Backing Down

-Day 10 of 31-

Time for another post that's more climbing related.

Backing down/off or "downclimbing" is a technique that every climber should have in their bag of tricks.  It's something that should be practiced again and again in the gym, both while bouldering, top-roping and occasionally on lead.  Sometimes it's the only way out of a situation that's dangerous or harder than you expected.  Moving back to a position of safety can give you time to relax again, get some strength back, process the information you learned, re-commit to moving up, and finally entering the fray once more.  It may also give you time to assess other options, such as backing down from the route entirely or building an anchor and allowing your partner to finish it if they're up for it.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

-Day 9 of 31-

The tree is up and fully decorated.  It wasn't quite as difficult as I imagined doing it all by myself.  I think this year's tree is somewhat smaller than last year's but I still really like it.  I ended up using about 5 strands less of lights compared to last year.  However, as you can see below, it looks really good (at least I think so).  In addition to a bunch of strands of small lights, I also used some of the real glass lights that you screw in...which means I also have some bubble lights!  But so far I've only seen one of them 'bubbling'...kind of a bummer.

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree..."

-Day 8 of 31-

Oder auf Deutsch, "O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum..."

Yup.  It's that time of year again.  The time when for some strange traditional reason we stomp out into a field of somewhat manicured evergreen trees and select one that we think would be better suited to our living room with a bunch of strings of lights strung up all over it and zillions of little trinkets hanging from its branches.  Damn...when I put it that way it kinda puts a damper on the whole thing huh?  How nice of me to start out this post being cynical.  :-)

Ok ok...I love Christmas Trees and love having one...even if I won't actually be here that day.  Whenever I've had a Christmas Tree it's always been a real one...wherever that has been.  There were a couple times that I didn't get a tree in the years since I've no longer lived with my folks in Winchester.  I've lived in my current place for 3 years now and this is the 2nd tree I've had.  I would've had one the first year but I had to settle for two fake, plastic trees about 2 ft high next to my desk in Afghanistan.

"I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends..."

-Day 7 of 31-

As tonight is my climbing club's Christmas party, I felt this entry would be good.

I moved to Alexandria from Winchester, VA in 2006.  I had very few friends around here and wasn't even climbing back then.  My girlfriend at the time moved this way too.  We ended up spending a lot of time going back home on weekends since our families and most of our friends were in Winchester.  Luckily I met some good people through work and started commuting to work with my friend Patrick whom I'd met in one of my classes.  It would soon be that friendship that spurred me on to get back into climbing.

Hmmm....Ireland? Yes.

-Day 6 of 31-

It's always interesting to me to think back and remember how trip ideas emerge.  Sometimes it's a spur-of-the-moment impulse to hop a plane and head somewhere new, with very little planning in place.  Other times a well thought out plan is executed methodically.  I've done both.  I've found that the best method is a blend of the two, keep things flexible and spontaneous while mixing in a few solid points along the way.

The Buchaille

-Day 5 of 31-

Back in May of 2010 I had just finished up my tour in Afghanistan.  I was headed home after an exhausting, but amazing six months in that war-torn country.  I count myself extremely lucky to have never seen actual combat.  The travels, adventures, friendships, hardships, loneliness, seemingly pointless efforts, dirty days, and the occasional views of beauty will never be forgotten.  I look back fondly on the majority of those memories of my friends - US, ISAF/NATO, and Afghan soldiers and civilians.  I pray each day that they are safe, especially my US friends that I know have gone back and for my Afghan friends that struggle to make a better life for themselves there.

I'll talk more about Afghanistan another day.  I took leave when I got back and went climbing in England and Scotland with my friend Alan.  It was an amazing trip on so many levels.  Physically, I was beat from Afghanistan and was struggling to deal with tendinitis in my elbow and shoulder.  The majority of what I did when deployed was work, eat, sleep, and hit the gym.  The gym became nearly an everyday thing as it was the best way to work off the frustrations and get your mind off everything else.  Tendinitis developed because of the constant workouts.  So Alan ended up leading most of the climbs on our trip.

I was also quite mentally exhausted.  It was an incredible shift over the course of a week going from Kabul, Afghanistan (over about 4 days of flights) back to Virginia and then on to London.  Over a couple weeks, Alan and I went to the Peak District (near Sheffield, England), Hadrian's Wall (border region), Western Scotland (Glencoe, Oban, Fort William), and finally down to Edinburgh, Scotland for a few days before heading back to London.

A Life Beyond Climbing: Family and Sports Teams

-Post 4-

Whew...squeaking this one in.  Good grief it's only day 4 and I'm feeling the pressure!

 
Anyone who really knows me knows that I love sports and have a passion for a few professional teams.  Most of those teams have outright sucked been terrible for longer than I can remember a number of years but I still love them because of family connections.  Hey, it's better than saying, "I like the Yankees because they win."  By the way, I'm a fan of any team that's playing the Yankees...yes, that includes the Red Sox.

First, a little family background....