So Many Places to be Thankful For!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I like the spirit of it, and I'm feeling very thankful this year.  Of course family, friends, and good health are the most important things for which I feel gratitude.  But this is the climbing blog.  So for this Thanksgiving post, I'm going spend a little time highlighting the areas that I'm psyched about right now, and some of their qualities which I'm thankful for.

Here we go,

Oz- has incredible stone in a beautiful environment, and wild horses!

 Torrey Valley- has classic mountain scenery and the conditions there are often nice when the weather is poor everywhere else.

 Roaring Fork- has a friendly mountain ambiance,

 and shaded high altitude blocks.

 Sinks Canyon- is so convenient,

with good sport climbing when the boulders are covered in snow.

And I'm also thankful that the fire in Sinks Canyon last summer only damaged a few routes.

The Rock Shop- because it stayed cool for most of the Summer,

 and kept sprouting new lines and even new sectors all last season.

 Thanks to Alex, Justin, Jesse B., Jesse F., Bryan, Kerrek and Calen, for adding many of the new lines and sectors.

The Falcon's Lair - I didn't get up there last summer, but I'm thankful that I can make up for that when summer returns.

 For more alpine granite that's solid and clean.

 The Source-

 because it still has a lot of potential that's not even far from the road.

 Bear Valley- vast and wild with so much potential!  I'm thankful that I got to see it this year.

 Zebra striped gneiss,

  and endless fields of boulders in the northern winds.

 Thanks to Davin for showing me the areas up there, and for giving me one of my favorite first ascents of the year.

 Sweetwater- because it feels like another world,

 with high quality projects already found and ready for attempts.

 And many more areas to explore.

 The Cirque of the Boulders- for fueling dreams, and making all the other areas feel easily accessible in comparison.

It was a stroke of luck that I ended up in the right place at the right time to be a part of these area's development.  And without Davin, Chris, and Jesse's exploration and willingness to share, I wouldn't have nearly as many areas to be thankful for.  Big thanks go out to them!

Directions and problem descriptions for the majority of these areas are described in the guidebook, and in case you're wondering it's available at:

Wild Iris
ClimbingWyoming.com
and Fixed Pin Publishing

Add it to your Christmas list, or give it to another boulderer, and thanks for the support.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!