March Ray Procrastination Update

Yes, it's that time again -- the time when I'm actually supposed to be writing an article, but will do absolutely anything to put it off. It's Ray Update time!

Hmm. What have I been up to? Well, clearly there's the rail bike; the deadline for my rail bike article isn't until May 1, but I need to have actually ridden it somewhere successfully by then, and, I don't know, I just don't have that much faith in my skills. I'll probably need to rebuild it three times by then. Wish me luck.

Ski season is still happening, sort of. As you can tell by what's left of the snowman (below), it's been kinda warm in these parts lately. Fortunately it snowed gangbusters right through the first of March, but since then it's been inordinately lame. Temps in the 60s, for pete's sake!


The flip side to that is it means rock climbing season has started early this year. Yep, Craig and I have turned in our ice picks and screws for chalk bags and camming devices, and we've been heading to the cliffs. We had a remarkably inauspicious start at the Allenspur area south of Livingston. We attempted to climb something called "Look Ma, No Hands," a "sport" route (with bolts that can be clipped into on the rock face) rated at 5.8, which sounded pretty easy. It looked pretty easy, too, like something you could almost walk straight up. Doesn't it? "Almost" is the operative word here. A short way up we understood the meaning of the route's name: there are no hand holds at all. Plus, it's just steep enough to make it impossible to walk up. It had us stumped. Craig and I both attempted to lead the route, but we both gave up. We scampered down with our tails between our legs (well, ropes, anyway). Humiliating. We have a plan for a future assault, however -- usa da knees. That's the plan.

The next day fared a bit better -- we headed to Neat Rock, which is on the Madison River about 30 miles west of Bozeman. It was raining in the morning, so we chose this route because of its reputation for dryness -- not to mention rattlesnakes. We figured that rattlesnakes wouldn't want to live in a wet place, and it turned out to be a good assumption. Though damp at first, the sun soon came out and dried the rock off completely. We didn't see any rattlesnakes, either, although the unpleasant factor was more than compensated for by copious amounts of pigeon crap on the route. I put my hand right in a big, stinky pile of it - yuk!

This route was rated 5.7 for the first pitch, and we made it up without any major incidents. Minor ones, yes -- the aforementioned pigeon poop, plus general scaredy-pantsedness. You could, like, fall and hurt yourself! Also, Craig was trying out some weird aid climbing technique in the lower section, in which he was using slings to stand in... I don't want to get into that. We should maybe be thinking about that stuff for the 5.12s, but not for the 5.7s. I think I got him straightened out. On a positive note, this was a trad route, which entailed placing nuts and camming devices into the rock rather than utilizing fixed bolts, and I think we performed with panache in that regard.

The second pitch was rated 5.9 and scared us. There were two alternatives, a 5.6 and a 5.7. We either couldn't figure them out or they looked scary or we decided we needed to get back right away (take your pick), so we ended up rappelling back down to the bottom.

Success!

So I'm really psyched for climbing now. I bought a chalk bag, some more carabiners, and a bunch of quick-draws. I'm ready for anything. I've been hanging out most days at the fake boulder on the linear trail a few blocks from the house, trying to get in shape and figure this whole climbing business out. Hand holds, foot holds, smearing, edging, nasty little crimpers, dynos... everything. Yesterday I met a guy there named Tony; he and I may climb something together next week. He's kind of new at it, too, although he's clearly a stronger climber than I am already. But he doesn't even have a harness yet, so maybe we can teach each other some stuff. A Mormon dude, just moved here from Twin Falls, Idaho. Youngish guy. I think he's a gutterman for now, till he figures his life out. Come to think of it, he's a guitar player; he said he's interested in getting a music degree. I should probably introduce him to Craig (oh, Craig will be jealous if I have a new climbing buddy!).

In other news, there's a possibility that I will take over for Tim Omarzu in the Managing Editor's desk at the Sonoma Valley Sun for six weeks while he hikes the Pacific Crest Trail sometime this summer. It's really just in the idea stages now, so it's far from a sure thing. But the ski season, aka my day job, ends April 8, and I'm going to have to figure something else out. I have to wonder if I've burned my bridges with the Sun at all. My father always advised me to not burn my bridges, but in my own acquired wisdom I've decided that sometimes it's really kind of fun to burn bridges. Smoke! Fire! Flames! What could be more satisfying? Then there's my friend Tailor, who famously said he's burned so many bridges he needs a boat. I think somewhere in between there's a happy medium.

Let's not forget that I still have a girlfriend in Santa Rosa, so it'd be nice to spend some time out there with her. I'll probably be heading out that way either way at the end of April or May for a visit. I promised the Sonoma Press Club that I would take part in the Wingo Regatta, which is supposed to be sometime in May. Does anyone know when?

Craig and I have a whole bunch of mountains on our summer agenda, so I'd like to be back here by early July.























Uh, oh. I'm running out of things to update you on. I may have to do some actual work. No, no! Let's see... oh, Sam and I went on our mancation to Manaconda (that's Anaconda) a week or two ago, where we skied at the very steep Discovery Basin and visited the illustrious Butte. That's Sam at Butte's Pekin Noodle Parlor, below. It was once a brothel, so note the curiously private booths.



While we're still more or less on the subject, I miss editing. Keeping all the writers in line and interested, letting them know what's what... I think I was pretty good at it. It would be nice to be doing some of that sort of thing again.

The snowman, it's melting!