Competition Cycle

We are entering the fourth week of a competition cycle. Fights are October 6th.

The intensity increases each week.

The combinations get more complex.

The level of expectation rises with each passing week.

The advertised two-hour session has been stretching to 2-1/2; beyond that, Ivan keeps us late to spar. The nights grow longer; camaraderie is strengthened. Most of us agree that our mental toughness is being conditioned as well as our bodies. Something you don’t get spending evenings surfing MySpace Groups or making claymation videos for youtube.com. It is not uncommon to have guys drop 4, 6, even 8, or more, pounds of water weight by the end of the night, even while replenishing during practice.

Attendance ebbs and flows around a nucleus of regulars. A newcomer, at this stage, is tossed into the deep end immediately. On the nights I feel weak, I am thankful to have three months of buildup to help push through the pain and fatigue. Sometimes, I am surprised the new ones make it, or that they return. It is nice to be considered a “regular” now; the road to get here was long and painful, but worth every step.

Sparring is getting more intense. Last night was a round-robin, with each fighter in the ring for two two-round sessions, with fresh opponents each round. It was a good test of muscle-memory, endurance, and strategy. Upon reflection, I saw some areas which have improved, but others still need work. In a true ‘learn-by-doing’ sport, sparring is the truest way to find holes and improve.

Transitions

Another phase of life is ending, and a new beginning is quickly approaching as we map out our future. Our two-and-a-half year association with the University of Washington Medical School is coming to an end. The past two years have been a singular focus for Anastacia to wade through, persevere, and excel in the Physician Assistant Program. Anastacia graduates in a month; finally, the needle will be bumped to a new groove to continue playing out the symphony of our life.

Now, we contemplate pursuing that future in a new place, nurturing new roots, away from all that has become familiar and somewhat comfortable. Remarkably, it is without apprehension that we consider turning our backs on this town; easily said, for me, as my disdain for it has grown as of late. New opportunities have arisen, and exciting new horizons are being mapped.

George Patton Speaks to 21st Century America

Thanks to M.A. for spotting this gem.

Defining 'Insanity'

A common, colloquial definition of 'insanity' is, "repeating the same action and expecting a different outcome each time." Robert Mugabe, esteemed dictator of Zimbabwe, is about to become a living definition of insanity. Mugabe seized farms from white landowners, only to see their new black owners run that industry into the ground. One cannot expect this action to end any differently.

While the injustice done to the companies affected is enough to make one's blood boil, the real victims in this are the four out of five Zimbabweans jobless.

article

By Cris Chinaka 1 hour, 22 minutes ago
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday threatened to seize foreign companies, including mines, that have raised prices and cut output in an economic "dirty tricks" campaign to oust his government.

Mugabe, 83, in power since independence in 1980, accused former colonial power Britain of seeking to overthrow him.

Political and economic analysts said the nationalization threat appeared to be aimed at winning Mugabe's ZANU-PF party votes in next year's general election -- echoing the government's campaign of farm seizures ahead of elections in 2000 that ended in economic disaster.

Speaking at the burial of a top military officer in Harare, Mugabe charged that some industrialists, including miners, had been drafted into a "regime-change" agenda by Britain, deliberately reducing production, raising prices and illegally banking foreign currency abroad.

"We will seize the mines ... we will nationalize them if they continue with the dirty tricks," an angry Mugabe said to a round of applause from hundreds of mourners at the funeral.

"All companies, we will take them over if they continue with their dirty game. Take note, we will be equal to the challenge. We are capable of playing that game too," he said.

RAISING STAKES
The nationalization threat by Mugabe raises the stakes against foreign firms and local company chiefs he has long accused of colluding with his enemies.

On Tuesday a government minister said Zimbabwe will transfer control of all companies, including foreign banks and some mining operations, to locals if a planned black empowerment bill is passed by the country's ruling-party dominated parliament.

Zimbabwe's business community -- including a dwindling number of local subsidiaries of multinational companies, older white-owned firms and black-owned companies which prospered after independence in 1980 -- is already struggling in what the World Bank calls the fastest shrinking economy for a country not at war.

Analysts said approval of the empowerment bill could deepen the economic crisis which has pushed Zimbabwe to the brink of collapse with inflation now believed to be over 4,000 percent per year.

Economic analyst Tony Hawkins said the government was employing a political ploy to distract people from the economic crisis that has left four in five Zimbabweans without jobs.

"I suppose the logic behind this thinking is because in 2000 the land invasions won them an election, company seizures could do the same in 2008," said Hawkins.

Mugabe said on Wednesday his government would not hesitate to jail company executives who were raising prices unreasonably as the hikes were designed to wipe out state-ordered wages meant to cushion the poor.

The government on Tuesday ordered prices of basic goods and services to be slashed by half to protect Zimbabweans after prices had risen by up to 300 percent within a week. The move pushed prices back to the levels of mid-June.

(Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Nelson Banya)

Redemption: 6/23/07 - Mt. Stuart, West Ridge

Mount Stuart is a big mountain (9,415'), dominating the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and the foundation stone of the Stuart Range in the heart of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. Early mountaineer Claude E. Rusk called Mount Stuart a "mountain of thrills." (Beckey, 2000) Having been on the mountain three times, successfully summitting twice, I can attest to the veracity of Mr. Rusk's statement. John and I had history with the West Ridge of this mountain, and we decided it was time for some redemption.

In the Fall of 2005, after several routefinding errors, we found ourselves atop the West Horn and losing daylight. Given the time of day, we opted to descend the West Ridge Couloir; a blundering nightmare which culminated in an overhanging rappel into the September night's inky blackness. The deathmarch which followed pushed me beyond exhaustion, falling asleep each time we sat down for a break. Since then, John and I have talked about going back to climb the route and do it right. That time came on June 22nd, 2007.

We bivied with the masses at the Ingalls Lake Trailhead Friday night, ready for an early start. 0330, to be exact. We were on the trail by 0410. The trail was largely snow-free, with a mix of snow and rock from Ingalls Pass to the Lake. We cramponed around the edge of the frozen lake and found a hole for water on the far side. This was also a good spot to scope the gully we needed to enter to get on route.

At the base of the "second gully" (or, "first continuous gully" as some call it), we started cramponing up perfect styrofoam snow, negotiated a short rock step, and got back on snow for a while. After that, it was rock scrambling time until we got to the head of the gully and found our way into the next one, where we donned crampons again to traverse over near the base of Long John Tower. We couldn't see the supposed 4th Class route to the notch so, we scrambled up left of the big corner and then decided to rope up. John led across to the corner, discovered ice, came back and went up and then crossed above the iced-up corner and onto a flat bench. He belayed me over and then we cramponed up the rest of the gully to the notch behind LJT. We saw the "scissor feature" on the side of the West Horn and scrambled, unroped, up the gully and crossed over and turned the Horn.

I was feeling pretty happy that we were on-route; however, I hadn't been feeling well all morning and was moving slower than was ideal. I appreciated John's patience, and gave him pizza on the summit. Truth be told, my nerves had been haunting me since we left the car. I had not done muc climbing this Spring. I was pretty confident about my conditioning but, I knew that would only get me so far; the mental stress of the steep environment, the exposure, and the constant nagging doubts took a different kind of conditioning. I kept reminding myself that most of the climb was only 3rd & 4th Class, with some low- to mid-5th Class climbing - all well within my abilities. However, the creature within still picked at the tumor, that is doubt, as each chance arose.

We crossed a few more ribs and looked up to see a "notch", which I think we thought was Beckey's "tiny notch". We thought for a bit that we had accidentally done the Southside Bypass mentioned by Beckey, but realized a little later that we had indeed hit the W.R. notch. Thinking we were at the "tiny notch", I racked up and went up and right, thinking we would find the ledge which would lead us to the summit pitches (author's note: upon review of the route description, the direction I was headed would have put me on the Southside Bypass Variation). What I found was the point at which we should cross over to the North side of the Ridge; I brought John up. John racked up, crossed over and disappeared from sight.

Soon, he was off belay and I followed...oh, boy, that was interesting. This pitch nominated John for "scary move of the day": for me, this move entailed stepping down onto a 12"-wide ramp with no hands and walking across to two large blocks. Once I cleaned John's pro, I tried to figure out how he had climbed passed them (he told me that he had squeezed through sort of). I didn't see that and I ended up going out and around, hanging my ass out over the Stuart Glacier! I got to John, grabbed the rack and climbed a half-lead up to Beckey's "tiny notch"; there we dropped down, back onto the South side, and looked at out options. As John had said earlier in the morning, "the hardest part is there are so many options."

As we saw it, we could walk around on the ledge and go up, or we could find our way from where we were at (which Beckey says goes from 5.3-5.6). Given the time, and the proximity to the summit, we couldn't see the sense in traversing. John spied some good, blocky climbing so we decided to go up. John took the lead up a fun, interesting 5.4 corner to a ledge below another corner which had a slung block. I really didn't want to lead this pitch, but John was getting tired and I wanted to pull my weight. I passed the block and got into the corner, which was pretty crusted up with lichen. I voiced my lack of enthusiasm and John gave me the beta and encouragement I needed to pull the two-move wonder and get out of the corner (it was maybe 5.8). I moved up another 50', or so, and set a belay due to massive rope drag. John cleaned the gear and I got nominated for "hardest move of the day".

John meandered through the final blocks and reached the summit at 1800. We spent about 15 minutes on the summit, sharing pizza and water, transitioning into descent mode. I could not help reflecting on the fact that we had made it. On a certain level, it seemed a little surreal. How had we gotten so upside down during out last attempt? As I sat at 9,416' above sea level, I looked back on this climb and felt good about keeping the creature at bay. I had taken my pitches and pulled my weight.

The occasional cairn and bootprint led us towards the crossover into the Cascadian Couloir and onto the snow. After some initial crustiness, we got into some nice plungestepping snow and made good time. Unfortunately, where we needed to go there was no snow, bearing West into the lower part of the Cascadian. The snow did continue down the left fork, which appears to be "Variation No. 1" in the Beckey Guide. We decided to stay on the snow to make time and walk the extra distance on the Ingalls Creek Trail back up to the Long's Pass Trail. This proved to be the right thing to do. Again, finding the right bootprints and cairns took us down and out without a hitch! It was dusk under the trees, but we still had daylight.

The Long's Pass cutoff is clearly marked, the way across the creek is not. We did find a log crossing, just downstream, and then acquired the trail again and trudged off. I was feeling pretty beat by this time, but putting one foot in front of the other was working for me. We found and lost the trail several times before we broke out of the trees and onto the snow. We donned crampons and trudged up, up, up. The Pass appeared soon enough, and we started down.

I have had the "joy" of hiking down the Long's Pass & Ingalls Lake trails after dark, several times, and it gets longer every time. For the last quarter mile, I was having internal arguments about resting or going on. Make it we did, reaching the car at just about the stroke of midnight. 20 hours car-to-car, 9 hours on the route; certainly no record, but we did it...and found some redemption.

Back On The Rock

My buddy, James Nakagami, and I finally got together to do some rockclimbing. I didn't climb much in '06 but, lately, I've been wanting to get out. We both really love climbing at Index, WA, and made that our destination. Many people don't like Index; mostly, I think, they are intimidated by the grades. Index is 'Old School'. Guys from Washington went to Yosemite and learned how to climb cracks, and brought that knowledge home. Index is where they honed their craft, in a time when 5.9 was the hardest thing around. Nowadays we are poised on the cusp of 5.15 and modern 5.9 is watered down. If you want to know what real 5.9 is, climb Index 5.9. If you can lead "Index 5.9", there is a lot you can cover in the Cascades. Also, this will put you at a level to handle 5.10a/5.10b in Squamish, B.C.

One aspect of Index is that there are few climbs that the average gaper can do (5.8 or below); thus, these climbs get crowded on the weekends. We decided to avoid that crush and head to Private Idaho, a small crag about a 15 minute walk from the car. The crag was empty; we only saw a couple hikers the whole day. First up was "Senior Citizens in Space" (5.8); a sweet layback up an inside corner. Raising the bar a little, we moved left to "Battered Sandwich" (5.9); an interesting crack/layback to start leading into a flaring chimney. After a snack, we climbed both pitches of "Magic Fern" (5.9), an awesome (if somewhat seldom climbed) set of pitches which keeps giving all the way to the top.

After that, it was time to bail. Great weather. Thanks to James for ropegunning for me today.

1:19:58.81

Since my main riding partner, Mike, is out of the country for a while, I am competing against the clock when I ride up the Tiger Mountain Trail (Preston RR - NW Timber). I usually push myself to keep up with Mike but, solo I have to have something to drive me.

When we rode Tiger Mountain the first time this year, we slunk away after riding for 1-hr 33-min. and turning around before the top. Mike rode it the next day with Eric and they made the top in 1:33 (or thereabouts). For Mike's last ride, we hit what we call the Ultimate Poach. My next trip up Tiger was over a week later. Feeling sluggish in the aftermath of a cold, I was determined to beat 1:33. Working hard, and hacking up remnants, I posted 1:26:57. I knew it would go faster...even for this gaper.

Today, I was coming off of two days of a new plyometrics workout. My body was tired, but I actually felt strong the whole ride; I was pushing taller gears, and was able to take shorter breaks. Trail was muddy today, but not bad enough to really slow things down; just good old Springtime in the PNW. I hit the top of the NW Timber Trail in 19-minutes & change. After a brief rest, and a Clif Shot, at the bottom of the Preston R.R. Trail, I started climbing. Right away, Preston lets you know who is boss with a few railroad ballast rock gardens and a couple steep climbs. Once past those, it is a palatable grind interrupted by skill-building obstacles and bikers coming down. I took a brief breather at the "cattle fence", as we call it, and I saw I was at one hour total time. I was going to have to beat it if I was going to post a decent time. I kicked it down a gear, and pushed against the clock. This section always seems short on the downhill; you make it from the top to the fence in about 11 minutes. So, going up it I always think it is shorter than it is; I knew it was going to be close. I pushed as hard as I could, shifting into ever-lower gears as the terrain and my legs allowed. As you come around that final bend, you can see sunlight ahead shining on the road. I cranked for the road and hit the stop button on my watch as soon as I could: 1:19:58.81

It is always interesting to look at the things that drive us to excel. My goal of climbing the Tiger Mountain Trail in less than 80-minutes is totally meaningless. Proven more so by the fact that there are an untold number of riders who could smoke that time without breaking a sweat. That's fine, and I applaud them. For me on Tiger, it is to mark myself as better. Stronger. Faster. Not better than anyone else, but better than my previous efforts. With age, I've gained the humility to acknowledge that there are many out there better than I, stronger than I, and faster than I. That's okay. The competition that I seek is with myself.