The Organic Climber – Blogging about climbing, RAW foods, vegetarianism, running and cycling.

A mere few hours before I was to leave for Horseshoe Canyon Ranch people in the group began to email back and forth about the horrible weather forecast. One person bailed and decided to just head up to Oklahoma (but they also ended up getting rain) and another jumped ship completely. As the trip coordinator I had to head down early to snatch some camping spots and pay our fees. By the time I was ready to leave I still hadn’t heard from everybody but ventured out on the road anyway, just praying at least one person would show up. Thankfully almost everybody decided to chance the weather, and we are all glad we did.

I arrived early on Friday afternoon (and the weather was gorgeous), anxious to climb I hoped I would be able to bum a belay from other climbers, but fortunately I ran into some other climbers I new from Dallas and was able to join up with them. I squeezed six climbs in that afternoon, most of them on lead. This made for a nice warm up for the next day, my 30th birthday and my “Birthday Challenge”. My goal was to climb 30 routes (plus one to grow on) by the end of the day.

Waking up early Saturday morning I was super psyched about the day and the sky was clear, so I just knew I was going to be able to complete my challenge, however I wasn’t confident the people in my group would be willing to continually belay me throughout the day. But to my surprise they were very encouraging and patiently gave me belay after belay.

However, my hopes were nearly shattered when it began to rain. All of the climbers in the area took shelter under a nice overhang and waited out the rain. It wasn’t too long and we were back on the rock sending more routes. At that point I was only around 18 climbs and had plenty more to go. At this point I knew I was going to have to start running laps on some routes I had already lead. My own personal rule was I had to lead the route first and could then top rope it again as many times as I wanted.

After running several laps on Sun Dial (5.7) I pulled the rope so I could move on to other 5.7 climbs on the same wall but the rope snagged in the anchor. I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t untie the bite from my figure eight. So I once again jumped on the sharp end and lead the route again. I wasn’t excited about it though; this sand bagged route felt more like 5.9 at the start.

Once I got to the top of the route I saw the other end of the rope actually did not have the bite in the rope, it was simply kinked. All I had to do was give it a nice hard tug and the rope would have been free. After cleaning the route I looked behind me to see a sky full of grey clouds just laughing at me. I had just finished my 26th route and as I was being lowered the sky fell out. Once again we found ourselves under the overhang trying to wait out the rain, but there seemed to be no end in sight.

So, we had to leave the crag with only 26 routes under my belt. However, I am considering this a victory. I still completed my goal within 24 hours. I had climbed six routes the prior afternoon, bringing the grand total up to 32 routes. Although I wish I could have had them all done in the same span of daylight I know for sure I would have finished so I won’t be too down about it. Maybe I will try this again at 40.

Now, you may be asking yourself how I was feeling the next day. Well, honestly I felt pretty good. I was sore from fingertips to shoulders though, but overall I felt great. In fact I achieved my hardest trad lead to date. I lead Gilgameck (5.9). The morning had started off rainy, but once it let up we decided to gear up and head to an area called the Confederate Cracks because another guy and our group wanted to get some trad leads in. I had pointed him to Tree Beard (5.8) but after seeing the width of the crack he decided he wanted something easier.

As we headed down the train in search for an easier trad line the rain began to fall even heavier and it didn’t appear there was going to be any dry climbs. I brought our crew to an area called The Hanging Gardens were there was an overhanging 5.12. We contemplated stick clipping the second bolt and playing around on the route, but I wasn’t feeling up for it, my main goal of the day was to shoot photos. Naren didn’t really want to either.

Then we spotted Gilgameck – fifty-five feet of awkward crack and chimney climbing to an anchor. And on top of that an overhang protected it from the rain. Seeing how Naren was the one excited to trad lead I told him to rope up, but somehow he convinced me to jump on the sharp end. As I peared up into the crack it appeared to protect really well (and it did) and had plenty of rest stances. It didn’t take long and I was psyched to lead the climb.

What seemed like an hour latter I reached the anchors! I remember looking down at my belayer numerous times, seeing the rain pouring down on his face and apologizing to the group for taking so long to lead the route, but they just kept encouraging me on. The result was an onsight lead for my first 5.9 trad route. Never have I lead anything that hard, and will likely be a while before I do again, but on the bright side my confidence level is building. This was the only climb we got in this day, but it was well worth it.

I am very pleased with how the weekend went. I feel that in some ways I am more physically fit than I have ever been before in my life. I remember days feeling more sore after only climbing a hand full of routes. The fact that I am able to sit here and type this up two days latter amazes me.  It also lets me know I won’t have any problem climbing for an entire week in Colorado. Now hopefully my partner will be in good enough shape.

Bellow is a list of the routes that I climbed for the challenge including the ones I had done on Friday. Most all of them I did at least twice (except for Friday’s) so I could clean the anchors.

In no particular order:

• First Normal Form 5.9+

• Green Goblin 5.8

• Summer Rain 5.7 (climbed it in Chacos)

• Cotton Candy 5.6

• The Controversy 5.9-

• Dancing Bears 5.7 (Trad)

• Strongman 5.9+

• African Herbman 5.8+

• Leonid 5.9+

• Girth Hitch 5.7

• Sun Dial 5.7 (sand bagged start)

• Tres Equis 5.8 (sand bagged, or very contrived route)

• Groovy 5.8

Other Highlights

• Being lowered off the first climb only to discover the rope was not long enough. I had to climb back up, and set up a single line rappel, then re-lead the route.

• Dancing Bear 5.7, the one trad route of the day

• Taking a big whipper off a 5.8 that I actually thought was a 5.10 from just looking at it. It rattled my nerves a bit

• Having to re-lead Sun Dial (5.7) after I thought the rope was stuck in the anchor, but it actually wasn’t

• Sending Local Hebrew 5.9 three times. (one of my all time favorite climbs)

• Feeling the stinging/tingling sensation in my arms around climb 19. Shook it off and kept going though

• Horses trying to eat Candace’s tent on Saturday morning

• Horses trying to eat Candace’s tent on Sunday morning

• Number one highlight for me was sending my first 5.9 trad route

Well, I hope you have been enjoying the blog so far. Sorry if the current post seemed a little disorganized; the short time I have this evening is all I will have for the rest of the week. I have recently managed to get some work done on the new design though, but the process is coming along slow, but eventually the new layout will be here. In the mean time I will continue to post. Also, please send me ideas of anything you would like to see here.

And thanks to Jen for taking the photos of me on Strongman. She is a great photographer, check out her work. I am also jelous of her digital Leica.

Climbing, Trip Reports by OrganicClimber
arkansas, crack climbing, horseshoe canyon ranch, rock climbing, trad, trip report
8 comments

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This weekend I will be headed to the land of rednecks and hillbillies. The difference between the two I don’t really know, but I have been told there is a difference.  A group of us from the Texas Mountaineers will be headed to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch (HCR) for a weekend of sprad climbing. That’s right, sprad! HCR offers both sport and trad climbing routes.

HCR is one of my all time favorite climbing destinations. The sandstone rock is beautiful to the eyes as well as the touch. The gritty, yet soft rock is easy on the hands and makes climbing all day much easier than on granite or limestone.  Not only that, but the Buffalo National River is just across the road and offers a great way to cool down after a long day of climbing in the heat. The bluffs along the Buffalo River are massive. Unfortunately climbing is not allowed here. There is so much potential for climbing there.

Climbers also often take a trip into Jasper to dine at the ever popular Ozarak Cafe. I have not been here though since becoming vegetarian so it will be interesting to see what they might have… After taking a quick peak at the menu I see they have a veggie burger that sounds mighty tasty. I also know they have a large salad bar as well. Can’t wait to try it out.  Unfortunately they will be closed on Memorial Day. Last year we tried dining here for breakfast on our way back home but the whole town had closed down for the holiday.

The train, or should I say hatch back, rolls out early a.m. tomorrow morning. I will be driving solo on this trip, meeting the rest of the gang at the ranch. I’m coordinating the trip so have to get there early to reserve campsites. I don’t mind it though, I actually enjoy traveling long distances by myself. It provides ample time to think and process. Plus your on your own agenda and can stop as you please or keep plugging along if you so desire.

Oh, Saturday is also my 30th birthday. So hopefully I will be doing a “brirthday challenge”. The plan is to climb 30 routes in one day, and likely one to grow on. So, wish me luck. Hopefully I have willing belayers.

Climbing by OrganicClimber
arkansas, Climbing, horseshoe canyon ranch, sport, trad
6 comments

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Man, this weekend has been awesome despite my climbing trip to Arkansas being rained out, but hey no biggie, I will be going there this weekend anyway for Memorial Day Weekend!  The weather here was awesome, makes me glad I didn’t make the drive North to a weekend of rain and misery.  Sunday was especially enjoyable. While out on a walk a girl passed me running and I thought to myself I should actually be doing that. So, after finishing my walk I headed home and prepared some yummy crag treats for this weekend (recipe shown bellow). After my famous RAW Buckwheat Treats were in the food dehydrator I strapped on my shoes and went for a run.

I was quite surprised at how well I was performing. I had set out to run 1.8 miles, but ended up running 2.8 miles in just over 26 minutes.  I would say that is pretty good considering that I rarely ever run, but I will be running a lot more, as I am working on getting my cardiovascular system up for my trip to Longs Peak this summer. We plan on summiting via the North Face Cable Route. It should be a lot of fun, as long as my climbing partner and I both get into shape.

Anyway, I thought I would take some time to share with you one of my favorite crag recipes.  Since I started eating a high RAW diet I struggled with what I could bring on my climbing trips with me other than fruit and nuts, and then one day it hit me – RAW Granolla!  I bought a package from a local whole foods type store that had all the ingredients listed on the back, so I took most of them, added a few of my own, and came up with RAW Buckwheat Treats.  These are now my favorite snack for crag days, they pack plenty of calories and are extremely nutritious. Not only that, but they are extremely light and pack well.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Buckwheat Treats

12 Pitted Dates

1/4 cup Agave Nectar

1/2 cup of Water

1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds

1/4 cup Walnuts

1/4 cup Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup Ground Flax Seed

2 Teaspoons of Pumpkin Spice or Cinnamon (I prefer pumpkin spice)

1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla extract

2 cups of Buckwheat Grouts

Add 1/4 cup Sprouted Wheat Berries (optional)

Sea Salt

1. Place pitted dates, agave nectar and water in a food processor and blend until a paste is formed, scraping the walls as needed.
2. Then add the sunflower seeds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds to the mix and process again until seeds and nuts are mixed well throughout the paste.
3. Next add the ground flax seeds, pumpkin spice, vanilla extract and a few dashes of sea salt to the mixture and process again.
4. Once thoroughly processed, dump the mixture into a large mixing bowl, adding the buckwheat grouts and wheat berries. Now, with a spatula or wooden spoon mix thoroughly.
5. After this is done, place the mixture into clumps on a teflex dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 100 degrees for about 12 hours. Makes about two sheets.

Don’t have a food dehydrator?  I am guessing an oven would work as well, but you will need to keep a close eye on them and will likely need to rotate the treats and even turn them upside down as well so they are thoroughly “cooked”. In order to keep the recipe RAW a food dehydrator is your best option, but either way they will still be really nutritious.

This recipe was also recently featured on Rawmazing.com

This weekend I will be headed to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Arkansas for a weekend of sport and trad climbing, but mostly sport. I will be there with The Texas Mountaineers and Zack of Climb DFW. If you happen to be around just ask the rowdy group from Texas who I am and say hi.

Climbing, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
Climbing, granola, health, homemmade, RAW, Running
6 comments

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You may ask yourself, where in the word does this crazy Texan go to climb rocks? Well, that depends.  Last weekend I headed out to Quartz Mountain in South West Oklahoma. This is both one of my favorite and least favorite places to climb. This giant mound of granite jets up out of lush farmland (mostly cotton) in the middle of nowhere.  You can see the rock from miles away on a clear day.  This behemoth of a rock attracts climbers from all over, but mostly Texas and Oklahoma.

Quartz Mountains, also known as Mount Baldy features mostly slab and crack climbing with classic face climbs like Amazon Woman (5.10b), recently voted one of America’s 10 best rock climbs.  But if long run-out slab and crack climbs are not your thing, then Quartz likely isn’t the place for you.  Granted you can find several good, well-protected routes, most climbs can scare the bejeezes out of you!  That is why I have such a love-hate relationship with this mound of granite.

I have been fortunate enough though to be able to follow some more experienced trad climbers up classic routes such as Snakes Head (5.5x), that offers little to no protection. The crux move is a long airy jump to a boulder after you have reached the anchors.  This was my first experience at Quartz; the previous two pitches went at 5.7-5.8 and also offered little in way of protection.

But it’s places like this that get you tough mentally. Since climbing here my confidence as a climber has gone way up, but at the same time a man still has to know his limitations, and believe me, I do.  I am often told that the routes here are all “sand bagged”, but other old-school climbers just tell me they are old-school ratings, they way climbs should be rated.  Either way, I believe climbing on such intimidating rock will prepare me for places like Lumpy Ridge (where I will visit this Summer) and Yosemite.  Quartz Mountain is the real thing!

If you have never been here before, I would highly recommend making the trip out, but bring your lead head, even the approaches can be intimidating. On one cold morning I bashed my head on a boulder on the approach to the climb. I stood there stunned for a moment then kept moving because of the trail of other climbers behind me.

Once I got to the base of the climb I took off my hat because I was hot and my partner pointed out that I was bleeding. He broke out the gloves from his first aid kit and inspected the cut. He suggested I head to the ER. So, a fellow climber hiked down with me and drove the 30 minutes to the closest small town with an ER. There I received three staples in my head. (It is for this reason I wear my helmet on approach climbs here now)

After being made to look like Frankenstein I returned to the rock around noon, had a few bites to eat and then climbed several pitches (I had to, I made the 3.5 hour drive, I wasn’t going to waste it). The day even ended with a mini epic of being stuck on the head wall after dark, but that is a story for another day. But for now enjoy a couple photos from this past weekend.

Please note that the site layout will be changing in the near future (hopefully). I am working on a logo and a site design, but was so eager to start blogging I head to go forth.

Climbing by OrganicClimber
Climbing, oklahoma, trad
5 comments

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Lately I have been having quite the desire to blog. Mostly about climbing, RAW food and vegetarianism.  I kept telling myself that I couldn’t write about both and keep an audience, but I finally decided to just go for it, thus the birth of The Organic Climber.  The blog will mostly focus on climbing with some emphasis on healthy eating and how I incorporate that into my climbing trips.  Until I got onto this path of healthy eating my climbing trips were perhaps the times when I ate the worst, now they are some of the best.

I hope you find this blog engaging, informative as well as entertaining. Whether you are a climber or a foodie, you are sure to find something here for you.

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber

4 comments

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