ivo ninov is a bad ass mutha

inhale.... exhale....

relax, breath...

i went climbing today at a local crag called paramount. the place is a choss pile(meaning, loose/heavily fractured/blocky rock. emphasis on the loose!), but it holds some lengthy easier routes. I was climbing with the idaho alpine club, a group of mostly older folks, but they are awesome to spend time with. (and by older, i mean i am usually the youngest one there by 25-30 years!!!!) they have a very different take on climbing than i do, they are just lookin' for fun, to be social, and stay in shape. but a few of those old ladies can really pull down! i dunno, i guess it's not all that different, but i usually just treat days out with them as my rest days, relax, have fun, and well, free dinner! (thanks dad!) they always go out to a good restaurant afterward.

 anyways, the crag was over crowded, and at one point, there were three of us on three different routes, but all above one another... choss + climbers above ya = you guessed it, i got beaned in the head with a rock. my dad told me it was probably 2 or so inches long.... omg, i got lucky, any bigger and well, it could've been over and done with. i was about 10 feet above my last bolt when i got hit, i stood there for a bit, then slowly continued on to the anchors. i lowered off and just sat off to the side, quite dazed. after a while, i started feelin better, and i feel fine now, except for the bump on my head. it was my own damn fault, i should've waited.

anyways, here's a quote and a few photos. 

"... no matter what time of day... you always have to treat it like it's the best time of the day. that's the only way to keep going. If you don't think you are going to get cold or thirsty, what do you have to fear? when it gets dark everyone wants to go inside, be warm, and eat, but if you say, 'Fuck that... the thing that i love to do is rock climb, and i'm here and i'm doing it,' and this is the best time of your life, then you shouldn't care if it's dark. you just keep going."

-ivo ninov

discussing a speed ascent of "native son" (5.9 A4) on el capitan in yosemite in 23 hours, 53 minutes.

this quote has been said many times, in many different ways, but this one seems to make more sense somehow. i don't think it's really that it needs understood, that's not the difficult part, but it needs to be said, reiterated, and spread around. 

myself, "the mist", and the fuckin humungous move that opens the massive crux section

(yeah, i'm totally at full extension there, and i have about a 6'8" wingspan!!! and the pocket my right hand is on really isn't that good)

my friend katie redpointing her first 5.11!

"yellow man" (5.11a/b)

the fins

(oh, by the way, the rock in these photos is the polar opposite of choss, it is pretty damn good, and some of the highest quality limestone i've ever climbed on)