On friction.

Fighting the friction with iron will power.

The ranger just laughed at us. "You boys thought you could swing by last minute on Labor Day weekend and pick up a camping permit for one of the most popular spots in the Sierras? Ha!" In a way it was just what I was expecting. 

Earlier in the summer we decided to go climbing in the Wind River Range over the long weekend. We felt confident we were going to crush, then the weather changed two days before we hopped in the car. Since we were hoping to actually climb and not sit in the rain, we decided to go to the Elephants Perch, until the weather guaranteed rain there too. Over the next few days we watched all sorts of areas succumb to rain. Zion, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Black, the Tetons, Red Rocks. All promised rain. "How about the Sierras...maybe Temple Crag?" Feeling like we had been let in on a secret since that was the only place the skies promised to be cobalt blue and temperatures promised to create good conditions, we scrambled to pack for our leave time a few hours later.

Before I ever had to deal with these compounding problems, Carl Von Clausewitz explained how to. He was a Prussian military strategist who is credited with the concept of "friction" as outlined in his book On War. He said "everything is very simple in war, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction, which no man can imagine exactly...friction is the only conception which, in a general way, corresponds to that which distinguishes real war from war on paper". In layman's terms, friction is all the little things that built up against you and prevent you from succeeding. They are all the things that you cannot imagine dealing with before hand, yet threaten your goals when working on them. So how do we deal with friction? Clausewitz says that the primary way to prevail is a powerful iron will which will crush the obstacles.

This concept of friction is used in our modern day world. The United States Marine Corps Leading Marines handbook says "Friction operates on every aspect of combat....Countless minor incidents combine to lower the general level performance so that one always falls shot of the intended goal. Iron willpower can overcome this friction. It pulverizes every obstacle. Whatever form [friction] takes...[it] will always have a psychological as well as physical [toll]. Friction is inevitable. [You] must accept it, do everything in [your] power to minimize its effects and learn to fight effectively in spite of it." In that same manual it explains that the way to combat friction is "the ability to adapt [which] makes you comfortable in an environment dominated by friction".

Alpine climbing isn't synonymous to the combat that marines experience. The lessons can be applied though, so with this in mind, I worked on being adaptable and developing an iron will. After changing our plans numerous times, we chose Temple Crag to be the focus of our iron will and when we got laughed out of the Rangers office, we decided it would be a car-to-car mission. Not a big deal, it was just the next obstacle, and we're adaptable.  The next morning we hiked so fast up to the second lake that we had to use willpower to sit and shiver for over an hour in the wind and cold waiting for the sun. Throughout the day, the promised cobalt skies were there, but there are always things that are not perfect when we climb. Frozen hands, missing water filters, lack of camping sites the night before, the list goes on. Friction existed as it always does in the mountains, but we crushed.

We could've slept in!

Starting up the route.

The is glorious! Wahoo!

You've gotta get a shot crossing the tyrolean.
Photo: Matt Berry

Up, across, down, repeat as needed to cross the ridge.

Finishing up the crux, another place to use both adaptability and iron will power.

Those lakes below look unreal.

Almost to the top, that's the upper bit of Dark Star on the right.
Photo: Matt Berry

Quite the inspiring mountain I think.

I just like to go climbing.

The portrait of Henry Eyring that hangs in the building
  named after him at the University of Utah.
Photo: http://www.ldssmile.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/220px-HenryEyring1951.jpg

Henry Eyring was an american scientist who won nearly every chemistry award in existence. He published over six hundred papers, wrote numerous books, and was the man who developed the Absolute Rate Theory (ART). It is no exaggeration to say that ART is the connected to everything in our physical world; everything from the way fabric rips to medicine and Henry was the man who developed it.

Despite his position, achievements, and very apparent skill, he was well know for being down to earth and completely genuine. He felt no need to be considered someone of importance and once when praised as an intellectual, Henry replied "Don't...call me an intellectual--I just do chemistry."¹


In the same way I hear climbers find way to classify themselves and seek ways to identify themselves from each other. I specialize in this style or I am only an X-type of climber. I understand that, and I also understand the value behind it. However as someone who love every form of climbing and participates in it as the season, conditions and style dictate--I just do climbing.

I just like to go climbing.

I just like to go climbing.

I just like to go climbing.

I just like to go climbing.

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1 Mormon Scientist The life and faith of Henry Eyring by Henry J. Eyring

A hundred and five degrees and rising.

Capturing a moment of desperate retreat-these are CIA
 and American embassy personal fleeing Vietnam.
Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon  

When American radio announced that the temperature was "a hundred and five degrees and rising" followed by playing Bing Crosby's "White Christmas," few knew it had any significance. Exact numbers of how many who did are uncertain, but those who knew gathered their belongings-it was an evacuation signal. At this point in Saigon, (April 1975) it was time for the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies to flee. The enemy was at the gate, literally, the communists were just outside the city. Waiting until the last moment to flee South Vietnam, the American embassy personnel had by default whittled their options down to one, mass evacuation by helicopter. The photo above was taken during that time as helicopters flew back and forth countless times from ships in the South China Sea to Saigon ferrying loads of desperate people.


Salt Lake City summers are hot. "C'mon, you live in a desert" you say. I know that, and I like that, it doesn't make the summer months easier though. So just like the democracy loving people that knew their time was up once they heard it was "a hundred and five and rising," I knew when I needed to run from the heat further into the mountains.

Dillan telling me to Cool Your Jets.

These few routes are near Pentapitch and right next to the river. That
means they are some of the coolest in the canyon....

...it probably helps that it is north facing as well.
They have fun movement on them as well!

Selective reabsorption.

Flowers in the Swell

The physiology of human kidneys are outrageously interesting. Obviously there exists complexities, but in general, simplicity seems to be the byword. This idea commands the kidneys and as a whole, human physiology, which is actually one of the most creative and simplistic things I've ever seen. Small changes affect the entire functional unit (the nephron in the case of the kidneys) which affect the entire body.

A nephron, this wacky looking thing is the fundamental functional unit of the kidneys. You actually have about a million of each of these per kidney! It looks like something I'd draw as a child.
photo from: http://www.highlands.edu

So how does the kidney filter what stays in your body and what needs to leave? Some portions of the nephron (like the proximal convoluted tubule) are pretty independent and reabsorb the same stuff in the same quantities all the time. Others do what is called selective reabsorption. Depending on variables such as hormone concentration, ion concentration in the blood, blood volume, blood pressure, and osmolarity (big word!), the kidneys can take the hint and adjust what they reabsorb back into the blood to maintain homeostasis!

For example, say you have not drunk enough water and you are becoming dehydrated. Your kidneys have cells that can sense this, and through changes in hormones which result in actual structural changes, the nephron become more porous and can reabsorb more water so you urinate less and retain more water inside your body. The reverse is also possible if you over hydrated.

We all selectively filter what happens and what we take part of in our lives. I was able to filter an extra day of climbing in and visit a canyon in the Swell I had never visited, and I can't wait to filter some more back in!

My first visit to Three Finger Canyon

The West Slabs of the desert (we called it), we cruised up the two long
easy classics of the area......

.....and then continued running along the ridge forever. Why not?

I often find that climbing in the desert is about spotting the coolest features and climbing them.
The rock is crumbly, the gear falls out, but the lines are classic. This is a nice example.

Types of failure.

A view of the south side of Rock Canyon from the run up Squawstruck on Squaw Peak
and a lifetime of untouched stone...if you have to desire to work.

It has been said that there are really only three reasons for failure on a climb. Not strong enough, not good enough, or not brave enough.¹  

The last few months have been a rush. My spring semester absolutely flew to the end from overwhelming amounts of tests and projects, and compounding those time consuming activities, the rain, snow, and freezing temperatures in the valley lasting all the way to May had (to my embarrassment) kept my climbing "socked in". I am usually more than excited to climb anything, regardless of how big it is or what the weather is like. But, like I was complaining to the delight of my friends who primarily ski, it has been a skiing spring and not a climbing spring. Weather too warm for ice but cold enough for snow, and precipitation constant enough to keep the powder fresh and but the rock soaking wet were the culprits. And because of my studies my abilities to climb where limited, even considering "rallies" to outside ranges. While I could have found time to boulder, I really just didn't feel like it, I was itching to get into the mountains (probably because this time last year I was in Alaska). So I tried, failed, and have examples of each reason failure exists. While failure can result from any combination of the three core reasons, each example listed fits into one category well enough to classify it as such.

Not strong enough.

As of this post, my friends Paul and Jackson hold the highly coveted (not, I'm absolutely sarcastic) speed record for the local Squawstruck; 3 hours and 43 minutes car-to-car. I have climbed the route before and when Korey wanted to climb it for the first time, I suggested we simul climb it and see how we stacked up. We pulled out a time of about 5 hours total, even with pitching out the upper buttress from fatiguing forearms. Talking with Paul, we concluded it would be easy to drop the official time by a huge margin, both of our teams were never rushing the climbing and a large portion of our time came from the 1.5-2 hours of hiking. In reality this record will be the domain of runners who can climb 5.11.

In the middle portion of the route Korey kept
the moderate pace on the moderate terrain.

Korey in my least favorite portion of the route. Paul and I laughed about
how the pitch Korey is on is Paul's favorite and my least favorite on the route.

Not good enough.

Wanting to develop my ability to both climb on granite and climb trad, I decided to start working on Prowser, a beautiful prow up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Still, even though I have not sent it, it has been a pleasure to learn this route and spend time here.

Still top roping...

Those darn rain clouds never left this spring.

It's quite blank to either side of the prow.

Not brave enough.

Last year when I visited Wheeler Peak for the North East Couloir (The Wheel Deal), we were in t-shirts by mid morning in April, it was hot. Basing my assumptions on last year, I thought that since it was a whole month later, attempting a rock climb in the same basin would be perfect this time of year. Christian and I each brought fleece gloves, a thin fleece jacket and a hat. When we walked into the cirque onto the glacier, we were freezing and the temperature was below zero. We couldn't stay warm even running around and were both scared of the walk off down couloirs with ice hard snow sans crampons, so we high tailed it out.

Oh there should be a little snow... Christian glad
to not be on a temporary snow bridge.

In the beautiful cirque with the buttress we wanted
 to climb in the center of the photo.

While I definitely don't support the carving
of trees, I have seen worse.

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1 Check out Training for the New Alpinism by House and Johnston.

Climbing with chirality.

Booting up towards the ice. Spacial awareness is important here, as well as with chirality.

****WARNING: science alert. Skip down if you aren't interested, the photos are good.*****

In organic chemistry, one of the hardest concepts to understand includes something called chirality. Now hold on, before you go look at cat videos, lets give this concept a shot. This is hard to explain in words, but is usually visualized better by look at photos. Make sure to check out the ones below. However, more or less, the concept is basically that you can have different kinds of the same molecule depending on how all of the atoms are bonded in relation to each other. A subpart of this idea is something called enantiomers (a big word, stick with me here). Enantiomers are mirror image molecules that are not superimposable; a good example of this is your hands. They are mirror images, but you cannot slide one on top of each other and make it match, your thumbs stick out on either side. Got it?

Don't get worried about the names, the idea is to see how they are mirror images. The blue atom in front and on the right
is now the blue atom in front and on the left. they all have switched positions relative to each other.
Photo: worldofbiochemistry.blogspot.com 

                             

It is hard to see how it all applies. With this photo, you can see how those specific
spacial arrangements matter for the binding sites that are so specific.
photo: http://www.kshitij-iitjee.com/

Now that we have an idea of enantiomers, we can look at biological molecules. Chirality is important in biochemistry since molecules form 3D structures in space and each enantiomer has a unique shape, even while being the same chemical. Weird right? This becomes important because each protein in your body has a specific spot that it will bind with other molecules, and it has a unique shape. So often times, only one enantiomer will work, while the other just will not fit; just like a lock and key.

Advil or ibuprofen is a cool chemical. The ibuprofen you buy comes in a 50/50 mixture of both enantiomers (mirror image molecules), and only one of the them is biologically active. What you say, I purchased the whole bottle and only half of it works!? No, what is interesting about ibuprofen, is that your body will change the inactive version into the other active version when it starts running out. Pretty rad. Cocaine on the other hand is different. When synthesized by humans (natural pure cocaine is the 100% biologically active enantiomer) it comes in a 50/50 mix just like ibuprofen.  What is interesting about cocaine however, is that your body cannot change the inactive enantiomer to another. So you do only get half the active amount.

Why is this relevant? Well, I feel like climbing is more like ibuprofen than cocaine. Climbing is such an undefined sport with countless facets, that whatever you are psyched on, we can find something for you. We can always change our "climbing enantiomer" to another we need or want.  When the ice is good, go ice climbing! When it is not (in Utah the weather likes to keep you on your toes) just go rock climbing! Different styles, different areas, different people, it is never old, if you don't want it to be.

Ice Climbing

The Donercicle in WI6 mode. One of my favorite pillars.

                               

Matt is strong, I am pretty sure it is because his tools and crampon colors match....

    

You have to love CCC falls. I only wish there was a way to
have a mixed route to the right without drilling.

                              

Rock Climbing

The worst part of having so much gear, is deciding if we should take it?

If only there was more ice on the river, we could have walked
there instead of bushwhacking.

What a beautiful place. Even with the La Sals obscured by
clouds in the background, there is an immensity to the area.

We'll do more, we'll deserve success.

A image from the first edition of Joseph Addison's play Cato.
oll.libertyfund.org 

"It's not in mortals to command success, but we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll deserve it."¹

George Washington was influenced by the play Cato. So much, that he even had it performed for his soldiers. He quoted the above line often and even personified it.

"If [the British generals] and others of like mind thought the war was over and that the British had won, Washington did not. Washington refused to see it that way.... Out of adversity he seemed to draw greater energy and determination. 'His Excellency George Washington,' wrote [General] Greene later, 'never appeared to so much advantage as in the hour of distress.'"²

In climbing a key to the successes I have had, has been this. You have to put in the work and be in the right place to deserve the success since we cannot command success ourselves.

Big Cottonwood Canyon

On Hidden Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon, I was wandering up above the route after climbing it looking for more and stumbled upon some ice. If you walk up the gully and take a left when it forks, you can hike up hill and find this. It is absolutely hidden by a rock bulge and its aspect until you are right at the base of it. Pretty mellow, but cool to make the route just a little longer. This is Hidden Falls, and as author of Beehive Ice, Nathan Smith says "people have been tromping around there forever". So a FA? I don't know, but it's worth doing!

Upper Pitch of Hidden Falls

WI3 M2

Sawyer Wylie and Ezra Wylie

Sunbaked and manky, but who cares? I just
didn't catch it on the right day.

It was actually a pretty steep little section.

Followed by more of the same fun!

American Fork

This was a line I had kept an eye on for a while, often falling down and reforming with the fluctuating conditions. When it formed enough for me to try, I made it a priority. I called Jackson, actually a climber I had never roped up with, and we decided to try for it enough that we deserved success on it. And we did! Who knows if this is a FA as well, but either way, I hope someone else goes and does it.

Faction Friction

WI3 M4

Sawyer Wylie and Jackson Marvell

A three bolt mixed line bolted on lead up the left side and then a transfer to the ice. The curtain could form enough to be a pure ice line I believe, but not when we were there, it was just a dagger. There could be a short 3 to 4 bolt M7 or so behind it leading to the dagger then up the ice that looks cool.

Nice, fat, and growing, I didn't mind grabbing it!

Here is a photo of it all covered in snow helping
 it form the day before we climbed it.

You can really see the position of the line relative to other
 main lines in the canyon like Habeas Corpus and White Lie.

We started the route a little lower than that curtain in the upper photos.
The curtain is actually on step two in this photo. Starting this low though, turned
it into a full 70 meter pitch! Photo by Jackson Marvell

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1 From the Play Cato.
2 Information and a quote from one of my favorite books 1776 by David McCullough.