Photos by easton

Karens first day outside. Not bad for a cell phone camera.

Karen on her 2nd outdoor climb.

My first trip to the Valley. Had to take the requisite shots of El Cap, Half Dome, and te falls. Can't wait to get up on this and the other walls. I'm guessing they are what, 5.6 o 5.7 three pitch climbs? No problem!

This is the crew I caught up with at treeline leading the way up. Reasonable temps, wind was fairly low, made for a good first trip above treeline in full winter conditions for me.

This is the easy route that tops out at the down stream side of the lower bridge. This is the day after the 05 Ice Fest, my first exposure to climbing ice. Thanks to Redpoint Ron for talking me into coming out.

Me, on the summit via Lion's Head. Apparently it was a good day for climbing, but being the flatlander weenie I am, I thought it was tough conditions.

A view of the dome from the bottom of Jaws.

I climbed the mountain twice in four days, once to scout it and once to lead a group up. This is the second time up. The first was during a rain storm, so there was no view at all.

This is Mount of the Holy Cross at sunrise, taken from just over the Halfmoon Pass.

This is me climbing Laws. I made it to the top, but in ugly fashion. Credits to Redpointron for snapping the pic. We were chased off the first section of the Flank by thunderstorms, thus the misty effect.

This is a wide shot of the Camel's Hump. You can sort of see the Makanda Lieback to the left.

Just playing on RPR's shed wall. Ron has a lot of tough problems set-up. Great wall, lots of fun, sore hands after. Please note the look of concentration.

After I led the short route, Greenspace volunteered to check my placements. He made it without decking, so they must have passed.

It's not much, but it is my first lead on trad. Greenspace and Sportster were kind enough to let me bag it, and I did onsight it. I am guessing it is maybe a 5.4, but I'll take it. The route is listed in the guidebook, but it must include the upper section which was in terrible shape, so we stopped at the ledge.

Greenspace (belayer) placed some gear on a short crack to teach Sportster and me some trad. This is me trying out a good cam placement.