I knew that ol’ Jim Slichter had been climbing in the area since the glory-days.  He spent countless days scampering about the needles and had bagged all but one of the Cathedral Spires.  I’d seen his name in many a summit register and was inspired by his tenacity. Climbing all the spires seemed like a fun goal, but would chasing after all these obscure 5.6s really be worthy?  Well, I got sucked in (you might say obsessed) pretty quickly.  Sure, there are plenty of choss-pile routes that I will never do again, but the entire adventure was a delight.  I would often find myself rattling through the remaining spires in my head and strategizing a plan for the next climbing day.  Jim also climbed his last of the spires earlier last summer, 35 years after he climbed the first one. Way to go Jim!

The “spires project” probably began in earnest in late 2009.  Eric & I had been fairly regular climbing partners for the past few years.  Some seasons we had better luck getting out than others.  Eric is a busy guy and I am always amazed at how he keeps it all balanced – teenaged daughter, host to countless couch-surfers, volunteer at the local food co-op, traveling about for work, etc.  Even before “the project” was official Eric & I would often find ourselves heading up to the Cathedral Spires to feed the adventure addiction.  I had probably already climbed about half of the 80 or so spires.  Eric had quite a few more to do, but they were such fun the first time that I didn’t mind repeating them to get him caught up.

 

  

We met through our mutual friend, and local climbing rock star, Curt.  Unlike Eric and me, who have trouble remembering what we climbed last week, Curt has the uncanny ability to recall every gear placement and hand-hold on every climb he’s ever done.   He can always provide details on where to find each “door jamb”, “light switch” or hidden “thumb catch”.  His positive outlook and talent at relating to all types of people naturally seems to bring folks together.  After Curt moved on to adventures of mountain biking and gas drilling Eric & I started climbing together.

If you have a need for “high mileage” climbing days, the spires are probably not for you.  This is a place better suited for 5.8 adventurers than 5.12 hard-bodies.  We had more than a few “three-spire days”.  (Yes, we spent all day climbing and only did three pitches.)  I mean, we are admittedly pretty slow, but by the time you find the spire you want to climb, figure out which way to go up, muster up the courage to do it and then figure out how to get down you’ve whiled away some time. Descents were sometimes more involved than the climb, requiring replacement of crispy white webbing or other “creative” measures.  As our friend Miss Lindsay often sings in her best Billy Idol voice, “it’s a nice day for some...white webbing” in the Cathedral Spires.

 

The goal was to climb all of the named spires, but some of the most fun was had climbing (and naming) some of the unnamed spires.  This admittedly often happened because we were lost or confused.  I noted July 31st, 2010 as “a day of confusion”.  We headed up what I assumed had to be Tuning Fork, since it was a very tuning fork-ish two-pronged spire next to Sharp. But alas, I was wrong.  (The real Tuning Fork is much more impressive, with an airy two-rope rap off the steep southeast side.) We named our poorly-tuned first attempt Pitch Pipe. The same day we tried to head up Heck of a Note from the 1-2 gully instead of starting up the Conn route on the other side. I was lured in by a nice looking wide crack that I thought would get us there, but instead we landed on top of the shorter spire in the notch between Heck of a Note and Tuning Fork. We dubbed it Staccato and would return to find that Heck of a Note another day.

 

Other new spires include Accidental, Freak’s Friend, Bunion’s Buddy, Big Stem and Exacerbation Spire.  Someone’s probably climbed at least some of these before, but I don’t know who.  Besides, naming things is fun!  One day we stumbled across several tiny ferns, known as moonworts, near the base of an unnamed spire that we climbed and called Moonwort Monument.

Another highlight was following in the footsteps of Herb and Jan Conn, the original Needles adventurers.  It was neat to sign some of their cool old registers that have been perched on summits for over half a century.  When faced with a challenging or scary section of a climb, I’d imagine those two just scampering up there in their tennis shoes.  We joked about getting “What would Jan do?” bracelets made up for those cruxy moments.

 

 

I also enjoyed scrambling up and down snow filled gullies on those early spring forays.  However, there were some days, while perched on a chilly belay ledge, when I would catch myself wondering why I was up in the cold windy spires instead of at some sunny south-facing crag.  But alas, the next weekend I would find myself up there again lured in by the magic and adventure of the best backyard in the world.  

 

Stay tuned for "Tales of the Final Spire".....

The Greenland report.

Really nothing to adventuresome to report from Thule Airbase this week.  We have been hitting the work list hard and enjoying good success on the construction task.  Our main project has been to assemble the cargo decks that ride on the sleds beneath the fuel and cargo that are towed to Summit Camp.

 

The Smiling Swing Boss is one of the main characters in this outfit and and he drives Nukik, which I'm told means 'strong' in Greenlandic...to pull the big sleds across the ice sheet to Summit Camp.  

Thule Air Base looks like most any armed forces base.  Stout low slung buildings built on the perma frost with utility pipes running everywhere.  We have not seen the actual sun since I left New York 2 weeks ago, but there is a lot of indirect light and I hear that the sun will appear for at least a brief time over the mountains here in town sometime next week.  During the long winter days and nights around here...there is no light for several months during the heart of the winter, but soon we will be in 24 hour sunlight.  It is a land of extremes for sure.

Our work all takes place in a HUGE hanger about 3/4 of a mile from our crew quarters.  The base is at the mouth of Northstar Bay in the shadow of Dundas Mountain.  It has of course been kinda cold and I'm trying to harden myself off much like we do with our tomato plants in the spring before planting them outdoors for the summer.  So I walk around base when I have time, but often we act like a bunch of good midwestern Americans, and only walk from our dorm to the preheated vehicas which are always plugged in...then into the hanger to work.  Soon though we will be moving our construction projects outdoors for assembly and loading, and the arctic gear that I brought with and that that was issued will play an important part in my 'comfort'.  To put things in perspective of what is to come...there is talk of the high on Tuesday being -18 degrees Fahrenheit...and the need to goto the edge of the ice cap to install a heater in the warming hut where we work...assuming the road gets plowed.  And at least it will probably be windy! 

That could be a tougher assigment then the teeshirt comfort of the hanger.

 View of Newstar Bay around 2 in the afternoon local time...it is a little brighter then the camera was able to capture and there is more and more light every day.

 Dundas Mountain across the bay behind my boss Buck.

Slaying...I mean...building up the stack of decks.

Boxes and boxes and boxes of screws go into building this stuff.  The photos can't hardly capture how large the airplane hanger that we work in is. The C-130 cargo plane that is shown in the photos has a 132 foot wingspan and is just over 38 foot tall if my google search can be believed.  With that aircraft sitting in the center, we still had plenty of room to work in our little corner assembling sled decks.  

We did have to wait till the plane flew off to get a crane in and flip the 2500 pound decks we'd been building.

A quick coat of paint for the pride of the fleet.   You can also see the rolls of plastic in the background which make up the sled base along with the red tow plates that attach these soon to be monsters to the tractors shown in the first photo.  I'm not sure who thought of this idea of pulling hundreds of thousands of pounds to the ends of the earth, but it is quite a cool thing to be part of the fast moving project.  The work days are long and loud with plenty going on.

 

They have also been putting the finishing touches on the new and much anticipated crew quarters.  Prior to this, the GRit Team has been sleeping in tents while on the traverse across the ice cap.  So it has been pretty exciting to be a part of the action.  As you can surely tell from the photo....Shep was pretty happy to finally test the placement of the crew quarters on the sled that he spent several days building.

I did get the posse of South Dakota Boys to pose for a quick photo after lunch one day...still smiling and enjoying the ride.

 

Hollis Marriot, also known as the Last Pioneer Woman, wrote up a beautiful tribute after Herb Conns death.  Check it out and enjoy all the photos.  Check it out here.   I think she is correct in calling them the original rock climbing bums, and I'm so glad we all had their footsteps to follow in.  Their simple lifestyle will inspire me forever. 

Hollis's story and photos made me think of the time when we first met Jan and Herb 16 years ago.  They were looking for ferns and had spied some up in a wide crack and wanted to investigate.  They seemed so spry and young at heart that I did not hardly think about the fact that they were both well into their seventies.  Cheryl and I were wide eyed 20 somethings and enjoying our new South Dakota home.    We met Jan our first week in Custer, SD after seeing a small poster for play tryouts. The play was the musical that Jan had written, called Run To Catch a Pinecone.  It is a beautiful story about life, summer romance, and how things sometimes turn out.  Cheryl and I got small parts, and a friendship was born.

 Anyhow...a few years later, the Conn's asked us to help them get a closer look at the Ferns that they had found and Hollis talks about in her blog post.  We rode in their Jeep named Pogo and parked at the Black Elk/Custer State Park boundary along Needles Highway.  From there, off we went on a hike to the rocks. Jan thought our climbing packs were huge, and could not figure what all we had in them that was worth carrying so far.  The packs hey had used were tiny day packs with a mountaineers coil for their rope, a holster for their piton hammer, and special pockets in their pants for a water bottle, they were ready for adventure.

We all soloed up the rock, and Jan made sure that we all had a chance to take our turn leading the expedition.  There was no doubt some 5th class moves (in their 70's remember) on the way up.  So once above the ferns, the plan was to climb/rappel down to take a closer look at the specimens to determine if they were the Hybrid Variety, and perhaps even collect a sample of the ferns.

Come to find out, according to them, neither of them had ever worn a harness or rappelled.  Of course Cheryl and I were shocked. But Jan and Herb always thought that if a rock was fun enough to climb up, then it was fun enough to climb down.  And besides, most the time their 60 foot rope was to short to rap on.  There was also the fact that extra pitons were hard to come by, so leaving anything behind was nearly in-fathomable to them (once a climbing bum always a climbing bum).

 So I unloaded my huge backpack of its gear and made a nice anchor with a few cams.  Jan and Herb were having none of that.  If I recall correctly, Jan said something like "I'd trust that tree a whole lot more then those new fangled things"...now the tree was about 3 inches in diameter and growing out of a crack in the rock so probably had little root structure, but who was I to argue with 2 living rock climbing legends.

So I moved the anchor over, although kept a tail attached to my cams though, as I didn't trust the tiny tree, and thought that it would be really bad form to get hurt or killed with 'THE' Jan and Herb Conn.   Once I got that done, Jan whips on a bowline on a bite, I started to belay from the top as she climbed down.   She made it 2/3 of the way down to the ferns and nearly to the ground until she asked to be lowered (it was probably 5.9 moves at that point) to the bottom.

Herb decided that he was up for a new experience so I lent him a harness, and at that spot taught him to use a rappel device.  Looking back, it still amazes me that I was some 28 year old punk teaching Herb Conn, my hero, how to rappel.  
Anyhow, all of us got down safely and I then Cheryl and I took a few laps climbing on the new route just for fun.  Jan probably has a much better journal entry about the day.  The Conns always disliked getting their picture taken, so we don't hardly have any pictures of them, but I'll never forget that day.

I know Jan is adjusting to her new reality, and looking forward to seeing her when I get home from Greenland.

A favorite photo of the late Herb Conn with his wife and life partner Jan.  Two AMAZING people.  Taken by Hollis Marriot.

 

 

Greenland Field Notes - Flight up

Been up since 05:00 (3am my body time), spinning out....09:08 now.  The huge C-17 Air National Guard plane  just started moving.  Everything is full up.  90,000 lbs of cargo and people.  We are all sitting in the canvas seats with our life preserver tucked into our lumbar.  I'm thinking about the men and women who have sat in these seats over the last 10 years on their way to war.  Now, I am excited, but sitting here in this seat with my rifle and battle armor would be a whole different level.  

 

Cleared for takeoff... This bird is pretty quite and smooth.  One little portal ahead of me on the wall.  Hope to be able to see the ice bergs trapped in the sea ice along the coast.  Sitting sideways along the wall instead of forward.... You really feel the angle of lift at takeoff.  Our cabin mom is tightening the turnbuckles on the Tucker snow cat sitting in front of me as it slides slightly to the rear of the plane.   Feels like the crew is flying figure 8's, but we have no view of the horizon to reference.  If they kill the lights for landing, it's gunnar be pretty dark in here.  Leveled off....flying smooth and fast...Kinda loud.  Time for some music and a book..... Feb 7 0924am

 

The noise canceling headset is the bomb for traveling.  The computers are all out... Super casual.  I never want to fly commercial again.  Looked out the port holes.  Sea of clouds.  U2 playing... Life is good.

 

 

11am hanging out doing laps around the plane looking out the ports at Canada ... Fun so far. They let us up in the cockpit for awhile...super cool.  Auto pilot on, listened to the pilots joking, getting coffee...very cool.  Surprised at all the paper charts. Nick Said he had backpacked in the area below, and saw whales around the mouth of the St Laurence river.  Just crawled under the Tucker for a nap.

 

 

I like a plane that needs oxygen in the crapper and you can crash on the cargo even if you have to wear ear protection...2nd best flight ever  after flying xc to Tacoma in a two seated plane flown by my dad.

 

 

 

13:47.  Standing in the back of my flying carpet looking down through the dirty portholes at miles and miles and miles of sea ice with a few trapped glaciers thrown on for excitement listening to Miles Davis and feeling pretty darn tiny.  Damn that's a pretty way to watch the sun starting to set.  

 

 

14:00 ten minutes - till decent and landing...game on.  If I return here it probably won't be as fun....as I will have responsibility  .... Now it's just do as I'm told.

The only bummer about this plane is I can't see the landings.

Touch down - reverse thrust .... Damn that is loud!

 

Feeling like a Sally.... Pilot said they are gunna tow us into the hanger for unloading rather then flight line on the tarmac unloading today... Weather report....COLD is all he said. 14:33

Couple days out----

Made it through the first few days.   More safety meetings and the normal stuff for a new job.  No mater what you might think, Thule Air Force Base is pretty easy living.  All the buildings are super warm.  There is a sweet Rec. center with a fitness center and bowling alley.  The community center is supposed to be nice too.  The chow hall has a salad bar every meal, plus your normal chow hall food, but upper crust for sure. 

Finally got started working, and then a storm rolled in to shut the entire base down.   It's not all that wicked out, still snowing, and there is wind with more predicted, so as Standard Operations, no chances are taken.  We are getting close to 24 hours stuck in our dorm, and it might be another 24...or 48 or who knows.  Supplies holding out well, but if it goes on another few days...some MRE's might get eaten.  Its hot in here though.  All and all, life is great....wish you were here.

 

Well, I don't want to jinx it, but I have a good Internet connection here at the hotel in NY, so I thought I'd put together a little post about the current adventure I've just begun.

 Yesterday (Feb 5) I flew outa Rapid City and arrived in NY (by way of Atlanta..Ugggg)....  Tomorrow I will get on a C17 that is chock full of supplies and 16 of us crew members siting in the web seats....bound for Thule Air Base in Greenland where I will be spending the next 2 months working as a carpenter in support of the Greenland Inland Traverse mission (GrIT).  Near as I can tell so far, this is a support mission for the ongoing science missions in this cold dark windy part of the world.  The idea is, that it is not possible to fly enough supplies into the Summit Camp...so we will build big sleds and fill them up with fuel and suppleis and the drivers will drag them across the ice to the research station.

 

 As for my role...I will be just a carpenter/jack of all trades grunt helping to get the mission ready and out the door.  Once they leave on the traverse (late March/early April), I'll clean up the mess we made and come home while they drive across the ice cap to Summit Camp...drop the supplies and return to Thule Air Base.

 

  This method of moving supplies was first dreamed up and tried in Antarctica.  The mission migrated north after working a few of the bugs out, and has been supplying the research stations there for several years. 

Being a newbie, there is a lot more about this deal that I do not know then that which I do, so stay tuned right here for more info.

A hero to many of us, Herb Conn has climbed his last rock climbing route and explored his last caving lead. On Feb. 1, 2012 he died from natural causes (probably prostate cancer) in his home near Custer, SD.

His smile and spark were strong to the end. His giggle was something to inspire us all. There are few men that combine the humble toughness his achievements attest to with the gentle good nature, and kindness worthy of a true hero.

 

As his friends will attest, Herb was ready to go and knew it was his time. He told me while I was over  at his place chopping firewood last fall that he was not sure anyone needs to live beyond 90 years. He managed to do it in style though. Few people in America live without electricity or running water by choice into their elder years. If you ever feel the need to try this…be sure to secure the devotion of a tough, and loving life partner. I can’t imagine either of the Conns would have been able to do what they did without the other. They were a team to the end. Jan told me that she was reading aloud to Herb while he rested during their last days together. It brings a warm tear to my cheek to recall the vision of Jan standing there in front of the Conn Cave (the name they have for their snug little home), telling me that the end was near, but that…. he still giggled when she read a funny passage.

Jan and Herb always seemed independent to their core. Herb floated through life living simply, leaving only survey marks and summit registers during his time here. If you have followed a Conn route up a Needles Spire and tried to imagine what it must have been like to do it 60 years ago, with only a hand full of pitons, dime-store tennis shoes, and a rope too short to rappel back down (so you’d have to down climb the route as well), it is hard not to be inspired, and empowered by what they did. If you trek into the dark depths of Jewel or Wind Cave following the carbide survey marks of this dynamic duo of yesteryear, you have adventured well!

Since 1948 they have called the southern Black Hills of SD home. They recorded over 220 first ascent summits and explored over 60 miles of Jewel Cave putting it on the map as a world class cave. Jan explained with a grin during an awards presentation that ‘tourism was the last thing on their minds as they explored and adventured back in the day,’ but if you travel where they once went…it is easy to understand the draw. The hidden treasures and beautiful sights they discovered will be sought out by generations of explorers to come.

The Black Hills was a perfect place for Herb’s love of math, maps and adventure. He spent countless hours seeking out places that no human had ever been. He and Jan filled in blank spots on the maps and drew maps of places no one ever dreamed existed.

Herb was no socialite and his isolated existence added to the mystery and romance of this Custer couple. We might well learn more about him post mortem than we knew while he was with us, as people who knew him over the decades share their experiences. One thing everyone seems to agree on, is that he had a beautiful smile, simple presence and sweet giggle…… that cast a spell upon us all.

Jan appears to be doing well and plans to continue living in the Conn cave and in her words "doing a few things Herb might not approve of."  She, like Herb still glows when you see her, and has a zest for life that everyone can love.  We look forward to enjoying new adventures with her.  She said she plans to write a bit about Herb and we hope to post that here too when she gets done with it.

 

Other links

Mountain Project

Rapid City Journal

Caving News

 KDLT news

Super Topo - where I stole the nice photo from

Sylvan Rocks Blog - 1

Sylvan Rocks Blog - 2

John Gill Website

Yeah, it's winter...and while it has been pretty nice here all winter, rock climbing time is still pretty limited.  If you have a climbing gym nearby to stay strong, I hope you are using it.  For the rest of us, here is a little video by John Sherman that will help make up for some rusty rock climbing muscles come spring, and get us on the right track for a great season. 

If you hang out around the Black Hills granite climbing areas, you might even see a few places that you have been as he filmed it right here in "Cheyenneville" or is that "John's Town."  Hard to tell....

Enjoy!  Climb Safe!

 

 

As many of  you know, the Access Fund is a great asses to climbers all across the country.  The Black Hills Climbers Coalition was formed many moons ago as a local chapter of the Access fund and they too hope to keep climbing alive and thriving here in the Black Hills.  We hope you are supporting members with your time and cash of both organizations.

Here is a nice little video of a few projects that the access fund did last year.

Top 10 Victories for the Access Fund in 2011.

1. Mobilized climbing conservation with the launch of the Access Fund-Jeep Conservation Team
2. Continued to strengthen the grassroots climbing advocacy network by hosting the National Access and Stewardship Summit
3. Prevented astronomical fee increases for climbing Mount Denali and Rainier
4. Fought for adequate funding for American parks and public lands
5. Awarded over $40,000 in grant money to support local climbing access and stewardship
6. Continued to push federal agencies for a clear policy to allow the use of Fixed Anchors in Wilderness
7. Expanded the Access Fund Land Conservation Campaign to support emergency stewardship action
8. Raised $75,000 to protect and steward Jailhouse Rock in California
9. Offered local climbing organizations the opportunity to leverage the infrastructure and administrative capabilities of the Access Fund with joint membership
10. Brought together individual climbers, leaders in the outdoor industry, and Access Fund board members past and present to celebrate our 20th anniversary

GO CLIMBERS!!!

Went out on the big town of Rapid City last night with my KLR motorcycle gang friends.  Had a great time watching guys rip it up on the Extreme indoor enduro races at the Rapid City Civic Center.

The obstacles were really pretty impressive.  The video below shows most of the track, but after riding through the culvert...they had them go out of the arena, up a couple flights of stairs, through the hallway and back down to the track.  It was wild to watch and I am sure a few of the racers are feeling some pain after last nights efforts. 

Hats off to Jessie Hanson from Rushmore Mountain Sports for racing in a few of the heats.  Glad to see that 2 kids are not slowing him down!

There were tons of wrecks, but I don't think anyone was seriously hurt.  Those big tires were crazy and the rocks and fire wood pile seemed like a sprained ankle or messed up knee waiting to happen.  What were they thinking?

Shot this little video on the new Iphone...pretty wild.

 

December, 2011 was a big month for us.  We did 2 things we'd never done before...and were pretty unsure about.  #1  We decided to try a Sams Club Membership.  I know, I can't believe it myself...the evil empire...the Devils House, but darn they have good cheap cheese.   And I can't goto Trader Joe's anywhere in a 5 state area around here, so we'll see how it works out.

 #2  We joined Netflix. Yes, we are a little Luddite like in that way, and plus we have never had a TV so it made it rather hard to enjoy.  We tied these two things together when we watched and highly recommend -   Dive - Living Off Americas Waste the other night, and boy did that bring back some good memories.  The dumpsters all looked the same.  I'm pretty sure we visited a few of the ones shown in years past.  Yes, its true, when we were spending 6 months a year on the road as Dirt Bags, we were Dumpster Divers too.  Cheryl loves a good dive more then most anything else.  Oh Boy...it sends shivers up her spine.  She revels in the randomness of not knowing what you are going to get and making due with what you find.  It was never as though we needed it all, but it was there, and good and just as the folks in the movie say, we felt just in taking and using trash that was otherwise destine to end up in the landfill.

 

Our friend Marcus said it best in his thick Boston accent.  "We are living like KINGS....outa da dumpster.  Truffles, here we are eating truffles outa the dumpster....."  and we were.  Glad to see it is still going on.....well, except for the fact that America waste so much food.  We were, and continue to be, amazed at all the waste.  Around here, the pickings are a little slim, but in the big cities there are bigger supermarkets, less locked dumpsters, and TONS AND TONS of food is tossed every night.  The movie said we waste 50% of the food in this country, and after living like kings outa the dumpster for months on end, I believe it, and can tell you that the footage in the movie is totally accurate. Just take a minute to think about that. You and I waste half of the food that is produced.  All the hungry people here in South Dakota......across America and around the world, and we are wasting 50% of the food we produce.  Amazing.  I recall one night we garbage picked something like 58 logs of perfectly good goat cheese.  The stuff was top shelf.  Really good.  The type of thing we really liked, but would have never spent money on for even one log.   And we ate and gave it away and ate and ate it as fast as we could.  It kept well, but in the end, we had that dilemma, we could not use or give away all it before some went bad.  It pained us to throw some of it away....even though we tried to remember that it had been trash once already.  Crazy world we live in.  So if you get a chance....take a Dive.  Enjoy the food and the flix. 

The trailer below is good, the whole documentary is better.  Watch it....think about it.

 

Dive! Trailer from Compeller Pictures on Vimeo.