Your 2012 Highlights

Celebrated my 50th birthday on top of Mt. Whitney. It was my first mountaineering experience.

In no particular order:

Hald-dome in a day
Positive Vibrations
The Rostrum
FA of Jolt Train - because I tried so hard I thought I was going to throw up
Solar Slab to Eagle Dance link-up
Desert Shield - despite not finishing we threw the wall rager of the century. I apologize to the parties sleeping on Moonlight Buttress that probably thought we were very, very annoying.

Being able to climb again after a little over a year off due to a head injury and being in a coma.

For me my top three (in this order) were:

1. Southwest Ridge, Peak 11,300
2. Astroman
3. Primrose Dihedrals

The Barb on Spearhead - RMNP
Center Route on Cynical Pinnacle - South Platte
"Fat Date" linkup at Lumpy
Esthesia - Spider's Web, ADKs
Fear of Touching Aerie linkup - Moss Cliff, ADK (best route in the park?)
Beef Jello - City of Rocks, ID (hardest clean trad lead to date at 5.10d)

Just ten hmm...

1. Steck-Salathe, Sentinel Rock
2. Welcome to Courtright, Power Dome
3. Crack of Doom, Elephant Rock
4. The Sermon, Pulpit Rock
5. A Little Nukey, Power Dome
6. Community Pillar, Red Rocks
7. The Flakes, Middle Cathedral
8. The Flake Route, The Obelisk
9. Worst Error, Left, Elephant Rock
10. Slab Happy Pinnacle Left, East Ledges

1- darkstar, Winslow wall
2- spite and malice, the waterfall
3- getting all the pitches sent on rubo's and the scenic cruise, Sedona
4- backing off NE face feather peak after tying my shoes at base of p1 due to hail (26 mile round trip approaching), then following west face eichorn's as consolation prize
5- purple shark, my first .12 send!
6- taking the whipper on Queenfolia
7- first-ever through sixth trips to creek.... incredible hand crack!
8- beat down at the voo, followed by warm bath climbing at wild iris
9- epinephrine, even as a mere second on every pitch but one
10- best of the list, the day my gal and I had on purblind pillar, red rocks

Summiting the Grand Teton via the complete Exum ridge with my father 20 years after the first time we summited together

The Nose in 11 hours for my first trip up El Cap!

The red route at the gym.

Grand Wall, Squamish and Stanley-Burgner on Prussik Peak

Jeff Kent's post (above) is my favorite so far.

Really getting into climbing, and progressing relatively fast.

Jay Eggleston wrote:Being able to climb again after a little over a year off due to a head injury and being in a coma.

More generally....
Started year with a weekend long Tennessee Wall camping trip with my closest friends...two or three subsequent visits this year.
LOTS of climbing at my two home crags....Steele, mainly.
6 trips to Western NC for big, obscure granite routes I've been wanting to do for a long time....also, lots of more casual climbing in Panthertown and around Whitesides.
Pulled more 11s, cleanly and over gear on sandstone and granite.
Climbed 11C sport, cleanly.
C3 aid...in winter.
Made it to Yosemite and Tuolumne for the first time in May....awesome.
Visited two new-to-me, semi-local crags/escarpments.
Helped develop routes at two high quality locations.
It was a good year....really settling into a climbing program from which I derive a great deal of pleasure.

Most memorable routes of 2012 for me
1. La violencia el salto
2. prince of theives boulder canyon
3. Culo de negra el salto
4. Piles of trials boulder canyon
5. Plan b boulder canyon

Finding and developing this new area in CT: Bald Rock Basin Probably the largest legal bouldering in the state.

Starting to climb and learning to climb smart after recovering from shoulder surgery (cliff jumping accident in 2011). Not getting hurt again or getting in over my head. Learning to climb trad, getting comfortable at leading, learning multipitch, anchors, and other important skills. Red pointing my first 5.11 and onsighting my first 5.11, taking my first fall (albeit small) and bouldering 2 classic V5s and one V6.

-Epinephrine 11 hrs c2c onsight
-200+ pitches this year, after breaking my back the previous august.
-My first 5.11 trad route, onsight none the less
-fisher towers (the king and echo)
-first trip to the creek, on sighted IHC by headlamp after on sighting 3 AM after working an adopt a crag the same day. Also OS low cholesterol.
- tons of new areas visited (uintas, BCC, Maple, blodgette, the creek, bishop, lovers leap, red rock, the city, castle rock, Q'emelin, big rock, auburn quarry, ten sleep, wolcott)
-Os night time solo of pyramid peak
-OS center route and sugar magnolia in the Platte

One of my best climbing years ever.

Special thanks to Jeff young, Ty Tyler, and Brady Robinson at The Access Fund for making my year what it was. Working on the Conservation Team kicked ass and was one of the best experiences of my life.

fafnir, hassig's direct on cannon cliff, ptarmigan ridge on rainier, full north ridge of stuart, beckey-chouinard on south howser tower. I'm lucky to have some of the most psyched climbers I know to climb with.

Jay Eggleston wrote:Being able to climb again after a little over a year off due to a head injury and being in a coma.

Jason Kaplan wrote:Working on the Conservation Team kicked ass and was one of the best experiences of my life.