Mick looking down from the top of Makapuu Point.
Some climbing locations become destinations because of the aesthetics of the rock, or the ultra-classic rock quality; others become so due to the environment. I recently took a trip with my family to the Aloha State, and during our stay on Oahu, we made the 45 minute trek down to Makapuu point, on the leeward side of the island.
The sun is trying to peek his head out through to beautiful maw of American Fork Canyon while I was driving to pick up Taylor.
Saturday mornings have become my last bastion of adventure. Having a grown-up job certainly accommodates smaller windows of opportunity to get out and play. That being said, I haven’t been necessarily deprived of recreation, but my complex schedule doesn’t allow for me to plan outings that are going to last for more than 4 or 5 hours––except for Saturday mornings.
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Words by Parker Cross
Images by Andy and Neena Earl
Climbing appeals to an extremely large demographic. There’s a little bit of something for everyone (even acrophobics). Climbing, for me, is an opportunity to connect with nature in a really special way. Somehow I feel super-connected to the outdoors when I’m climbing and mountaineering/splitboarding. It’s not a sport that you can do on your own though. Continue reading
After a successful weekend of climbing in Red Rocks, we made our way back north to St. George. With the weather in the low 50′s we decided it was definitely too cold to climb and all agreed to go for a hike in Zions. However, we couldn’t allow ourselves to go to Zions with a full rack in the car and not climb, so our plans quickly changed and Curtis looked up a route for us to climb. The climb he found was a three pitch classic called The Headache. Now I tend to steer clear of any routes whose name entails bodily harm or pain (bloody fingers comes to mind) but as Curtis read the description of the route as “perfect hands” I was sold. We had Nicole drop us off at the mouth of the Mount Carmel tunnel where we hiked through a foot of snow to the base of the climb. 
Sure enough, a perfect splitter. The climb itself was 3 pitches of perfect jams, and one of the funnest I have ever done. A highlight for me was peeing off the ledge on pitch 2 as the tour bus stopped to take photos of the climbers. 
Finishing the climb fairly quickly, we decided to hitchhike back to Springdale and save Nicole a trip up the canyon. As car after car drove by, I explained to Curtis that no one wants to pick up bums and we would need to distinguish ourselves as climbers in order to catch a ride. He didn’t believe me so I bet him that if I put on a sling with some quick draws, we would get a ride within the next three cars. As soon as I pulled out quick draws, a family in a white minivan with Alabama plates pulled over and let us in. The whole ride down the canyon the mother asked us in amazement, “you was really up on them walls?”
Overall we had a great trip and realized that climbing in snow is not so bad after all. However I’m excited to go back in the spring and climb this one again when I can feel my fingers.
