Donner Summit Weekend / Donner Lake; Truckee CA 8/19-8/20/17

Mid August I had requested the weekend off for a Renown Employee BBQ which ended up being canceled, the stage was set to go cut my hands for the weekend. Craig Black of Garnerville NV (Level 1 Rope Access Tech), Melanie Letalik of Carson City NV (U.S. Geological Survey Field Technician) and I left Reno early Saturday morning intent on sending at Donner only to be hit by heavy Tahoe traffic due to a mudslide on the 80.  By noon we were getting started on Jr. High at School Rock, my second 5.8 trad lead if I'm not mistaken.  The crux came early in the climb in the form of an awkward poorly protected mantle move up to a good jug.  I felt comfortable the entire climb and I like to think all my practice in the gym is beginning to manifest, I was able to breath slow and not overgrip.  Naturally I used face holds the entire way and all but ignored the crack save for a few foot jams.  Afterwards we just moved our rope to some anchors atop the Nursery School Slab and top roped some easy slab climbs giving Melanie an opportunity to rappel, belay, and all that good stuff.  In the evening we relocated to Snowshed so Craig could get on his project, Aireal, a 5.11 sport arette on the West Face of the wall.  Craig made it 3/4 of the way up but after several lead falls and a really inspiring effort I offered to hike to the anchor and rapp off to clean the route.  That night we camped below Prosser dam via some information we scoped on freecamping.net .  It was an awesome weekend of climbing and really my first time leading outside since starting my new job.  I saw several folks I recognized from the gym throughout the day and I really tried to conduct myself as more of an ambassador for the sport than in the past.  Somehow the sombrero played a part in all that.

Personal Review of Area:  Rock/Climb Quality 9/10 - Size 8/10 - Accessibility 10/10

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Summertime Shennanigans / Greater Tahoe Area Summer 2017

This summer has been busy for me; between training and the grand opening for Mesa Rim, and finding time to spend with family and friends.  We goofed off and saw a parade complete with Mexican Dancing Horses in Virginia City for July 4th, swam down the Reno Kayak Park during flood levels mid July, swimming and scrambling again during our 'relaxing' day at the beach early August, August 5th was the grand opening for Mesa Rim and the gym saw +1500 people in just a few hours, a few days later I did some solo bouldering and exploration out at the Erratica boulders off HWY 88, and mid August we tried to visit the Ballbuster formation off HWY 28 between Incline and Spooner Summit only to get shut down by an act of god mid climb. We haven't had too many dedicated climbing days but we've been getting in the gym much more and making use of our first summer with reliable affordable air conditioned all wheel drive transportation. More to Come!