Summer 2013 Rock Programs

Winter went by in a blur. No skiing blog posts for me this winter for a variety of reasons, but don't you worry, there was over-the-head powder, flowy carving, playful airs, amazing views, black nights covered in piercing stars, belly laughs, unbelievably delicious sandwiches enjoyed while perched on ridge tops, lodge dance parties and all the other elements that make my busy winter job so worthwhile.

I intend to make a post about a few of the winter's highlights, but in the meantime want to get the word out about a few rock programs I am running this summer and am really excited about.

June 22-23: Crack Technique Weekend. 2 days, Squamish granite, finger tips to chimneys and everything in between. Get dialed before the summer is in full swing. $300 for the two day clinic.

Lydia Zamorano and I had so much fun running a women's climbing and yoga weekend last year that we are running two similar programs this August.

August 10-11 will be in Lake Louise on beautiful quartzite, with yoga held a short distance from the crags at the Lake Louise Hostel.

August 17-18 will be in Squamish on perfect granite, with yoga in The Yoga Studio.

In addition, I will be offering private guiding and customized courses on request. Drop me an email at jasmincaton@gmail.com to chat about your climbing goals and we can set something up. 

Women's Crack Climbing Weekend in Squamish

The participants and instructors, perfecting our crack climber gang signs

The Crack Climbing Technique for Women clinic this weekend was a ton of fun. The participants Pamela, Helen, Jen, Krissy, Lisa, Elli and Colleen all had great enthusiasm and weren't afraid to toss any amount of their flesh into the rock in the name of climbing cracks. Thanks to you wonderful women for a great weekend, and looking forward to seeing you all out on the rock or in future courses! I was lucky enough to convince young cranker and lovely lady Hazel Findley to help me coach the women as they honed their finger locks, finger stacks, ring locks, hand jams, cups, fists, hand stacks, chicken wings, butt scums....

Thanks to Black Diamond for providing the cool t-shirts and to Pro Bar for supplying yummy, healthy snacks.

If you are interested in signing up for a Women's Crack Technique Course, the next one is August 21,11, 2010. Price $250 for the weekend.

Other courses coming up:
September 18-19, 2010. Two day trad leading and multipitch techniques for women. Price $250.

Contact me at jasmincaton@gmail.com to book a spot on either of these courses or to get more information.

Pamela on Exasperator

Climbing buddies Krissy and Jen at the base of the Grand Wall

Krissy on Exasperator

Jen on Exasperator

Lisa on Exasperator

Helen on Exasperator

Elli on Exasperator

Colleen on A Pitch in Time

Pamela on a Pitch in Time

Lisa celebrating her clean ascent of A Pitch in Time

Refueling in my back yard after a hard day in the Smoke Bluffs

Indian Creek Crack Attack

Celebrate good times, come on!

To celebrate the successful defense of my master's thesis: "Environmental controls on the stable isotopic composition of laminiated tufa in Red Butte Canyon, Utah", I spent a week pretending I was still a climbing bum living out of my car in Indian Creek. Except... when I really was living out of my car it was a Chevy Corsica not a sweet Tacoma truck, and I had WAAAAYYYY fewer cams and way less cash for wine and rest day extravagances like breakfast at Eclekticafe in Moab. So I guess that means that life has gotten better over the past few years, although my heart is telling me right now that I would trade all these material things to not be sitting in front of this computer wading through mind numbingly tedious revisions on a 150 page thesis that I am ready to huck straight into the Great Salt Lake.

Jeremy contemplates The Optimator

The climbing was fun. When my arms and head finally came back after the first few days of being gripped and tired on 5.10s, I climbed some amazing pitches that I had never been on before... and my future tick list grew in length yet again! But what really made me want to stay down there and continue living the rhythm of eat, climb, eat, climb, drink, eat, sleep repeat was not just red sandstone spitter after corner after splitter. For the past week my life became so simple, yet somehow more rich than any week I spent in Salt Lake this year. I was with friends almost all day, laughing, joking, clowning around, dancing and doing yoga on the slickrock of our campsite, cooking burrito feasts on the tail gate to be washed down by cold beer in front of a flickering campfire as the stunning desert starscape drifted overhead. Not every moment was shared though; tucked into my bed in the back of the truck I read a novel, something that had nothing to do with isotopes, and loved every word of its frivolous text. I often was the first to rise, and I sat in my lawn chair in a sliver of sun with my sleeping bag piled in my lap as I waited for the coffee to bubble out of the espresso maker, filling the cold air with its delicious aroma.

Jeremy sending the SH*T out of Disco Machine Gun

I could wax on forever, believe me... anything to keep from pecking away at some stupid isotope mass balance calculation that somehow has to find a way into the text of my thesis. But I will spare you from any more of my emotional outpourings for today. It is just great to know that as I wrap up this grad school phase of my life, I will hopefully be making room for many more weeks just like the one I have just spent living simply and fully with friends.

Kinley getting psyched for her lead

Jer and Mando hide from the sun

Even the early residents of Indian Creek knew that it is all about the meat capes... biceps get you nowhere!

Kinley and Kitt dancing to Kinley's pumping subwoofer to get warmed up before some serious crack climbing.

Just to prove I was really there!!!

After a week of wading through thesis editing, I was ready for a break. On Thursday night, the relief came when six people, 2 dogs, the makings for many burritos and lots of beer, wine and tequila piled into 2 vehicles and made the pilgrimage to crack mecca aka Indian Creek for the weekend. After a full winter of sweaty ski gloves, my hands weren't in their usual leathery, calloused, scar tissued state and they took a major beating. I thought about posting a photo of them... but that would just be gross. You can take my word for it when I say that after 2 full days of sandstone splitter climbing, me and my hands were ready for a change of pace. Luckily for me, I wasn't the only one in our crew feeling this way, so on Sunday morning we drove into Moab, fueled up on coffee and pastries at the Red Rock Bakery, then headed up into the La Sal Mountains for some multipitch mixed sport and gear climbing at Lower Mill Creek. Luckily for us, my husband Evan used to be a Moab local and established a few of the routes in the area, so he knew his way around. All the routes require rappelling to the start, so not knowing what you are getting into would have been intimidating. Spring had only just arrived; snow still coated the shady side of the canyon, but we were in the sun and loving the juniper infused breeze as we climbed crimps thankfully interspersed with amazing patina jugs. After the first three days of climbing for the season, my body was battered and my mind was sharp; time to tackle the home stretch of the thesis.