The Past Week

I have no concept of time.  I understand seconds, minutes, hours, days... but I never know what day of the week it is.  Last week may as well been a month ago.  Here is a recap of my last week.  If it really was a week?


Last weekend I visited my friend Andrew in Boston.  I always enjoy spending time with him.  We didn't do anything  extravagant.  Drank beers, ate food, watched movies, went to a party, and I helped him get his car out of his driveway.  What more are friends for?  He is student teaching and enjoying it.  I felt bad, Monday and Tuesday he was up at 530am and I stayed asleep on his futon.

Although I had only been back in New Hampshire for a couple weeks, it felt really good to, "escape" to Boston.  I enjoy the city, more so the ideal.  Driving there, away from home (worries and thoughts), I enjoy the adventure.  I like getting away.  Home, Holderness, can pull me down.  Especially when I have nothing to do.  After returning on Tuesday, I have felt my groove.  I've been ice climbing and the weeknight bouldering sessions are in full swing, and I'm working tonight!  Maybe I'll make 80 bucks!

Tuesday nights Jason Conway has people over his house.  He has a fun, and stout bouldering wall in his house.  Good beers are drank, we listen to 80's and 90's gangster rap and throw down.  His boulder problems are so much fun.  Did I mention they are hard?  They are explosive and powerful!  The way bouldering is meant to be.  Tom (Armstrong, the man, the myth, the legend, for those of you who haven't herd of him), put an addition onto his basement bouldering wall.  It's great!  We had a session there Thursday night.  The usual crew showed up, we made some new boulder/route problems.  It was fun.  Once again, climbers + beer + music = fun!!! 

Friday I went with my roommate Eric to Lake Willoughby!  Holly-fucking-God is that place awesome.  Talk about long, pure ice routes!  V-threads!  What the fuck is that shit!  A simple explanation of a V-Thread:  You take your biggest ice screw, usually a 22cm.  At an angle, roughly 45 degrees you place the screw into the ice.  Then you back it out, half way.  If you have another 22cm screw, you visually/conceptually imagine where to place it so it will hit the hollow hole from the other screw.  If it is successfully done, they will meet, creating a V in the ice.  Then you thread it with, webbing, cord-a-let or a sling.  Tie it off and use it as a rappel anchor.

V-thread rappel anchor.

  The heavier of the two climbers rappels first with an ice screw backing up the system in case it fails (shown above).  If the heavier person makes it down successfully, the other person rappels on the V-Thread only.  Really freaky, but, if it is done properly in good, solid ice, its bomber!  Since the ice climbs at Lake Willoughby are so long, they require multiple rappels.  And, since it's all ice, V-threads are the technique used for getting down... safely that is.  

Lake Willoughby

The lake is amazing.  The routes are astonishing, I can't wait to go back and climb more! It's funny.  There are two worlds there.  The ice fishers', and ice climbers.  We talk about their bob houses at belay stations and they give us the stink eye!          

The drive through Franconia Notch was beautiful, honestly, when is it not?

Today I climbed a few pitches of ice at Rumney.  I met my friend Corey Schwartz earlier.  He lives the married life and has a full time job.  He loves being able to get out for morning sessions.  We climbed a few lines at the Parking lot wall at Rumney.  I had an interesting conversation with the White Mountain Law Enforcement.  He had a radar gun in his expedition and I asked him if he could issue speeding tickets.  He told me he could do whatever he wanted to.  Then I asked him how accurate the radar was.  He responded that he is trained to assess how fast someone is going, then he radars them, and if his assessment is within 3 MPH of what the radar reads, he will pull "you" over.  Kind of fucked? Anyway, we set up a top rope on a thin, chandelier-ed climb called "Frankie Lee."  It was a lot of fun. I took a burn on the left side, which was full of slightly over hanging bulges, great stems, a little mixed stemming.  I knocked a good size block of ice off and hit myself in the head/face.  Some blood, nothing major.

Corey psyched to CLIMB!  Sorry ladies, he's married!

Tomorrow Anthony Cormier is driving up.  We hope to ice climb, maybe rock climb if the weather agrees.  If we rock climb we will do some night ice!  Night ice is so much fun, especially on cold clear nights.  The ice glows a different shade of blue in the moonlight.

I'm conflicted!  Should I go to Spain for two weeks?  I could, I have the money (kind of).  I would return broke, but it would be a great adventure.  On the other hand.  I'm finally feeling back in my groove here.  I applied for a job as a sales associate at Plymouth Ski and Sport.  It is the local out door gear shop.  They don't carry any super technical gear.  Basic, everyday gear that non-climbers purchase.  Also, I have made plans with a few friends to spend my birthday in Montreal... if I go to Spain I don't think Montreal would happen. It kind of seems like a no brainer, but I can't decide what I should do!

I'm out of coffee and its time to get ready for work!    

Whats next?

I have been back from my road trip for a month.  The trip is over, however my journey isn't.  In fact, I feel that it has only begun. I really enjoyed writing down my thoughts and retelling the adventures I had.  Why should that have to end?  It shouldn't.  The new blog will be the sequel to the trip blog.  A continuation of my random thoughts, climbing, and everyday life!

Subconsciously I don't want to go back to work.  Or at least that's what I think.  Since returning, I have worked a little.  By that I mean I worked one night at the Lake House, did one odd job, and I am working this Saturday at the Lake House.  None of which have been extremely lucrative.  I still have money in the bank, more then I am accustomed to.  However, if I am home in NH, in my apartment I feel that I should work.  Why should I eat away at the money I do have if i don't have too?  Am I becoming greedy?  I have a desire to make money, at the same time I can't find the motivation to commit to anything.  There are other restaurants I could go to, I could find a boring desk job, or anything.  So why haven't I?

My lease ends on March, 31st.  There is a big "?" surrounding that date.  There is an endless stream of thoughts running through my head. I can never spend enough time on one thought to truly evaluate it before another one creeps in.  I like my apartment, the location and rent are awesome.  The building is quirky and a bitch to heat in the winter.  I'm afraid to sign a lease for another year. I have a roommate who isn't my favorite person to live with.  The hardest part, about the situation is I don't think he gets anything.  He doesn't understand how is actions affect those around him.  Thats all I am going to say about that.

So, what do i do.  Move into another apartment?  Move away? So where?  Do I commit to graduate school?  I've been contemplating graduate programs in geology, geography, a masters in education, or psychology?  As my mood changes through out the day so does my psych.  Some times I'm interested in education, other times it's geology... a sign curve of emotions.

The amazing news is this.  I did some epic, amazing ice climbing in the Adirondacks.  Met this guy named Joe Szot.  He is 50, doesn't look a day over 40, has a massive fro of curly dark hair, and is an ice and mixed climbing machine.  He is responsible for a majority of the hard classic lines in the Adirondacks.  He runs a unofficial climbers hostile out of his barn.  It is an ice climbers paradise.

Me, Leading Pleasure Treasure. Poke-O-Moonshine, Adirondacks

I also got out and did some single pitch vertical ice in the Flume Gorge.  The flume is great because of the quantity of hard ice climbs.  The hike is easy, the gorge is cold and the ice is fat!  I went there with my friend Keith.  He and I lead some pitches and set top rope up on some steep lines too.  We repeated the lines, a.k.a, ran laps for strength, endurance, and technique.

Me, leading the first climb of the day in the Flume.

  This has to be the funniest turn of events.  The other day, Saturday to be exact.  I was getting ready to drive down to Boston to visit my friend Andrew.  I was hoping to find someone to ice climb with.  People were either busy, or thought it would be too cold.  Around noon, I was blasting metal and Jay Conway appears in my door way.  He said Tim and Jay Knower were climbing at Waimea and it wasn't bad!  We went rock climbing!

Jay Conway trying to stay warm!

Tim Deroehn working the Barracuda section of Cold War.  Jay Knower looking like a creeper belaying!

It turned out to be a great day climbing.  It was 18 degrees, the sun warmed the rock to the touch.  I was psyched. I was able to warm up on Techno Surfing.  But I was schooled trying to resend Suburban.  Fun was had, some people stayed warm and others froze.  A typical day rock climbing in the middle of winter!