Photos by prezwoodz

The climbing here in Gozo is astounding! The rock is incredible and strong even climbing under this large roof of the Azure Window I forgot it could collapse. It is me in the picture taken with my camera and with permission from the photo taker, Xavier of www.gozoadventures.com

This is a guy we met (Dan) climbing at Pebble Beach. He gave us some good information and was nice enough to let me shoot a few pictures of him. Looked like a fun route with some thin fingers.

Samanatha pulls up to the crux on this relatively odd 5.9 move. There were a lot of people at the Gorge on Labor Day weekend but that didn't stop the fun!

We woke up super early to climb Ancient Art and expected it to take a bit longer then it did! So we said "Heck lets try the Cobra too!". John (coldclimb) took a minute to figure out the moves but soon we was standing on the summit. It is an awesome feature although I thought it would be bigger!

On our road trip we knew we would be right suckers if we skipped Zion. What an incredible place! We felt we didn't have the proper equipment (double ledge) for Prodigal Sun and so we chose a different route in Touchstone Wall. We started on the route at 9:30am in the blazing sun and were out of water by 3pm. The temperatures had reached 100 degrees that day and boy was it hot. We kept climbing through our dehydration and ate our only bit of food, a small grilled chicken sandwitch at about 4pm. We finally topped out on the route at 7:45pm or so and caught the last bit of sunset on the summit. We rapped down the route in the dark finally touching the ground again at 9pm. A good 11 and a half hours after we had started. We stumbled the the bus station where we were called Hero's by some nice tourists who gave us some water. To me they were the Hero's as I don't think I have ever been so thirsty in my life! Everyone keeps telling us that Touchstone would be a funace at this time of the year, but what the heck do they know.

This was after climbing The Mace, which seemed harder to me then its 5.9 rating implied. We timed it right though to get the sunset from the summit. The Cathedral Rocks and The Mace cast their shadows over the valley.

One of stops on the roadtrip was Smith Rock where we stayed with Casey. We set up the highline on the first day after we climbed the Pioneer Route and then came back to walk the next day. While Casey was warming up and taking falls getting ready to make his first send on a highline another group was climbing the Pioneer Route. The guy taking a picture from the other side is a guide who led two other climbers up. He didn't fall on this walk and made it all the way across.

I jumped on this climb and got to the crux before deciding that trying it at my level without a group of spotters and a crashpad could end my current climbing trip early. So I went to take pics of John "trying" this problem. When he sends the problem on the second attempt! No Spotter, no beta, and no crashpad. Ballsy I say!

We climbed up Snake Dike on Half Dome and how could you summit Half Dome without taking the obligatory hanging over 2000 feet of air shot? Gotta love Yosemite. Except the mass of Memorial Day Tourons. Could do without that!

John didn't see much need for protection on most of this route as we head up during the first few pitches of Diedre. We started early in the morning and topped out mid afternoon on the top of The Chief. We had the route all to ourselves all day. Wonderful climbing and a totally awesome day.

Just arrived back from Thailand a few days ago and during the trip we stayed on Tonsai and Ao Nang for a few days. This was taken just after the sunset, the drivers will still take you to Railay long into the night. Anyone who has been to the area will probably recognize the phrase "Taxi Boat, Railay"

This is another shot from our recent trip to Westchester to do some slacklining. This picture is to show how the line held up under our weight. This is John getting some good air off the line. The line is being held up by A-frames and bollards. Here is a link to the previous picture that shows the setup. Link: Bollard Pic

We had not actually set up a slackline yet on the ice ourselves and were wondering how it was going to go. We chipped the holes only once with an axe and a mountain axe. The first thing that happened is the dowells in the A-frame broke while my 230lb self was hopping on it. The second rigging was a charm though and we had a few good hours of fun on it.

We were looking for routes to do when i saw this guy doing this hard looking route at Ton Sai Bay. The wall becomes more and more overhanging the higher you go.

John (coldclimb) working the roof in Tonsai pulling off some hard moves. Here he goes for the big hold off a two finger pocket.

This problem starts on the right stalactite and cruises to the one John (coldclimb) is moving to and then comes down the wall on the left. After going to Thailand for climbing we soon realized the only routes not overhanging were the beds we crawled out of in the morning.

Since my climbing partner Dane here was about 70-80lbs lighter than me we decided he needed to anchor down. After looking for an anchor spot for a while this is what we came up with. Worked like a charm!

This is Michelle climbing at Puriton Creek on her first route there. The rock is not very good and you can hear it thump when you hit it. This route is about an 80 foot route with only 3 bolts on it before the anchor. Even for a 5.8 it was scary to lead it.

This is John (coldclimb) giving this tuff roof problem a try. To be honest he didnt send it, but he gave it a good effort!

This is a wonderful 5.11b that i decided to skip! He told me that he was unable to make it up last time but thought he would give it a shot and made it up with just a few takes. Next time on lead!

This is my friend Dane setting up an anchor for us to try the overhanging 5.11 after climbing the 5.10b. The bolts were set up by a man named Steve Garvey and anyone who has climbed his routes up here know why you dont just shoot for the hard routes unless you are sure you can make the clips! There are only 2 bolts before he gets where he is now. The beautiful scenery is marred a bit by the passing vehicles which keep communication down to a minimum but make getting there super easy!

The last few days were to beautiful to pass up so we took a trip up to Rainbow Peak. This peak was the dryest peak on the highway and was a joy to climb. There is a giant section of rock on the top of the peak that looked like it would be great to bring a rope up to and set some routes up. At the end i was taking in the great views.

If you were standing on the top of South Suicide peak this is what you would see if you looked in all directions. I took these pictures and never got to make them into a panorama untill coldclimb was generous enough to do it from me! Thanks coldclimb for that :!

This picture is from the no strings attached comp held at the Alaska Rock Gym. Unfortunatly i did have the flash on so i got the particles but i really liked the route so i thought i would share it. She following the White route.

This is a picture of tyify meandering through this route. They seemed to be way off course by the time i took the camera out. Sorry Ty!

This was my third pitch ever and was definatly feeling the cold. My fingers didnt work well but my out of place determination kept me from falling. A great day even with the cold.

The route to the left of his is Ripple. We climbed this one first than moved down the valley. We are walking down the Eklutna river heading out before the sun went down.

This was my first trip ice climbing and the gloves i had didnt matter. It was -6 and all the ice was brittle junk. This picture reminded me of how the whole day was. Cold and Icy.

This is a picture of Temptation Peak. Viewed from Alpenglow Ski Area. The other side of this peak has an equally large drop into a tarn.

The view from rabbit lake of North Suicide. Although it is possible to go this way i wouldnt recommend it to get the peak.

This peak is usually gained from the other side of the ridge. We decided to be difficult and were awarded with alot of fun and danger.

They say that Mt. Mckinley has the longest sightline on earth. This is hard not to belive as looking into this photo from around 350-400 road miles away. The three large peaks look almost like clouds themselves. From left to right Foraker, Hunter (the little nob in the middle), Denali.

When we were heading to do Bold Peak Eklutna lake was as calm as could be. Almost no movemnt at all on it. That was made all the more eerie by the 40-60mph winds we got hit by on the peak and the snow that can be seen falling on the mountains. The sun there was not very convincing of it being daylight.

We were ill prepared for this snowfall but proceeded up anyway. By the time we got to the top there were 60pmh winds and snow going every direction but down. This picture i think gives an eerie perspective of what was coming in this great valley heading up the peak on a climb that almost killed us both.

When hiking up to Ram Valley this picture of these two great peaks was to hard to resist.

When my unlce and I hiked Raina Peak the weather seemed perfect for taking pictures. Here i could see most of the Eagle River Giants. From Left to right Polar Bear Pk,Organ Mtn,Flute PK, Mt. Ewe, Eagle Peak . Sweet Sweet Alaska.

This is my freind Brian hopping the ridge up to south suicide. Sorry for the small picture

Ok so i admit this isnt about climbing. And i promise to try my best at posting actualy climbing shots from now on! But as for this one. We climbed up the cliffs to get to this spot. And this is one of the smaller jumps at 35 feet. There is a bigger one at 80 ft. Which is a bit out of my league right now. This is Nick doin a Jumping Sidekick.

Took this picture on a wonderful day. The first good sunshine in a long time and it didnt last long.

This is my freind Brian climbing one of the harrier parts of our trip. This was a big cliff and the drop to either side would have had you dropping a few hundred feet before a thousand foot roll to the bottom. Its not hard to pull rocks your own size and have them move. A few rockslides happened and could be heard for a few minutes before all stopped. No ropes and No protection, Definatly the wrong way for that peak!

This is a view of Koktoya Peak from hidden peak. All routes up the mountain are on this side of the peak.

Well we were almost to hidden peak when i took this picture. Doing the ramp is definatly easier from the right side than the left.

This is a view of South Suicide on an awesome day a few hours before we stood on the summit. The best way up is climbing one of the scree gullys on the left in Windy Gap.

The big Rockpile there is Mt. Elliot. This picture was taken from Hidden peak on the direct other side of Williwaw Valley, Walrus Lake is visible on the right.

Although its hard to make out, the peak of the mountain is there. The ridge on the left is the one to go though, the other is just downright dangerous. As we found out when we did it.

This is just another photo of this often overlooked mountain.

This is a view of the backside of Avalanche Mountain as seen from somewhere near Hidden Peak.

This is a shot of a gal running up the mountain in the Matanuska Peak Challenge this year in alaska. A little info the race is 14 miles and a 9000ft total vertical gain. The Fastest runner this year made it just shy over 3 hours. Mine was 6:21. Oh well hope better next year!

Quick someone get him out of there!! Well i wasnt daring enough to squeeze through the little tunnel that went under this boulder but it was pretty cool to see him wire out of it.

This is what i call "before god drew texture onto the mountains" just thought it looked kind of cool.