Superbowl

photo by Andreas

I was so busy hanging out with Chris for the last few months that I didn't get my act together to write a trip report from November!  Shame on me.  

It's better late than never I guess.   Especially since I met some of the coolest people on this last trip.

So yes, I went back to heaven.  Indian Creek.  With all the traveling back and forth to China for work, I still had some vacation time left for 2011.  Instead of saving it like I should have for 2012, I spent it all.  It was time well spent though.  

After our Yosemite trip in September, I was a bit burnt out from doing long climbs every day.  But I loved climbing crack, and I wanted to get better.  For splitters, where else would I go to but Indian Creek!  The only sensible way to do this trip with my full time job while maximizing vacation, was to take 3 days off during the week of Thanksgiving.  

I think I took this one with his camera

Even a dysfunctional American family still likes to celebrate Thanksgiving, let alone a normal one.  So I had a difficult time finding partners to go with me for that week.  Luckily, "the Austrian with the Australian accent" agreed to join me.  

For those of you that have not had the fortune of meeting Andreas, he is a very special guy.  Here is a photo of Andreas doing what he does best.  He is one of the most psyched climbing partners I have ever been with.  Before a climb, he gets you all excited about the climb.  And after the climb the following day, he is still psyched about it as he recaps the details.  Especially offwidths.

Andreas had never been to Indian Creek, so needless to say he was super excited about climbing there.  It was great, and we got to try a lot of climbs.  When we first started, we were trying mostly the straight forward splitters.  By the end of the trip (after climbing 7 days), we were doing bulges, offwidths that made us both scream and cry, thin hands and fingers, big roofs, and all sorts.  Compared to my May trip last year, I was definitely more prepared for desert climbing.  

Apparently, Thanksgiving IS the time to go to Indian Creek.  The whole Colorado climbing community was there, as well as Salt Lake City.  Here Andreas and I though we would be spending some lonely nights at the desert at the Superbowl campsite, but really there were plenty of people coming and going throughout the whole week.  

So what brought strangers together in the desert?  

It was the fire.

Desert nights at the Creek were cold, often times dropping below freezing very soon after the sun goes down.  Everyday we would climb until the sun sets, and drive back to the campsite to cook our dinner.  Life was simple.  Wake up, have breakfast with coffee, climb, cook dinner and sit around a campfire.  By 8PM, we would be so tired and cold that it was natural to just go into the tent and curl up in the sleeping bag.  

The first night we were at the Superbowl campsite, we realized that we were at a site that didn't have a fire pit.  I walked over to the closest fire to get warm and have conversations.  One of the men looked clearly like a desert climber in his late fourties or early fifties.  Ace had long blond hair, really tanned skin, and big smile.  Sort of like what Aaron Child would look like in 30 years.  The other man, Bill, was of larger built like a tough mountaineer (which he was).  They said that they had been coming to Indian Creek for at least 20 years, and it really hasn't changed that much.  

Ace also told us the reason why the campsite was called Superbowl.  It was actually "F*ck the Superbowl", since most climbers probably don't care too much about football.  I thought it was appropriate to share this story for this coming weekend with the Superbowl coming up.

Ace throwing an elbow strike at me... 

"It is really a special place."  

Ace said this to me later in the week a few times, and I have to agree.  He would wake up relatively early and go for a walk and watch the sunrise.  It is just a beautiful place.  Not only that, it is also one of those places where climbers are all friendly, laid back, and no one is rushing you to finish your climb.  They showed us around the area the following day and we went climbing at the Pistol Whip crag, farther out from the main road.  

We were also lucky in other ways.  Bill is a fine cook and had quite a collection of wine and Swiss chocolate.  I remember the chocolate since that was a rare commodity to come by in the desert.  This guy used to work for Black Diamond and now works for Scott in Switzerland.  Not only that, he had guided people up Everest seven time and succeeded ti summit 6 times out of 7!  Bill and Ace were doing their yearly reunion at the Creek, and they were generous enough to let us crash at their site and eat their amazing pork loin and drink their French wine!

Yes, we were at Indian Creek, and not at some Michelin rated restaurant.  But it was probably one of the most satisfying meals I've had in a while.

happy me...

I made some quinoa to go with the pork loin.  It was nutritious, but definitely not gourmet compared to the pork loin that Bill grilled.  I had also made the mistake of making too much quinoa, but this turned out to be a good thing.

Very soon after the four of us scarfed down our dinner, two other guys showed up next to our campsite.  Corey and Nathan came over to say hi and you can tell they were tired and famished.  We offered them our leftovers, and they were more than happy to have them as starters to their dinner.  The six of us sat around the campfire and shared stories about our climbs that day.  

The following day, Ace and Bill left, so Nate and Corey moved over to their spots at the camp.  The four of us climbed all day at the Way Rambo crag, which is one of those 'project' crags that I will go back to for years and years.  There were just so many classic climbs in my hand and finger size!  We celebrated at night with great food and drinks.  After climbing for two days, they too, were on their way to somewhere else.  They really wanted to stay, but friends were waiting for them at Red Rocks.  Nate had a nice van that he slept in.  The two of them talked about quitting their jobs and dirtbagging it in 2012.  Lots of plans ahead for these two.  I can't wait to hear about it!

Andreas and I were sad to see them go.  It seemed like people were always leaving us while we stayed at the same spot at Superbowl.  We got out of the Creek to have breakfast with them at Moab.  The one thing I remembered deeply during this part of the trip was that my lips were so chapped that I could not smile. 

We stocked up on water and got some extra fuel and went back into the wild.  This was the only rest day we had, and we ended up going for a short hike at the Canyonlands.  We originally wanted to go to the Arches, but took the wrong turn.  10 miles later, we figured it was pointless to turn around so we kept driving 30 more miles towards the direction of the Creek. Oh well.  Bad Asian directions...

to be continued...

the dirtbag life

Very soon after I came back from my Yosemite trip last October, I found out that my roommate Lina had accepted a new job in San Diego.  It was very exciting for her, but I had to find a roommate fast.

I posted an ad on Craigslist right away for November.  At the same time, I posted on my FB page.  Remembering how much effort it was to find Lina, I was dreading the search for a new roommate.  

Lucky for me, a climbing dirtbag came along.  He was ready to move in ASAP.  

I had promised him a few months back that I was going to feature his dirtbag life on my blog.  It took me a while, but here it is.

According to the Urban Dictionary, typically more useful for us foreign folks than Miriam-Webster, a dirtbag is defined as follows:

1.	dirtbag	266 up, 105 down
	a white trash, wife beating, beer guzzling bastard. Often associated with cut-off shorts and mullets and incest you can take a dirtbag out of the country but you can't take the country out of a dirtbag! buy dirtbag mugs & shirts by Audra Apr 9, 2003 share this add a video
2.	dirtbag	112 up, 28 down
	A person who is committed to a given (usually extreme) lifestyle to the point of abandoning employment and other societal norms in order to pursue said lifestyle. Dirtbags can be distinguished from hippies by the fact that dirtbags have a specific reason for their living communaly and generally non-hygenically; dirtbags are seeking to spend all of their moments pursuing their lifestyle The best examles of dirtbags and dirtbagging are the communities of climbers that can be found in any of the major climbing areas of North America--Squamish, BC; Yosemite, CA; Joshua Tree, CA; etc. buy dirtbag mugs & shirts hippy bum climber surfer backpacker hitch hiker by Shay (dirtbag wannabe) Aug 17, 2007 share this add a video
3.	Dirtbag	119 up, 67 down
	1:A dirty person. Someone who doesn't clean often, or lacks a certain hygiene level.Usually assocated with white trash, or trailer park trash. 2:Used as a insult to intimidate someone Greg Marvin is such a dirtbag.

Well it looks like we know which one I am talking about.

My roommate Brian (now ex-roomie) is a true dirtbag.  I do not know the whole story, but this is what I know.  A few years back, after working for a large defense contractor in Philly, he decided to leave everything behind to climb around the world.  According to his blog (which I highly recommend), he went around the following countries in Asia:

• India – 3 months
• Pakistan – 1 month
• China – 2 months
• Vietnam – 2 months
• Cambodia
• Thailand – 2 months
• Laos – 1 month
• Back to China, including Tibet – 5 months
• Nepal – 1 month

Now I have heard many people leave for a few months at a time to go on climbing trips.  But to leave for a few years takes courage.  I admire the willingness to give up on the comfort of everyday life to focus on the few things that are important to you.  For him, that was climbing outside.  And there are many people like Brian, in this sub-culture lifestyle traveling around the world.  Dirtbags know their own kind too, since they would run into each other at different climbing areas.  

He said that he eventually ran out of money, and had to come back to work.  That was last summer.  Now, Boston is his temporary home base.  He tries to work long hours to rack up the hours.

The day that he moved into my apartment, he had two duffel bags and a smaller bag.  It took him 5 minutes.  

I was extremely impressed.  He had a whole bag of climbing gear, and the other bags had his clothes, including a few nice shirts and ties.  A laptop.  He did not look like a dirty hippy, although being a dirtbag he was used to not showering everyday.  I mean, why shower if you don't smell yet, right?

I studied him as him he was a different species.  I was curious what this lifestyle entailed.  

Based on my observation, there are a few things he cannot live without:

1. His Cafe Americano.  Before he even turns on his laptop, he turns on the espresso machine.  Don't even try to talk to him until he makes his coffee.
2. His laptop.  He found his preferred chair in the living room, and every morning, he would sit at that chair and get on his laptop.  He would say things like, "the internet weather is crappy today" or "did you hear about so and so climbing report?*"
3. Climbing, of course.  Indoors, outdoors, wherever.  Climbing is part of this dirtbag's life, and he is good at it too.
4. His bike.  We have argued over why it is better to bike instead of to walk to Market Basket.  He is stubborn and wins.  I continue to walk.  
5. His friends.  The man is not without attachments, as much as he want so avoid attachments to objects.  He has friends all over the world that care about him.  However, they know that if they are too friendly to him, he might just show up at their door and stay on their couch for weeks if not months.

*I have to say that this was the first time that I lived with a serious climber.  I was definitely not used to waking up and hearing climbing trip reports from my roommates.  Later on I would find out that Chris also does the exact same thing.  I guess I am just not as dedicated at reading the climbing reports as these guys are.

"So are you just going to keep moving around?  Doesn't that make you feel like you are always in transition? Does that make you tired?"  I asked him yesterday.  I felt that I would not be able to live his lifestyle for a long period of time.  

Apparently, Brian is so used to being on the road, that it doesn't bother him at all.  His current job takes him to Boston.  But when the contract is over, he might be off to somewhere new, like Turkey, or Patagonia.  Learning to live off very little and having enough saved up makes him have the flexibility to just disappear for a few months.  Or years.  

He has decided that he wants to live in a van instead of owning a house.  You know, like Alex Honnold that was featured on 60 Minutes.  

He is also looking for a dirtbag lady friend that will be willing to live in a van with him and climb around the world.  So if you know one that he hasn't met yet, do pass that contact along.  He is a good guy.

Actually, he has indicated that if he meets the right woman, that he is negotiable and will live in a house if he has to.  So there.

the accident.

It's been a long time since I wrote.

I know.

I am feel guilty for dropping my blog completely for an extended period.  But life got somewhat busy  and complicated right around the time I wrote the last post about being a single female.  Complicated in a good way, that is.

I fell in love.

It's funny sometimes how things work.  Just when you feel borderline hopeless about finding the perfect person, when anxiety builds up, loneliness, and boredom.  There were many false starts as well.  Several people that I was excited to meet, but somehow things didn't work out one way or another.

Then on a random day in the fall, I was talking to Chris at the gym about climbing the Recom-Beast.  I had met Chris last winter on a cold night at the MITOC Intervale cabin parking lot.   I was with a friend Antoine attending winter school and staying at the cabin, while Chris and his ice climbing partner Deb were going to sleep outside in a tent.  We invited them to join us in the cabin, and they gladly took the offer with the single-digit temps outside.  It wasn't particularly memorable of a night, but we both remembered that's how we met.  There was very little conversation, since both parties had to get up relatively early the following morning.

Then very soon after, I went away to China.  It was a messy time of my life.  I had just broken up with my ex whom I'd lived with with for the last few years.  Things were rough emotionally and financially.  I wanted to get away and just focus on work.  I got lost along the way.

As most of you know, the project ended earlier than we had all expected, and I was back to Cambridge in August.  It was a welcome return.  I was able to join the Yosemite crew in October and climb some of the classic routes, and in November return to Indian Creek for the SECOND time in a year and climb for another week.  Not only that, winter came so late this year that we were still bouldering outside in January.

People who saw my photos on FB asked me if I still had a job.  Of course I did.  But without a boyfriend I was able to devote all my free time to climbing.  It was great, and I really have no regrets.

So on this random day in the fall, Chris and I were chatting about climbing in Cathedral.  Neither of us had done Recom-Beast.  Since Max had already done it earlier in the summer while I was away, I figured that I would ask someone else to climb it with me.  Glen had made it sound so scary of a climb that I really wanted to make sure that I had a good partner to go with.

Not that I had ever climbed with Chris indoors or outdoors at that point.  But there was some sort of mutual understanding that we climb at about the same level.  He said that he climbed at Cathedral often, and that was good enough for me.  This is how new partnerships form in the climbing community, right?

Following our plan, the weather forecast turned out to be terrible for that weekend.  What else is there to do aside from climbing when the weather is bad?  The answer is go grab dinner and watch climbing videos at home (yeah I know, we are total geeks).  After watching a few videos, Chris started telling me about his upcoming trip to Patagonia.  He had the same kind of excitement talking about traveling and climbing as I do.  He started showing me photos of Valle Cochamo.  You can tell that he has visited the website a few hundred of times, dreaming of all the climbs.

"It's like the Yosemite of South America!"  He was psyched.
"You should come!" He continued.
I looked at him in a very skeptical way, "really?"
"It would be great to have you join me." He replied in a more serious face.

photo by climbing.com

Initially, he was just inviting me because it would be nice to have a climbing partner to travel down to Patagonia together.  But as we got to know each other better over the course of the next few weeks, we were more and more certain that we wanted to meet up in Cochamo.  To us, this would not only be a climbing trip, but also a time to enjoy each other's company in a very special place of the world.

A place where we can take in the beauty of nature as if the two of us are the only ones  on this planet.

Earlier this month, Chris left for Patagonia to start his 3-month journey, one that he has planned for the last year. He too, was running away from something.  He didn't really know where he wanted to be and what he was looking for.  But he wanted to get away.

And somehow, two lost climbers found each other and found their way out together.

In less than three weeks, I will be meeting Chris in Patagonia and climbing in Valle Cochamo for three weeks.  I am really looking forward to this trip, as this may be the only major climbing trip that I take in 2012.

Can't wait.