Moab Report

The Moab trip was great. I spent every day hiking and climbing in the mountains and canyons. I beat the heat by hiking the canyon country in the early mornings and spending the brutally hot afternoons high up in the cool of the La Sal mountains. I met some fun people, drank a few locally brewed Black Raven Stouts, and just generally had a sweet 3 day stay in Edward Abbey's neighborhood.

There as only one morning where the winds were light enough for jumping. That's Troy, me, and Marta on the climb up Tombstone. Troy and Marta and Jimmy jumped, and I ground crewed. The pre dawn hike through the canyons, walking past the numerous petroglyphs, was fantastic. It was the first time I'd ever seen real, live cliff jumping and, as my friend Rudi says: "you can observe a lot by just watching".

Above is our climbing instructor Matt Moore. Matt is a master of rope and rock, and he's also a paraglider pilot and BASE jumper. His class emphasized the real world skills and info you need to be a useful participant in a typical cliff crash/rescue situation. It was my first experience with roped climbing and I had a blast learning all kinds of new stuff.

Marta exits at Tombstone

One of the highlights of the ABAT course was EMS Master Dave Black's presentation on backcountry medical emergencies. Here's a picture of his BASE first aid kit.