Rest, Rain & Work

   This past week has been a busy one. Dylan, a local climber, and myself ran the first of what will be an annual climbing summer camp through the Zach Gordon Youth Center. We had 8 excited boys from age 8-13. It was an awesome opportunity for these kids to experience rock climbing outside of the occasional birthday party at the climbing gym.
   We started the week with an introductory day at the Zach. Here in Southeast Alaska, rain tends to be the norm and the first day's weather was no exception but it worked out for the best.  Having an indoor wall made for an effective way for these kids to get comfortable climbing on a rope and trusting the equipment.  Once we got these kids familiar and prepared, it was full steam ahead.
   For the next three days we were lucky enough to have a break in the rain and we headed out to the rock. Day one we went out to the Sea Cliffs. It's one of the only sport climbing crags in Juneau, and offers climbs from 5.6 up to 5.12. The scenery there is amazing, and in our short visit we saw two humpback whales and a curious seal.

Dylan and the Kids.

One of the kids high on a route at the Sea Cliffs

   The following days we went bouldering at the Tee Harbor and Fred Meyer Boulders. Kids were crushing! Everyone topped something out and had smiles on their faces. While at Tee Harbor, I demonstrated some boulders hoping to get the kids stoked. I climbed up the classic All Your Waters and attempted a repeat of The Donkey Show. Donkey Show is an odd problem, it is very short and very low percentage. I established it around 2010, have only done it twice, and I most certainly have tried it much more than that! Despite my efforts, I failed on this repeat but I think it's good for the kids to see that. No matter how much you climb, you always fall and that's okay. 

   On our last day the rain returned, but it was alright because after several hard days on the rock we were ready for a break. We set off to the swimming pool to use the latest addition, a Climbing Wall!!!!!!! It is gently overhanging and a ton of fun, and I couldn't think of a better way to end a summer climbing camp.

   As for my own climbing, it has been limited. I just read a new training book that has outlined a training cycle that myself and my fiance are going to try. I really like that it has defined the points where you should be peaking which is something that I have lacked in the past but is very important to the AK boulderer. We only take a limited amount of trips a year and it will be nice to know that we are going during the peak of our training efforts. 

    Well any ways I have been resting but am now back on the horse. Here's a nice clip of myself actually climbing The Donkey Show just before I took my rest. Hope you enjoy and that we don't get too much rain so I have some more to share next week!