me on and finding inspiration in my bravery.

A few minutes later I was through the traverse and climbing quickly up a beautifully featured slab to the next belay station. Leaving the security of a beautiful crack for the unprotected traverse was terrifying and awesome, falling would have been sketch, but years of climbing and experienced urged me to satisfy my craving for adventure in the high places of the world. Long ago I choose a path, dedicating myself to climbing and the mountains, this epic traverse was part of that path.

Good bye Smith Rocks....until another day