Smith Rock, Or.

The climbing:

As soon as I arrived in Eugene, I started to work painting a large commercial building in Springfield owned by a friend of mine on ski patrol. It took me nearly three weeks, but as soon as I was done, I headed straight for sunny central Oregon and the unconquerable Smith Rock. There is no better time of year to be a Smith Rock climber than October. Warm in the sun, but cool in the shade makes for some very good conditions if you want to push your limits. I was happy just to be climbing at all, after several months of elbow trouble. The thin, slabby routes at Smith were a nice way to take some of the stress off my poor joints, and even though I couldn't climb as hard as I would have liked, I met some fantastic people and had a great time repeating some of the classics.

My good old friend from Eugene and many adventures, Sarah showed up with a friend of hers from Utah, Jen. Right away I knew it was going to be a good month. Several days were spent just touring the area, climbing in the gorge, and even climbing the Pioneer Route to the top of Monkey Face. It was nice just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather, knowing that it wouldn't last long. My original hopes of redpointing 'Kings of Rap'.12d were unrealistic due to my elbow tendonitis, so I instead focused on easier, but fun routes. My longtime wish to free solo the classic two pitch 5.7 'Spider Man' was granted when Sarah and Jen decided to climb the route together. Three's a crowd on multi-pitch, so I played psycho cameraman while they safely ascended with the usual ropes and such. More pleasant surprises were in store, as I worked to repeat a few of my favorite 5.12's. My re-redpoint of the runout .12a 'Dreamin' was just as frightening as the first time, and I surprised myself as well as everyone around by cranking up 'Chain Reaction' .12c, intending to go bolt-to-bolt hanging draws for a friend and sending it in the process. Also 'Wartleys Revenge' .11b trad didn't put up much of a fight as I made my third attempt at redpointing the overhanging crack. The first two were scary and exhausting failures about a year before. I found the trick is to not place much protection, climb fast, and try not to worry about what would happen if I were to fall. Just when it seemed I needed a little income, I got a call from my buddy Jay saying he had another rigging job for me. I met Jay a few years ago through my friend Bill, whose property I camp on when I'm at Smith Rock. This proved to be a much different gig from the Ani DeFranco concert the spring before; it was 'Brooks and Dunn' a roving country act, playing the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond. Working this kind of job has its perks, like free hotel rooms, free food, and free passes to the show. In this case the latter wasn't up my alley, but the grub backstage just kept coming.