Ten climbs in your past...

climbing friend,

1 - purple v6 at movement denver

1) Free Marymoor in Redmond Wa. It was a 5 minute walk from my house and where I fell in love with climbing. My first few sport leads were at this wall.

2) Twin Owls in Tahoe. One of my first full on outdoor adventures with a very close friend. Took my first real fall on gear. The day I decided I could start pushing myself on lead.

3) Absolutely anything I've climbed in Yosemite. Every time wether bouldering or trad I have had an amazing experience with wonderful people. That place is truly magical.

No Real order to it just 10 random memorable climbs and why.

1) Zoo View  5.7  https://www.mountainproject.com/v/zoo-view/105932744

• One of my favorite climbs to this day

2) Snake Dike 5.7 https://www.mountainproject.com/v/snake-dike/105836362

•  Longest day of climbing due to the approach, epic views.

3) Royal Arches  5.7  https://www.mountainproject.com/v/royal-arches/105862881

• Long relaxing but for whatever reason even though I lead the entire thing due to my parnter having never climbed outdoors until the trip to yosemite I carried the 2nd rope in my backpack the entire time instead of letting my friend who only had a camel pack on bring it up.

4) Seconds  5.8+   mountainproject.com/v/secon…

• Only climb I have ever had to bail on due to me and my friend both being so tired from meeting at the trail head at like 2am after like 4+ hour driving and getting lost / bushwhacking to get to find the start of the climb. My feet were hurting at the start so after a couple pitches I was having trouble even standing with a long drive back home and not 100% sure even how to get back to the car so we called it a day.

5) Lostboys (stand start)  V5  https://www.mountainproject.com/v/lostboys/108543963

• Hardest ever barefoot climb.

6) Big Bad Wolf  5.9  https://www.mountainproject.com/v/big-bad-wolf/107339211 

• First multi-pitch night climb.

7) Twinkie  5.12a  https://www.mountainproject.com/v/twinkie/106132213 

• Friend had to hang at the end and I was like just relax a min because it didn't look that overhung and he had to hang on a bold towards the end, only to get a response from him I can't relax here. After getting up to the same point I understood how overhung it was.

8) Jim Dandy  5.4  https://www.mountainproject.com/v/jim-dandy/105874054

• First multi-pitch rope solo climb.

9) The Mummy  5.5  https://www.mountainproject.com/v/the-mummy/105905544

• After multi trips we finally said screwed it and just climbed the entire thing is a light rain.

10) White Lightning  5.8  https://www.mountainproject.com/v/white-lightning/105925472

• Had to run out the start because a rattlesnake snake was sitting on the ledge where I needed to place gear my first piece of gear.

J-Tree routes:

Upper Right Ski Track: First outdoor climb, in tennis shoes.

Mental Physics: First full trad pitch lead.

SW Corner: For years, I was afraid to try this beautiful but frightening route. One day I was scrambling nearby, and all of a sudden a lead climber on top of Headstone Rock asked me to climb the route because his follower was scared off after the initial moves. Despite not knowing the other climbers, I gleefully ran back to Ryan Campground to get my harness and shoes. After that, I was no longer afraid to lead the route and have taken numerous friends up it since.    

Tax Man: First 5.10 J-Tree onsight. 

Breakfast of Champions: Favorite multi pitch there. Great setting, varied climbing, and amazing topout.

Other routes:

The Line / Scimitar, Lovers Leap. One great day.

XM / Outer Space, Eldo. Followed Mike C up this wild linkup. Wow! 

Kola, Mount St. Helena: Favorite route in my hometown crag. One of the best summit views anywhere. Must do if you're in Northern California.

Loose Ends, Lumpy: Really good trad climbing in a really good location.

Center Route, South Platte: Once in perfect weather, once a thunder and hailstorm hit as we began P3. 

- Jah Man - amazing setting and superb route.

- Atlantis (The Black) - my style cruxes and just an outstanding route.

- Fine Jade - quality

- Frogland (Vegas) - super fine route, loved the huge Chock stone

- Gambit - just one of my fav's

- Hunky Monkey  - really love this varied route and just Upper Dream in general

- Checkerboard Wall - an early send in the .10 range, my first climb in The Black.

- Journey Home - constant joy and a huge whipper.

- Jail Bait - where would we be without Rifle? One of my first mini projects 

- Fat City, Cheap Date, Outlander - Just pure bliss

- Idiot Wind - spectacular and I love the slab! 

- Felix - a non Creek-like climb that I just fricken love

I can't really pinpoint why exactly these climbs were so awesome, but I just really enjoyed them and had a lot of fun those days:

Estrellita, El Potrero Chico-12 pitch sport climb

Tunnel Vision, Red Rocks- 6 pitch trad climb with lots of chimneys, we did the face variation on P3

Durangatang, East Animas- 3 pitches of quite possibly the best climbing in Durango

It's days and climbs like these that I daydream through memories and the memories really make me so stoked to climb.

1 and 2. Levitation 29 and Epinephrine in the same weekend (Red Rocks) - Epi is my favorite route of all time... 2000 feet of climbing from the wash in the canyon to a summit. Great variety of climbing and a really cool adventure. Easily the best weekend of climbing I've done and probably will ever do since I have a kid now and all...

3. Rubicon (Joshua Tree) - Perfect finger locks. I just felt euphoric the entire time while climbing it. 

4. Frogland (Red Rocks) - First major multipitch climb after I moved to Southern California from Spokane, which ended up being a personal renascence in my climbing. This climb began an amazing 5 years of of my climbing development. 

5. Serenity/Sons (Yosemite Valley) - I was lucky enough to follow every pitch of this amazing climb, so it just felt liked relaxed jams. Awesome climb!

6. Cathedral Peak (Tuolumne) - I guided my wife up this climb. She was freaked out on the summit... I can't blame her. Very airy and beautiful!

7. Illusion Dweller (Joshua Tree) - Was probably my favorite single pitch of climbing before I did Rubicon. Great climb and a grade push for me at Josh. 

8. Tenaya Peak (Tuolumne) - First and only real free solo. Such a smooth and easy, long climb. I felt like I was floating. 

9. Blueberry Buttress on Exfoliation Dome (Darrington, WA) - First long multipitch climb. I was so freaked during every stage: approach, climb and descent, but still have great memories of the climb. I did it on the hottest day ever recorded in Seattle (at the time, anyway) and the raps down those west-facing slabs were miserable.

10. Outer Space (Leavenworth, WA) - On the list for many reasons... first 5.9 trad lead and climbed it a couple of weeks before moving from Washington to Southern California. I brought tons of small gear for the 5.9 crux, but only about 2 hand-sized pieces so I leap-frogged those two hand pieces all the way up the two shield pitches, which freaked me out. My partner thought I ran out the whole pitch hahaha. I can't wait to do this climb again now that I'm not such a noob. 

Honorable Mentions - Regular Route on Fairview, Corrugation Corner, Snake Dike, Open Book, South Arete of SEWS (did with my wife), Igor Unchained, Crimson Chrysalis, Diedre, Green Hornet, Gunsmoke, Matthess Crest

1. "Mt. Hayden", Catskills, NY, Circa 1998: A chimney, but not in the climbing sense. An actual chimney on the side of a building, made out of big sandstone river cobbles. It is at a summer camp, and they installed a TR on it to use as their climbing wall. My first exposure to climbing.

2. Tomato, 5.8 Seneca Rocks, WV, 2005. In high school I spent many weekends at Seneca. This is where I got comfortable trad leading and multipitch climbing. This is where I really bought in to the climbing life. Tomato is perhaps my favorite route there, and represents all the great things about Seneca.

3. Drop Fly or Die, 11a, Spiders Web, ADKs, NY, 2008. Most of my climbing in college was in the Adirondacks, and "the Web" was one of the closest and favorite crags. Steep cracks that let us work up through the grades. Climbing this route was one that exemplified this process for myself and several climbing partners. And it is just an area classic.

4. Blind Faith, WI 4, Smugglers Notch, VT, 2008. A highlight of my short ice climbing career.

5. Wheeler Cirque Traverse, 4th class, Mosquito-Tenmile Range, CO, 2008. I enjoy a good alpine ridge scramble, and this was a memorable one. I first saw it about 5 years prior, and it was quite nice to get back to it. A big solo day out scrambling on chossy peaks.

6. Crime of the Century, 11c, Squamish, BC, 2009. My first big roadtrip- 2 weeks in the Tetons and 4 weeks in Squamish. The Squamish portion was perhaps the most fun month of climbing I've ever had. This route was an important one for me. I'd identified it as a route to try to redpoint, but surprised myself by onsighting it. It was my first 11c- and it was an onsight on gear. This really opened my eyes to what might be possible, and began the fastest period of improvement I've had. I did my first 12a just a week later, and climbed the Grand Wall (another highlight) as well. A lot of this can be attributed to the confidence from doing Crime of the Century.

7. Ruby's Cafe, 12c (grade for small fingers), Indian Creek, UT, 2010. The highlight of a monthlong stay in the Creek, and of a 4-month roadtrip around the SW. To date my longest climbing trip. This route was the culmination of a rapid spurt of improvement that started with Crime of the Cenruy abou 15 months prior.

8. Sprout, 13a, Maple Canyon, UT, 2011. This trip to Maple marked the beginning of my sport climbing period. First focused sport climbing trip, first pair of kneebar pads, first proper project (10+ tries), and first 13a. This was the trip, and the route, where I learned how to kneebar, to work routes, and to climb steep sport climbs.

9. Apocalypse, 13c, Rifle, CO, 2013. My longest-term project. The route I gave the most tries, and most dedication. Almost sent in 2012, falling at the very top, then returned to it to finish it in 2013.

10. Freeway, 11c, Squamish, BC, 2016. Moved to the PNW, started trad climbing again, started climbing in Squamish more. I'd long wanted to do this route, and had bailed off the first few pitches five years prior- I wasn't ready for it at that time. It was nice to return to it and cruise up it efficiently. Also marks an interest looking forward in doing some harder long routes.