Because it's there.

Howdy y'all,

Well lots to talk about. I got a bunch of cool photos for this blog, all taken by other people (some of whom were total strangers). So lemme dive right in. This first picture here is from Cochise Stronghold. The biggest rock is called Sheepshead and if you can see the big crack going up the face of it, you will see the climb we did on it. We had amazing weather and the route to ourselves. It was pretty awesome.

This is also at Cochise. I love to climb and I get to do it 7 days a week. It's not always in the mountains but it is still pretty sweet. The company I work for out here just made a big achievement. We got into the SHARP program. That pretty much means OSHA regards us as a super safe company, which means a lot in this field of work. Anyways, that is kinda cool. We also get to do some odd jobs here and there instead of always washing windows.

This picture here is from a day when we were asked to remove sun shades from windows. You can see the louver hanging off of my harness. This is me in my office chair. We have a couple of promising leads of some other cool work. We are waiting to hear back about two really tall buildings we might be working on (one is 20 stories tall!). And for those of you who know anything about fashion, we are working on the Barney's of New York building. I guess its quite a high end clothing store; occasionally closing it to the public so celebrities can shop alone in it kinda thing. We also still go down to Tucson from time to time to work at the university down there. We don't have many more of those trips left though.






Here is a picture my buddy took on the top of a climb in the McDowell mountains. They are very close to Phoenix and can almost feel remote at times (*Note: Ignore the suburban sprawl in the background).


This is a really cool climb called The Razors Edge. Some guy was nice enough to send me this photo he took.

















This past weekend was a long weekend in Joshua Tree for me. A few buddies and I took a climbing trip out there. Lots of crazy looking rock formations there. It was great going back again. I have not been there since about when I started this blog. It's neat to see the progress I have made since then. It is also crazy to think how much has gone on since then. Time really flies, doesn't it?

<-----(If you look closely at this picture you can see me getting high on some of California's finest crack)

So as always... lot's going on, and lots to look forward to. In April I move into my first real apartment. I got a studio near Old Town, Scottsdale. Seems like a pretty cool area and it's close enough to work that I can bike. I also get to go back to the Midwest for my cousin's wedding. Then a cool concert and a climbing trip to Red Rocks, Nevada. So stay tuned, folks... the adventure never stops.

Madly,

Danjerous

The New Year in Arizona

Howdy,

Got some pretty neat stuff to talk about since my last one of these. I hope the new year is treating you all as well as it is treating me! So I guess I will just dive right in.

This first picture is from the Superstition mountains. There is an endless sea of climbable rock and needless to say, a place where I spend a fair amount of time. Weaver's Needle is that big pinnacle on the right.



It has been a bit hard getting accustomed to big city life. Traffic, lines, and lots of other people have been absent from my life for a while and it is a change of pace to be living in metropolis. But for those willing to make an effort to find it, there is endless beauty in Arizona. Almost every single night there is a picturesque sunset. This was what we walked out to on another crazy day of climbing in the Supes.






Work has been pretty cool too. I may have to post another blog soon just so I can show some pictures from this cool project we just did. This picture to the right is from a house we wash windows on. It was THE most expensive cash purchase in all of Arizona. It was some ridiculous number like 12 million. This was their pool and hot tub in the backyard.

We have also been going down to Tucson on a weekly basis working at the University down there. They are building a bunch of new dorms and we are washing the windows.


We are still mostly washing windows at the Optima Apartments but we have had a few jobs kinda out of the ordinary lately. We recently installed a few windows and we are going to be getting a couch on a balcony next week. So it has been staying pretty interesting. This picture on the right is a "core shot" I did down in Tucson. The windows we wash have sunshades on them and the corners are sharp. It is a big hassle to deal with them when we go down there and you can see why here. Pretty exciting, right?



This past weekend my buddy and I went down south to a place called Cochise Stronghold. It is near Tombstone, AZ but fairly difficult to access. It was a long, rough road in but there was hardly anyone else there. This picture is from the start of a climb we did called Moby Dick. It is a 600 foot, moderate climb. We had perfect weather (except for the wind at the top) and not a single other person was there.





Moby Dick is a route that goes up the left side of Whale Dome. Can you guess why it's called that? Cochise is one of the coolest places that I have climbed. There are a bunch of big knobs on the route, called "chicken heads". It is pretty much like an over-sized granite door-handle. For a lot of the route we would just sling the chicken heads for our protection. Kinda spooky but pretty fun.






So I suppose that will about wrap it up for now... thought I had more to say... Going climbing again this weekend so I better go hit up the hot tub before I drink a few beers to prepare. It ain't easy being me, but someone's gotta do it.

Dan

Gotta keep 'em guessing

Howdy guys and gals,

So lots of explaining to do... if you didn't know already I am currently residing in Phoenix, AZ. My time in Crusty Butt, Colorado was cut drastically short. I was enjoying myself greatly in CO but kinda felt a little out of place. I spent one afternoon sending my resume to rope access companies. I didn't think I would get much positive response (let alone so quickly). A few days later I got a phone call from a company in AZ that was hiring rope techs. I jumped at the opportunity. I will get more into the business aspect later... first lemme show ya what kind of adventures I'm getting myself into these days.





So these first few pictures are from a wild day I had by myself in the Superstition mountains. You can see the drastic change in scenery compared to Colorado. It has been in the 60's and 70's since I have arrived. Saguaro's have replaced pine trees and sand has replaced the snow. It has been an interesting last few months to say the least.









Along with the change in scenery has come a change in the environmental hazards. While I was out hiking I came across this big fella. I suppose he posed no real threat to me while I was hiking but it sure did give me a good scare. While I was out hiking in the "Supes" I had greatly underestimated the day I would have and the temperature. I was running low on water and came to a point where I either would have to turn back or continue on and risk dehydration. Luckily for me I found a nice spring to fill up my water at.








This picture is of the rock I climbed. The first picture on this blog was taken at a "window" on the rock. If you look close enough you can see the whole on the upper right part of the rock. Anywho, the summit was amazing. For being only 40 miles out of Phoenix I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere.

So anyways, that was just my first weekend out here. A two hour drive in any direction yields more climbing than I could do in a lifetime... I think I am going to like it here. But enough about playing, let me tell ya about work (which has pretty much become playing in and of itself).






So as I mentioned, I am now working at a rope access technician. I am working for a company called AZ Clearview. We do high rise window washing. This complex to the right is where I will be spending most of my time. As you can see it is a very interesting structure. We pretty much set up anchors on top of the building and then rappel over the edge and wash windows as we descend. There are lots of complications with overhangs and such. I gotta be honest though... washing windows is an art and substantially more challenging than the rope access aspect of it.

We are also doing work down in Tucson. There are a number of buildings we have to clean so I will be making frequent trips down there. This picture is from Tucson. I am hanging about 70 feet off of the ground here, washing windows as I go.

So that should about catch you up for now. Not sure when I will get another one of these up. So I hope you all had a merry Christmas, and will have a wild new year! Until then...

Danjerous

Let it snow let it snow

Here we go...

So this first picture is what I see when I look out of my bedroom window. Jealous? Its about a 5 minute walk to get to the lifts. Something got messed up with our original apartment and so they ended up putting us up in a vacation rental. Damn its hard being me. I am living in this place with 7 roommates which always keeps things interesting too.





Today was the first day of both my new jobs. I am going to be a liftee by day and a dishwasher by night. It might not sound too glamorous to be washing dishes but let me tell ya... this is at a place called Lobar's. It was rated one of the top sushi restaurants in a ski resort town... like I said, it is tough being me.








So since work has only just recently started and I have been out here for a while now, I have been snowboarding like a madman. I have gotten to do a fair amount of snowboarding in my life but nothing like this. I had one really awesome powder day and I know there are more to come and they will only get better.







So this one's gonna have to be short and sweet. I dont have too many other photos to put up right now. Stay tuned though, I may have some more interesting news coming up. Anywho folks, my love goes with you.

Always,

Dan

A time for giving thanks

So I'll just dive right in...

These here are a few photos from my final tour with the Nevada Conservation Corps. This was a tour done in Idaho, near the Sawtooth mountains; truly a beautiful area. The work we did out there was pretty lame but with the scenary and frequent trips to a number of different hot springs, it was quite a smashing tour to sign off on. The NCC has been a blast for the last year but it is time for bigger and better things.

(oOo ominuos ------->)

After the tour finished I had to tie up all the loose ends and say goodbye to my friends. I got to do a bit more climbing around Lake Tahoe and got in one more badass trip to Mecca.

My buddy Greg and I had it in our minds to knock out one more big climb. The climb we picked was the East Buttress of Middle Catherdral (One of the 50 classic climbs of North America). We got into the valley friday evening and were suprised to see almost no one there. We got a site in Camp 4 (a place rich with climbing history) and things seemed to be just falling into place for us. We got up at the buttcrack of dawn to make sure that we were first on the route... of course we got lost on the approach which killed a lot of time but we ended up stumbling upon the route. There was only one party in front of us.

The climb is pretty long (about 1100') and a challenge for my current abilities. It took us all day and right when we topped out it started raining pretty hard (luckily it held off while we were still climbing). The rain passed and we had this spectacular gully all to ourselves (with newly formed waterfalls all over). There were these huge walls surrounding us, literally standing thousands of feet above us. This pic here is me on like the fourth pitch with El Capitan in the background. One day I hope to climb right up the nose of that rock... one day.

So after one spectacular day of climbing I ended my climbing tour in the Sierras but the fun doesnt stop there... the next day my rope access class started. It was so awesome... I have never had so much fun at school. All we did was climb on ropes and learn advanced rock climbing techniques (called Aid climbing). It was a four day crash course and then a final evaluation day. I passed the class and am now a certified rope access technician (people think it is hilarious to call me a certified RAT).

After my class ended I had one more wild night in Reno. The next day I hit the road and boy oh boy, do I love the open road. I headed south from Reno and drove along the Sierras for about 4 hours. Next stop VEGAS!!! I hung out in Vegas for about 4 days, climbing everyday. I did some more amazingly classic climbs with some stellar weather. Then I flew home and here I am for about another week.

I have been pretty spoiled lately with the good weather and the MN cold has cut me to the soul. I suppose I better get familiar with the cold again. So I fly back to Vegas for a few more days of climbing and then to Crested Butte. The more I learn about it the more excited I get.

So there it is guys... the next time I put one of these up I suspect most of the pictures will be much whiter. I hope you are all enjoying your time on this earth as much as I am. Until next time....

Pirate

Do you hear the sweet song she sings? --->

Ain't no thang

Come one, come all,

The time is upon me to update this old thing and I have some very interesting things to tell. Let me fill you in on where I have been since I last wrote. I signed on with the NCC (as staff and not an AmeriCorps member) until the middle of Nov. I have had two 8 day tours so far. One was spraying weeds near Elko, NV and the other was a chainsaw tour near Susanville, CA. This first picture is what I woke up to one morning in Elko. This other picture is what I went to sleep to one night in Elko. It isnt listed as such but I think moments like this ought to be listed in the job benefits for the NCC.

This is just a cool picture I thought (right). I didn't edit the colors or anything, that is literally just how it looked. And this picture (below) is of the Columbia river (I think). This is the river that divides OR and WA. I was blown away by this view. Portland is amazing. If you haven't been there you should make sure to get there.

So there is a brief description of what I have been up to but now let me tell you about the things to come for me. So basically the next couple of months look like this for me... I am doing one more 8 day tour for the NCC in Idaho (which is kinda exciting cause I haven't really been to Idaho). Then I have about a week of rest and relaxation. Then comes the exciting part. I am going to be taking a class for a week to get certified to do something called rope access work. This picture of the wind turbine is the type of work that this certification would allow me to do. With my experience in rock climbing, I already have a pretty good understanding of most of these concepts. But once I get a certification I have the potential to get a job doing something like washing windows on skyscrapers, or maintenance on wind turbines, or bridge/dam inspection. Pretty much anything that requires you to be high off the ground is what I could do. Naturally you could see why this might be a perfect fit for me.

After my class I am going to be heading back down to Vegas for a few days to climb in Red Rock Canyon and see some old friends. Then I will fly home for a few weeks for Thanksgiving. I will fly back to Vegas (to do a bit more climbing) and then comes another adventure. So starting Dec. 11 I will be working at a ski hill called Crested Butte, CO. I am going to be a lift operator, so nothing too technical, but still fun. I have a house lined up to live in with 6 other people (from all around the world). And guess what... Crested Butte is nestled in some of Colorados finest climbing. You know what that means... when the snowboarding season ends, the climbing season begins. Damn, it aint easy living the life I do, but someones gotta do it.

Anywho, that about catches ya up on the goings on in my life. I imagine the next time I post a blog it will be around Thanksgiving when I am back at home and done with my class. I hope life is smiling upon you all as it does on me.

Truly, madly, deeply,

Dan

Count Your Blessings

Hello, hello, hello,

It has been quite a while, so I thought I might keep ya up to date, should you be so interested. I am technically done with my AmeriCorps term for the NCC. I thought my sawyer days were behind me, but it seems I was mistaken. At the point in time it is looking like I will be working and living out here until the middle of November. Here is a picture of my last week of work. It wasnt the greatest tour but it still beats working inside. That lake is called Eagle Lake.






Here is just a neat picture I liked. The trees are watching you.















What a surprise... climbing. This here is a picture of Lovers Leap (one of the coolest places I have ever climbed). This route is called Bears Reach. It took about an hour and a half to climb. It is about 400' tall. If you want to see a wildman climb it in 4 minutes go to youtube and check out "Dan Osman speed climbing". It is pretty impressive, even if you arent a climber.












This was a place I went climbing around Lake Tahoe called Eagle Creek (not to be confused with Eagle lake, where I was working). Just another alpine lake all to myself to play on.












After my last week of work I had a very good friend of mine come out to visit. We ended up taking a climbing trip, which turned out to be the climb of a lifetime. Here again is Lovers Leap. You can see that it is beautiful in its own right, but you cant even imagine how this looks to a climber. I know I have an addiction, but I just cant quit the rock.







After the Leap we headed to Yosemite. We climbed one of the most classic moderate climbs perhaps in the world, if not just North America. The climb is called Cathedral Peak. John Muir climbed in around 1869 and said that it was the first time that he had been to church in California. I know exactly what he meant. We got there early and had the route to ourselves. We had splitter blue skies and beautiful fall weather. It had been snowing and blowing pretty hard the day before, so we got pretty lucky. This picture to the right is not from Yosemite. It is from climbing around San Fransisco. This is on Mt. Tam. It might be hard to see, but there is thick fog rolling into the bay. One of the most beautiful places I have climbed.


Here is another place we climbed around San Fran. This place is called Mickeys Beach. The climbing wasnt much to write home about, but the climbing was literally right over the ocean. It was so amazing, and again we had great weather.

So that is about all for now. I will probably be in Reno until the middle of Nov. and then I am hoping to be working at a ski hill in Colorado. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I hope life is well for you all.












Remember me this way.

Love in abundance,
Dan the man Van Janssen