The Mountain, The Mustache and Me.

Some of you may have heard that I've been off training in the Sierra Nevada's for the last six weeks. The title of this class was Summer Mountain Leader's Course and I would say it was pretty much a beefed up version of Scout Camp. Although that may conjure up visions of campfires and jolly songs, in reality it was a very technical and challenging course. Our typical schedule had us up and dressed by 0600, eating by 0630 and on the road for the 4.2 mile run or hike to our training area at 0730 every morning, six days a week. Sometimes we'd run or hike back, if we were lucky we'd hitch a ride in 15 PAX vans. On average, I think I totalled 18-20 miles per week for the first three weeks. We started getting rides more often so I stopped counting after that. But we put on enough miles for two of my toenails to turn black and come off. Our first two weeks were dedicated to tying knots and rope systems. There were over a dozen knots that we had to master- which meant to be able to tie blindfolded, within a timelimit. Additionally there were 7 rope systems to master, all within time constraints as well. At the end of the first two weeks, we transitioned into rock climbing; where they took guys who had never before touched a rope and taught them how to lead climb. Lead climbing is very technical and is pretty nerve wracking when you're not even sure what you're doing in the first place. Week three culminated in "pass-out" climbs. You must pass 2/3 climbs within the given time limit, or you're out of the course.(In fact, we started with 29 students and over the course of 6 weeks, graduated with only 16) Week 4 is more climbing, but on higher, more difficult terrain. Week 5 was our mission rehersal exercise- where we put everything we'd learned to use. Week 6 we bussed 7 hrs North to Mt. Shasta to spend a few days training and surviving in an Alpine environment. A massive storm blew in and forced us down early, so I was only up there long enough to get extremely sunburned, then frozen, then soaked and frozen at the same time. Like I said, it was a lot like the Boy Scouts. In some of these pictures you'll see I have my signature mustache again. It was kind of my good luck charm throughout the course. By the end of six weeks, it was pretty creepy and was curling over my lip. One evening out in town, I forgot I had the creeper-stache and I was getting the stink eye from everyone around. I couldn't figure it out. People were just looking at me with complete disgust- then I remembered how I looked with a mustache, and everything made sense.

The 2/3 point on our daily trek

My tent team (All officers, except me)

Halfway through a tricky clmib

Those two white dots are me and my clmibing partner, around the halfway point of a 5:10A climb.

Mt. Shasta in the background. Hard to believe it was 80 degrees earlier that day