Well now, here we are leaving for our first climbing trip to Europe.

Destination: Kalymnos, Greece

Objective: Tufa-wrangle up on monster 40+ meter pitches.

While I could sit here and explain to you how SYKED we are on our trip and how sicky we plan to climb on perfect pitches–I feel it may be more becoming to briefly explore how Rachel and I have arrived here, what we’ve been doing the past several months, and above all–try and explain what living life “monkey-style” is all about.

Rachel, an environmental engineer by training and climber at heart, has been groveling through the 9-5 workday for almost two years.  While she’s been able to work out a flexible schedule to satisfy her climbing addiction throughout the week she’s been dying to get out and climb more continuously.  In between navigating tense office politics and sending 5.13 she’s basically one BA-chica.

As for myself, I’ve been out on my third year medical school rotations all year.  Jumping between learning to decipher shades of gray on Radiology, to standing captivated and immobile on General Surgery and endlessly counseling our indigenous metabolic syndrome patients on potential ramifications of their disease and the impossibly simple lifestyle changes they need has kept me quite engaged to say the least.  However, having not written anything more sterile than progress notes, H&Ps and discharge summaries in several years this task of writing more creatively is proving to be more cumbersome than I anticipated.  Patience is welcomed as I learn to skipper this b-log over the course of the trip.

In preparing for this month long sport climbing trip, we each have had our own methods.  Rachel continues to amaze me with her consistent, little-engine-that-could style of  progression with her climbing.  This summer, Rach put her mind to climbing POD (13b)-a worthy and venerable power-endurance route at Summersville Lake.  This is a route I remember belaying Jeff on countless times and most notably when he had an epileptic seizure of victory clipping the chains in 2008.  POD is HARD, Rachel deserves mad props for tackling and succeeding with such a tough goal.  Long days of climbing endurance routes again proved their worth as she made quick work of the thuggy Lactic Acid Bath (12d) shortly thereafter.

I, on the other hand, suffer and melt in the heat of the West Virginia summer.  Usually I’d spend my days in the Williams’ A/Ced Communist Training Center (The CTC) having a pseudo-sewing-circle-spewfest with Mikey, John and Kirk.  However, Mike got himself hitched and went on a honeymoon climbing trip through Europe for the summer which forced me out of the air conditioned cave and into the insufferable Cambodian atmosphere of a WV July.  Thanks Mike!

Fortunately, my brother Chris was coming down consistently along with my family–which offered me a chance to focus on teaching instead of sending, which of course was infinitely more satisfying than dogging a route I swear “doesn’t go.”  Here’s a few photos from their visit.  Note the perfect climbing conditions, and yup, that’s what 98% humidity looks like.

Several weeks ago Fall peeked in and teased the East Coast with a week of cool temps.  We were able to revisit our beloved (S)Endless Wall.  Incredibly motivated by the subtle nature of the climbing on Endless, I’ve been successful on several new-to-me routes including Jesus and Tequila (12b) and returned to defeat my longest project Dial 911 (13a) which demands surgical precision and serious fingertip pain tolerance.

Recently, the summer heat has returned and we’ve been resting and visiting friends and family in our spare time.   Life’s tempo increased the beat as the hours of the day yesterday were spent packing our bags and getting our travel documentation in order.  I’ve found that Rachel and I’s packing methodologies are strikingly analagous to Wingnut and Pat’s distinct approach in the movie Endless Summer 2. I tend to thrown articles of need at random into my bag; when its full, I’m done.  Rachel–on the other hand–has all her outfits, quickdraws, climbing gear and electronics in neat little piles circumavigating her empty bag.  Here’s a photo of what her apartment looked like yesterday.

Today, we’re lounging at David and Julia’s crib here in Charleston.  Leaving the apartment this morning was a little hectic as I was running through mental checklists hoping I haven’t forgotten anything vital.  (And yes, Dad, I unplugged to coffee pot, toaster, turned off the water and checked the lights in the bedroom…thrice!)  At 2:30 we embark on the long journey from Charleston to Charlotte to Munich to Athens to Kos to Kalymnos.  Oh joy.  Let’s just keep our fingers crossed our bags make it.  If all goes according to plan, our next post will be from the Greek isle of Kalymnos!  MONKEY-STEEZE!