Team prAna!

I am proud to be one of the newest members of Team prAna! It feels great to be an ambassador for a company that makes comfortable, fashionable, environmentally conscious clothing for climbing and life.

I received my first shipment of clothing last night. I was so excited that I immediately tried each piece of clothing on and then hung them all up for pictures!


Check out a selection of the fall line.

 

Goodbye September

September is often referred to as "Sendtember" in the climbing community. The temps start to drop and all that summer training starts to pay off.  At least that's the idea.

My "Sendtember" did not go exactly as I'd hoped. I've been working on a new project all month and am becoming discouraged as my performace worsens. It's time to take a week to relax and re-up my energy and psych.

Luckily, there's always October!

Check out some Rifle pics from the last month courtesy of Joey Kinder.

AB

Getting ready

Trying hard

FAILING

fixed gear at the Rifle Clean-Up

my awesome Kindergartener class

A Commercial by Andrew Bisharat

Check out this hilarious commercial that Andrew made to go along with the newest issue of Rock and Ice.

Play

Out to Lunch

Joe and Andrew have been having fun making videos in Carbondale. Check out "Out to Lunch" by Joe Kinder.

Click here to Play

September. . . The Coming of Fall!

Here, on the Western Slope of Colorado, September means cooler temps and awesome climbing conditions. As the temperatures drop my psych for climbing soars. I celebrated the 1st day of September with a quick afternoon session in Rifle. I said good bye to all of my kindergartners and rushed out for one good try on the new project. It's not easy to shake off the work crust, but I managed to get in a few pitches and have a good time with friends.

Here are some pictures from another great weekend in Rifle.

Emily on Bite the Bullet

The new car

The Start of a New Year

Summer is officially over and the school year has begun. Monday started with a whirlwind of ordered chaos as 18 five year olds poured into my classroom. I don't know exactly how to describe the first 30 minutes of Kindergarten. Suffice to say that tears are shed by both children and parents, millions of questions are asked and answered, at least one child always tries to run for it as their parents leave the room, 18 names are instantly memorized and put with faces, and countless bags of supplies must be sorted and organized.

I have now survived three days of Kindergarten and feel confident that it is going to be another great year!

Summer ended with the biggest party of the year. . . the Rifle Clean-Up.  The Rifle climbing community came together to improve Rifle Mountain Park and enjoy good food and beer. Danny Robertson and I where in charge of the food. Feeding 100+ climbers is no small task but at Costco $470 goes a long way. We barely fit all the food into my car.

Adam Avery donated 3 kegs of beers and lots of climbing companies pitched in to make the raffle a success. Over $700 was raised to further improve the climbing experience in Rifle.

Big thanks to everyone who replaced unsafe bolts, put in perma-draws, and built bridges, trails, and benches (I especially like the benches with beer holders)!

While the men worked with their drills, saws, and other tools, the ladies greeted participants at the entrance to the park, handed out trash bags, and did some sending. Wendy Williams sent her first 5.13c, Bite the Bullet, and Emily Harrington nabbed the first female ascent of Roadside Prophet, 5.14a.

All around a truly motivational weekend and a great way to end the summer!

Simply Read

There are a few perks to being a Kindergarten teacher. We have some very funny stories, we are treated as near celebrities when spotted in public by a student, and we get SUMMER VACATION!

As the school year ramps back up I'm left reminiscing on this past summer vacation’s highlights.
1. I took my 9 year old niece rock climbing in the Red River Gorge, KY

2. I went on an 80+ hour road trip to the Midwest/Southeast to visit friends and family.

3. My beloved van was retired and I inherited my mother's Nissan Maxima.

Art Work by Meg Bisharat (the van in all her glory)

5. I took advantage of living in a beautiful valley filled with bike paths and alpine lakes.

6. And most importantly, I got to climb whenever I wanted!

This summer I managed to send a project that I'd been working on for longer than I care to admit. Simply Read is not exactly my style of a route.  It's a powerful route with one very big move that sent me flying into my belayer over and over and over again. I honestly lost count of the number of times I fell on that move. If it's below 15 I'd be shocked.

As with all projects, the fateful day finally came when I stuck that one move from the ground! The rest of the climb is no joke, but I managed to get myself to the top.  Luckily Joe Kinder was able to get a few shots of the send.