A Fencing Tournament

Fencing used to be my sport.  There was a 2 year period when I was the youngest coach in the country certified by the USFA.  As it turned out fencing really wasn't something that was good for me.  Through fencing I was feeling more anguish than pleasure.  So I stopped.  My brother on the other hand is extremely competitive and thrives on the fencing strip.  So today I took a rest day from climbing and went to shoot some photos at the tournament.


Shooting fencing is hard.  It's what I learned to love about photography.  Trying to capture one unimaginably small moment in time that holds the peak action.  All this must be done with, no flash, no interruptions, no interference.

This is my favorite image from the day.  First it's taken with my super wide angle lens which is very far from the norm in the fencing world.  Second is the man in the suit.  Bill Oliver is one of the best and most experienced directors in the country.   When he directs he simply exudes confidence almost to the degree of boredom.  As a fencer I was always thrilled to find out Bill would be directing a bout of mine. 

This is my brother, getting ready to test bells before entering period 2 of the DE bout he lost to the man who would later win the tournament. 

The final touch.

The victor. Immediately after the bout ended.

2nd place, exhausted.

Jamie Gatchalian on "The Grizz"

Originally my plan was to put up a post about the photos I was going to take on Thursday of Nicholas Milburn on "The Crew" and possibly Doc. Rob on his first Rifle trip of the season.  Then life happened and plans changed.   So I the only photo I took in Rifle is with my phone of a flipped Port-O-potty.

I don't know who or why, but I know this wasn't the wind.  

 But I still wanted to post some photos.  Today I thought of some photos I took about a month back that I was pretty proud of - Here they are.

Topo Designs was extremely generous with the Rock'n & Jam'n SCS comp.   This was our way to say thanks.

This route is "The Grizz" one of Clear Creek's newest routes.  5.13a/b  

This route is cleverly hidden in a secret location that will be revealed in the new Clear Creek Book.

The Grizz was bolted and first ascended by Kevin Capps - So thank him if you see him.  It's a gem.

Entering the Crux.

Super secret beta.

Big Pinch'n

Boom.

 Comment, Critique, Enjoy.

-Keith North

It Wasn't Me - NEWLIN CREEK

This was the drive home.  That is all.

So Tuesday I decided to run down and do a quick Newlin Creek tour with my friends Molly, Kegan and Ryan.  So right after work we jumped into the 4Runner and cruised on down to the springs to pick up pads & Dustin, then rolled out to Newlin.   

Here are a few photos I was able to get along the tour. 

The first boulder you come to on the trail is known as the Nickness Boulder.  

Here Kegan runs on the namesake "The Nickness Sit"

Follow the trail onward and the next area you'll come to is the Atari area.

Dustin battles his way up another classic in the area, commonly known as "Atari or Tombstone:"  

Continue to wander around and you may find "The Waterfall Project"

Ryan working the crux moves. 

Last - A quick flash of Atari for Ryan.


Hope you enjoy - I leave for Rifle Wednesday morning, more photos are on the way.

-Keith North

3 Years without a photo

The last time I had the opportunity to take any photos in rifle was almost 3 years ago at the Rock & Ice photo camp.  It was a blast!  Now I'm back and taking photos of my good friend Molly Mitchell.

The route is called Cryptic Egyptian and goes at a stout 5.13c with a heart breaker red-point crux just below the anchor.  She is so excited about the route you can hear it in her voice when she talks about it.  It's actually really cool.

Please enjoy the photos and leave your thoughts in comment form below. 

Check back soon for more photos.

-Keith North

KeithNorth.com

The Savage

Today I had the opertunity to get out at an unknown crag in Clear Creek Canyon to shoot some photos of my friends Matt Lloyd & Jamie Gatchalian.  The mission was to climb the canyon's newest 5.13 sent only yesterday by Kevin Capps.


Here are the results:

Jamie went first - This route is tall.  

100' up Jamie enters the business of the route.

Matt followed suit.

Even with his near 7' wingspan there are times Matt still has to stretch.

Air time

When working on a new line enjoying the learning process is key.

Solving the puzzle.

Check out my website KeithNorth.com  and expect more photos of Rifle later this week.

Rock'n & Jam'n at SCS Regionals 2014

This Saturday was the first step for our Nations youth climbers on the road to SCS Nationals.

Here are a few shots of R&J youth climbers.

Izabela Nowak getting ready for her 3rd climb.

Izabela's stellar effort on this climb helped her earn a 10th place finish in a stacked field.

Jess Walker on his 2nd climb.  

Jess did well at the event taking an 8th place finish.  He will likely earn a 2nd round invite to Divisionals in June.

Rachel Cohen getting to work on her 3rd climb.

Rachel figuring out the clip.

Rachel trying hard till the moment she came off, placed 7th and earned a 1st round invitation to Divisionals.

Good luck at Sender One Rachel!

--Keith

keithnorth.com

The Raven

Last Tuesday I set out on an adventure with two of my good friends Dan Cornella & Matt Lloyd to drive out to Utah, climb the Kingfisher Tower and return all within 24 hours.  The breakdown is 11 hours of driving, 3 hours of sleeping and 10 hours spent hiking and climbing. 

Timeline:

Tuesday 4/29

9:00PM - Leave Denver - Drive west

Wednesday 4/30

3:30AM - Roll into the full campground

3:40AM - Lay down sleeping pads and crash at the trail head

6:20AM - Wake up

6:40AM - Start hiking

8:00AM - Start the first pitch

2:05PM - Reach the summit

2:15PM - Begin decent

4:00PM - Arrive at the car

9:00PM - Roll in to Denver - Mission Complete

 In my mind adventure, and I mean true adventure can't be achieved without suffering and/or fear.  While I love a good day out sport climbing, the adventure just isn't there.  This trip would offer both.  

Suffering: Doing anything on three hours of sleep is always brutal.  But climbing desert towers is always suffering, you hang in your harness for hours on end, to get up pitches aid climbing takes what seems like forever, hanging on the wall you are stuck there, if it's windy, you get blown around, sunny you turn into a lobster, cold you freeze, hot you burn.   The weather was very kind to us we froze on one pitch because of wind, the rest of the time we were quite comfortable. 

Fear: I don't have much experience on sandstone.  My first time was in Joe's Valley, the rock was bone dry, and hard as nails.  Kingfisher was entirely the opposite.  The stone, if you could call it that, was dry however when I tried to brush the dirt off the holds I just found more dirt.  Every time I got to an anchor I wondered if I just yank on this bolt hard enough will it pull?  Ascending single lines - also scary, as the second I had the easy mission.  Dan came up 3rd and had to manage the initial swing out from the belay anchor till he was below the next.  When Dan was getting ready to jug the 2nd pitch he ended up just swinging out almost 30' laterally while being able to look over 100' straight down.  To top things off, this was no controlled swing.  None of this even compares to leading the pitches.  Our resident badass Matt took that challenge on, having to clip and fully weight a pin hammered upwards into a roof immediately after leaving the belay anchor.  Or having to step on the top point of a shoddy anchor and reach up with his full 6'10" wingspan to clip nothing more than an old pin, with nothing to hold onto in between.

 And now we have fear.

Why?  What kind of sane, healthy, happy, normal person would subject themselves to something when your only guarantee is fear and suffering.

I don't pretend to know.  I can say that at the end one is left with a tremendous sense of achievement.  Upon return home, the realization hits.  In the past 24 hours I lived, I actually did something worthwhile, and not a single moment of that time was wasted.

Here are some photos we managed to capture during the experience.  Please enjoy.

The approach, along with the sunrise.

Dan almost done jugging the 3rd pitch.

Dan, almost done with the 6th pitch

Climbing up onto the ledge.

Dan back to normal now that he's on the ledge.

Prepping to belay.

Organizing the mess

The view was incredible.

Matt at the base with his Boreas pack.

Exposure

We don't smile on the tower.

Matt flew up this pitch.

And then told me what would happen if he wasn't "immortalized" in photos.

Breaking the rule.

Relaxing while we wait for Dan.

Summit.

Dan showing how he really feels about the tower.

The summit shot.

When I finished the final pitch I got myself out of the system and scrambled up the last few feet to the true summit.  I looked to my left...

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted - nevermore!

The Raven... "Nevermore"

Seeing the raven was the coolest part of my day.  And the least expected of all events.

----------Keith


Check out more of my work at www.keithnorth.com