Well settled into Greek Island Life.

For the last two weeks Jo & I have passed the time here in Kalymnos by climbing the beautifully featured seaside limestone cliffs, swimming in the Aegean Sea, getting around the island via scooter & dining on rich Greek Taverna fare. A fair amount of Mythos has been consumed too.

Sweedish climber 40m above the ruins of a 4th centruy BC castle.

Small outpost near the village of Argintoa who's main business appears to be selling Thyme Honey.

We've met cool folks from all over the world, just a few of whom speak English as their first language. This spot is mega popular with the Euro's, as it's just a quick flight from most of the continent to Greece.

The beautiful seaside cliffs of Kalymnos.

Both Jo and I have been climbing well, I've been consistantly onsighting 6b or so, and I've made it up a few 6c's, but no redpoints at that grade, yet.... Jo has been onsighting 6a, and getting up the occasional 6b on lead. It's been of fun swapping leads, beta & belays!

Jo & her bruised/battered knees. Turns out Kalymnos features many full contact belays...

Fellow Albertan Eric styling out a 7a.

We've got a little more than a week left of this trip. Our goals include a 11 pitch sport climb on the South face of Telendos Island, as well as visiting some the more remote sectors (crags) of the island. There's still plenty of rest day fodder as well including 5th century castles, churches, etc. Should be a great week!

Another beautiful sunset over the Aegean Sea & the island of Telendos as viwed from our studio balcony.

Woah, Greece.

I'm in an internet cafe surrounded by chain smoking teenagers who are screaming and playing some type of crazy role playing game, so this is going to be quick. For better or worse, there isn't much in the way of internet access here....

City of Athens & The Acropolys @ sunset.

It's been an adventure since we first touched down in the airport. This kind of holiday is far from "packaged" so, just figuring out which train to get on to get downtown is a process. We figured it out, and got ourselves situated in our hotel around 9:00 pm Athens time after 30 hours or so on the go. We were beat, but managed to make it out for a great dinner that evening.

Approaching the Pantheon.

The Acropolyis as viewed from our hotel room balcony.

The next day was full of exploring, visiting the new & wondeful Acropolis museum & more amazing meals. Athens is a vibrant city full of energetic people! As an "Merican, I spent a lot of time studying Greek History/Culture in school, so it was so cool to finally see & experience places like the Pantheon. We're well settled down in Kalymnos now, and there are so many stories & experiences that I'd like to share, but, the infrastructure just won't allow for it.... Caio for now-

Heading back North to Bangkok

Hey all,

Thanks so much for the great comments! Good motivation. For the last week or so, we've totally checked out of the electronic world and it felt great, so I haven't posted for a bit.

We've got some great images, but, we leave Railay for Bangkok in one and a half hours and we've got a few things to do, so, I won't be able to get any up at the moment.

Longtail boat, to Swathang (open air truck) to Bus, to overnight train to taxi should get us to some decent accommodation in Bangkok. We hope to hit up the infamous Chattara (sp?) weekend market, see another temple or two, get a traditional Thai massage and maybe even China town before we leave in a few days.

Thanks so much for following along! Chok de Kap!

'Round the halfway mark of the trip.

I think I understand why Shenku's book is titled the "art" of Shenku, or the art of traveling. Travelling can be done with style and grace, or, it can be done awkwardly with very different results. I like to think that Jo and I are more of the former style. Yikes, lot's of Yankee's seam to adopt the later. Sorry fellow country folk, but, it's true.....

Jo is on the mend, she got out for a big swim with Steffan today, I got a great climb in on the 1, 2, 3 wall before it started downpouring this afternoon. So fun, pulling over tufa's, stalagtite's of the wildest shape and size. This place has a very dreamlike geography. I feel so lucky to be here enjoying it.

I have been able to onsight 6a+ pretty regularly over the past two days, I need a bit of courage to bump the grade.

Comments people, I need them for motivation! Don't hold back!

Here's some photos from the last few days:

Sunset as viewed from West Railay last night.

We learn basic Thai from our housekeeper Sau everyday, while we help her continue her understanding of english, which is quite good. She's learning to write english too, amazing memory.



English Rob enjoying the excellent 6a+, "Dr. Jeckell & Mrs. Hyde" at the 1, 2, 3 wall. I led it clean after the super bouldery start that I needed to take on. This would be a very powerful climb to red or pink point. Crux is at the first bolt.

Is this blog worthwhile for anyone? Is anyone reading it? What would you like more of? Thanks in advance!

Well enough to take it easy...

Longtails lined up in Railay Bay this morning.

Today was an absolute blast. We awoke to a beautiful morning and went down to our "regular" breakfast spot, "Yam Yam's." Our favorite breakfast has become sticky rice prepared with condensed milk with 1/2 a mango. It's amazing! I added in a fried egg & toast this morning for extra sustenance. We sat down on the beach and enjoyed some "real" coffee. Most of the coffee is prepared with some type of "ground" that they add directly to hot water. When I saw it prepared this way, I figured there would be grounds at the bottom, but, nope, it just dissolves. Weird stuff.

We then walked across the intensely beautiful Phra Nang beach on our way to a crag known as Escher World. We arrived a bit late, as it was already getting sun by 11 or so this morning. We scoped the place out and ran into a guided group. This guide was not the type to shout each moves instructions to his clients, for which we were grateful.

I've been climbing at my standard moderate level, leading 6a & 6a+. But, my goal out of this trip is to lead 5.11. As the guided group finished up, I asked if I could pull our rope through the 6b+. (5.11 a/b) He obliged, and soon we had a TR setup on a super fun route!

Those who know me well know that I generally talk sh!t on projecting, likely because I haven't done too much of it. Today we both projected the 6b+, Jolene got up it too which was awesome. I'm pretty psyched on the route, and after 4 or 5 sessions, I can clean the crux on TR. I replaced the sling that protects the crux as it was looking pretty nasty. I'm hoping to go back tomorrow and warm up on the adjacent 6a, and then, with a little luck & a dash of skill, go for a redpoint on the 6b+. Seams like an achievable goal at this moment.

Around 4:00 it started raining, and not just the in fast out fast convective storms that we've had every day. No, this rain meant business. We retreated into a cave opening and looked out while a storm lashed the coast. The intense weather got the animals on the move, and a monitor lizard, about 1.5 m in length ran across the jungle just 10 m in front of us. Knarly! Biggest lizard I've ever seen. I was on-guard for more animals on the move, notably snakes......

After the rain backed off (a bit) we decided to work our way back towards the beach, and to our delight the rain had forced everyone off. We skipped, ran and giggled our way along the beautiful empty beach. Paradise.

We stopped near the south end of the beach and went for a swim. Jolene is an absolutely wicked swimmer. I've always known this in theory, as she was a lifeguard for years, but, I'd never actually experienced it. She gave me a few lessons, and had me breast stroking properly, even with the appropriate kick. We giggled and enjoyed the buoyancy of the ocean as we swam around in the rain watching the dramatic lightning in the distance.

From there, it was back to E. Railay where we stopped in at our favorite Thai food joint. The place just has a sign saying, "Thai Food." The proprietor is an awesome lady who whips up amazing authentic Thai food. It's great, as we always learn a new phrase for two from her, and she tells us all about the food. Tonight's thick red peanut curry was amazing.

That's about it for now. Hoping to send my first true project tomorrow and continue to enjoy this little slice of what I truly feel to be a paradise.

"Yellow for the gold, that they stole....."

This spider is the biggest I've seen to date. With his legs, he's far bigger than my palm, about the size of my hand/fingers. Eek!

Can't seam to rotate the clmbing photos. I'll hope to get some in the next post. La gorn kap.

Railay East highlights.

We've been on East Railay beach now for a few days, the first 3 days we got some nice short routes in. The last two, Dr. JoJo has kept me on strict R&R, as I've had two fevers reaching towards 102 F. Thankfully, I haven't had one today. It's great to be here with Jo, being sick and traveling by oneself would be hard... It's so tempting to get out on the karst pillars despite feeling quite low energy. But, I'm on the mend in a big way today, so, *hopefully* we will get out and climb again tomorrow.

The Karsts rising out of the Adaman Sea are absolutely amazing. They are all limestone, and quite textured. Unlike at home, the objective hazard has less to do with the quality of the rock, and more to do with the quality of protection. Standard stainless steel expansion bolts have a pretty short life in this humid/salt infused air. The scary thing is that they can look fine from the outside, but, inside they can just be a pile of rust. There is a solution, titanium glue in bolts and staples. According to the books and local guides, the only bolts you can trust are those that feature red hilti glue. If you show up with a supply of this stuff, you're treated like a god. Next time, I'll bring a bit of it. There are something like 800 routes on the phra nang peninsula. There are plenty in the 6 range, which encompasses 5.10 a - 5.11 b. If I'm climbing in the 5.11 range by the time we leave, I'll be psyched! JoJo is hoping to start leading again on some easy routes tomorrow, which I know she can handle physically, but it's her head that needs a bit of work yet........ She'll get it for sure.

The bungalow we stayed in for the first few nights, 750 Thai baht per night (about 25 USD), expensive by Thai standards, but, a great place with a Robinson Crusoe kind of feel. The north Daimond wall rises up in the background.



Jo working out the moves before her TR start on a 6a+ on the 1, 2, 3 wall. This is a great spot to get comfortable with the area's climbing, but, you've got to time it right as it's "guided" most of the day. This entails a bunch of Thai guides screaming at their newbie clients, "Right foot up, right foot up! Left hand out, left hand out more. Is left foot broken? Why you no move left foot?" Needless to say, we're not frequenting this crag too much now....



Two classic Thai longtail boats with a ferry in the background. The longtails are ingeniously simple, I'll do a post on them later. They've got the "re-use" part of the 3R's dialed here.



The locals talk a lot about "Freedom" here, and not in the dept. of homeland security kind of way. There's a lot of dreadlocks around the peninsula and reggae can be heard quite often. Of course, I'm not complaining, rather, we're loving it. Pictured here is one of the local beachfront bars, the, "Skunk Bar."

I'm hoping to get across Phra Nang beach tomorrow to climb in the Escher World before the sun starts roasting the place. That beach is incredible, and we'll be sure to grab some photos. Time for another Thai Gatoraid and maybe some time by the pool.... Much Love, Grant & Jo.

Images from a foriegn Metropolis...

Hey all,

I'm feeling a bit wrecked at the moment, caught a nasty cold/flu here in Railay, so, no climbing, beaching or other stresses for me today... he he he.....

Here's a little feast for the eyes. Certainly no photo shop I can use here, so, all images are as captured.

Smiling Buddah at one of the smaller "Wat's" in Bangkok

Figured it was best to pay some respect to this figure before climbing all over an area with TONS of snakes...



Jo acuating the gong. This had an amazing tone that resonated through your body. Quite addictive. Sort of a deep, Ohm sound.

Another Wat as viewed from the public river ferry/taxi. Can't remember the name at the moment....



Yet another temple. These places are pretty cool!



Amazing Thai food near Rambutri street in central Bangkok.



My favorite image from Bangkok. The train station just before our long and chaotic journey South.



Why yes, I'd love another Chang beer babe!

I'll get some more content up this evening. We're loving Railay. I'm back to my moderate climbing level, french 6a+ (5.10 b/c Yosemitie) Now, the trick is to get healthy and get to 5.11!

Thanks for tuning in!

2 Days in Bangkok

At first, Bangkok was a little intimidating, and our original plan was to book it for the South of Thailand immediately, but, as we were packing up to go, we decided we'd take things a little slower, and spend a day in Southeast Asia's, "City of Angels." Second travel lesson: Create some type of game plan in a "safe" place (i.e. room or restaurant) before heading out onto the street! As soon as you are looking at the Lonely Planet guide, your another floating Dollar sign out there to be taken advantage of. We were mildly "touted" by a taxi cab driver who seamed all so helpful. He also was not running the meter on his cab. He took us to a few different places, all of which were super expensive tourist traps. We reisted, and took matters into our own hands after parting with about 200 b, or $6 USD. At the train station, we purchased our own tickets for the following day. We also got some great advice from the railway staff, and set out to see some wat's (buddhist temples.)

After visiting the temple, we wandered about central bangkok for a bit, taking in the sensory overload in all it's glory. Crossing any street is an excercise in critical mass. It's a delicous banquet for the senses for certain. We wandered back streets, took in amazing and cheap street food, and explored for the better part of the day. We started negotiating public transport. We found our way to the river and took the public ferry back a stop near our guest house on Rambutri road.

That evening, we ate a delicoius little Thai Muslim Curry restaurant in the bangpaulu district of Bangkok. Incredible dining, very little english understood, and a grand total of 169 b.

Yesterday we toured bangkok once again using Tuk Tuk, high speed Sky train, and river taxi. We visited the MBK "mall" which is like an american mall, but you can barter, and the whole experience is absolutely ridiculous! The Thai food court however, was awesome, Jolene particularly liked the iced coffee. I was glad to leave after getting some provisions for our trip!

Last night we began a 17 hour journey south. We started with the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok to Sarat Thani, then got on a 3 hours bus, then a taxi, and we're now oh so close to our final destination, Railay beach. It's been an excerise in Chaos to say the least, but we're reveling in the experience, and filled with the rush of doing something that we've dreamed about for so long.

This internet connection is poor, and we've still got to get on a long tail boat to get to Railay, and then secure accomdation for the evening, and there's only 3 hours of daylight left, so that's it for now. Hopefully Railay will have a better internet connection, but, likely not.... I'd like to put more photos up, but, it's not working to well right now..... More to come.... lah gorn kap! Grant & Jo.

Welcome to Bangkok!

Woah! We arrived in Bangkok around midnight local time, which is 15 hours ahead of Mountain time. We decided to go "adventure" style, and didn't book anything in advance. We managed to get our visa's, a taxi to Rambutri, and a guesthouse. Our friend Anna recommended the Four Sons, and low & behold, we found it! 450 baht per night gets us a decent little room, with a shower over the toilet. We had two tiger beer each, and went to bed somewhere around 3 am local time.

First lesson, don't use the towels provided. They've got bugs in 'em, and the bugs bite! I'm greatful we decided to bring the 'lil travel towels.

Our original plan was to rush to Krabi town via the overnight train, but, we've decided to hang out in Bangkok today, and leave tomorrow night. This place looks like it has so much to explore! Today's agenda includes visiting a temple, a Thai market, and hopefully a real Thai dinner somewhere. I'm looking forward to leaving the Tourist ghetto that is the Khoa san road area.

That's all for now, I'll start posting photos soon!

Utah Avalanche Center Field Work

Alright, I'm really going to try to update more often. I know I've been slacking, but I've been redlining both figuratively and literally at work.

Literally redlining at work......

Mountain Animals 2009 Winter Rendevous

Halloween Grip

Jo and I went and rode, "The Grip" in the Brule community paster today. Started out right at freezing, and then warmed to plus 3 or so. It's great, as the trail starts just a few clicks from the house. It's then a nice 22 km loop that includes an ascent of Solomon hill. The trail is all unmarked, and it's mostly singletrack. I was shown "the goods" last weekend. This was my 3rd ride on it this week. Super fun XC ride. Also cool that only a hanfull of souls know about it.

Looking towards our home.

Jo enjoying her aluminum steed.


Still a horse woman at heart....

Super fun ride. Great to get Jolene out for a torturous climb. She was railing the downhill after getting warmed up!

New Hecklers

Jo and I both got new Hecklers. It's absolutely the best bike I've ever ridden. I can take it to the bike park and hit drops, ride all the skinnies and enjoy the dirt jumps. It also pedals trail oh so well. It's got me pedaling through sections that I was braking on with my hardtail. It seems to truly be the do it all bike.

Test riding the new rigs.





Today we went and rode the Holloween trail, nice little loop near Hinton. There were a few jumps and skinnies along the way. Between the bike park and the new steed, I had the confidence to enjoy a few stunts. Loving the new Hecklers!

Hitting the gap jump on the "Just Giver" trail.



Jolene on the Halloween Trail.

Location XXXX, Jasper National Park

Jolene and I got to the trailhead for location “Zed” midday Friday. It would be a few clicks in on trail, and then we’d be on our off trail adventure. Our plan was to enter the XXX pass area and get some alpine scrambling in. This was the first good weather window over a weekend all summer! As soon as we left the main trail, the going was slow and rough.

We quickly donned our gaiters and bushwhacked up the creek, getting to the first lake around mid afternoon.

The lakes provided some interesting rock hopping that went on and on and on. Although not geographically far from the busy XXX Valley, the feeling was very remote. We made our first camp in the pass above the lake, practicing our best leave no trace (LNT) ethos.

Below: Looking back on the days progress.

Below: and ahead to tomorrow's goal, the pass

Our favorite lil' shelter, the BD First lite.

The next morning we were up early to establish our high camp. As we neared the Apex of the pass, the views were amazing. The biggest goat I’ve ever seen relaxed in the shade nearby. In the tarns there were the tracks of grizzly, caribou, deer, moose and numerous birds. We found a nice location for our camp, waiting until evening to pitch the tent. A bit of scrambling got us over to a nearby snow field where we did some boot skiing. Does this qualify for an August ski? I’m not sure.

The Alpine evening was wonderful. We tracked the neighborhood goat around the pass and were dazzled first by sunset, followed by alpenglow and shooting stars.

The next morning we were up at the crack of nine. After watching three Caribou water, we filtered our own.

Indian Paintbrush in full bloom.

Enticing moderate alpine climb. Note the beautiful splitter couloir!

The Ramparts towering above Amethyst lake. The peak to the right of the snow couloir is Oublette. Next right: Dungeon. On the far right Redoubt. All beautiful Alpine climbs on good rock. (Quartzite.)

Our last view of the Ramparts before the moderately hateful exit bushwack scrambley stuff.

The keepers of the Alpine, the Marmots.

New cars? Nope. Kids? Nope. Soulmates who love the peace of the mountains? You betcha!

We had two options for our Sunday;

A. a steep pass to another hanging valley, and then the comfort of a true trail, all of which we had beta on.

Looking over to Option A and the headwall that would mark the beginning of a scramble towards the ACC hut.

Or, B. an exit out of the valley we were in. Down many clicks of bushwhacking and creek hatefulness & unknown adventure. Both options were about 25 kilometers, but Option B would be more straightforward, once we were out of the Alpine, or so I assumed. As my friend Jim likes to say, the topo map doesn’t show a 50 foot cliff…..

Option B it was, we stayed high in the pass and then started working our way down to the creek. Lot’s of awkward scrambling, sketchy creek crossings, loose talus slopes, steep nasty creek bottoms, a couple of 75 foot waterfalls that weren’t on the map.

Looking back on one interesting section that we successfully navigated.

It was also great bear habit with the buffalo berries in full bloom. It’s these kinds of things that kept Jo and I alert!

1000 meters in decent later and countless, “hey bear, yo bear,” at top decibels, we were excited to meet back up with the trail. We stopped for lunch and saw a few folks coming our way. We found it odd to see other humans at first. It was such a beautiful location, a wonderful long weekend in the Alpine. I must keep the location of this trip undisclosed, as Parks Canada does not encourage this kind of use. For good reason too, it is a virtually untouched area that certainly does not need any tourist traffic.

A rare spotting of the skookum wild woman.

The famed Edith Cavel in prime climbing condition.

Our friend Raven.