Photos by brianthew

Steep steep steep steep steep. Big holds, big moves. Yup, steep happens in the Midwest. The ropes you see drooping down are on the routes beyond the one the climber is on.

Here's a photo of an unknown climber cleaning an unknown route when I was up at Palisade on 6.28.04. I really have no clue what the heck is up with the sky color.

Walking our way up the gorge, got this shot of two climbers descending Towering Inferno. You can see one center frame. And suddenly, I forgot where the other is and can't find her in the picture. Heh. Gives an idea of the size of this sport climb.

Here's me on Serengeti, a splendid and classic v5 at the Happies. Spring break 2004.

Shakin' it out on one of Willow's more mild lines.

And they say steep rock doesn't happen in WI. Here's Andy working on Tsunami.

A photo of Will Gadd climbing a WI5ish formation at the 2004 Silo Summit event, held on a farm near UNI. Notice the footwear, and the lack of crampons.

Here's me on the uber-fun Red Wing route, Jump Start. It's aptly titled, as the first move is a dyno up to a jug. Photo by buddy Chris (cynic).

Here's Matt working up Pleasant Summer Absence at Red Wing, in the nice cool shade of the New Vice Area.

A climber I met while at Willow for the first time, attempting one of the many steep, sustained, and pumpy sport routes at Willow.

Another shot of the climber working the route. Originally the photo was very light and had a good deal of sun glare, I did some burning in Photoshop to get the result below.

This is the main amplitheater area of Willow River. As you can see, it's very steep. Some of the hardest routes in the midwest can be found on the richly featured limestone/dolomite.

This is the whole formation of BVF, taken in January of 2003.

A close-up of the BVF pillars, taken January of 2003.

This is one of the formations in River Flats Park. It's about 12 feet high and well-formed. A rope is rigged from the top to rap from; it's quite a bushwack down to the bottom from the top.

Another shot of some more of the pillars found at BVF. Thin and scary. Taken January of 2003.

The Brickyards. There is lots of ice, and routes change every year as old ones melt and new ones feeze. Taken March of 2003.

This is me bouldering on Tombstone. Dunno which, classic or whatnot. Interesting and fun. And yes, the trees actually do grow at that angle.

Me playing on the boulders around Camp 4 during my little trip there over spring break 2003.