Oh, Zermatt, Where Did You Go So Wrong?

Zermatt, Switzerland, one of the birthplaces of Alpinism, promotes...well, who knows what it's promoting with this advertisement, spotted at the Furi lift station in April.

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On and On

Capitol Reef National Park. Ahh!

White knuckle driving out of town last weekend.

The gal who cut my hair.

After the hair cut.

Before the hair cut!

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.

Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites: http://www.scarpa.net http://www.arcteryx.com/ http://camp-usa.com/ http://sterlingrope.com/ http://coloradomountainjournal.com/ http://www.wunderground.com/ http://climbing.com/ http://rockandice.com/ http://deadpointmag.com/ http://urbanclimbermag.com/ http://andrewburr.com/ http://ladzinski.com/

Capitol Reef National Park

Mike B on a zig zagging 5.11 crack. This one is found in the Grand Wash and is about a 2 minute approach. Classic.

Steph Davis on a nice 12+ splitter. This crack is also in the Grand Wash and is as good as they get for this size. Steph crushed the route easily after her knee surgery months ago.

The Capitol Reef visitor center. Be sure to stop in and get some fresh pies!

Mike B making breakfast on a cool morning in the park. For 10 bucks a night it's quiet and you are right in the middle of everything in the park. Clean bathrooms and friendly folks and hundreds of fruit trees.

Mike B on his overhanging 35meter hand crack. It's awesome! Some easy face/crack climbing at the beginning leads to a beautiful 20 foot overhung handcrack out the dihedral. It is just a minute from the road (Grand Wash).

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.

Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.

Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:http://www.scarpa.nethttp://www.arcteryx.comhttp://camp-usa.comhttp://sterlingrope.comhttp://ColoradoMountainJournal.comhttp://www.wunderground.comhttp://climbing.comhttp://rockandice.comhttp://deadpointmag.comhttp://urbanclimbermag.comhttp://andrewburr.comhttp://ladzinski.com

Inspiration and Sobering Reality

I've just returned from a couple of weeks of skiing in the French and Swiss Alps, where we stuck to well-traveled tracks and merely ogled the improbable traces of bold skiers arcing down seemingly every plunging gully and cliffy face. The stuff that gets skied routinely in these mountains is mind-blowing. And so it was fun to discover Colin Haley's helmet-cam video of a "typical" day of skiing this month off the Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix—this is a great window on the kind of skiing I'll never do. Thrilling stuff!



But as I read deeper in Colin's long debrief of recent weeks in Chamonix on his Skagit Alpinism blog, I learned there was another, darker side to his story. In less than one week, Colin watched his skiing partners suffer two serious accidents during big descents (the two skiers who fell both lived, somewhat miraculously, though one was severely injured) and he himself narrowly escaped being pulled off a mountain by an avalanche. Colin's account is analytical, sobering, and highly worth reading. Don't miss it.

Photo Shoot (non climbing)

All photos by Claudia Lopez (check out her website)

We took some portraits the other day in my garage after work and these are the two that I can share! Blue Steel or Magnum, I will never tell. hahaha

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.
Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net
http://www.arcteryx.com
http://camp-usa.com
http://sterlingrope.com
http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com
http://www.wunderground.com
http://climbing.com
http://rockandice.com
http://deadpointmag.com
http://urbanclimbermag.com
http://andrewburr.com
http://ladzinski.com

Found My Camera!

The Hollis Route on Monitor Butte in Moab. I got the first free ascent this spring 5.12+. Out a cave to 5.10 climbing in the dihedral. Good fun and a little dirty. It has everything a desert crack should have, shade, fingers, a roof, hand crack and wide stuff!

Need any petrified wood, head into North Wash, just south of Hanksville and wander around the hillside.

Mike B getting after it in Zion. Did I ever tell you that he can carry a heavy load through deep water!

Mike M and his little one on St Patty's Day 2010. She is the better looking one of the two!

So, we moved the printer at our house and accidentally hid our camera behind it. It was the final sweep of the house that I discovered the little guy. I was so happy! I am just bummed about not getting any photos of the race last weekend.
On another positive note, I am not sore from running but I was fatigued while training for climbing yesterday. I slept well and am now ready to get after it again.
I will be in Capitol Reef National Park this weekend and am looking forward to climbing some desert splitters with Mike B. Let the good times role and the hand jammin begin.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.
Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net
http://www.arcteryx.com
http://camp-usa.com
http://sterlingrope.com
http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com
http://www.wunderground.com
http://climbing.com
http://rockandice.com
http://deadpointmag.com
http://urbanclimbermag.com
http://andrewburr.com
http://ladzinski.com

The Race

Well, we had a great day to run on Sunday (the 10 mile race near Grand Junction, CO)
Our results are on the following link: http://www.geminiadventures.com/Fest10.html
The sky was clear and the temps were still just right. Jane and I completed the 10 miler in I don't know how many minutes, but it was great to support each other along the way.
Actually, we now have the results: 1:46 minutes Jane was #9 in her age group and I was #12 in my age group! Wow, that is pretty cool! Overall we were numbers 47 adn 48 out of over a hundred racers. Middle of the pack sounds great to me as it was my first time competing.
We got to meet Charlie Mace (a great all around climber/mountain climber) and see some great competitors. As for Charlie Mace, he won his age division for the 51 and over and it was his first race too!

I got excited early on (since it was my first race) and was keeping a fast pace. Jane wondered if I would be able to maintain it throughout the entire race. I knew she was going the proper pace so I slowed down and was able to enjoy the rest of the trail. We traversed the Colorado River high and low and scampered up and down desert hillsides.
My knees felt good until mile 9 where I had to walk/run to the finish.
Sorry, no photos, (I have misplaced my camera) : (
Until next time.
piz : )

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.
Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net
http://www.arcteryx.com
http://camp-usa.com
http://sterlingrope.com
http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com
http://www.wunderground.com
http://climbing.com
http://rockandice.com
http://deadpointmag.com
http://urbanclimbermag.com
http://andrewburr.com
http://ladzinski.com

Deadpoint Video Magazine

Check out the latest issue of DPM (Deadpoint Video Magazine), www.deadpointmag.com
for a video short made by Chuck Fryburger.
It features 2 new routes that I established in Colorado in the South Platte and in Cuchara.
You'll get to see me wielding a hammer drill next to a fog machine!

Have a great weekend!
Jane and I will be out running the Desert Rats trail race in Mack, Colorado on Sunday.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.
Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net
http://www.arcteryx.com
http://camp-usa.com
http://sterlingrope.com
http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com
http://www.wunderground.com
http://climbing.com
http://rockandice.com
http://deadpointmag.com
http://urbanclimbermag.com
http://andrewburr.com
http://ladzinski.com

Bring on the Sun

Mike B and I on Road Warrior, Mt Evans.

A note for A-Burr on the Fisher Towers.

The Fishers Towers, Utah.

Jordi, a visiting Spaniard on top of Devils Tower.

This weekend I was able to get some outdoor climbing in due to the weather working out!

Shelf Road had perfect temps as the clouds and wind came in when it approached sweaty temperatures, while it took Clear Creek a while to warm up to 70 on Sunday.

It was great to make new moves, take some falls and get back into the swing of sport climbing.

Thanks to the folks that I climbed with this weekend.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.
Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net
http://www.arcteryx.com
http://camp-usa.com
http://sterlingrope.com
http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com
http://www.wunderground.com
http://climbing.com
http://rockandice.com
http://deadpointmag.com
http://urbanclimbermag.com
http://andrewburr.com
http://ladzinski.com

CORE Movie Review

Last night Jane and I went to watch Chuck Fryburger's new climbing movie called CORE in Boulder, Co. The theme of the night was 80's rock bands and many of the audience dressed up for the prizes from the nights sponsors.
As the lights went out there was a buzz in the air and Chuck's vision came to life.
We watched a catchy intro and some heart pumping bouldering and sport climbing footage that was cleverly interspersed with comic relief from the climbers. Local talent received hoots and hollers as the movie pressed on. It culminated with one of the all time greats Fred Nicole sending his project in Switzerland and telling us that climbing is in our own eyes and that there are only natures rules.
I liked the film, but as usual I need time to process. When I see it again I know that I will enjoy it even more. Don't hesitate to witness Chuck's work, the colors the angles and the climbers are all impressive and talented.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.
Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net
http://www.arcteryx.com
http://camp-usa.com
http://sterlingrope.com
http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com
http://www.wunderground.com
http://climbing.com
http://rockandice.com
http://deadpointmag.com
http://urbanclimbermag.com
http://andrewburr.com
http://ladzinski.com

It's been a couple..

Here is a wall I found over break that I might get to bolt this year! The left side is really overhung.

Some sinage protecting me from falling into old mine shafts. I nearly hiked into a pit that I couldnt even see the bottom of. Had I fallen in, I wouldn't have been able to get out. No joke.

Old Colorado Jailhouse

Colorado weather, nice one day, blizzard the next. What are you going to do?

Well, getting back into work after the long break has bee... well work.

I have been trying to get into the swing of teaching science all day, then heading to the gym to train or work training others and then eating and sleeping enough.

I think it's getting better now that we are nearly two weeks back into the quarter.

Anyway, the easter weekend Jane and I went to Cuchara, (sorry to much snow and ice to climb) and hung out with her family. We ate a ton of great food, played cards and had the chance to catch up with each other. It was a nice time to be with family.

Jane and I tried to run the Air Force Academy trail which is about 12 miles through the campus but there were 50+ mph winds and the temp was around 3o degrees. It was too cold so we ran a shorter distance at Garden of the Gods.

We also did a huge run in the South Platte to continue preparation for our desert race which is in a little over a week! We both feel like it's going to kick our butts but it will be fun none the less.

I am really glad that you have visited my blog.
Thanks and I hope to see and hear from you soon.
Rob Pizem

And last but not least, don't forget to check out my favorite sites:

http://www.scarpa.net
http://www.arcteryx.com
http://camp-usa.com
http://sterlingrope.com
http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com
http://www.wunderground.com
http://climbing.com
http://rockandice.com
http://deadpointmag.com
http://urbanclimbermag.com
http://andrewburr.com
http://ladzinski.com

Russian Avalanche (Out of) Control

Think you'd be safe on a chairlift if a big avalanche swept underneath? Skip to about 0:25 to jump-start the action and find out.