Film Diary

Having spent two months indoors on a diet of candy bars and beer working on the business aspects of this film, I decided it was time for a climbing vacation, and the choice was Tahquitz.

Next thing I know, it’s a little before ten pm, pitch dark. I find myself 700 feet up, in the grips of a mid-sized squeeze chimney (my er, ‘least favorite’ type of climb) with two more pitches before the summit. I’m sunburned everywhere except my kneepads, and everytime my skin touches rock, rivulets of pain shoot through me. To top it off, my headlamp’s broken swivel angles it 20 degrees away from my line of vision, I’m out of water, a mosquito flies into my ear, and I’m hauling a huge pack up from the abyss as I go. And I found myself asking the question that climbers have been asking themselves in a pickle since the dawn of time: What the hell am I doing here?

(Hoping to land in some medical book for symptoms of pedalicus chimney crackicera)

After getting to the top, a two-hour descent down a loose and unknow dark north gully, losing my sweatshirt, losing my mind, tired, thirsty, feet cramped in climbing shoes…

…I finally topped out back at ol Beasty at one thirty in the morning.

Beer, water, and sleep.

The next morning, my sweatshirt revealed! I know this picture looks fake, but honest this is exactly how I found it, hanging snagged perfectly middair between a branch and a boulder.

The point of the trip was to learn how to use my fathers medieval jumars (circa 1970)…

…with my brand new untouched etriers.

Despite the bruises, the ridiculous sunburn, the fatigue, the bleeding cuticles, the uncertainty in the dark…or maybe in spite of them…graceless, yes, but it was a bonafide Tradventure.

I don’t see how hanging on the end of a rope to send a big numbers route sixty feet of the ground can compare to the experience of a real climbing adventure. Tahquitz oozes with the history of tough routes being done in big bulky shoes with questionable ropes and handmade gear by real adventurers. It’s great to climb.   To get stuck and lost.  And it’s great to just look up, read the FA in the back of the guidebook, and wonder.

Ingredients needed to raise money for a film:

• Five tanks of gas

• One citation from the Utah police

• One flat tire

• 2 weeks of phone calls and emails

• Two Vegas buffets

• 5 Kinkos trips past midnight

• 2 lbs of coffee, 5 liters of beer

• 100 papers clips

• 3 dress shirts

• 60 business cards & brochures

• 1 really good Media alibi

• Four full days of Outdoor Retailer at Salt Palace, SLC.

Every crew needs one guy who is really good on the phone.

Paul and I on the show floor, taking one of our many coffee/beer breaks in between meetings.

The news is good, the outcome promising. Thanks to everyone who has helped us so far, from moral support to design to research. Thank you for having a hand in making this come true!

If you haven’t heard already, I am going to the Salt Lake City Outdoor Retailer Trade Show…three days from now!

I’m excited because not only is this a huge event with all kinds of festivities and events, but I also get to have meetings with some industry people about the film.

With that being said, and the fact that I need to go so I can go pack, the first part of the demo is online for all to see:

www.rockadventurmovie.com/demo

No sleep ’till SLC!

When I get back I’ve decided I’m going to have a party, something gaudy and excessive and very celebratory, so stay tuned.