Armando looking very smooth on fisticuffs. 5.10b. At the crux towards the top he took one fall. The photo taken by Jeff.

The first time i snaged that hold, i swung right so much that the only thing that hit the pad was my head.

After that fall, it was great to be able to get this. It was literally my last try before we left the area. We had been there about 4 days losing skin and freezing at this point.

I was scared to lead Sail Away b/c i'm not a very good climber. So scared that when I committed, I forgot to place gear for a pretty fair little stretch. Oh well I lived. Great climb.

I'm not very bold, so this problem gave me the motivation to finish it and top out, the fall is clean, but I still didn't want to take it. Here I'm doing what I thought was the crux move.

Justin pettersen on hobbit roof. crux is actually the slab below.

fun fun fun This is probably my 5th trad lead. I loved the traverse below the belay - all that air under your bum made my heart pump - whoo hoo

Silhouette of Dave and Trever ontop of a boulder in late afternoon at J-Tree. The climbing is always amazing in Josh, and sometimes you just get lucky with a picture.

Up and Over

Top roped this route after leading it's easier nieghbor to the left, "Loose Lady" Very technical route, very fun!!! Not to mention the great view.

My wife looking down at me from the anchors of Loose Lady. Another great shot taken by my wife!!!

Our new freinds setting up an anchor after climbing the sickle crack under the buttress.

This is a picture from my first trip to Joshua Tree. Amazing views, rock, and climbing. One of the coolest places I have ever climbed. The small dot in the upper sky is the moon.

I snapped this shot of Christi just before she topped out. The trip was great and I climbed for the first time in over ten years: I even managed to clean a couple of routes! Not bad for a guy who was doing his best impersonation of "Uncle Fester" from the Adams Family...

Here is a picture of baja_java keeping the route safe for the rest of us. It's either Butterfingers make me horny or Chocolate is better than sex; I can't really remember, I'm just an old burnout...

OK, so here I am on my first outdoor climb in over ten years. Can you tell that I LOVE ICE CREAM! Well, I can tell you that I could after I made it over the top. Gotta get rid of this "Uncle Fester" look .....

Jon is about to leap for the the top of Saturday Night Live. This is a cool dyno problem right by the Real Hidden Valley parking lot in Joshua Tree.

Me hanging out in the shade at the top of Fote Hog (5.6)

Marshall leads Loose Lady on Houser Buttress in the Real Hidden Valley area, Joshua Tree National Park, CA. Photo by AlexC.

Tim leads Loose Lady on Howser Buttress in the Real Hidden Valley area, Joshua Tree National Park, CA. Photo by AlexC.

This has been a problem that I have returned to year after year. Fun, tough, humbling, fun...Photo of Chris Fuller, taken by Chris Matta with Nikon D-70.

Adam and I got together to tackle this route as a night climb.

Working through the first crux of Ball Bearing. Perfect jams.

This is a photo of my onsight lead of the classic Joshua Tree Route, Clean and Jerk taken by James Stegen in March of 2004. This was one of several impeccable crack climbs I was fortunate to sample during spring break last year. By my standards this route was hard (more like .11a), and I received a full body workout by climbing it.

This is a water color rendition of a picture of the House Buttress. Loose lady, 9+, Josh belaying and me cleaning. Joe Johnson took the original picture.