Mountain Devil
This blog promotes dynamic lifestyles and rugged, outdoor activities. Guest submissions are encouraged. All submissions will be considered, however, they may be edited before publication. Posts should relate to outdoor activities (hiking, biking, running, swimming, skydiving, etc.), but may also include activities performed in a controlled environment (e.g., rock climbing in an indoor gym).

Live bold, be healthy, and have fun.

D. Ray
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Watch this video.  It pretty much speaks for itself.

I’ve been climbing at GOLS (Glendale Outdoor Leadership School) a lot lately.  It’s a great facility for climbers of any skill level.  While it may not have the variety of rock walls like Stronghold in Columbia, SC, it has numerous routes that can provide for a good workout for even the most experienced climber.  Also, they will soon be adding a bouldering cave, which will greatly enhance the existing facility.  

Also, it’s not expensive to climb.  It costs me about $8 each time I climb (price varies depending on what equipment you have).  I believe it’s $10 total with complete equipment rental.  Some nights have discounts for different age groups, so it’s good to visit on those nights.  Thursday from 6-9 is an adult night (18 and older), and Friday night is kid’s night from 6-9. 

Anyway, this video shows just a few of the possibilities in this gym.  Making the video was almost as fun as actually doing the jumps. 

The staff is very friendly (Dave, Ben and Storm from the video all work there).  Don’t let the video scare you off.  I have been climbing at GOLS for almost a year now.  It took me quite a while before I was capable of pulling off what you see in the video.  The staff loves having new people show up, and groups are welcome and encouraged.  Had it not been for the helpfulness of the GOLS staff, I wouldn’t be able to pull of any of what is shown in the video. 

For more information about the facility and the programs offered at GOLS, please check out their website: http://www.setgols.org/.  GOLS is located in Glendale, which is about a 10 minute drive from downtown Spartanburg, SC. 

Happy Climbing!!!

D. Ray

Look for more videos from GOLS and other rock climbing gyms in the near future.  I’m going to be doing reviews of different rock walls around South Carolina.  Also, I’m planning on shooting some video of some outdoor bouldering and top rope around NC and SC in the near future. 

Snowmass Mountain Trip Report: Day 3

I woke up in the middle of the night covered in sweat and knowing that I needed fresh, cold air.  Evan had just returned from outside and I said that it was incredibly cold. However, I had to pee, so I located my snowboots and crawled out of the tent.

Fortunately, my headache and feelings of nausea were no longer with me. It was about 4:30 in the a.m.  It was incredibly cold, so I finished my business outside and hurried back to my sleeping bag.  A few hours later we all started to get up.  We had a lot of hiking to do if we were going to summit today.

We gathered up our packs and set off down the trail.  Thankfully the trail was still visible.  The trail got pretty steep in a few areas as we hiked, but it was good fun.

After hiking about a half mile or more, we came upon a small waterfall.

We knew we were getting close.  After hiking 100 more yards, we got our first glimpse of Snowmass Lake and the mountains surrounding it.

As you can see by the look on our faces, we were pretty amazed.

We spent the next hour wandering around the front edges of the lake, admiring all that it had to offer.

I took this time to get down next to the water and attempt to find a frozen section that could support my weight.  It wasn’t happening.  But I did manage to get Evan to snap a photo of me “walking on water.”

After a bit, we grabbed our gear and started making our way around the outside of the lake.  The snow was deep in spots.  Sometimes big blocks of snow would slide right off into the lake as we passed by.  This was disturbing and we worried that the snow could do this as we attempted our summit.

Halfway around the lake, I spotted some ice that looked incredibly frozen.  I crawled down and hit it a few times with my ice ax.  For those of you who have seen the video, you know what happened next.  For those of you who haven’t, watch the damn video (it was a previous entry on this blog) and check out these pictures:

Being out on the ice gave me a chance to snap a few nice photographs:

After I finished playing around, we continued on our way around the lake.

After making it to the other side, we had a decision to make.  To summit, or not to summit.  Well, the avalanches we heard that day and the day before, the large amount of snow that seemed unstable, and the concern of what would happen if even one of us got an injury weighed heavily against the summit.  So, we did what anyone would do when they reach the end of their journey … GROUP PHOTO!!!

We also had to snap of few photos of the top:

After that, we rolled back.  The hike back was hard, fast, painful, and mostly downhill.  Here is a brief summary in photos:

That ended the hiking portion of our trip.  We headed into Boulder for the next two nights and had a great time.  This was the best hike I’ve ever done.  Rob, Evan and I made the perfect team for this adventure.  I want to do this hike again during the Spring/Summer 2010.