About Me

Stories, Lies and Obituaries

Overnite to the shelf
Was a wonderfully fun time.
We had about 23 join us on the trip.
Camped at the Sandy Gulch campground Friday and Saturday nights. Pastor Don Farr had the group site and two additional sites claimed. He and Kim and Michaela got there early on Thursday to make sure we had the sites we were wanting.

Eats
We were truly spoiled by Pastor Don and Kim, real servants of God.
I hope we didn�t wear them out. They cooked for us Saturday morning eggs, bacon, sausage gravy and biscuits, o.j, fruit�.
Lunch we had ham and turkey and bologna and fix'ens.
Saturday night, we had a Cajon dinner, Crawdads and Shrimp potatoes, and sausage. We ate until we were stuffed to the gills. I think we surprised Pastor Don that we all would eat his Crawdads.
Sunday morning we had pancakes and sausage more Sausage Gravy and biscuits. We followed that wih an impromtu worship service. Then broke camp and back to the Cliff.

Climbing
Saturday morning we got up early and headed out to the Spiny Ridge area past Cactus Cliff. We set up some 5.8�s to 5.10 climbs.
As a group we are really progressing in our Skill level.
Newcomer to our group, Bruce Volmer, and Marcus were our rope guns.
We were finally able to get to do 5.10 c�s and d�s.
Before this, we were only doing what I can set up, and that ain�t no 5.10 anything.
I know that I was getting really stretched this weekend.
As were George and his lovely Bride Steph, more new comers to our group.
I was able to take advantage of Bruce�s knowledge of climbing. Bruce was kind to me and coached me on some new techniques. I know that I�ll be climbing better from now on.
Saturday afternoon we headed over to the Sandy Gulch wall.
Not everyone joined as we wore them out in the morning. But a few of us die hards went back at it.
Marcus set up the first climb. We miss read the book.
Marcus found out what 5.10c/d �Polished and Spicy� means.
I think Marcus spoke more on that climb than I�ve ever heard him.
We found out that he will talk when pushed past his confort zone.
He came down and declared �NO ONE WILL DO THAT CLIMB�
Well, that sounded like a dare. First to follow was Laine, Marcus�s little brother. Then Tricia, then me, then Bruce.
Marcus then declared he was done climbing for the day.
We set another 5.10c and then a 5.9* and then another 5.10a.
I think I got back to camp about 7:00. Just in time for Crawdads and Shrimp.

Sunday morning after breakfast we were back at Cactus cliff.
Tricia, bless her heart, gave up climbing to help some of the parental units get up the wall.
I think after they watched us climb, they were compelled to climb and find out what it was all about. Capri and Kim, and Rick are much stronger than they�ve let on. All were doing 5.7�s. Rick breazed up the 5.7 with no problems. Tricia told Rick to go find a 5.9, that he wasn�t a beginner. If I had known that, I�d have made him do one. I don�t think he did. So next time Rick, we�ll be gunning for you.
Bruce and I stuck together and put up climbs. We weren't really paying much attention to what was going on. We were a little self-absorbed. If we were paying attention, we would have helped Tricia or at least relieved her so she could have gotten in a climb or two. Next time, Sweet Pea, I promise.
Calvin got up Latoya Jackson on lead, probably the most famous 5.8 in the Shelf. He was very proud of his lead. It was his first outside lead.
We got run out by lightning and rain about 3:30. So back to camp to get things ready to leave.

I've posted pictures and a link to more pictures on the About Us page.
Or here for shutterfly.com
Hopefully pictures will tell a better story.

I think the adults enjoyed this as much as we kids.
We maybe looking at a fall trip, if we can pull it together.
I know we�ll do it if we can get Pastor Don and Kim Farr to help us out.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Group Growing???
We are seeing and increase in interest in our group. This is exciting. Pastor Brandon and Cloudia, Pastor Mark, Ernie and our Brazilian missionary LuLu, and others are now joining us on Sundays. They seem to becoming fixttures of the group.
I've had contact with several from the Colorado Springs area as well that are interested in our group. This may spawn off new sub groups. Maybe an adult group,. or an advanced climbing group.
As some of you know, Tricia and I do have many commitments during the summer months. Therefore we are not as available to climb as frequently as we would like, and the group would like.
Therefore the group does suffer durring the summer.
With the influx of new blood, the fact that many in the group now drive and do have their own equipment. It would be great if others could initiate climbing outings. I think that this can occur naturally, but don't be afraid of ask one of the older members ( if you're younger ) and visa versa, older asking younger, to go climbing
(There is one thing to be mindful of though; Make sure there is a good mix of gender.)
This is called fellowship and you don't need the whole group to be successful in fellowship.
Climbing does not have age boundaries or class boundaries. It's all about the sport and learning new stuff from as many as you can.   Fellowship then ocures naturally.
We will see more people come through our group, so don't be timmid. You may find a mentor that will bring you into a new realm. You may be the one who brings someone else to a new understanding.

Rock'n and Jam'n
Sunday Feb. 22, 06.
We had a good group. Even Pastor Mark and Pastor Brandon showed up. I think we impressed them with our climbing skills. Pastor Mark called me on Monday to complain that he was hurting from places he didn't know would hurt. Pastor Brandon' hasn''t fessed up, yet. Both Pastor Mark and Pastor Brandon surprised us as well with their climbing. Pastor Mark started on a 5.6 and his next climb was a 5.10... He almost made it to the top. Pastor Brandon has climbed before, you can tell. He's the silent type who doesn't brag much.
I think we'll have them both hooked into climbing if we can get them outside a few times. We'll look forward to climbing with them again. Jeff Clark is AWOL. We need to work on him. Just because he has new (love) interest now doen't give him the right to stiff us. We also missed Both Amandas, Sara, Heidi and several others.who will remain unnamed.
Please read the links below and digest their content.
I think we did a good job this week. Only almost killed Lane. But he deserved it. Happy Birthday Lane. How old are you now, 12? That makes you just old enough to go with us now.

Thurday Jan 26 2006 a climber died in Eldorado Canyon State Park.

I would like for you to read this story and learn from it. The story about Marcus posted earlier this month, below, can happen to any of us. We need to learn from our mistakes pass on what we learn and also learn from others mistakes.

Please go to these links and read and see if there is anything in them we can learn.

ABC 7NEWS

Climbing Boulder .com / Mountian Project

RockClimbing.com

Experienced Climber Dies on Ben Nevis

Josh's Story
Soloing, Falling, and Living to Tell About it.
This is a story that was linked into the Eldorado story.
It is written by Josh who you will reconizes in the previous posting about the eldorado accident.
He took a fall and lived to tell us about it and what he and we can learn from it.

Marcus's Big adventure
You missed a great day of climbing on Jan 22.
There were 11 of us at Rock'n and Jam'n.   Between watching the Bronco's loose royally and Marcus falling 30 ft. There was plenty of other entertainment.
Mr. Reve, the old dog, learned a valuable lesson that he should have learned a long time ago.
"Complacency kills." But luckily Marcus had his angels watching over him.
Everyone was watching so there's no covering it up.
Marcus was leading a 5.11. That was giving him a fit.
He had climbed it earlier on top rope so he felt confident that he could do it on lead. We were all watching as this is probably the hardest climb attempted by anyone in our group.
There was some distraction on the ground and Mr. Reve (me) wasn't devoting his attention to Marcus. Using a belay device called a Cynch. I had my thumb over the part that was supposed to work feely.   Because of the distraction on the floor, when Marcus fell, the rope ran freely through the device.   Before I realized it Marcus was on a very quick descent to the bottom. When I realized what was happening I removed my thumb. This allowed the device to do its job.
Both Marcus and myself were pretty shaken. I think Marcus had to check his pants.
But we were all grinning and were very thankful that nothing serious happened.
Marcus will not soon forget nor will I.
Lessons learned.
1. Belayer, ALWAYS pay attention to your climber, that's your first job.
2. Do not be distracted by what is going on around you.
3. Climber Communicate with your belayer when you feel that you could fall. A simple Watch me to make sure that your belayer is watching.
4. Auto locking devices are nice. but they do not guarantee safety. They lure you into a false sense of security.
5. When in the close vicinity of a belayer, recognize that he is keeping someone alive and that his or her primary concern is that person's safety. Encourage them to do their job.