Mike Doyle’s Rants&Raves

Everyone has a different idea of what “Work Life Balance” means. To me it’s really “Work Climbing Balance”. I have been working an insane amount of hours the last two months but I have also been able to get to the climbing gym occasionally and put in a few days up at Mt Charleston. To me finding the “Work Climbing Balance” usually means skipping out on few hours of sleep here and there.

This past weekend was a classic example. After working crazy hours last week (but getting out climbing on Thursday) I worked about 10 hours on Saturday before going out for dinner then to a nice club on the strip downtown (Vegas). Sunday I woke up after about five hours sleep, worked for about four hours then drove up to Mt Charleston. The conditions were perfect. I wasn’t sure how they’d be as we hiked up. It was warm in the sun but as soon as we got to the cliff we were in the shade and there was a nice breeze. After a few warm-ups and a suprise redpoint of this ridiculously hard 13a called Equalizer we headed over to the Infectious Cave where I had been trying this link-up called Infectious Booty (Infectious Groove into Urban Booty). Bill Ramsey had crushed this route on Thursday in hot, humid conditions but today it was cool, breezy and dry. It almost felt like cheating. The best part was that there was nobody there! It was just (I’m about to name drop) Stephanie Forte and myself in the cave! The conditions were so good I felt compelled to brag about it  to some friends. The didn’t believe me so I took a photo with my new haircut to prove it.

Thermometer Showing Great Conditions

Poor Sebastian was in the climbing gym on a perfect Sunday afternoon. He didn’t believe the conditions and felt that this photo was more accurate.

Sebastian's Version

With the conditions so good I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to redpoint. My first go was good, I even caught myself coming down from the throw and tried again but I couldn’t stick the crux move. My next try I felt a little tired but managed to stick the throw. While most people do another throw and go left at the top I stick to some smaller holds and move right. I even went so far as to tell Bill that if I ever stuck the throw that I would ‘never’ fall going to the top. I hate phrases like that, and I hate saying them. Fortunately it was true and I made it to the chains. Ah… just another beautiful day up at Mt Charleston.

Evening Shadows Down the Valley

Posted on August 3rd, 2009 by Mike Doyle
Filed under: Rave