Core Values

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This weekend was about core values- what are they?  How does my everyday life reflect them?  Why do they matter?  I was feeling punchy for most of the weekend, and it’s funny how life boils very quickly towards questions of your core values:

Why do you go to work in the morning?  How does your work connect to your core values?  If you can’t tell, then you are in the wrong line of work.

Do you like the girl?  How does she inspire you to live closer to your core values?  If she doesn’t, then don’t waste your time (or your heart).

Should I spend the money on [insert blank]?  How does that purchase support your core values?  It’s surprisingly hard to negotiate with yourself on this one.

Why aren’t you reaching some of your goals?  How committed have you been to the core values that reaching the goal demonstrates?  More commitment = more accomplishment.

Dedicated hard work yields honest worthwhile rewards.

So what are they?  I finished up my series of seminars with the New Leaders Council (NLC) on Saturday and Sunday morning.  We reviewed some of what we had sorted out during our time- and realized that back in January, I had put together a pretty concise list:

Accountability, community, humility, resilience, optimism.
Adventure, teamwork, quality, necessity, fun.

Interestingly enough, when I frame my life and activity with respect to the core values, I’m always pleased to realize that none of these values seem to contradict each other.   My life of late has been feeling very busy, but not necessarily full.  Sorting through the clutter leads towards questions about commitment to core values, and for whatever I’m cutting out- it always feels good to let go of the extraneous.  Appropriately, I enjoyed finding this gem on facebook from my friend Oscar:

Less more, more less.

The Weekend Summary:

I finished work early on Friday, met my friend Jess, and I ended up sending my first project of the season in Kootenai Canyon.  5.10c, all gear, with a delicate yet powerful crux well above your last piece.  As usual, it’s all about letting go of the baggage and getting that feeling to stick.

Identity Crack- tick. It only gets better from here.

As usual, the NLC conference was a very good time- I look forward to continuing to strengthen the many valuable relationships founded through our time together.  Despite a very fulfilling time together, I needed some time outside to finish the weekend right.  Accountability and humility point me at improving my running- and I’ve been working at it for months.  Ultimately though, that means that you have to run with people faster and stronger than you.  I only had one name to call, and I knew it was going to hurt.

Derek and I met at “the M” and traced the “Double Dip” route backwards.  ~13 miles, ~3,000 feet of climbing, and 2hr18min later we were back at the bikes, and I was distinctly not feeling punchy any more.  Derek ran me into the ground like I hadn’t been in a long time- and I think he still had quite a lot of fun doing it.  I’m looking forward to next time my friend.

The Beehive

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Almost unknowingly, the greater Yellowstone ecosystem stole a spot in my heart early in my experience with mountains.  I spent 8 days in the Absoarka Mountains in 2003 and found my first alpine experience climbing Granite Peak (12,799′, tallest mountain in Montana).  I’ve been back to the greater Yellowstone area at least a dozen times since, and it never ceases to amaze me.

We’re headed towards the obvious face at the head of the basin.

When I started ice climbing, I bought a copy of Winter Dance- one photo stood out to me immediately.  The view off the summit of a mountain I had never heard of called “The Beehive”.  It didn’t seem like a realistic objective then.  This year, with mileage, time, and the right partners, I knew I was ready to go when Drew mentioned it a few weeks ago.

Like many other Beehives, this one was full of honey.

I drove over to Bozeman on Friday afternoon with my favorite feeling: certain, inevitable awesome.  A perfect forecast, stellar partners, and a long sought after objective lined up for some of the most fun I’ve had on rock in a long time.  Enough talking, more photos…

I’ve never had to switch directly from ski boots to rock shoes before. Go figure…

Views from the center of the face were spectacular.

Drew leading up pitch 4.

We also thoroughly enjoyed the company of our friends Pete and Marco.  They climbed a mixed ice/rock line just next to ours, and friendly banter continued throughout the afternoon.  It’s rare to have another party in close proximity, and especially one with Pete Tapley.  Pete has put up most of the first ascents on The Beehive, and also happens to be one of the chillest, most fun climbers I have ever met.  I sincerely wish him well on his upcoming trip to the Alaska range.

The one and only Pete Tapley, ragin’.

Marco- enjoying a little exposure just before the summit ridge.

Drew and summited about 15 minutes after Pete and Marco, and we took extra time to enjoy the late afternoon sun and dead silence.  It was every bit as good as I had hoped- perfect partner, perfect weather, perfect route.  No, it’s not the hardest thing I’ve climbed, but we had a hoot, and I got to tick one off the list that’s been well overdue.  Booyah.

Feeling high on life on the summit.

Great views of The Sphinx and Lone Peak on the way home.

Technical details: The New World Route- 5.8, III, 500′.  Gear: singles #0-#2 C3, #0.3-#3 Camelots, 1 set offset nuts, 1 set BD Stoppers, 12 alpine draws.  Rock shoes don’t climb snow very well…

Still On!

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It was 930pm on Saturday night, and I’m feeling worked from too many days at the rock gym.  Rather than doing something social, I spent the evening researching backcountry skiing options.  My friend Jake is a strong skier, and has his weekend on Sunday & Monday.  He was psyched to ski, and the colder temps and frequent precip left me thinking that spring skiing today might be in fine shape.  The season is still on!

Good to go for another awesome day in the Bitterroot.

St. Mary’s is a classic ski line in the Bitterroot range, and I had tried it once before but with little success. Driving south on Hwy 93 past Victor, MT it’s easy to dream up carving giant turns in the open bowl. We left town around 715a this morning and were skinning the road at 845a. The road was clear to the 735/735A junction, and we alternated skinning and bootpacking in equal amounts from there to the trailhead.  Another hour put us on top of the first knob, but awful skinning conditions slowed us down on our way to the true summit.  Temps dropped quickly, but we had relatively little wind, so things stayed mostly comfortable up high.  We tagged the summit around 1245pm in clearing conditions, and were blown away by the view- I just didn’t know the backside of the Bitterroot looked quite so… awesome:

Really?

You should see that again:

Admittedly, wilder than I had even hoped for (with a few edits).

Psyched to be on top, and “curious” about the route down, we changed over and started scouting things out.  It looked okay, but as I traversed into the crux headwall, it didn’t feel okay.  Despite a well consolidated snowpack, my ski cut gave me the avalanche shivers, and threw a bunch of chunky crap down the route.  I stopped, looked around, and only then noticed the extent of older avalanche debris. The slope I cut hadn’t slid, but I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t.  That said, I was sure I needed to get off it.  I lifted my foot to initiate a turn, but instead of turning, a funny thing happened. I discovered my right ski binding wasn’t actually properly clipped to my boot.

It’s an odd feeling to watch your ski take off down the hill without you on it…

The ski made it out of the suspected avalanche zone quite a bit faster than I did.  I made short work of bootpacking down after it, and was glad to see it stop only 250m downslope, but I missed out on the steep skiing (and possible avalanche triggering).  Not sure if it was “a sign”, but I was psyched the slope didn’t slide while Jake dropped down to meet me, and with two skis firmly attached, we cleared the area in short order.  I’m not going to get in to the exact decision-making here, but it didn’t feel good at the time, and I’m thankful for the learning opportunity.

Our tracks are on the main face right of the triangle of trees. Stout.

We enjoyed the rest of the ski, I may have spied some ice climbing for next winter, and getting back to the car required quite a bit of work.  Despite the scare on the headwall, it was a beautiful day out, and I’m psyched to have a little more experience with a solid partner.

The weather kept getting better for us as the day got later.

“Spring conditions” at low elevations. Time to re-tune the skis!

 

Pacing

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The first piece of art I hung in my room was the reminder I've needed the most lately.

Somehow, life here in western Montana keeps picking up the pace- I haven’t planned it that way, that seems to be how life goes for me in the city.  Wrapped up in the NLC conference over April 21 and 22, adventures were largely confined to evening activities- thankfully the days are already long here and we get usable light until about 9pm.  Running up over Sentinel and rock climbing in Kootenai Canyon made the days spent inside more bearable.

Thoroughly worked by the time I got to the top of Mt. Sentinel.

The week sped by with equal parts of packing, fundraiser planning, and getting a massive proposal out of the office (it looks good, fingers crossed).  Our NLC fundraiser on Friday night was quite the success, thank you so much to everyone who donated!

The 2012 NLC-Montana Fellows. What an inspiring group of people to share ideas with.

Proper moving operations absorbed all of Saturday, and a huge shout to my friend Andy for bringing his subie and trailer combo over, as well as donating the best part of a Saturday afternoon.

Really glad I didn't move 550 miles like this...

Despite spending most of my day cold, scared, and exhausted getting on some hard sport climbing (no photos… my mind was elsewhere)- Sunday was still a great day of climbing with Steve in Kootenai.  If I have high goals for pushing my grade climbing, Steve is the guy that’s going to make that happen- thanks a bunch dude. I burned out early and Steve had family commitments, so we were back in town by 330- leaving me time to enjoy dinner with my friends Jeremy and Crissie, and make it to a really special event (not my local running site, but Bridger Ridge had the best description).  Geoff Roes is a titan in the sport of ultra-running (running races longer than a standard marathon)- he’s been someone I’ve followed on and off for years, and he had an amazing win in the Western States 100 trail run 2010.  His competitors were just as much part of the story, and the story was so good they made a film about it.  The Wilma Theater was packed, the strength of the running community here is amazing, and an avenue I haven’t tried to plug into yet.

Three of the best long distance runners in the world. Geoff Roes, Tony Krupicka, and Hal Koerner at the Wilma Theater on Sunday night.

If nothing else, the training volume (30-40 hours per week of running) these guys put in is unbelievable, and gets me re-thinking some of the training I’m doing towards my own goals.  To be certain, they know a thing or two about pacing, and priorities- and the event gave me a mental push I need lately to hopefully dial the pace back a bit.  That’s all for now, cause I’m late to work.  Thanks for reading!

Acting

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Last year, a group of people raised a bunch of money for me to benefit from. I didn’t ask them to, or know that I would benefit from their work when they raised the money. They took action because they believed that what they were doing was worthwhile, and that one day I would want to thank them. They were right.

I’ve been attending weekend-long seminars called the New Leaders Council (NLC) since January. I’ve written about these seminars before (here, and here), and this past weekend was again spent inside rather than out, and once again, it was worth it. I came to Missoula with big talk about “community” and “local action,” yet my action was small. Talk << Action.

NLC has been about getting connected, and connecting is the first essential piece of acting in the community. I’ve met local leaders, built business and personal relationships, and gotten to know this community on a level that in some ways is much deeper than my involvement with “community” in Portland. Attending the seminars has made me more aware of social justice issues that haven’t been on my radar, and put me in touch with a compassionate, engaged, and intellectually stimulating people that I probably wouldn’t normally get to know via the adventure circles I usually travel in. I leave each conference feeling more alive, and more aware of what needs doing, and I’ve found that invaluable.

NLC is free if you are selected to participate, and that comes with the responsibility of raising money for next years conferences. It costs ~$500 per person to put on in Missoula. We’re having a fundraising event in Missoula this weekend and it should be a very good time- please stop by the Stensrud Building (314 N. 1st St.) between 6-8pm for live music and refreshments. If you can join me in making a donation so that someone next year has this opportunity, that would be rad (click here and select “Missoula Chapter”). If you can’t (and I understand that you can’t), I’ll ask you to consider what you might do to make yourself more alive and connected to your community.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” (Howard Thurman)

Rattler

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Beyond the somber tone of my last post, I’ve also been getting out for plenty of climbing and other outdoor fun.  The past two weekends I’ve gotten a primo introduction to the rock climbing goods at Rattler Gulch, about 50 minutes east of town.  Very grateful for fun and motivated partners on both weekends, I’ll let the photos tell the rest:

Always pushing ahead- Steve gets chewed up by "Puppy Teeth", 12a.

Jamie gets on it with grit and grin.

The climbing is mostly solid limestone with funky little pockets and sharp edges- and reminds me a lot of many pitches at Smith Rock.

Yours truly sticking the crux on the 11b I fell off last weekend.

Jess steps up her game and gets down to business on a 10b.

Proof that if you go for it, it’s probably going to be good!  Get out and love the spring.

Don't forget to look back after you top out, the views are not to be missed.

Thermodynamics

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I got a letter yesterday, and while the content was important, I noticed something different about the envelope:

Freedom, forever? I am very afraid not.

It was the way the American flag and the words below it were crossed out.  We in America (‘merica!) seem to care so much about our freedom, but what “freedom” is really about is energy- the energy to put food on our tables, to stay warm, and also to have fun.  In essence- the energy to live.  Yet, when people talk about freedom in America, they rarely talk about energy, and when I think about our energy situation, it makes me think freedom is surely on the way out.

Some people who even like to talk about things like “sustainability” generally don’t get the picture about how much energy matters.  “Sustainability” is all the rage in the building design community, it’s even (slowly) taking hold here in western Montana- but it tends to result in wheatgrass fiber wall paneling and bamboo floors rather than energy conservation.

Sustainability is not about your wall finish, riding your bike to work, or your office-wide recycling program.  A fair look in the mirror: sustainability is also not about my patagonia clothes, my used Jetta TDI, or the fact that I don’t have kids to provide for.  Sustainability is about thermodynamics, plain and simple.  Thermo-what?  Thermodynamics- the science of energy.  It’s an abstraction, it can seem hard to understand, and it is such an essential part of our everyday life.  These things are all great, and in some small ways, parts of the solution- but really its going to take a lot more.

Buildings are an amazing opportunity- everyone uses them, they all have utility bills, and almost all of them could benefit from design and/or retrofit work that would make a significant difference in energy consumption.  If your utility bill isn’t zero (seriously!), then it needs work.  Am I an elitist?  Does it matter?  It doesn’t matter if we have 40 years of oil and coal left or 400 years.   We aren’t living right and each of us needs to play a part of changing that.  What do you want to know about energy?  How can we make energy consumption more visible?  What does a real plan for “freedom” look like?  I look forward to your thoughts in the comments.

“Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or a politician.” (Miklos S Dora, paraphrasing Kenneth Boulding)

Packing

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I’m packing my things this morning.  Last weekend, my housemate and landlord informed me that she needed to live alone, and that I was welcome to take the time to find a place I would be happy living in.  I’m grateful for having had this place to land, and feel confident that I can find something that works just as well, if not better, for my needs.  I swear Craigslist has mystical powers in that regard.

Packing in a way feels good.  My heart opens to adventure, my life feels smaller and more compact again, and I have the opportunity to strip away the unnecessary.  I don’t know yet where I will land, my criteria includes cool people and good energy, which doesn’t seem hard to find in this town.

The south hills are full of really awful McMansions, but I can't argue with the view...

I got fired up yesterday, clear skies and a new freehub on my bike reminded me that I didn’t ride 1,000km across Colombia last year because I dislike spending time in the saddle.  Maybe I don’t really own skinny tires any more (I sold my old roadbike for cash to travel with), but that doesn’t mean I can’t get out and race the touring bike I have.  My legs were fresh and excited to spin.  Cycling is an adventure from the moment you leave your house until the moment you get back- and has all of my favorite elements: being outside, hard physical effort, and seeing the world on a human powered level.  I rode Pattee Canyon until I hit snow, then bombed down to find the next steepest climb over the South Hills, and then again despite a headwind- dug deep for a third climb on the next road west.

Roads around town are NOT yet all clear.

It felt good to get out and spin, but the frigid wind was a reminder that it is only very early spring here, and I’ve got lots of work to do to find the best places to ride.  And I really miss my titanium road bike.  We’ll see what the summer brings.

Don’t Suck Today

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Don’t suck today- it’s been a common mantra lately, even though life is very full, I’m still battling the “routine”.  Low writing motivation, plenty of time at the office (or on the construction site), and relatively few adventures have kept me away from my writing, from training, and from some of the bigger things I care about.  That’s not the general idea for this space, but life happens.

The tail end of one a coal train that I happened to catch from the bike bridge. Life keeps rolling forwards.

A few links that have managed to catch my attention:

Big company invests in “small” people (thanks Kurt)

Reminding me of the Scotland love (thanks Nate)

Things are not always as they appear (don’t remember where I saw this).  A strong reminder about living on your own terms.

I’ve also been working really hard on my cello playing lately, gearing up for two events that will garner more space here soon.  One- I’m campaigning for Kimberly Dudik for Montana House District 99, please come to her kickoff party on April 11 at the Burns Street Food Co-op.  I’ll be playing cello from 5.30-8.00pm.  Also, I’ll be playing some at the NLC Fundraiser at the Stensrud House on April 27th- more details to follow shortly.

The daily reminder- do what you have to do, support what you want to see in the world, keep chasing your dreams, don’t suck today.