Red Rocks Climbing: Photo Essay

As a climber, Red Rock has a lot to offer. Nubbin pimples of red iron precipitated out at the surface of the sandstone make for cool pinches or an explosive foothold - and when big enough a tie-off that is as nearly as good as a pounded in bolt. The are also amazing at grabbing the rope, very "sticky" rock. Especially when the wind is blowing a gale and sounds like a freight train coming down the mountain as it has the last few days. Ropes can blow straight sideways or even upwards when rappelling (rope thrown downward) so it can be pretty heads up with rope management to get off a route. Yesterday we made it to the ground and I had just taken off my helmet at the base when a party above dislodged a loose block above us. It landed not far away. His rope had gotten stuck with a wind gust and as he pulled it free it dropped the block... We ran beneath a tree as it exploded on the slab just below. Some pretty rad geology too, and a climb may provide a spelunking adventure like Tunnel Vision today, a sideways chimney for a few dozen meters behind a giant detached pillar... Not to mention all the amazing blooming globe mallow, indigo, sages and the occasional rattler. Desert climbing :)

Upside Down: A photo essay

A friend sent me this quote by Rumi yesterday.

"Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?"

Seems quite apropos given the frenetic changes of late... Finding solace embracing natural light, engaging splitter cracks, new sunrises - and spending time with new and old friends...

All image ©Bennett Barthelemy June 2016

Parley: Spanish Sea Cliff Photo Essay

Sometimes we need to parley - with ourselves, with gravity... To disappear to some wild coast.

Sea caves, sea cliffs, sunshine and the distant Spanish shores have called for a while now and I am answering it. Costa Blanca is home to thousands of climbs, many trad routes on the limestone that can be hundreds of meters high in spots.

Sunburn, nesting territorial gulls and the sparkling sea...

The routes often require total focus - placing tiny nuts, wobbly cams, clipping rusted and untrustworthy bolts and sunbleached and frayed threads on wild traveses with sea spray coating you with its saltiness. Steeply overhanging pockets and curious jams and locks to carry you above the sparkling void.

A good mindgame to keep one connected and never straying far from the eternal moment.

All images ©Bennett Barthelemy April, 2016

Exposure Therapy in España

Back beneath grey skies again but my suntan and smile will take a while to fade.

Always good to get a little exposure therapy in winter - sun and verticality... 

Always amazing to get to witness your partner becoming more confident and passing milestones - First lead climbs, first rappels, first mulit-pitch sea cliff, first time on limestone, first retreat off of a loose trad route, first time rapping to the end of a rope several feet off the deck, first simul-climb, first solo knife-edge ridge traverse, first time climbing and shooting with a camera. Perhaps the most impressive is surviving living in a tent for a week and sharing a kitchen with a dozen dirtbag climbers for the first time. 

I am amazed and realize what a gumby I was my first couple decades of climbing when my partner realizes all this just a few months into her climbing career - and in just a week.

all images ©Bennett Barthelemy, unless otherwise indicated...

Rock and Ice Feature...

Newest feature in the current issue of Rock and Ice Magazine, my interview w/ John Bachar from 2008... Bachar was a hero of mine and an inspiration. I was honored to get to meet him and spend a bit of time with him. An amazing individual for sure...