Photo Journal

Check out some cool photos from the past year! To see more photos recounting my adventures, check out my Instagram: c_love_92

Here is Stone Moves, a gym in Houston where I received my first USAC route setter's certification. Gym owner, John Muse, has been a great mentor for route setting and I'm thankful for the opportunities to set with him. Head route setter and good friend, Phillip Symons, and his crew are always a great team to work with! -Houston, TX 10/2013

Local strong man Sam Latone exploding for the finishing hold on Celestial Mechanics, V7 in Stone Fort. This sandstone crag holds some of the southeast's best boulders. I had the privilege of climbing here a few times this last season. Although I didn't see the entire crag, I hope to return here soon to continue to explore the area. -Chattanooga, TN 11/2013

Beautiful clouds rolling in over Queen Creek. Much of this crag sits on property owned by Resolution Copper, and for many years there was a lot of friction between climbers and mining lobbyists. In 2012, the Queen Creek Coalition entered a Recreational Use License, ensuring rock climbing and mining can co-exist for future generations. -Queen Creek, AZ 11/2013

Young gun Michael Whitley at ABS Regionals in late 2013. Michael and I started climbing around the same time in 2009 in North Carolina where we joined Team Underground and began competing together. Still in his youth eligibility, Michael had his best year yet, finishing 4th in ABS Nationals and joining Team USA. Great job, gecko! -Planet Rock, Ann Arbor, Michigan 12/2013

Dean's Journey. This climbs will always have a place in my heart. I came across this climb in 2012, and immediately fell in love with it. I didn't know it's name, the grade or even the correct path on the rock. I just knew I had to climb it one day. Here I am, sticking the crux move for the first time in January. A month later, I returned to Hueco Tanks for the send, completing my first V10. -El Paso, TX 01/2014

Nothing like a like disc in the snow! Ian and Sunni share a game of toss in between classes at NC State. -Raleigh, NC 01/2014

 Ms. Sunni Utt and I exploring around the Bay area on a sunny winter day. San Fran proved to be a wonderful area with many opportunities for fun and adventure. -San Francisco, CA 02/2014

Anneyong-haseyoooo! Melissa Merrick (thumbs up) and I made a comeback to our worldly travels with a visit to Seoul, South Korea to see our friend Hannah who was teaching English there! Korea was full of new and exciting adventures for us as we plowed through street food and language barriers. Cannot wait to return to Asia! Safe travels, Hannah. -Seoul, South Korea 03/2014

I cannot get enough of Hueco Tanks. Seriously, this is my favorite crag. Here I am setting into the crux sequence of Ten-Ten, a super fun, core tension line where you fight to keep your ass off the ground. Wrapping it up for the send was a matter of just squeezing everything for as long as I possibly could. My second V10, I was psyched when I put this one away only a month after Dean's Journey. -El Paso, TX 03/2014

Feels Like Grit. This slab climb will get you eight V points but it won't do much for your skin or your shoe rubber. While my Evolv Bandits were holding some good friction that day, my hands weren't doing much. Seen here at the crux, I fell from that right hand rail about 6 times that day, just unable to really grasp it. My only visit to this boulder during my stay in Joe's Valley, I was a bit bummed when I left the crag and realized I hadn't gone back to finish this one. There is so much climbing at Joe's, I cannot wait for another season to return so I can go back for the donuts (and the climbing). -Orangeville, UT 04/2014

Jeremy, Jeanette, Logan and myself. Oh, and can you spot Jason in the background? This neat little group braved biting winds and frequent snow to come climb in Joe's Valley this year. It was unseasonably warm for the time, but we enjoyed rocks a plenty. -Orangeville, UT 04/2014

I can't lie, it was annoying and astounding to be caught in this white walled snow storm in Arches National Park in Moab this past month. Jason and I stopped in Moab for a day on the way back to Arizona and tried to hike all the Arches in one day. The snow storm came through about midday and was unrelenting, sort of. It held up for about 3 hours and without any proper hiking gear (think short sleeves) we had to call it quits around late afternoon. But of course as we drive out of the park, the weather clears. Oh well, we were beat and turned in. Next time! -Moab, UT 04/2014

Returning to Arizona brought Jason and I straight through Flagstaff where we decided to stop and climb a bit. Here is Wife Beater at Priest Draw. A fun sloper problem, this one stacks at eight V points. I hadn't been on this climb in about two years until this day, and it felt nothing short of awesome to cruise this line three times. You know, to make sure I had it. I definitely felt like my training over the last two years had paid off. -Flagstaff, AZ 04/2014

 The route setting continues! inSPIRE Rock, in Houston, TX invited me to come set some ropes with them one weekend. Being a sales rep for a climbing hold manufacturer, I was enraged to see additional hold companies besides my own. I only set with Three Ball Climbing holds!!!! Haha just kidding. Big thanks to Paul and Nicole at inSPIRE for coming up with this clever little promo picture for the gym that day. -Houston, TX 04/2014

Back to Stone Moves! Here I am with John and Phil, the setters I mentioned from the first photo in this blog post. Quite the fun group, I enjoyed coming out and setting with these guys while I was in town. Stone Moves has a strong community of climbers and we make sure to keep their psych up with a variety of fun styles and challenging movements. Get psyched! -Houston, TX 04/2014

Thanks for reading, I hope you've enjoyed this little collage of pictures from the past few months! I'd like to thank Evolv for sharing my passion for rock climbing and helping me along my journey. Stay tuned for an upcoming article explaining some of the things I've learned about how to approach your climbing. Cheers!

Instagram: c_love_92