life from the edge @lifefromtheedge - Tumblr Blog

A typo resulting in a pun...

Only climbers will get this. But I accidentally asked someone online if they 'climbed vefore'. Ha! At least I think it's funny.

Searching for climbing partner for the weekend.

Will got sick. Who wants to climb with me in North Conway today and tomorrow?

sewsewmood-blog

Fred-Beckey by Dean99r on Flickr.

lifefromtheedge

I think I need a sign like this. Beckey is such a badass! I love it.

house-under-a-rock

Outdoor climbing wall in Hamburg, Germany

If I rest for a moment by The Park Bench pausing for a liver sausage sandwich, that angel seems to be leading me to the top and I am naked as a climbing wall, my nerves humming.

— adapted from Frank O’Hara’s “Lunch Poems”

lifefromtheedge

This is so cool. Making me jealous Germany.

#whynotus

marcommarco

Pamela Pack having successfully surmounted the “squiggles” navigates the “zigzags” that comprise the bizarre geometry of the Dark Passenger 5.12 R in Long Canyon Photo Andrew Burr

magnificent crack!

lifefromtheedge

Get at that off-width Pamela. Holy smokes and great balls of fire what a cool crack.

bouldercuriosity

Think About It

lifefromtheedge

I love this. Brilliant analysis of life.

Crag really is a climbing dog. We fashioned him a doggie harness and belayed him up this chossy slab. Check out that exposure. I love you dog. Cheers to many more adventures in the future.

That's Airation. A beautiful exposed forty foot 5.11a finger crack. Awesome locks and shitty feet. I sent it clean on top rope. Going after it again today on lead. For the REDPOINT!!

http://mountainproject.com/v/airation/105920901

#getpsyched

Thank the Climbing Gods for Charity

I am back at the local Mcdonald’s again. Fortunately, I am no longer crashing in the parking lot. Remember this from my last post, “I spent the first three nights on the side of a baseball diamond which turned out to be private property. The owners very nicely told me to get off their property you homeless bum”??? Well, we were cooking dinner near the local water spring; a convenient resource for the bums of North Conway and was approached by a middle aged man whom I did not recognize. He said, ‘so you are the kid that was sleeping on my property the other night.’ I was immediately concerned that I was going to have my first conflict of the adventure. I admitted my guilt and sincerely apologized, explaining that I did not realize that it was private property though I knew it was not necessarily a legal spot for me to sleep. He was very calm and compassionate about the situation. He asked what we were doing so I explained the thirty second version of the Vanventure to him.

He appeared to be enthralled by the premise of my travels and I chose to introduce myself officially. We shook hands and I began explicating my woes of a good campsite locally and close to the wall. He had a couple suggestions of places to post up for the next week or so. It was a pleasant encounter and I felt as though I made a new friend. He returned to his vehicle and I laughed with Will about how well that went compared to our immediate expectations. Seconds later, our new savior Chuck, returned to our roadside kitchen and said, ‘gentleman, I just thought it over and if you’re only going to be here for another week you may continue to camp at the baseball diamond. I only request that you keep it clean and don’t throw any parties’.

Will and I just laughed. We are climbers sending hard routes all day. We have yet to make it up past ten thirty since we have been hanging out together. We said absolutely Chuck. You have given us a home as long as we are in North Conway and we don’t have to pay a cent to use it. It was the best gift that anyone could have given us. So thank you Chuck. I am so glad I brought my stationary in order to thank him properly at the conclusion of our stay. I do not have money to buy him a thank you present as I’d like to do; but I believe that the sentiment attached to a letter can achieve many of the same goals.

Reorganizing gear at home base.

#bumlife #climbingvehicles

About to crush the guidebook cover crack. Looking good shirtless and with a helmet on.

http://mountainproject.com/v/they-died-laughing/105909672

Me and the man, the myth, the legend Will Levandowski.

Life looking upwards.

I am ecstatic right now. I have found the quintessential climbing bum friend. My greatest concern about the Vanventure had been finding climbing partners. And currently, the search has come to a complete halt. Will Levandowski owns a Toyota Tacoma with a bed in the back. He quit his job. Just graduated college and climbs as hard as I do. We are equally passionate about scaling those mountains. We are quite the dynamic duo with our heavy duty bum vehicles and climbing lifestyle. Combined, we have the equipment and motivation to ascend the toughest walls that America has to offer us. We both dabbled in aid climbing and both want to do big walls with Half Dome placed at the pinnacle of our aspirations. We have pretty much a quadruple trad rack. It appears like I convinced Will to join me on an adventure to the Adirondack Mountains in New York until we head down South together to tag the magnificently overhung Red River Gorge, mysterious crack climbing of North Carolina, and the highly praised rock in West Virginia. It doesn’t get much better than that.

In addition, we realized that cooking together, at least for some meals, could open up endless possibilities for us. We had eggs and potatoes for breakfast. We made backcountry pizza for dinner. Both for under two bucks a meal each. I wish I had pictures. Both meals tasted fantastic, filled my stomach with climbing fuel and were far superior to a one man meal. It is incredible how infinitely easier things become when you team up with another person.

We went on the first grocery store run of the trip together. After scouring the grocery store I was able to crush my food budget and buy a cheese grater simultaneously. I spent a whopping total of eighteen dollars and thirty cents and will be able to create twenty six meals. That’s approximately seventy cents a meal. Four tuna melts, three boxes of macaroni and cheese, twelve packets of ramen noodles, four pasta dishes, two powdered pizza dough baggies and five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – PLUS, a cheese grater and four bananas. Fucking right. The cooler is officially restocked for a much lower price than originally rationed. I may be able to splurge after a month or so of this spending. That’s wonderful news because what I really am craving is ice cream and when you can’t freeze it that shit is about four bucks a cone.

norestdays

lifefromtheedge

I wish I was that camera man. Her smile, and that fucking route, makes my heart melt. I hope you're in Red River when I am Sasha. I want to meet you so badly.