We're all here, cause we're not all there

Gather 'round folks, it is time again for the tales of a madman on the loose. It hasn't been so long since my last post, but so much has gone on. Where to start, oh where to start...
This here (for those who haven't seen it yet) is a picture of me working on the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Phoenix. By far the coolest project I have been on at work. If the picture doesn't illustrate it well enough there is about 300 feet of open air beneath me. There is a rotating restaurant at the top of this building and it got hit bad by the big sandstorm you may or may not have heard about. Anywho, it was All-Star Weekend so they needed the job done quick. Luckily we got the bid. After each window drop I took it upon myself to drop beneath the restaurant and hang upside down with nothing but air beneath me. Ya cant help but feel alive when staring down at your own mortality.
I am also proud to say that I am now a SPRAT certified level II technician. I got the opportunity to go to Denver for another course on rope access. I passed with flying colors and went from a "rope worker" to a "lead rope access technician". So that is pretty neat. This picture is of a rope rescue. I am the one being rescued here but you can see that it is somewhat complicated.
Anyone one who knows anything about me ought to know that I can usually find some fun, even in work. While in Denver I got to stay with my sister at her new place and they were more than kind in showing me around. This is from "The Garden of the Gods". It is a very neat city park with lots of climbing to be had, though I got to do none. A storm rolled in so it gave some great colors.
While in Denver I also got to tour the New Belgium brewery, the O'dell brewery, and the Fort Collins brewery (and when I say tour the brewery, I mean, the tasting room). I also got to do some whitewater rafting and even some climbing in the Rockies. This picture here is from the hike in to our climb in Estes Park. It was a beautiful day and everything went perfect.
Here is me at the top of our climb called Georges Tree. It was one of the toughest climbs of its grade that I have ever done (as I was warned). In the background is Longs Peak. There is a big wall up there called the Diamond and yes, as I am sure you imagined, another place I intend on climbing.
Here is one more picture I got from a solo trip up the Four Peaks Wilderness outside of Phoenix. I went to do the ridge traverse but only got on half of it. The views were worth the efforts anyways. So I think that should about do it for this one. Life remains exciting and impossible to predict. In a few weeks I am heading to San Fransisco for a three day music festival with some good friends. I'm doing my best to not lose my marbles in this awful summer heat but ya cant lose what ya never had, right?

Much love,
Dan

Going mad in the summer heat

Hey guys, here we are again. Life has been interesting to say the least lately. The daily highs are usually 115, give or take 5. But it is a dry heat, so it isnt quite as bad as it seems... or so they say. This first picture was from a real treat at work. That is a big glass sculpture hanging on the wall. It needed to be dusted and I was lucky enough to be the one to get to do it.
Most of June has little precipitation and thus, not much for sunrise or sunset views. However, it is now July and (believe it or not) monsoon season. This was how I got to start one of my work days. Seems like it is usually pretty hard to have a bad day when you begin like this. Work as been fairly uneventful lately but I am looking forward to a break from work and the heat at the end of July. I will be heading to Denver to visit my sister and go back to school to get my next level of certification for rope access. So that should be a grand ol' time.
Since it is just too damn hot to be climbing around Phoenix these days, my weekends have been spent up in Flagstaff. It is one of the coolest places I have been. It is a really neat town and there is endless camping, climbing, outdoor fun all a stones throw away. This picture above is from my 4th of July. Pleasant as the day may appear, it was a monsoon, and there was plenty of thunder, lightning, and rain to top it all off. And by the way... if you have never experienced a monsoon in the high desert... you are missing out.
One night when it was raining and we couldnt climb we decided to go to the Grand Canyon. It was my first time there and it was so beautiful. We didnt really get to explore the area that much but I have a feeling I will be back there for such things at a later time.
This is a place called Oak Creek. This is on the road that passes through Sedona to Flagstaff. It is a basalt cliff with tons and tons of crack climbing... my favorite. Escaping from the triple digits in Phoenix and hiding in the ponderosa forests of Flagstaff is my only link to sanity these days (more like a climber's trail than a road, haha).
So that will about do it for now... seems like I always have more to say until I try and write one of these blogs. I figure the next time I get around to doing one of these will be in August, when the heat will be cranked on full blast. So stay tuned to see how fried my brains get down here in the lonely southwest desert.

With much love,
Dan

Come one, come all. Hurry, hurry, hurry, step right up. It is time again for another one of these silly ol' things. Feel like it has been a while. This is largely due to the fact that I no longer have Internet at my disposal. Not quite sure if I had mentioned in the last one, but I am currently residing in Scottsdale, AZ, in my first real place. I got myself a little studio apartment near Old Town. Close enough for me to bike to work most days. I have had plenty of roommates in my day (sometimes 8 at a time) and living alone is certainly a change of pace. Anywho, these first pictures are from a trip I took back to Vegas with an old friend. Most people get their thrills in Vegas in the casinos and clubs.... fools. Here is where the real wild times are. This first picture is from a monumental climb we did. It is a route called Epinephrine. It is well known all over for its 400 feet of very slick, very strenuous chimney climbing. If you look close you might be able to see a climber up there, but that big crack is the chimney we went up. You put your feet on one wall, your back on the other, and your faith in the creator above. It was the hardest and biggest climb I have done to date. We climbed over 2000 feet in one day... car to car in about 12 hours.

This is me flexing my muscles at the top of the climb. It was truly exhausting but so worth the abuse. While I was in Vegas we also did a few other climbs (one of which I had a mean encounter with a few years ago). My buddy also had some friends in town for a bachelorette party, so we hung out with them on our rest day. Chillin' on the 32 floor of some nice hotel right on the strip, over looking the pool and drinking beers is a good way to recover from an ass-kicking on a rock.

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Work has been going pretty smooth lately. Maybe a little too smooth... you can see me catching a few Z' s on the job here, hahaha (keep in mind there is a fountain about 60 feet below me). I am logging lots of hours on rope and very excited to be able to get enough hours to go for my next level of certification. I will keep you updated about that

Here is a first for me... a Gila monster. This little guy kinda caught me off guard while hiking to do some climbing. They are small, but much like a kimono dragon, they have so much bacteria in their mouth that a bite from one can be fatal. He didn't seem too concerned about my being there but it was pretty neat. Still haven't run into any snakes, scorpions, or spiders out in AZ yet... yet. AZ hosts rattlers, scorpions, black widows, brown recluse spiders, and Africanized bee's (these ones scare me the most... there is no where to run from them when you are tied to a rope, up on a rock).

This is a picture of (most) of the crew working on the Barney's of New York building I had mentioned in my last blog. It is nice to have some new projects... keeps things interesting. This is a giant glass cube that we cleaned. Pretty funny to see the people inside, willing to spend more money on clothes then I did on my van. Speaking of my van, I have acquired quite a collection of bumper stickers. I get plenty of diverse reactions to them... I will try and snap a photo of it and post it up on my next blog.



I have also gotten to go home twice since my last post. The first time was for my cousin's wedding and currently I am actually sitting in my house in MN after a nice long memorial weekend up at the cabin. Got to see the family and my good friend. The weather was kinda cold and rainy, which most people seemed bummed about, but I was psyched about. When I go home tomorrow I will be going back to the oven. I am anticipating mostly triple digits until late September... fun fun.

I thought this picture was pretty funny. Seems like the 'Merican dream... morning beer, rubber waders, and a wiley look in the eyes.

Here is a picture of us putting my the dock. It was actually pretty fun to do. (Nice job supervising, dad). I got to do some kayaking, and some fishing and all around lounging. The time flew by and now I must prepare for another regular old week.

So let's see... don't have any sorts of plans lined up for anytime soon, though I am sure I will stumble into plenty of adventure (the fuel of my life). My sister and her husband are moving to Denver pretty soon. We are trying to line up a hiking trip in the Grand Canyon or Zion for October, but that is quite a ways away.

So that ought to about do it for this one. I recently turned 24 years old and had to celebrate in a manner worth remembering... what better way than sky diving? That's right, my first time. I wanted a photo of the actual dive, but the jackals wanted 60 dollars for it. So this will have to do. This is me in my jump suit a few moments after I landed back on earth. For those of you who have never skydived before... you must. It was one of the greatest times of my life. I will certainly be doing that again, and who knows... BASE jumping someday? Only time will tell.

Remember folks... don't do anything I wouldn't do. But if you do, think of me.


Now and until the end,

Danjerous

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