November 20, 2004
I just wrote a long update and went to send it and my computer blanked, so now you will get the abbreviated version.

We finished up Red Rocks in fine fashion with some great climbs in amazing weather, and the last night, a walk down the strip. On Monday we drove to the West end of Lake Powell and camped for the night. Tuesday we awoke and finished the drive to Grand Gulch where we would hike for the next three days. We split the crew into 2 hiking groups and spent the night at our separate trailheads. 30 miles and 3 days later we met again after an amazing trek through a stunning canyon with walls dotted by Anasazi/Puebloan ruins and pictographs.

Now we are in Moab and it's raining again. We have spent the morning in the library and hope to get a hike or run in this afternoon. Tomorrow we will drive up to Salt Lake and the kids will fly out on Monday. They will arrive in Boston at 3:00 pm and for those that are getting dropped off on the way north, they will call you to let you know the details. Enjoy the pictures.

Cheers,

Sam
November 13, 2004
There is a chance that you will not get another update from me until late next week as we start our journey to Grand Gulch first thing Monday morning. It will take us 2 days to drive there, 4-5 hours a day and we will be passing through some amazing open country where there will be few places to "plug in".

Below is an update written by CVA Senior Lucien Bisson after a day of multi-pitch climbing with Miles.

Cheers, Sam

“With every step Buck, Miles and I took towards the climb called “Crimson Crissless” the pillar of rock we were about to climb looked taller and taller. Crimson is a nine-pitch route that extends 1000 vertical feet above the ground on the steep face of a pillar that rises halfway up the mountain it sits on. As our group reaches the bottom of the climb we uncoil the ropes and put on our climbing gear. After some instruction from our guide, Miles, we tie in to the ropes and look up at the red sandstone pillar. Miles goes up first clipping in to bolts or setting protection as he goes, when he reaches the top of the first pitch, about 150ft up, he clips in to the bolts drilled into the rock and prepares to belay Buck and me up to him. I climb first, stepping off the solid ground and onto a small foothold on the rock, after I have climbed fifteen feet or so Buck follows and we are both on our way. As we reach Miles he has us clip into the bolts he is already on and organize our ropes for the next pitch. I lean back in my harness trying to find a comfortable spot on the vertical wall and pretend I feel safe suspended from the rock by a piece of webbing not much thicker than a shoe string. When all is situated we head up the second and third pitches the same way as we did the first. It starts to get cold and our hands are tired from climbing so the fourth and fifth pitches prove cold and difficult. At the top of the fifth pitch there is a nice four-inch ledge that we can almost stand on with ease. We rest here and have a little to eat, but the weather is becoming increasingly cold and the rock more exposed. With our hands losing dexterity we decide to repel the approximately 800ft back to the ground. Repelling down one pitch at a time I finally touch down on to solid ground after about four hours of clinging to the face of the rock. I am relieved to be finally down, but I also had an awesome time even though I was on edge the whole time. On the long hike back to our car I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment even though we had not made it to the top.”

Today started out at 5:45 A.M. Everybody piled out of their tents and was ready to run by 6:00 A.M. We set out across some abandoned mining roads and found ourselves a nice hill to sprint up. The boys did a set of five sprints followed by a return to camp and a full set of campground plyometrics. This activity, at this hour, no doubt cemented their love for me in most of their hearts. Following breakfast we split up into 2 groups and Miles headed off to the crag with the more advanced climbers. He went up to a spot higher than we had gone the day before and set up a multi-pitch climb. A multi-pitch is a climb where you actually climb for a “pitch” (a rope length), then set up a belay at the top of that then climb from that starting point, going ever higher. This does not create a situation that is necessarily any more dangerous, it simply gets you higher off the ground, which in turn creates the sensa! tion of greater danger, by virtue of the exposure. The difference between multi-pitch climbing and top roping is similar to skiing in the park and skiing at La Grave. It’s almost a completely different sport. Today was only a 2 pitch climb but our intention is to get the kids up longer climbs as the week progresses. The rest of the group stayed at camp and worked with Erica on the studies. At 1:00 P.M. the climbers clocked off the rock and the studiers went on. The second group had more class time with Miles and then a spot of climbing. By the time the second crew had finished, dinner was on the grill and we arrived back to camp just in time for a barbeque.

Day 2 arrived early as we had all hit the hay around 8:15 the night before. We immediately set up introductions with Miles (our guide) and by 9:30 we were off to the rock. I made the statement that morning that with only a 50/50 chance of rain predicted by NOAA that the real likelihood of seeing rain actually fall was slim to none. By the time we had driven to the climbing spot we were hit by the first wave of showers. Those showers turned to downpours and for the rest of the day and night it was a deluge, reminiscent of my time in Costa Rica during the rainy season. So, off to the climbing gym for a couple hours, followed by a long academic session at the library. We awoke this morning to find that more than 2 inches of rain had fallen over night and downtown Vegas experienced big floods. The road to the campground had been shut down due to a flash flood that covered the road with debris. Fortunately there was a brief respite from the rains so we awoke the kids at 6:15 and took them for an early morning desert run. The views of the Red Rock Canyon were fleeting as rays of sun found their way through the cloud cover and illuminated the multihued rock. It was just captivating enough to make the kids forget they were actually running prior to 7:00 am. Since then it has been spitting rain on and off so it looks like another day of gym and library time. More later.