Photos by coldclimb

This is what we had to suffer through every night over our delicious Thai food, after climbing hard all day in the tropical heat right on the beach. It was a rough life.

Photo is a stitched panorama made from five images.

The Invisible Chick adds a bit of style to the scenery while walking a slackline in the early pre-season of 2005.

James (skinnyjim) goes for the catch on the newest (only?) highline in Alaska. He missed this catch and took a nice leash fall. Sure, technically it's a midline, but highline just sounds cooler.

Okay, so Alaska boys used to oceans of slabby granite were more than slightly out of place under the stunning display of mass suspension put on by the overhangs in Thailand, but we managed to find a couple of routes that weren't beyond us. This is Kelsey (Prezwoodz) on Mekhong Crazy 6a+.

Kelsey Gray (prezwoodz) feeds on freedom as he defies gravity, leaping out of the shadow of Pinnacle Peak in Archangel Valley, Alaska.

Kelsey (Prezwoodz) eyes the lunge while working a fun boulder in the shade of the first leaves of summer.

As the photographer on my climbing trips, I don't get many good pics of myself in action. Hats off and much thanks to Climber_Chick for snapping this one of me eyeing the next hold on a problem at Weiner Lake, Alaska. My Madrock Hookers finally failed me on this problem, by peeling off my foot and therefore the rock whenever I tried to heel hook a nubbin. I believe my foot there is in mid-peel right at this moment. I was sad.

This picture spells perfection. Stellar weather, a stunning view, a comfortable pad, a beautiful girl, and unlimited problems flavored sweet by the warmth of the sun. If I had it to do all over, I would change nothing except to make it last forever.

Thanks to Climber_Chick for posing on the pad.

When I went to Smith, we had hot days and cold beverages. Around here, we do things just about the opposite, with cold days and hot coffee, but some things just always stay the same! This is me braving the 15* slacklining weather Alaska style with a front-flip-180.

Photo taken by Kelsey.

Here's James (skinnyjim) having some fun on a line we put up New Years Day after discovering that the gym was closed. Great fun, and what a tiring weekend.

We hit up this boulder on our way out as the sun was pushing shadows closer to us. Gotta love being able to climb 24 hours around the solstice up here. A good way to finish off an incredible day, and also the only picture of me from the whole time. The drawbacks of carrying the camera, I guess. Pic taken by Winston.

Edited and resubmitted under new less painful size limits. :)

Katie (climber_chick) works in a few more steps as the sun fades over the horizon on a cold December day. Peter's Creek, Alaska.

Just a shot I nabbed when I set up an ubertight line in my yard. When you get tired of simple biner systems, it's a lot of fun rigging lines so tight they sing as you walk.

Craig works the crux of Festoon 5.9 on an icy September day. And by icy, I mean there were icicles on the next route we climbed. If you wonder about that bolt, it's there because Festoon, like many other Hatcher Pass climbs, is mixed. The crux is unprotectable with gear, so bolts were placed.

Resubmitted under new size limits because granite is so bad at compressing. The background blur I created digitally.

John Saari (sir_climbsalot) breaks the graphics barrier on Snowflake 5.8. My first ever attempt at Out of Bounds, and it's evident to me that I still have much to learn, but that's where the fun lies! Hope you enjoy.

Flutes on a boulder problem? The little man works into the overhang on this peculiar climb. Now is it a highball, or a free solo? You tell me.

This is just a shot of the 125 foot line I had up a while back. Nothing special, just a good display of the length. I took the pic myself, and that's me mounting the line. Quite a fun workout on a ten second timer to race across the roof, drop to the crashpad on the porch, sprint across the lawn, and still have the composure to mount without dying. It took a lot of tries to get this.

This pic is for a post describing how to thread a slackline.

This is how a slack dog is used, both in setup and a close-up of how it works. Submitted as medium so it doesn't have to be two seperate low pics.

A sad and dejected Alaskan climber comes slowly to the realization that maybe the 2004 climbing season is getting close to being over. The date is September 25th, and giving up comes hard.

This is for a thread describing the use of shackles in a slackline.

This is for a post regarding shackles in a slackline.

Slacklining has NOTHING to do with climbing.

Obviously.

Shawn swings over 350 feet of open air and jugs out of the cave where we set the anchors for the new Monkey Face highline. Larry walks in the background.

Chris (theturtle) goes for the catch coming off the Monkey Face Highline as a climbing team gets the rappel ready to get off the top. Awesome fun!

Metoliusshawn is the man. Shown here working his new highline at the monkey face. Absolutely stunning, and far beyond words, so I hope the photos tell you what I can't.