Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Reel Rock Film Tour

Next Friday the 20th of November, the Reel Rock Film Tour will be in KC. Hosted by The North Face and the American Alpine Club. It starts at 7 p.m. so get there (the North Face Store on The Plaza)for a good seat. Best part is admission is free, and there is swag to be had. Now wait, why the hell am I advertising this if there is swag. That just decreases my chances of getting some. I guess sometimes I am a Reel nice guy. Check out the link to the trailer, looks sweeeeet!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

24HHH

The 4th installment of 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell has come and gone, and like previous installments did not disappoint. A large KC contingency showed up to throw down their perseverance on the perfect sandstone of HCR. Dick Dower has a recap of his experience here. This year I opted to volunteer and cheer on the competitors, it was a lot of fun despite not having aching paws the following day.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Fall Arkansas Trip

I have made an executive decision that the fall climbing trip will be happening at none other than Sams Throne. Never gets old there does it. Well if it does I guess we will not be seeing you there. Email blast to follow. Gmail is currently not letting me access my contact list.

Jesse

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Fall is a Season not an option!

Hope everyone had a great summer. Despite being very mild I am psyched for Fall weather, which to me means perfect Arkansas climbing and resuming the KCCC schedule. Some of you might have some difficulty comprehending an actual schedule of events, rather than my my past m.o. of announcing the meeting a week ahead of time. Read it and weep (tears of joy for all of you organized types).

September
Tuesday the 1st- KCCC meeting at Backwoods Ron Rapper will be giving a slideshow on lastyears ascent of Gannett Peak. Starts at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday the 26th- 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell

October
Tuesday the 6th- KCCC meeting at Ibex. There maybe a short presentation, but most of the time will be spent climbing and reviewing skills. Starts 7 p.m.

Sat & Sun 10th/11th- Fall trip to Arkansas. Yeehaw!! You got a purdy Cam!

November
Tuesday the 3rd- KCCC meeting at Dynamic Earth. Jim Grace will be giving a presentation
on setting a record for hitting all 48 contiguous high points in a ridiculously short amount of
time. Starts 8 p.m.

December
TBA-Holiday party?????

Do you have an event that needs to be listed please let me know. Also most every meeting/event will also consist of food and drink during or afterwards, FYI. Looking forward to a good Fall.

Jesse

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

We Need Your Stories

It is summer and for the first time this morning it feels like it. Walking the dogs at 7 am i actually worked up a little sweat. Mornings like this mean it is time to head to higher ground. I still have one month before my planned trip to the mountains, but I would imagine that some of you have already been west. So send me stories of your summer adventures, so this blog has some new content. Pictures are also very welcome.

For all of you intellectuals who are scoffing my "summer" comment. Yes I know the solstice has not yet arrived.

Later,
Jesse

Friday, May 1, 2009

May Meeting

Has been reschuled for Tuesday May 12th. Meeting at Cliff Drive around 5:30 for several hours of climbing before going to the Manhattan Condos for swimming, hot tubs, food etc. 

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Know when to hold em'

Know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to climb. This past weekend marked the KCCC spring trip to Arkansas' Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Leading up to the trip the weather report looked suspect and continued to get worse as Friday approached. The last report i saw before taking the 5 hour gamble of a drive, showed a 40% chance on Friday with 60% chance through the weekend. Friday arrived with cloudy skies and splendid temps. Natalie and Mike arrived that morning with Dick Dower and Andy Eastman not far behind. Ross Fischer and myself had been there since Thursday and after securing the best campsite in the canyon we all headed up to the North Forty. Everyone did their own thing for the most part that day, and we all joined up in the evening for dinner at the Ozark Cafe down in Jasper. As usual, a full day of climbing put a small dent in everyone's pocket book, with full plates of burgers, fries, salads and of course a couple of milkshakes for dessert. After arriving back to camp, we all chilled out at enjoyed the nice weather. Jim Grace arrived late and soon retired to the cabin that Dick and Andy had secured. The rest of us huddled into our tents hoping not to wake up to rain. 

Because there had been no rain on Friday, the forecast had changed to a 100% chance by 9 a.m. on Saturday with a huge front moving in. At daybreak, Saturday morning greeted us with ominous clouds and perfect temperatures. By 7:30 a.m. everyone was up at the crag trying to take advantage of what little time might be available to climb. Chuck and Terre Millen arrived with their friend Tim with plans of hitting the river in their kayaks. Jim after already getting some climbing in, grabbed his canoe and joined them. By 11 the weather had not changed and we all left the North Forty to grab some snacks at camp and head over to the east side. While coming through camp, Carl Brockhoff arrived eager to fondle some sandstone. Carl had never climbed in Arkansas before, so within the hour he was sampling some of the fine moderates that the ranch has to offer. 

2:30 p.m. brought the inevitable, a light sprinkle which slowly became a light rain. Everyone retreated to camp and hung out under the easy-up tent that Natalie brought. Some of us went down to the barn to experience the Spelio box. What is this you may ask. Essentially it is a 10' x 10' x 10' plywood box with over 100' of small tunnels winding through a simulated cave. To sum it up, it is awesome fun, even for a big guy( I did get stuck 3 times). By 4 p.m. the wicked wind that followed the rain had dried up all of the rock so we grabbed our packs and headed back up to the East side. Although it was getting late in the day everyone was able to get in another 2 or 3 routes. 

Darkness settled upon us as we arrived back at camp. Carl built a beautiful fire and we grilled burgers and brats. As usual Natalie not only cranked hard all day, but also provided the club with a huge spread of food brownies included. With full bellies we retreated to our respective tents and cabins hoping for more dry weather, since the forecast still claimed a 100% chance of rain. 

Every once and a while the weather man gets it right. Sometime after midnight the heavy rain arrived and continued through the early hours of the morning. By daybreak the rain had stopped and we headed for the Ozark Cafe to enjoy a fine country breakfast. Dick and Andy decided to bail after breakfast, the rest of us headed back to camp, grabbed our climbing gear and were able to enjoy a handful of routes that were completely dry. By early afternoon the KCCC crew had all hit the road.

Despite the poor forecast for the weekend, a group of 11 KC Climbers made the gamble and came away with a decent payout from the house. The house doesn't always win!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Spring Cleaning

All of this warm weather makes me want to be more productive. Plus that slideshow on Tuesday night got me all fired up on the KCCC. Since becoming president, I have recieved several boxes of random KCCC crap. Well today I went through and organized all of it. I use the term organized loosely, I digress. Anyways I found the old guide book "Mo Beta" which is a supplement to Missouri Limestone Select. So I planned on posting the file here but can't for the life of me figure out how, even google couldn't help me. So if you want it let me know and i will email it to you. Or if you know how to post a file on a blogger site, please let  me know.

Monday, April 6, 2009

April Showers...

Last call for the April meeting, which will be held Tuesday the 7th at the North Face Store on the Plaza. Festivities will kick off at 8 p.m.. Hope to see lots o faces there. Remember to bring your own beverage and chair if you like sitting and sipping while watching slide shows.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

What Happens in Vegas....

Most people who spend a whole week in sin city don't blog about every detail out of sheer modesty. Thankfully the Vice President of the KCCC is in no way modest. So check out Natalie Neal's blog with a full trip report for her week of climbing in Red Rocks, and other Vegas debauchery.  http://nadneal. blogspot. com/

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Spring Cleaning and Hangdogging

As I am sure that most of you have noticed it sure feels like Springtime. That and the Vernal Equinox has officially passed. So what better to do than go climb outside. Just remember your helmet kiddos, that freeze thaw phenomenon wreaks havoc on the limestone flakes here in Misery. Talked to Jer Collins today and he said the he climbed at Cliff Drive recently and it was nice. For those of you who don't know, Erik Pohlman recently outfitted all of the bolts there with fixed draws. Thank you Erik! I now can Hangdog and lower off to my hearts content! Check the picture of Mr. Collins before a burn on the Bolt Route!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The North Face it is!!

Just met with the store manager and we are on for Jeremy's slideshow. It will be on Tuesday, April 7th, at The North Face store on the Plaza starting around 8 p.m. So tell a friend and bring a campchair (they will not have enough seats for everyone). Also they said that if you would like to BYOB, do so. There will be some sort of raffle or discount. Hope to see all of you there

Friday, March 6, 2009

Beautiful Weather

Just got back from the Swope Park Trails where i have been doing some trail building. This place is awesome and it only has 1.5 miles of trail completed. The second phase is under work and should yield around 5 miles of beautiful single track right in the middle of the city. So if you haven't been there, go! I have actually seen more hikers there than mountain bikers. Click on the link to check out some of the pictures towards the bottom of the page.  Here is a teaser
I still have not heard from The North Face Store regarding the April meeeting. I will release the info as soon as it is finalized.


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

March Meeting

Last night was the march meeting held at Ibex climbing gym in Blue Springs. We had a good turnout with 25 or so people showing up. The much awaited slide show from Jeremy Collins was postponed for the April meeting. If you do attend you may see pictures like this one.
So we had a quick discussion about upcoming events and went downstairs to pull on some plastic. A hands on demonstration was given on setting and equalizing anchors, in which 6 club members paid close attention in preparation for their upcoming trip to the Red Rock Rendezvous. There were several new climbers in attendance; Rusty, Allen, and Tom.

The April meeting will tentatively be held at the North Face Store on the Plaza. Confirmation of this location, time and date will be posted soon. Also the Spring club trip to Arkansas has been set for April 18th and 19th. Natalie Neal is working on the details, but right now we are looking at Horshoe Canyon Ranch. As always the trip will be lots of fun, with plenty of topropes, Saturday nights dinner provided by the club and possibly a portion of the climbing and camping fee. I will post updates as Natalie nails down the details.

The May meeting is going to be at Cliff Drive weather permitting on Tuesday the 5th. There will be topropes set up for a variety of grades and we will go somewhere nearby afterwards for drinks and food.