Photos by matttracyg

Doug on his onsight attempt of Energizer 5.12a. He hung once.

Deb onsighting Kill Bill 5.10a.

David is midflight on Way of the Slacker. Aren't those bleached dreadlocks cool?

Dan is pulling a cool move on Scrambled Eggs. The sandstone is spectacular! Original image is 170MB and you can read the seconds on his digital watch.

Dan has pulled past the crux and enjoying a beautiful day at Drapers Bluff.

A typical day at Pete's campground back in 1995. The wind blew so hard that the gravel was being blown around.

Crux move on the classic 5.12ish "The Dance". Reachy. Area now has access problems.

Ray on the sustained "Frankenstein" 5.12d Brutally difficult route with no rests. Area has access problems now.

The classic "Antman" 5.10 Kerry's holding the suitcase handle hold in his left hand. It's amazing that that thing never broke.

This route is super easy at the bottom, and then it gets really pumpy and overhanging for the last few moves. Very fun.

Chuck McGibbon on Earthbound Misfit

4 Year Old Joshua is climbing on the sport Route called Surprise. We strategically put Sweet Tarts on the route as incentive to get him to want to climb higher.

Leslie topping out on the classic upper pitch of Fancy Lads (Tracy Belaying). Great weather, great partners, great rock, and a baby sitter for both Moms! What else can you ask for?

4 year old Joshua is climbing Surprise 5.8. He's snatching the sweet tarts off the route as he climbs higher. Mom & Dad put the candies there as incentive to climb higher. It worked!

Tracy is climbing on the fantastic upper pitch of Fancy Lads. The bottom pitch is sport 5.10c and the upper pitch is either 5.12c or about 5.8 A0. There are bolts in the 5.12 section that you can aid on, and then there's beautiful trad climbing after that. Look out for the wasp nest Tracy!

Tracy is topping out on the super fun upper pitch of Fancy Lads at Drapers Bluff. The gear placements are great! And look at the view! This route is fairly new, yet is likely going to be a classic.

Kerry is topping out on the upper pitch of the classic Bloody Nose (5.6 Trad) at Drapers Bluff. There's a lot of good exposure and easy climbing on this route. The lichen is always beautiful and doesn't affect the friction. I've often times found huge amounts of lady bugs on this part of the route.

Half Dome in Summer. Taken on Fuji Velvia, 1997.

Garden of the Gods image I shot on medium format transparency film with a 150mm lens. My original image was 8600x6200 pixels and 160MB. But the restrictions of 800x800 and less than 48k hardly do it justice. The rock looked way to soft to climb for my taste.

After more rainy days than clear ones, this is what the sky looked like the day I left the Gunks.

Joshua is climbing his first route. He's got on the smallest sized Baby Ninja's made. Route is located on the front side of "The Little Flat Iron" boulder at Drapers Bluff, IL.

Tracy is cleaning a bomber nut on the the upper section of Chockstone (5.8). This route is difficult to protect at the bottom but has excellent protection in the upper half. Cams work well, but I've done this route without them. Protection needed: Nuts, small and medium sized cams. Hexes will work as well. Don't forget to have enough gear for the anchor you'll have to set on the top. The trees on the top are either too small or too far away.

Ray sending the final moves of Dizzy. A classic route at Cedar Bluff, Southern Illinois.

Doug Onsighting Lasso the Vulture 5.11a 1