Subjectivity in objectivity.

The peaks of a "map" of DNA.
Found at www.newscientist.com

DNA testing and evidence and is often portrayed and thought of as THE standard to be compared too. A sort of holy grail for forensic science, it is commonly idealized as the ace in the hole piece of evidence. Those unfamiliar with it more often than not are convinced that DNA evidence is irrefutable. Wait, isn't it?

Unfortunately, it depends on your perspective. How could that be? Either your DNA matches or it doesn't, it's science. A typical DNA "reading" so to speak, consists of peaks related to repeated pieces of DNA found in specific areas called loci. Problems come in when you have DNA that is not ideal (either partial, mixed, contaminated, or old samples) as well as subjective bias from lab technicians as to which loci should be compared.

Subjective bias? Strangely enough, there are very few standards followed by labs for criminal DNA testing leaving interpretation of the results to the perspective of the technician, and the fate of the accused even varying by lab!¹

As an ice climber in Utah, I learned long ago that personal bias and abilities, expectations, pride, and subjective interpretation comes into play when talking about conditions, just like DNA analysis. Even though I love it, climbing ice here is fickle. So you try to wildly hypothesize what is in, what is climbable, and at the same time, hunt for any knowledge already out there.

I was told "man, it's too warm, you might be able to get on the staples in Provo Canyon, but that's about it." In fact, I went out onto the Great White Icicle afternoon the other day and I didn't even bother going past pitch 3. Why push it through poor ice when we still have months too go?

Still, there is climbing to be had, and we decided we would rally up to "Hell Froze Over" WI5 M5 X on Hellgate in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

My calf's are getting pumped!

How can you not love mixed climbing?

Just think, if this pitch takes more than 30 minutes, it will
count as an ARC session! We must follow the Rock Prodigy training
gospel of the Anderson Brothers!

Never let climbing get in the way of a good training session for
climbing Shad counsels during the final runout.

Back down in time for lunch! A demonstration of the perfect rope toss.
All Photo by Sawyer Wylie

---

1 Pretty wild huh? Should you be interesting in reading more on the subject, please follow the links below: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727733.500-fallible-dna-evidence-can-mean-prison-or-freedom/ http://stories.frontline.org/dna http://www.scienceandjusticejournal.com/article/S1355-0306(11)00096-7/abstract http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/10/10/Court-to-decide-defense-request-for-secret-DNA-computer-source-code/stories/201510100063

The billion dollar lesson.

The magical Sundial casting its long shadow.

During the 1980's the city of Moscow was a forbidding enviroment. Sure it was physically cold, but more importantly, "Stalin was convinced the World Was II victory over the Nazis demonstrated the unshakability of the Soviet state" and he "deepened the brutal, closed system he had perfected...creating the perpetual struggle against 'enemies of the people' and 'spies'." The CIA during the time was still new to the game of espionage; and with the unforgiving environment that was the capital of the USSR and the brutal KGB roaming the streets carrying out the Stalin purges, intelligence was quite literally nonexistent.

How was it then that during this time the most effective spy in American history, "The Billion Dollar Spy", came to pass? The praise goes primarily to the actual spy, Adolf Tolkachev, but a portion I believe is due to the CIA. Through persistence during their years of attempts of recruitments and operations in Moscow, they picked up on little nuances about the city. One thing they realized was that "KGB surveillance teams almost always followed a car from behind. They rarely pulled alongside. It was possible for a car carrying a CIA officer to slip around a corner or two, momentarily out of view of the KGB. In that brief interval, the CIA case officer could jump out of the car and disappear. At the same time, the Jack-in-the-Box would spring erect, a pop-up that looked, in outline, like the head and torso of the case officer who had just jumped out."¹

The Jack-in-the-Box.
credit: http://www.gizmodo.com.au

Using these skills learned from their tenure in Moscow, including the Jack-in-the-Box, officers were able to dodge their KGB tails, meet with spies, and retrieve information. Since 2009, I have spent my winters climbing in the Wasatch racking up days getting skunked, climbing ice, and generally just learning about my favorite mountains. Keeping an eye on the weather, and comparing it with past year's temperatures, and precipitation Early this month I decided that the Sundial ice, Frozen in Time, should be ready earlier that expected.
Matt and I made the approach with snow still low on the ground and managed to have a great time getting the seasonal first ascent on November 10th. Now that really isn't much to get excited about, but the idea of being first for the year makes things fun and when you are having to hunt for ice that acts like a real Jack-in-the-Box, it amplifies the fun. It is things like this that contribute to climbing being continually interesting (I think) and I only realized there was a chance that it was ready to climb from the experiences I have from my tenure as a climber here.

Starting up it is really hard to believe
that it is a full pitch length.

I always feel I need a good warm up
and refresher to moving on the ice again.

Heading home, all the while laughing at the idea
of breaking trail in waste deep powder to get here.

The mountain with the ice to it's right.
All photos: Matt Berry.

---

1 All quotes came from The Billon Dollar Spy by David E. Hoffman

Can anything good come out of there?

Out on an unknown problem somewhere between Triassic
and Joes Valley. Is there anything good out there?
Photo by Ian Crookston

45. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom ^aMoses in the law, and the prophets, did ^bwrite, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

46. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

John 1:45-46


The above passage from the Bible is an interesting one. In that current age, the city of Nazareth was certainly not anything special. We can see that Nathanael was incredulous because in addition to the idea of the Savior of the world being raised in such a common place, is that the prevalent view in his day was the idea "that the Christ was to come in a royal state as seemed befitting the Son of David."¹
Philip's answer is admirably simple "come and see."

Something I find beautiful about climbing is the many places to see, experience, and learn from. There is no specific arena you must play in to be a real climber, no designated hitter to call in for you, and always a tomorrow to prepare for and try again. To my perspective, that is part of the soul of climbing. There are always places to explore, new routes to climb, and all boulder problems and routes possess some part of the machine that is climbing. We can then assume that you are capable to appreciate climbing wherever you climb, your local crag or the largest meccas. Am I trying to say that your local crags are as good as the meccas? Well that depends on what values we compare, what I am comparing are many of what I consider core values of climbing (self improvement, friendship, enjoyment, exercise, an excuse to outside, adventure, education). When I do so, I realize they can be achieved wherever you are climbing.

Nazareth aka LCC

In one of my local Nazareths (Little Cottonwood Canyon) exist beautiful slabs of granite made to climb on.

A view from on high of Little Cottonwood.

Jordan reaching for his first piece from an oasis
 that is a classic LCC xenolith.

Whew, no factor 2 falls off friction slab onto
 the belay today. Now where to go?

A view of the thumb, one of the most prominent
landmarks in the canyon, from the Gate Buttress.
Can you really complain?

Rome aka Yosemite

As far as my understanding goes, the big city in Jesus's day was Rome. Starting from the history of climbing, Yosemite is still a likeness of the mecca it once was. Little Cottonwood has smeary feet, flared cracks, and finicky pro. Yosemite on the other hand, has better versions of all three (typically).

With better version of all three, no wonder
it is a Mecca!
Photo: Zeppelin Zeerip

Sorting gear while waiting in line on
The Central Pillar of Frenzy, Middle Cathedral.
Photo: Zeppelin Zeerip

The Captain across the
valleyfrom the same line.
Photo: Zeppelin Zeerip 

Everyone afloat on the
vertical ocean of granite.
Photo: Zeppelin Zeerip

---

1 Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage^↩

Ionic bonding in the mountains.

Looking into Idaho with the shadows of the Tetons extending west
almost to Battleship Mountain, and over Schoolroom Lake and
the South Fork of Cascade Canyon.
photo: Christian Lippert

One of the basic concepts of general chemistry is that of the ionic bond. To demonstrate it in layman's terms, I will explain the general anatomy of an atom, and we will make a few generalizations about their bonding. Stick with me for the next two paragraphs for the full explanation, or just do what my mother does and skip to the the climbing below!

The basic morphology of an atom with protons
and neutrons in the center and electrons around them.
photo from www.iflscience.com 

An atom is, at its simplest, protons and neutrons surrounded by electrons. All basic elements have different numbers of each of those three components, but they all want either eight or zero electrons in their outermost layer of electrons (called valence electrons). If they have a low number of valence electrons (say one, two, or three), it is easier for them to give up those electrons rather than try to accumulate a total of eight valence electrons. On the other hand, if an atom has a higher number of valence electrons (say five, six, or seven), they want to find electrons to add until they reach a total of eight valence electrons.

Now it is easy to see a potential mutually beneficial relationship for different atoms. When an atom with two valence electrons connects with an atom with six valence electrons, the two can be donated, and they both will be happy with either eight or zero valence electrons. This complete transfer from one atom to another is in fact, a ionic bond. Each atom is happy with the arrangement since they both, despite their differences, benefit from this electron transfer.

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?
photo from www.chm.bris.ac.uk

In a number of ways, this is easily compared to the situation when you are mentoring another climber. One of you has much greater experience and another is just starting out and learning. My point however is that there are mutual benefits. Benefits don't only exist for the mentored climber even though those are the most obvious like the transferred electrons. So what does exist for the mentor, and what does this have to do with the shadow of the Tetons?

Having spent time every year in the backcountry of the Tetons since I was fourteen (and I climbed my first technical route in the Tetons, the Enclosure Couloir, at seventeen) I am familiar and comfortable with the range. Usually because of this I end up visiting the range about once a year not for myself, but helping friends get their first taste of climbing in these mountains. I was lucky enough to do so again this month.

With these trips, I often times feel like can be a good reset button. Not only do I get to spend some casual time in such a beautiful place, but I also get to view it from a set of eyes who have never been there. As such, they are blown away and I end up valuing the location and my relationship with it even more.

Walking up to the Lower Saddle.
photo: Christian Lippert

Looking back down beautiful Garnet Canyon.
photo: Christian Lippert

Putting on our puffies and gloves for
the last cold and icy section of scrambling.
photo: Christian Lippert

Ezra looking towards Lake Solitude.
from the O.S. route

Thumbs up for the summit! Christian, Sawyer,
 Ezra, and Brad loving life.
photo: Christian Lippert

Inside the white wilderness.

The classic book on exploring the greater ranges.
Why have designated areas of white wilderness
when you have all of the Karakoram range?

The idea is not proprietary to Reinhold Messner, although I do like his alliteration. "White wilderness" is a concept where areas are designated for adventure. Places where there are blanks on the maps, there are no topos, no mountainproject, no beta. White wilderness is were you go to experience unknown.

Santaquin

Santaquin Canyon is a place that is really not considered for rock climbing by most in the Wasatch. This is not from a lack of climbable rock, but from the white wilderness effect. This is a canyon that was designated by the "wasatch climbing founding fathers" as an area where there would be no guide books. No topos, no nada.  As such, it is not as easy and comfy as just sport climbing up American Fork. Beta passed by, and learned, from mentorship, campfire talk, and exploration.  As such, I wouldn't want to put forth much information, but some photos shouldn't hurt.

The best way to swap stories, over a campfire.
Somewhere in the Utah desert gathering more Santaquin beta.

The gem in hiding.

Tyson warming up my
projects as usual.

L. about to start cruxing.

R. on his valiant onsight attempt.

The mad dog days.

"I thought mad dogs foamed at the mouth, galloped, leaped and lunged at throats, and I thought they did it in August. Had Tim Johnson behaved thus, I would have been less frightened."

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

August at home had certainly been hot enough to cause anyone to foam at the mouth. Dogs, sure. People, definitely. After all, how could I climb when I only wanted to go back to the air conditioned car minutes into every approach?

Summer is HOT.  So where to climb?
Consider the Devils Castle.

Specific heat is a measurement of how much heat energy something can absorb before changing
temperature 1 °C.  Limestone has a higher specific heat than granite, thus stays cooler given
the same amount of heat transferred to both stone types. 

Thank goodness for cool north facing alpine limestone walls!

Lets do another one!

Why should you climb in the alpine?

Why should you alpine climb? What is so good about it?

I mean lets be honest, I love cragging. Who couldn't? If that old adage of "you are what you eat" is true, you probably are also what you think and do. Under that definition, I am more of a sport climber than an alpine climber. Despite that, I do try to climb in the alpine. It offers many things playing around in our local canyons simply can't.

Here are reasons to alpine climb:

It may require some hard work and early mornings...

...but you do get to spend time in some beautiful places.
Whether that is the approach...
photo by Matt Berry

...or the actual climbing.
Photo by Matt Berry

Oh, did I mention the summits? A photo from perhaps
 one of the funnest and classiest summits; the Middle Teton.
Photo by Dallin Slater

You also get to see some darn cute animals!
These guys call Mt Stuart their home.

Not to mention that the actual climbing
can be outstanding.
Myself on an ephemeral line high on Timpanogas.
Photo by Joey Langford

And finally, a photo that sums up two important things. Great
temperatures for summer rock climbing, and fun!
Photo: Justin Hansen

It appears that there are more climbers than ever before. This is really noticeable when you look at the easily accessible crags. Starting this summer, trying walking a little farther!

Make it a blessing.

Not my image, taken from http://www.mountainalbum.com.
I think it helps explain the allure Mt. Olympus holds though.

A finger injury is a real bummer for a climber, and unfortunately I drew the short straw (metaphorically) this summer. So since I was nursing my first finger injury in years, I thought it would be a perfect time to visit some old friends.

Mount Olympus is special. I am not sure I can quantify what it is, but I have long had a fascination with it.  With miles of easy terrain, it is a perfect place to climb without actually stressing anything that shouldn't be. Naturally once I had visited the slabs, I just couldn't get enough.

"wow, this is x-treme!" Despite rain clouds literally everywhere,
we decided to go check it out anyway. Sometimes you just have
to go rub your nose in it.

Our winter and spring were switched. Winter
was terribly dry and spring horribly wet....

...luckily between weather systems (and my
school schedule) we have been managing to sneak
 into the hills to maintain our (my) sanity.

How can you not love the slabs?

My first time up the slabs was when I was 14. We belayed every foot
and it took more than 13 hours round trip to complete it.

Motivated to move faster, I resolved to return later and give a shot at moving fast. I revisited the slabs and pulled out a time of 1h 31min roundtrip car-top of the slabs-car from the trailhead at Thousand Oaks Circle. I'm definitely not a runner and even stopped (though not the clock) and chatted for a few minutes during it so it felt good to pull a reasonable time out. Jared Campbell's record time of 1h 1min is quite impressive, and very inspiring. I felt the urge to start running and try again in the spring when there is lots of snow over the rock talus and I can bomb the descent down the Apollo Couloir like he did (I took the standard descent down climbing to the west then back down the ascent gully), visible in the video below. I don't feel ready to be a runner yet, so we'll see. I'm already antsy to get back onto technical terrain.

Following that urge, I wanted to climb many of the routes I began on.

Dance of the pregnant wildebeest. Officially known as 5.8,
 though sandbagged as wildly harder; I know of no other
5.8 that overhangs at least 10 feet from the start. This
was one of the first routes I ever did outside.

With an injury, a finger injury especially, it is easy to have a fatalistic approach. Now I have to take 2 months off, now I can't send my 5.XXD project, now I can only do yoga and run, etc. Having thought all of those at one time or another, I can now say there are more options. Climbing easy routes, especially jug hauls, doing long link ups of cruiser ridges in the alpine, bolting, and search for new routes are all great ways to pass the few weeks it takes before you can really start cranking again. And lets be honest, it is fun to revisit old friends.