
By: Kim Tellez
When I’m in Rifle, all I want to do is climb. From the moment I wake up, I’m ready to take off and jump on the warm-up routes. I sleep with the guide book next to my pillow. On a sheet of scratch paper sticking out of the book is the list of routes I carefully chose the night before. I’m still a bit impatient, like a kid at Disneyland, but I’m working on it. As the sun creeps over my van, I get out and walk around and pace around my climbing partner’s car, who is usually still fast asleep. I might even bump into his car a few times to get the ball rolling.
Sometimes though, it’s still pretty cold outside, which means the rock is also probably still cold and not quite ready to climb. So how should I best use this time to prepare for the ensuing Rifle training day? I know that once we start climbing and exchanging belays, there won’t be time to eat a whole meal.Read More…