Tuesday, September 30, 2008

GoFast Games


We absolutely crushed an awesome line this weekend; probably the highest and most beautiful so far in Colorado. It was the GoFast games and through some connections we managed to get permission to rig the awesome lines at the games. I headed down there thursday night and started rigging with Dylan friday morning. We had a 40' line rigged that was 988 feet above the bottom of the gorge. It was right next to the bridge, and had a nice vertical drop that allowed us to show off for the spectators on the bridge.


Dylan and I crushed as usual, and Jack came up from Durango to join in on the fun. It was his first legit highline (other than the one he rigged over the narrow gauge railroad down there) and he walked it in style. Smooth onsight, with some tricks thrown in as well. It was really exciting.

By the end of the weekend, and bunch of the BASE jumpers came by to give the line a go as well. They all had the guts, but it was more of a mental game than jumping off of the bridge, so Dylan, Jack and I were the only ones to cross the line.


I had a great time. Nobody was injured the entire weekend, which made me even more excited about BASE jumping. I was also able to get extremely comfortable on the highline, which is a really incredible feeling. Standing there, the wind blowing hard, focused only on balance, and nothing more. It creates an interesting feeling of enlightenment, one that I really cannot yet explain. It really is a zen experience, a transcendence from the line into another existence. I love it.

It was a fun opportunity, and hopefully we'll be invited to come back again next year. I would love to rig a 100 foot line next to the 160 foot line that are already chilling there.

Monday, September 22, 2008

54 reasons to love Colorado

I just recently finished climbing all 54 of the 14,000 foot high peaks in Colorado. It was an incredible journey and I got to see so much of Colorado, places that people I live with and around will probably never see in their entire lives. So many beautiful valleys and magnificent peaks.

It was a journey that started when I was about 9, I think it was then when I climbed my first 14er, Antero. I have since climbed that one 2 more times, mainly because it is so close to St. Elmo, one of the most beautiful places in the state.


I knew when I was in elementary school and got my first 14er checklist shirt that I wanted to climb all of the 14ers one day. It was a goal that, back then, seemed enormous. I couldn't even name the 54 14ers, nor could I comprehend the difficulty and effort required to climb all of them. But the human body is incredibly powerful and is capable of so much.

At the beginning of this summer I realized that it was entirely possible for me to finish the peaks this year. I had only about 10 left after the end of last summer, but they were located all over the state, and they were some of the more difficult peaks. Regardless, I went to it, and finished strong.


After all was said and done, I looked back, thinking about the incredible journey to climb all the peaks. So many mountains with so many friends or family, so many tanks of gas to fill, and so many stops at the Coyote Cantina, Subway and crappy gas station food. I have to say though that my favorite peak was Capitol, as it was incredibly long and tedious and fun.


Now I'm off to climb different things, but I'll never forget the great times I have had on the Colorado 14ers, and I can't wait to get back there this winter and repeat some of the more incredible mountains in the state, and maybe start to ski down them.

View a few of my trip reports for my most recent peaks here:

Capitol and Pyramid
Little Bear, Blanca, Ellingwood

And my 14er completion list