Congratulations!

 

Congratulations to Cindy Gray for being one of 20 Ambassadors chosen from a field of 150 by @rockclimbingwomen on Instagram!

 

Adopted from poverty and abuse into loving family, Cindy grew up in Ohio, making the choice to rise above her beginnings. She's been overcoming challenges ever since.

 

As a teen, Cindy joined her family on mission in Nicaragua, discovering the beauty of the jungle and native culture while working to improve the lives of the people they lived with.

 

After attending Eastern Mennonite College, Cindy became an EMT, was one of the first women certified as a firefighter and crash truck driver, and worked tirelessly for equality in that field.

 

Damage to her spine, complicated by degenerative disc disease, required two surgeries to install rods and screws.

 

That didn't stop her.

 

A copperhead snake bite hospitalized her and almost cost her a leg.

 

That didn't stop her or lessen her love of nature.

 

Cindy has been instrumental in organizing a dozen trail work and trash clean up events, and was a founder of the Friends of Smoke Hole, a local independent alliance of climbers giving back to the crags and the communities that surround them.

 

She encouraged me to launch the Smoke Hole Anchor Replacement/Upgrade Project and has spent days hauling gear and on belay to support that effort.

 

An aneurysm in 2015 and the 3.5 hour surgery that stretched the capabilities of modem medical technology did not prevent Cindy from returning to Colorado for a second year as a campground host and entrance booth staffer in Elevenmile Canyon, nor did it prevent her from completing another handful of first ascents and impressive hikes during our days off.

 

To date, Cindy and the Punisher have done 53 first ascents in Smoke Hole Canyon, Reeds Creek and Germany Valley in WV, in Flagstaff and Northern Devils Canyon in AZ, and in Elevenmile Canyon in the Pike National Forest in CO.

 

A proud mom and grandmother, Cindy is still working to encourage a new generation of climbers to reach further and rise above their own challenges while giving back to the places in which she has both given and received so much inspiration.

 

After a decade together, I'm still awed and humbled by her every single day, incredibly proud to be her husband and equally grateful for her friendship.

 

Above: Cindy with the Lindy, our home on wheels for two years, across thousands of miles and through a hundred adventures.

Memories of Devil's Canyon

Sitting here in Wild'n'Wonderful West Virginia, thinking back on winters past, some of the best of them spent in Northern Devil's Canyon, in the Dripping Springs Mountains of Arizona.  

Resolution Copper has once again been denied their application to swap other, smaller chunks of AZ for this jewel... no thanks to climbers or their advocacy organizations... it was the San Carlos Apache Indians who accomplished this feat.  

But like all corporations, although they are treated like people in the eyes of the law, they live on a timescale of immortals, planning for decades-long campaigns to wear down their unfocused and weak-willed opponents, who will all too quickly move on to some place like The Homestead, because the climbing rags and a few asshats claim those spots are "the best climbing in Arizona".  

Of course, that particular crag is now closed, since climbers just can't stay off private land or limit their impact...

So, reaching to the back of the rack, and a bit closer to the present, I pulled up a few images of the incredible views and rock of that seldom-visited crag which I believe to be one of the best in all of Arizona, in hopes that perhaps the lazy, scene-driven climbers of the Valley of the Sun and the rest of the U.S. just might be inspired to speak up and act.

Urge Congress to enforce the same EPA regulations on foreign companies that U.S. companies must follow.  Understand that we are doing many of the same things in other nations, including Australia, which is corporate HQ for Rio Tinto/Resolution. 

The Silent Scream Boulder, high on the shoulder of King's Crown Peak.

The Melting Man area, on the road to King's Crown.

Cindy Gray, taking a break from the wind, Windlass Gardens Wall, above Shenandoah.

If climbers do not act, now, and in a unified fashion, instead of feuding like children and backstabbing each other and the climbing community over old slights that have NOTHING to do with the issue, then this place will, someday, be nothing but an open pit mine skirted by a carefully-placed freeway. 

And the the climbers of the world will have no one but themselves to blame.

Take a Stand for Arizona

The amazing formations of Apache Leap, just outside Superior, Arizona.  All of this could be destroyed if the proposed land swap with Resolution Copper goes ahead.

Yo, CLIMBERS and other lovers of America and our outdoors-

Arizona climbers need your help!

There is a vote scheduled for this Thursday, September 19th in the US House of Representatives on legislation that would trade away the popular Oak Flat climbing area in Arizona to Resolution Copper Mining, a foreign owned mining company.

All 435 members of the House of Representatives will have the opportunity to cast a vote on this legislation, yet many of them know little or nothing about the bill except what the bill sponsors have told them.

If this bill (HR 687) should become law, it will result in the largest loss of a climbing resource in the history of the United States. The bill also poses major environmental and Native American concerns. HR 687 is an example of bad, special interest legislation and passage could establish a terrible precedent.

Your Congressional representative will have the opportunity to cast a vote on this legislation, and we need your help to let him/her know of the many valid reasons to vote "NO" on HR 687.

Please take a moment and call or email your Congressman or Congresswoman today.

Visit our Action Center to send a letter through our easy-to-use advocacy tool (
http://www.accessfund.org/c.tmL5KhNWLrH/b.5208267/k.8C84/Action_Center/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=tmL5KhNWLrH&b=5208267&aid=520296)
that will automatically identify your Representative. 

New Routing for Christmas in Devil's Canyon

We started out the week before, one day after the End of the World.  Having seen no sign of the Mayans, the Altasrians, the Pleiadeians, or the great black hole that would open with alignment, we resolved to ACT!

The day went well, if with a few set-backs and delays.  The hike to the Troll Hut was breezy, with a sharp, biting north wind breathing down our necks, which helped cool the sweat of carrying 60 pounds of drill, bolts, hammer, wrenches, rope, gear, snacks and food.  The feeder creek below the crag turned out to be running, necessitating an alternate high-water trail to the crag... one which I fortunately possessed the foresight to have constructed about a decade before.

Work soon proceeded apace.

The line was classic; the rock, solid... enough.  but cold weather, a few false holes, and an uncooperative first bolt put paid to our dreams of a first ascent... that day.

Gypsy Conditions, a sustained 5.8, stalled in progress by a single bad bolt and a dead drill battery.

Close-up of the traitor bolt.  Oh, well, a good day, regardless... not like it was the end of the world or anything... THAT WAS YESTERDAY!

We worked another partially-completed line, named in honor of my friend Mike, The Fisher King, before heading back towards lights and "civilization", which seemed doomed to continue for another millenium or so.

Three days later:

Christmas Day, 2012: 34 degrees F, 20-30 mph gusts, heavy overcast.

Full-on Gypsy Conditions.  An hour's drive east did nothing to change the picture.  Cindy looked at me, I looked at Cindy.

"We're already here," she said.  "We can freeze in camp, or freeze with a smile on our faces."

So.... we went out and bolted and climbed a new route, in the sheltered corridor of the Troll Hut, and started another new line on the opposite wall, just for good measure.

We ended the day with a smile and a last look into the canyon, where water rolled over the volcanic boulders, before hiking out to hot drinks and dinner with friends.

Gypsy Conditions, 5.8, 4 bolts and anchors, First Ascent: Michael and Cindy Gray, 12/25/12.