Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Kings Canyon drains to the west and the valley has about 3000-4000ft of elevation change. The native americans used to winter at the bottom due to the warmer temperatures and good fishing.
From camp we had to hike to the wall and this is just a piece of the 1300ft top half of the wall. As far as I know, no one has climbed the dihedral in this photo.
Mike and Ari setting up our line to hang the food. We had two haul bags of food for our ten days of camping. One was filled with meals and the other with breakfast and snacks. We saw bear tracks and scat while on the trip but no bears and pretty much nothing but birds. The area was burned by fire two years ago and there is very little food for anything to eat. Plus the fire must have killed many of the animals. At the beginning of the trip it took all three of us to hang the food (because it was so heavy) and by the last day or two it could be done by just one.
Our first recon on the first day to get to the wall. You can see the upper part of the dome (Tehipite Dome) that is over 1000ft of rock you are looking at. Plus notice the burn damage and the grasses coming back into the environment very slowly. We needed to use surveying tape (bright orange) to mark our path from camp to the wall because it took over an hour to get there hiking in the mornings and at night. It was too easy to get lost (as we did once) with out marking the trail. In the end, we removed all the tape and found the path of least resistance. The hike wasn't too bad, it was the mosquitoes that were no fun and the 1000ft gulley that we had to descend and hike out everyday.
Me at the last major river crossing. I chose to wear that long sleeved hoody on the horse because the bugs were so bad on the ride in and out of the base camp. Have a great day!
Monday, August 9, 2010
It turned out that on July 10th I was interviewed on Climbtalk radio in Boulder, Colorado
the transcript can be found on http://pumpfactoryroad.com/blog/?m=201007
It was interesting and fun to be interviewed even though I don't feel that I am of the caliber of the other athletes that have been on the show over the past 2 years. That being said it was an honor to be invited and I did have a good time experiencing the radio talk show first hand.
Those that are interested can listen every other week, on Friday night at 11pm to Boulders own KVCU 1190am to Climb Talk (Mike Brooks and company as they interview another person who lives and breathes rock climbing).
I can say that when you are on the radio that you always want to say more, but end up saying less because of the way that folks want you to answer questions; be specific and to the point, don't go on and on, no rambling. Those are all of the finer points of talk radio and interviews in general and some folks are better at complying than others. I did my best.
Enjoy the read on pumpfactoryroad and keep climbing.
piz : )
Friday, July 9, 2010
Dan and Brian getting out while the getting was still good. We went to climb at the P-wall and in the morning, the clouds left and gave us a beautiful day. But by lunch time, our luck was up and it was time to get out!
Brian and I still able to see each other in the thick cloud that covered Mt Evans.
Me, just hanging around on my latest new route, A Vacation from Your Problems.
Taylor came out to check out the P-wall and liked what he climbed on. Here he is at the top of Rocky Mountain High.
The latest topo of the P-wall. There are two new climbs at the base of the wall. The new routes are both mixed with crack gear and a couple of bolts where the wall was blank. The left of the two new climbs is called Baby Steps (5.11-/pumpy) and the right line is called Tenacious P 5.12/technical). I just want to thank J-Star for coming out and rock climbing with me on the routes and for helping unlock the sequences on the two new first pitches to the wall. Now this place is starting to look and feel like a crag!Get out and have fun, I hope to see you there!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Just southwest of Pueblo, CO one man has built his own castle. Jane and I went there to check it out. It is 40 years work of only one man and his wish to build something for everyone to enjoy. Here I am on the rickety cat walk up to his metal globe. Jane and I are nearly 50 feet up enjoying the scenery and swaying metal structure.
Jane at the base of the giant home made castle.
Jane and I some where up high in the castle.
Some of the stained glass windows from inside. The interior was left open with big rooms and beautiful stone work. An amazing place to wander around for a little while and in a beautiful forest in the San Isabel National Forest.
The only place where you can get an entire photo of the castle. The tower on the left has to climb to about a hundred feet up. There is a catwalk around most of the castle, spiraling staircases, huge rooms and it's always a bit windy here so being up high can be a bit nervous. I was sketching as I went to the top of the tower. The wind was picking up and its just a swaying spiral staircase making you dizzy as you head out of the safety of the rock and into space. What a place!Wednesday, June 16, 2010
My former students outside Fulford Cave in Eagle, Colorado. They got a little muddy, tired, scared, bruised and full of new and awesome memories! Great job guys. Hope your car didn't break down on the way home.
Yeah, it snowed on my birthday. Kebler Pass outside Crested Butte.
Matt Peacock being belayed by my lovely wife Jane. We hung out in Crested Butte, climbed at Taylor with her brother Matt and watched the A-Team after a nice dinner with a crappy waiter. The picknick on the river before the rain came was pretty sweet.
The view from Crested Butte South. Jane's brother lives just down the street right next to Cement Creek and is always great about inviting us over.
The view from Cottonwood Pass (looking to the west). Jane and I took the pass to Crested Butte and played catch with the softball at the reservoir on the Taylor River. It's a beautiful drive and pretty mellow for a Colorado mountain pass.Thursday, June 10, 2010
Just the other day I was able to open up a new mixed route at the P-Wall at Mt. Evans.
It has two bolts and climbs out a steep part of the wall on big holds until the crack eats up cams and nuts.
Take a minute to look at the photos that Dan Gambino took on the actual first free ascent.
http://www.dangpix.com/p_wall_6_10/index.html
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
Sunday, June 6, 2010
This is where I have been hanging around on my awesome and durable Sterling Ropes. It may have had a different name back in the day, but when I started playing on the wall nobody spoke up about it's history, nor was climbing up there, so I called it the Possibility Wall or P-Wall for short. I have been able to complete a few lines and there are still plenty to go in. Currently my project is the yellow line out the steepest part of the overhang.
I love hiking out to the wall, seeing the bighorn sheep that I pass almost daily and even trying to keep the marmots from peeing and eating my pack. It can be really windy, cold and uncomfortable, but the climbing is unparalleled and views breathtaking.
Most days that I climb at the P-wall, I get out of the truck and feel a stiff cold breeze the second my door opens. I quickly put my Arcteryx layers on and grab my Arcteryx pack and Camp hiking poles and head to the wall. Hiking through the alpine bowl in my Scarpa approach shoes to get to the wall is pretty casual as it is down hill the entire way. In a few weeks will be covered in alpine tundra flowers of all sorts and colors. It will be amazing! The snow is continuing to melt rapidly and I fear for a very dry season this summer. Then as I approach the wall I will normally see some kind of wild life, sheep, goats, marmots, elk and eagles. Once on top of the wall, I will gaze up and down the valley and take it all in before I head down a warm up climb.
Once I begin climbing, my heart rate raises and levels out quickly. I am normally able to gauge how well I have acclimated by my heart rate during the warm up. Then its time to eat and try the project.
What makes this route challenging for me is the fact that there are very few, if any holds to pull down on. Nearly every hold on the route is a side pull or gaston (meaning vertical) and only half a pad of my finger tips. I have found it difficult to train for this due to being unable to replicate the movements indoors or find other routes that climb similarly. What a joy to find something so unique and challenging. Well, time to head to the P-wall.
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/
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Dave being belayed by his wife on the cobbles of El Rito, New Mexico. We climbed for two days over the long weekend on these highly featured rock climbs.
Jane and I had time on this casual weekend to hike after climbing to a waterfall near the camping area. We stopped and checked out this lean to someone had made in the woods.
The waterfall just up from the camping area at El Rito. It was a small falls with a small pool of crystal clear cool water. Below there was a grassy area to hang out of the sun where the late spring heat coudn't get to you. I haven't been on many climbing trips where I had time to relax and this one was a nice change.
Jane and I at the waterfall. I rarely get her in front of the camera and was lucky enough on this day! She's nice : )
The Meyer's. Dug (the fiesty Jack Russel Terrier) the dog was grumpy and did not want to be photographed at this moment in time.Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Mike B and I arrived to find the North rim's campground full. We managed to meet some folks that we knew and squeezed on in.
That day the sky was full of smoke, ash and the stink of a forest fire burning miles away in Norwood, CO. The soot was blocking the sun on an otherwise crystal clear blue sky day.
What was left of the sun over the imposing Black Canyon.
The hitchhikers that we picked up in Eagle, CO. They were heading to Grand Junction and thought it would be cool to see the Black. They were vagabonds from California with a lot to say!
Heading from Paonia to the Black in the Ash Cloud from the fires in Norwood.Thursday, May 20, 2010
Slide show for the folks at the Lakewood Link! Great job competing this year!
Venue in Eugene, OR at Backcountrygear.com
Flowers on my bike ride in Eugene.
Founder of Eugene, OR.
Skinner Rock in downtown Eugene.Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Jane and I in the back of some ones pickup after we got a flat tire while mountain biking in Fruita, Colorado. Of course there was a storm coming, we had no flat repair kit and we were as far as we could have possibly been from the truck! Oh well folks are nice and we got a ride back to town. : )
Looking at Colorado National Monument. There is plenty of rock climbing to be done here!
A cool house that is buried in the sand in Fruita!
Me and mike the chicken who survived for days without his head. They have a festival in Fruita every year to celebrate. I had to join in!
The goofy slide show set up for the kids at Rockn Jamn South Gym. I had to dim the light otherwise the projector wouldn't show up on the screen. So I built a tarped cave in a corner and it worked out perfectly! The kids loved it and we had a great time.Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Been super busy and running around for a while. Stay tuned for some big news!
Plus I have a staff infection in my right knee. How it came is a question for me too. The doc said that they since we always are car ring around bacteria in our bodies, that sometimes it just finds a nice place to breed and so it does. Any way my knee has been the size of a baseball and painful to use for a few. At least my meds are working and the swelling has just gone down a bit.
I will post some photos of climbing at the Quarry Wall at Table Mountain in Golden soon. What a nice crag. Not too busy, the routes are dirty, somewhat poorly cleaned but are fun. There is a couple of great clean cracks and the rest of the routes are fluff to give you something to do if a party is on the good climbs. Nice views and if you want to take some of the precut quarried stone you could carry it back to your home and make a nice fireplace or stone wall too!
Finally, I will be in Eugene, Oregon this friday night giving a slide show. Anyone around come down for a good time! Cuba Norway and Utah first free ascents are the name of the game.
Get out and rock climb!!
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.nethttp: //www.arcteryx.comhttp: //camp-usa.com http://sterlingrope.com http://ColoradoMountainJournal.com http://www.wunderground.com http://climbing.com http://rockandice.comhttp://deadpointmag.com http://urbanclimbermag.com http://andrewburr.com http://ladzinski.com