Climbing and Mountaineering Resume

As a member of the program committee for the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh Mountaineering School, I was asked to prepare a climbing resume.  I ended up having a lot of fun putting it together, and since this is the web and all, I added lots of links to pictures, trip reports, and route information; since that might make it interesting to other people, I figured I'd go ahead and post it here as well.

Climbing and Mountaineering Resume

I've been hiking and scrambling in the mountains as long as I can remember.  I grew up in Oregon, and my family made regular excursions into the wilderness throughout my childhood years.  When I was six years old, my father, an accomplished climber himself, began teaching me basic mountaincraft, including how to plunge step and use an ice axe.  During a three-week Outward Bound mountaineering course during high school, I gained an increased appreciation for the rhythm of being in the wilderness and the rewards of facing challenges in the mountains.  Through the rest of high school and college I did occasional climbs with friends and family, but it was during my year-off before graduate school that I began climbing some of the larger Cascade volcanoes, including Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Rainier.  During graduate school at CMU in Pittsburgh I made regular trips back to the West Coast, where I often climbed with my good friend Stewart.  While I had done occasional rock climbing for many years, I began climbing more seriously and learning to lead climb in the fall of 2003 at Seneca Rocks.  The same year I was a student in the ECP Mountaineering School, where I learned basic ice climbing and did my first rock leads in winter conditions.  I have returned as an instructor in the Mountaineering School every year since then.   For the past few years my personal climbing goals have focused on technical alpine rock routes, with climbs in the North Cascades, Rocky Mountains, High Sierras, and the Bugaboos.  In addition to mountaineering, I enjoy travel, backpacking, and canyoneering as other ways to experience the wilderness --- but usually such trips turn into at least an opportunity for some good scrambling.

Alpine Climbs and Long Rock Routes

In reverse chronological order

Spring 2008

• Red Rocks, Black Velvet Canyon, Epinephrine (15 pitches, 5.9), with Stewart (pictures, trip report from Stewart).

Summer/Fall 2007

• Cathedral Peak, SE Buttress  (II 5.6), with Amy.  
• Matthes Crest, Traverse from South to North Peak  (5.7), with Amy.  We didn't summit the N peak due to lack of time.
• Tenaya Peak, Northwest Buttress (14 pitches, 5.8 finish variation, mostly simul-climbing), with Amy.  (pictures from these climbs)

• Spearhead, North Ridge  (III 5.6), attempt, with Amy.  Bailed (4 rappels and some scrambling) in rain and hail  (pictures).
• Longs Peak, Keyhole Route, attempt to within 500' of the summit (with Amy and Jeff Parker).  Turned back due to icy conditions and lack of appropriate gear.

• Petunia Peak Ridge Traverse, Olympic Mountains.  Three days of scrambling and ridge walking, including an exposed 4th class route on the Southeast side of Petunia Peak (pictures, short blog post, trip report from Stewart)

Summer 2005

• Yosemite, Royal Arches Route  (16 pitches, 5.7), with Amy
• Yosemite, East Buttress of Middle Cathedral  (IV, 11 pitches, 5.9 A0), with Stewart.
• Liberty Bell, Liberty Crack  (V, 11 pitches, 5.9 C2), with Stewart.  Trip Report.

Winter 2004-2005

• Mt. Washington, via the South Gully, with ECP Mtn School.

Summer 2004

Pictures from these climbs and some of the other earlier ones below can be found on my old pictures site.

• Prusik Peak, West Ridge  (II 5.7), with Stewart (trip report  from Stewart).
• Liberty Bell, Beckey Route  (II 5.6), attempt with Stewart.  Bailed due to hail and thunder.
• Mt. Rainier, Emmons Glacier, with Amy, Bill Baxter, and Brian Wolovich.
• Mt. Hood, South Side Route, with Amy.
• Bugaboo Spire, Kain Route (III 5.6), with Amy.  Running out of daylight, turned back 2 pitches from summit.
• Liberty Bell, Beckey Route (II 5.6), with Amy.

Winter 2003-2004

• "Pineapple Pinnacle" (sub-peak next to The Tooth), with Stewart.

Summer 2003

• Mt Constance, West Arete Route (?), with Stewart.
• The Tooth, South Face  (II 5.4), with Stewart.

Summer 2002

• Mt. St. Helens, with Brent, Marianne, Teresa, Matt.
• Mt. Hood, South Side Route (solo).
• Mt. Cruiser, Regular 5.0 route, with Stewart.  His first alpine trad lead, and my first time seconding trad.
• Mt. Olympus, Regular (Blue Glacier) Route, with Stewart.
• Longs Peak, Keyhole Route, with Jeff Parker.

Summer 2001

• Mt. Rainier,  Disappointment Cleaver Route, with Jeff and Jon

Summer 2000

• Mt. Hood, South Side Route, with Jeff and Jon.
• Mt. Fernow, Regular Route from Copper Basin, with Noel.
• Mt. Adams, South Spur, with Brent and Jeff.

Winter 1999-2000

• Mt. Hood, South Side Route, Winter attempt, Whitman College Climbing Club.  Spent a night camped in full conditions, one party member became hypothermic, which we were able to effectively treat in the field.

Early Scrambles and Climbs (1992-1999)

In the Oregon Cascades:

• Mt. Bachelor  (9065’)
• Diamond Peak (8744'), Pioneer Ridge.  Three ascents; this was the closest big peak to our home in Cottage Grove, OR.
• Mt. Yoran, North Peak, via the South Col (7100’)
• Mt. McLoughlin  (9495’), East Ridge
• South Sister (10,358’)
• Middle Sister (10,047) Solo traverse.

In the North Cascades, on Outward Bound.

• "Kangaroo Temple", Kangaroo Ridge, North Face Standard Route (5.4?).  My first alpine trad climb.
• Golden Horn
• Some other 2nd and 3rd class scrambles.

Rock Climbing

Traditional lead climbing (5.10a on a good day) and sport (to 5.11b or so), at locations including Seneca Rocks, the New River Gorge, Stone Mountain, Linville Gorge, Red River Gorge, Joshua Tree (pictures, more pictures), Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows, Owens River Gorge, Lover's Leap, Squamish, City of Rocks (pictures), Eldorado Canyon, Lumpy Ridge, and Red Rocks.

Backpacking, Canyoneering, and Other Trips

• Spring 1998: Five day backpacking trip in the maze district, Canyonlands NP, Utah.  Some rappelling and scrambling.
• Summer 2000: Backpacking with Dave Shelly in Alaska (Rabbit Lake, Dixie Pass, McCarthy).  Five day solo backpack in Denali National Park.
• Fall 2000: Hikes in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah during cross-country road trip.
• Summer 2001: Hikes, scrambling, and exploration in the Swiss Alps, Siberia, Mongolia, and China.
• Spring 2003: Canyoneering in Southern Utah: Pine Creek, Peekaboo, Spooky, Brimston, Egypt 3, and Zebra canyons.
• Spring 2006: Nine days on the Goecha La Trek, below Kanchenjunga, Sikkim, India.
• Spring 2008: Five day descent of Death Hallow Canyon, Utah.  Trip Report and pictures.
• Summer 2008: Five day backpacking trip in Pasayten Wilderness; several 2nd-3rd class summits.