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Sketches from Venice 2002

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:58:00 -0700

Sketches from Venice 2002

While cleaning out the home office for a re-do, I found some sketches in an old book made during a trip to Italy in 2002. I almost threw away the book, but decided to flip through it before I did. It seems to me that a sketch journal holds more memories, value, and detail about places and things than photos do.

View from our apartment in Venice.

A color sketch of one of the docked gondolas

Another solitary gondola

The boat dock near the entrance to the apartment where we spent the week.

I think it’s about time for another trip to Italy.

More Chaos - Salt Lake Ignite 2011

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:09:00 -0700

More Chaos – Salt Lake Ignite 2011

I’m working through my slide deck for Salt Lake Ignite #8. I did this a few years ago, and it was great fun being able to share some ideas.

This year’s theme for me is “More Chaos” – everyone is always trying to organize and make everything more efficient. I’d just like to propose that what we all really need is a bit more chaos. Come see the show, you’ll love the variety of presentations, have a good time, and get to see me talk about stupid crap on stage.

The details

Ignite Salt Lake
Wed, August 31st
Doors open at 7
The Stateroom (A 21+ venue)
638 S. State St. SLC, UT
Admission is FREE

Boxes

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:47:00 -0700

Boxes

Walnut and maple box – this one uses a golden spiral as the basis for the design.

Maple box with walnut inlay. Exactly opposite to box first box in every way.

Walnut box with maple inlay tree design.

I’ve been working on several of these over the past few months as part of a new project. I’ll be releasing more details in the coming months.

O.K. Periodicals 6/The Boring Issue

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:47:00 -0700

O.K. Periodicals 6/The Boring Issue

Several months ago I was contacted by Joost van der Steen of O.K. PARKING, a graphic design studio based in Arnhem, the Netherlands. I was asked if I’d be interested in contributing artwork for their upcoming issue of O.K. Periodicals – The Boring Issue. I’m excited and honored to have my poster Life Will Never Become Monotonous featured in the edition.

A full flip-through of the magazine is available below:

O.K. Periodicals 6 / BORING Issue from O.K. Parking on Vimeo.

O.K. Periodicals is described on their web site (www.ok-periodicals.com) as “…pleasantly disruptive, and always curious. Each issue explores a different theme to show inspiring work by established and upcoming creative talent.”

The Inventors

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:03:00 -0800

The Inventors

The Inventors is a series of illustrations that I started a few years back to celebrate the world’s greatest inventors and their “children”. The series also presents a warning about the unwieldy effects that technology can have when it is taken to the extremes, adopted, exploited, and morphed by corporate or political greed. It is interesting to me that all of these great inventors saw their inventions grow in the public eye, and expressed disappointment with how their technology ended up being used. Today, we can easily look back and see the incredible benefits and changes that these inventions have brought to society. We can also look back and see some unknown side effects, where the technology has reared its monstrous head.

“Alex, your telephone is a menace.”

The next time you sit down for dinner and the phone rings, get up and throw it out the window. You’ll feel much better about yourself, and you’ll soon realize that 90% of those annoyances were not necessary for you existence.

If you insist on keeping the thing, you must do everything in your power to disconnect it from evil. I’ve heard there’s a way to remove your name from the devil’s list, but I’ve never figured out how to do it.

If you carry one of these monsters around in your pocket, you may soon find yourself enslaved to the device, it now roams free, unchained and waiting for the chance to control you. After you’ve read this, spend a moment and think about how you can defeat the monster. It never stops thinking about how it can defeat you.

“Tommy, would you please turn out the lights?”

It used to be that when it got dark, people would go to bed. When it got light in the morning, people would wake up. That seems pretty natural, and a normal thing to do. If you are anything like me, I can’t remember the last time I went to bed with the sun.

There’s no question the light bulb is an amazing invention, it has changed the world in many ways, both for good and for bad. If you question the bad, take a drive far away from city lights on a clear night, look up towards the heavens and you’ll see what this clever little monster has taken away.

There are probably people living in cities who have never seen the stars in their full glory. To live life disconnected from the night-time heavens would be a travesty of humanity.

“Philo, turn off that damn tv!”

You only have to imagine for a moment, millions of people gathered around a projection device to begin to comprehend this little monsters influence. Images and video of every type and quality constantly occupy the minds of millions.

The television is easily defeated. Modern technology has made it possible to defeat the television by the simple press of a button. I encourage you to defeat yours today. I know you have one, and chances are it is on right this moment.

We need not question the positive aspects which the television has brought us, but it can do no harm to question the negative.

The Lover's Knot

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:26:00 -0800

The Lover’s Knot

As many of you know, I have an ongoing fascination with knots, and the symbolism found in the form of the knot. Since it is Valentines Day, it seemed appropriate to post a little history about the symbolism of the knot, and how it relates to human relationships that we are celebrating today.

The knot has been used symbolically to represent human relationships in nearly every culture around the world. The simple idea of the bonding nature of knots—they are most often tied to bind something together—makes them a beautiful symbol to represent the bonding nature of love. It is common today to speak of “Tying the Knot” to refer to marriage or bonding in a relationship.

John Brand acknowledged the tradition in his book “Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britan.”

A knot among the ancient northern nations seems to have been the symbol of love, faith and friendship, pointing to the indissoluble tie of affection and duty. Thus the ancient Runic inscriptions, as we gather from Hicke’s Thesaurus, are in the form of a knot. Hence among the northern English and Scots, who still retain, in a great measure, the language and manners of the ancient Danes, that curious kind of knot, mutual present between lover and his mistress, which, being considered as the emblem of plighted fidelity, is therefore called a true-love knot: a name which is not derived as one would naturally suppose it to be, from the words “true” and “love”, but formed from the Danish verb “Trulofa, fidem do, I plight my troth, or faith. Thus we read in the Islandic Gospel, the following passage in the first chapter of St. Matthew, which confirms, beyond a doubt, the sense here given—til einrar Meyer er trulofad var einum Manne &c.; i.e to a virgin espoused, that is, who was promised or had engaged herself to a man &c. Hence, evidently, the bride favors or the top-knots at marriages, which have been considered as emblems of the ties to duty and affection between the bride and her spouse have been derived (pp. 108-109)

The symbol of the knot has been used in other contexts—from knots tied in clothing and rings, to intricate drawings printed on cards or engraved in stone—all with the common symbolism of expressing love in a relationship.

A Valentine’s Day gift decoration from 1641 taken from Witt’s Recreation.

A particularly interesting Valentine’s Day tradition during the mid 17th century involved the gifting of expensive presents to loved ones. These gifts were often decorated elaborate, hand painted knots. These knots were single stranded (endless), and had endless lines of words expressing sentiments of love.

Today, it might be difficult to find a “lover’s knot” to decorate the gift to your lover, but you can always take the opportunity to symbolically “tighten the knot.”

It Starts with a Sketch

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:26:00 -0800

It Starts With a Sketch

After completing the Cosmic Knot project, I had big hopes to continue surfing the creative wave, and hoped that I’d be able to create another series of work to add to the previous set. It’s incredibly difficult to develop a theme, story, and produce complex artwork pieces, especially in one’s spare time. Over the past couple years, I’ve been toying with different ideas, producing a few new works, and trying to muster up some creative energy to dive into the next series.

When I was working on the previous series, I stumbled across an old book by Elihu Vedder called “Doubt and Other Things.” This book contained a beautiful series of poet thoughts and images – many of which struck a chord with me and my current feelings and view on life. This book serves as the primary inspiration for my next series of images. The images might be interpretations of the old, or whole new ideas based on the topic or thoughts of the originals. Who knows where it will take me.

To get started, I’ve found a small creative wave, and have started sketching out ideas for the series. Sketching starts the idea working in the mind – as I work out even these rough images, I’m starting to see how they will turn out in my mind.

It all starts with a sketch.

The Subtle Difference Between Doing it Right and Doing it Wrong

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:18:00 -0800

The Subtle Difference Between Doing it Right and Doing it Wrong

About a month ago, I read a blog post which described the “proper” way to tie your shoes. If your shoelaces come untied frequently, and if they don’t lie straight horizontally on your shoes, there’s a good chance that you are tying your shoes wrong also. While you are probably doing it wrong too, this post isn’t about how to tie your shoelaces (others have described that much better than I can). This post is about the subtle difference between doing it right and doing it wrong.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve re-tied my loose shoelaces multiple times throughout the day, only to have them loosen again. I learned double knots, and even went to extremes favoring slip-ons, or alternative fasteners to avoid the inevitable loosening of my wrongly tied knot. The thing is, I didn’t realize that I was doing anything wrong—I just assumed that it was normal for laces to come undone. It was rarely critical or life threatening, and the solution to loosening was relatively simple – I’d just tie them again. It didn’t take much time, just a few seconds and I was good to go for a few more hours. I had nothing to compare my situation to, and it was never that important – so for 30+ years I just keep doing it the same way as the first time that I learned.

Today, however, I can identify an incorrectly tied shoe, and I now know the proper method to tie my own shoes. It was a simple change, and involved only one simple corrective maneuver.

I can’t help but feel now that there are lots of simple things, and probably even more complicated things that I am probably doing the wrong way. If this is the case, and I can improve many areas of my life by making simple adjustments, I ought to be looking out for those subtle differences. After all, if I’ve been messing up something as simple as tying my shoes for over 30 years, there’s definitely other things, maybe even life critical things, that I need to learn to do differently.

Seagulls and Typetrails

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 23:07:00 -0800

Seagulls and Typetrails

A few more seagull and contrail images, this time with letters making up the shapes for the clouds. This could end up as an ongoing series. We’ll have to see where it takes me, hopefully not too far, because I’ve got lots of work to do.

Seagulls and Contrails

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:16:00 -0800

Seagulls and Contrails

A while ago I was working on a random image generator, and created an application to generate random compositions. My first test were these compositions of seagulls and contrails. It seemed like a perfect subject to celebrate “looking up”. It’s a rare occasion that you don’t see a contrail in the sky, and where I live, near the Great Salt Lake, there’s always a seagull cruising around somewhere also.

The images also give me a chance to test out a few new features on the site. I’ve made some minor updates, and created a more flexible page layout model that will let me get more creative with each post.

Symmetry Sketching

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:53:00 -0800

Symmetry Sketching

A few symmetry sketches in preparation for a few new projects. The following are variations of the cosmic knot, with 12, 13, 14, and 15 symmetries.

The Value of an Education

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:01:00 -0700

The Value of an Education

On Monday morning this week, I happened to read the article “The UX Design Education Scam” by Andy Rutledge who spilled out a rhetorical lashing on the state of today’s University Education System. My first response to the article was to immediately dismiss it as “the kind of crap that people who didn’t go to school always say” – but after reflecting on it, I realized that there are many points which are absolutely true, difficult to swallow, but true none-the-less. I do feel, however, that the overall premise is misguided, sensationalized, and not an accurate characterization of the real state of things.

I’m teaching a class in web design right now for a local university, and I presented Andy’s article as a topic for conversation. These students are smart, they are not looking for a handout diploma to guarantee their success. They know there are weaknesses, and they know that there’s lots of work they will have to do on their own. They also feel that they are learning, and they are excited and eager to learn. They will be unprepared professionals when they graduate, but so is the guy who didn’t go to school when he or she starts looking for a job. They will have 4 years of experiences, different than those of individuals who jump right into the workforce, but not irrelevant or useless.

There are points that Andy makes that are spot on – and need to be addressed by educational institutions or they will become irrelevant. Here’s what I think is true:

A few real problems with university education

1. Things are changing faster than the University System can keep up with. 15 years post the web revolution, and most colleges are just barely starting to think about the importance of maybe creating a web design emphasis. Most of them don’t know how to do it, or are doing in a way that seems wrong to working professionals.

2. Often, academic curriculum is not guided by industry or demand. It’s decided by the interests of the faculty. If they are more interested in making animated characters – that is where they spend their money and build their programs around, regardless of demand, or business need.

3. Web design is often approached as learning a tool, not a craft.

There are also a number of things that Andy mentions in the article that make for great reading if you ever want to justify your decision to not go to school, or if you did go to school and need a wake up call because you are still hoping that you’ll get a job in web design without further learning or working on your own.

Rather than debate the article, I thought I’d share my own experience with education. I graduated completely inept, and unprepared to begin a job in the field of web design. I did not even have one single web design class in all of my schooling (it was 1990…). I was capable of working with a few tools, had learned how to follow a simple design process, and I had confidence and desire to use what I had learned.

I didn’t expect my education to do everything for me, and I put in many hours of self-study and work to augment what I learned in school. I established relationships with other artists and designers that I value today. I still consider my professors to be my mentors (even if they don’t know anything about web design.)

My experience

I pulled up my official transcript and looked over the classes I took over the course of 5 years. Nothing applies directly to web design and nothing I learned would have prepared me to start working in web design immediately out of school.

That said, every class that I took provided value to me. I paid for school with my own money, supported by scholarships and grants, and I think it was worth it for me. Here’s a list of every course I took and a short summary of what I learned from it over the course of my undergraduate work:

Drawing I (4) – learned basics of form, perspective, drawing by hand.
Design I (4) – basic design principals, gestalts, form, contrast, etc.
College Writing (4) – learned research, basic writing skills
Computer Aided Art (3) – introduction to creating art with a computer (on a 1991 Macintosh SE)
Painting I (3) – learned composition, color, mixing of paint, how to stretch a canvas.
Elementary PC Keyboarding (3) – learned how to type 40+ words a minute on DOS Word Perfect.
Enjoying the Movies (3) – Gained an appreciation for classical film
First Year Spanish (9) – Learned a second language
Second Year Spanish (9) – Improved fluency in second language
Visual Arts Orientation (3) – learned the benefit and value of art in society
History of Art and Architecture Paleolithic–200 (4) – learned the influence of art in history
Psychology – Interpersonal Relations (3) – learned basic skills for dealing and communicating with other people
Advanced Spanish 1 (4)
Design 3-D (4) – learned principles of working with 3-Dimensional materials (wood, paper, metal, etc)
History of Art and Architecture 200–1600 (4) – introduced to the Renaissance masters
Visual Communications 1 (4) – Intense study in how to communicate visually
Advanced Spanish 2 (4)
Drawing 2 (4) – learned drawing from one of the best draftsman I’ve ever seen
History of Art and Architecture 1600-Present (4)
Botany (field class in Costa Rica) (3) – on site learning about botany and importance of ecological responsibility
Spanish 390 (study abroad Costa Rica) (4) – 5 weeks in Costa Rica, need I a say more?
Spanish 393 (cultural studies) (4)
Spanish 394 (studies in literature) (1)
Spanish 401 (applied language studies) (3)
Physical Geology (5) – Learned about rocks
Basic Photography (4) – Learned how to use a 35mm Camera, and how to develop my own film and photos in a darkroom
Drawing on the Land (3) – Landscape drawing, innovating with natural materials in a week long camping trip.
Painting 2 (3) – Improved techniques of painting, developed the start of a visual style
Public Art (3) – Worked with a multi-disciplinary team on conceptual project dealing with cows, dairy, and compost.
Color Theory (3) – Understanding how color works and how to use it to communicate
Visual Communications 2 (4) – Study of typography and graphic design problems
Computer Animation (4) – Exploration of techniques for computer animation
Offset Printing Workshop (4) – Learned old-school methods on how to prepare documents for printing (rubylith and x–acto)
Aerobic Swimming (1) – 24 minute mile!
Contemporary Art (4) – Survey of all the crap that is called “Contemporary Art”
Visual Communications 3 (4) – Guided work on real-world graphic design problems
Advanced Computer Aided Art (3) – More messing around with the computer
Field Workshop (Drawing & Art) (3) – Exploration of sketching and observation in the wild
Karate Elementary (1) – learned to kick ass, or how to not get my ass kicked
Introduction to Anthropology (3) – Basic study of human societies and behavior
Intermediate Photography (4) – More messing around with cameras and image making
Visual Communication/Advanced Design (3) – More guided work on real-world graphic design projects
Co-Op Work Experience (1) — Internship with graphic design company
Individual Studies (3) Guided study into areas I thought I might have missed in my studies.
The Art and Architecture of India (4) – Study of Art and Design from perspectives other than the traditional West
Poster Design Workshop (1) – Makin’ Posters
Teaching Assistantship Experience (3) – Helped teach a graphic design class
English – Mountaineering Literature (3) – Learned to love the mountains
Spanish – Applied Language Studies (2) –
Introduction to Ceramic Arts (4) – Learned it’s ok to get my hands dirty
The Art and Architecture of China (4)
Figure Drawing & Anatomy (4) – How to draw people when they are naked.
Visual Communications Advanced Design (3) More guided work on real-word graphic design projects
Sculpture 1 (4) Escaping flatland – taking design principles to 3-Dimensional space
Metals and Jewelry 2 (3) – learned how to melt metal, weld, and solder
Visual Communications/Advanced Design (3) – Guided study on real world design projects.
BFA Seminar (3) – Preparing my portfolio, finding work

I’m estimating that this list represents 3,375 total hours spent in the classroom or studio, and at least another 6,000 hours outside of class studying, working on projects, and trying to master and validate what I had been taught. I’m sure they exist, but I’ve never met an individual who has put together on their own, or even with a mentor this kind of comprehensive study program.

I learned web design, and am still learning it on my own. It is true that the University didn’t help me much, and honestly there was no way that they could, because when I started college, web design didn’t even exist.

Would I have been further ahead had I done it on my own? Maybe.

I did walk away from school learning something that I think is more valuable than any course I took, and I hope that Universities are still teaching that. I learned how to keep learning, and I try to do that every day, on my own, and with the aid of professionals, and even the demonic University System when that makes sense.

What’s your experience? Thoughts?

NOTE: Just so you know, If you find spelling mistakes or other grammar mistakes in this article – I don’t care, it was late, and I thought it was more important to kick this out than to fuss around with making it perfect. Maybe I’ll fix it if I get a chance, but probably not.

The Spell of Technology

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:15:00 -0700

The Spell of Technology

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

The preceding quote by Arthur C. Clark (the author of 2001 Space Odyssey) is often used in a context which glorifies technology. In fact, the quote was recently used by Apple Computer to demonstrate their new product, the iPad. The idea that something is magical or appears to be magic appeals to our senses and fills us with wonder and amazement. Magic is something the defies reality, we think something is magical when it defies the laws of science and the limitations of our minds.

Technological Magic

Sometimes technology is like real magic — it provides us with real benefits that help our lives and the lives of others. And, sometimes technology is just an illusion – presented by a skilled magician— it can capture our attention, our amazement and wonder without providing any real solution or benefit.

We are spellbound participants in a grand magic show, watching the illusion and believing that it is reality. We might even be the magicians, impressing our peers with tricks and illusions, and putting on a great show, without ever making the real problems disappear. Those real problems need to be solved for real, and not just made to disappear as part of an elaborate illusion.

These magic shows make their way into every aspect of daily life. Companies make decisions every day to purchase multi-million dollar software solutions – not because they makes the problems go away, but because they hide the problems so perfectly that the illusion is flawless.

Breaking the Spell

If you find yourself caught in the spell, and hopelessly in love with the illusion, you might not enjoy the following quotes. They help remind us that advanced technology should not be about magic and illusion, but rather, it should be about the reality that can solve problems and make the world a better place.

Technology Quotes

It is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome. —T.S. Eliot

Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards. —Aldous Huxley

The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers. —Sydney J. Harris

Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons. —R. Buckminster Fuller

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. —Albert Einstein

There is an evil tendency underlying all our technology – the tendency to do what is reasonable even when it isn’t any good. — Robert Pirsig

Modern technology owes ecology an apology. —Alan M. Eddison

Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we don’t have to experience it. — Max Frisch

The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them. —Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Lo! Men have become the tools of their tools. —Henry David Thoreau

The* abnormality of our time that which makes it contrary to nature, is its deliberate and stated determination to make the working life of men & the product of their working hours mechanically perfect, and relegate all the humanities, all that is of its nature humane to their spare time, to the time when they are not at work. — Eric Gill

(Look for these quotes to show up in a new poster series)

Lessons Learned on Mt. Rainier

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:58:00 -0700

Life Lessons Learned on Mt. Rainier

On June 25th at about 6:00 am, after months of preparation and conditioning, I found myself standing on the top of Mt. Rainier. Standing at the top of a mountain peak is always a satisfying experience, even though in reality the journey is only half-over you feel a great sense of accomplishment and you are rewarded with a view of the horizon that is only available at the apex of the summit.I climbed Rainier with RMI guides on June 22–25, 2010. Photographs were taken with an Olympus point and shoot camera.

It’s hard to capture the essence of a trip in writing or with photographs. No matter how good your photographs are, they never do justice for what you are able to experience in the moment with all your senses fully engaged and undistracted. I find that the experience has a purifying effect on my mind. On the mountain, things seem simple and clear. Reflecting on the experience often brings clarity to other parts of my life. On this particular trip, there were many lessons learned – metaphors for living and working found in the course of the adventure. I’d like to share a few of them:

Commitment

Commitment is a huge factor in any undertaking – you have to set your mind to complete something early or there’s a chance you’ll end up backing out. Without committing to the goal mentally, I never would have trained properly. I would have found it easy to bail after hearing news of avalanches and death on the mountain. Not committing could have cost me the enjoyment of a truly incredible experience, leaving me only the “debt of regret”.

On our way to Ashford, Washington we were greeted with this incredible view of Mt. Rainier. It had been overcast skies for weeks before, and it cleared up perfectly for our trip.

We booked our trip with RMI guides, a reputable guide service for mt. Rainier. They required a non-refundable $300 deposit, and payment in full 90 days before the trip. Making that non-refundable payment was one way to commit – but even bigger was the mental commitment that I was going to do it. I committed, and would do what it takes to make the trip, and make it enjoyable and safe for myself and the others who committed along with me.

Without real commitment, an idea never becomes anything more than a dream.

Preparation

After I signed up for the climb I started mental and physical preparation. Regular trail running (with lots of uphill) and weekly trips into the mountains with a loaded pack were the main course for my training. I often felt like I wasn’t getting in the training that I wanted, but I was consistently getting out, and trying to get as much elevation as a could. I also prepared by getting my equipment ready and testing it out to make sure it would work for me like I needed it to.

As we started up the mountain for a day of training before our summit attempt, Mt. Rainier had a cap of cloud cover on the summit. For us it was a beautiful clear day, for those on the summit, it was white-out wintery conditions.

As with all things – preparation can make or break your chances at success, and has an even bigger impact on how much you enjoy it. I was glad to have strong legs and lungs, and made it off the mountain with some energy in reserve.

Climbers arriving at Camp Muir across the Muir snow field. Camp Muir sits on the mountain at about 10,000ft, and is the primary base camp for independent and guided parties attempting a summit of Mt. Rainier.

Remember your Priorities

On the first day of orientation, the guides gave us our 3 goals for the trip:

Safety
Have Fun
Reach the Summit

These three goals—in that order—are perfect for any activity, and even for you life in general. There are inherent risks to the activity, and the purpose of the first goal is not to eliminate the first two, but to always keep in mind that if you die or are seriously injured in the process – there’s no chance you’ll accomplish goals number 2 and 3. Having fun is also more critical than reaching the summit – if you can’t have fun or enjoy the experience, there’s really no point in it. These kinds of activities are hard work – as an individual you also have to be prepared to know how to have fun doing things that are difficult. You also have to know how to keep having fun, even if goal number 3 (reaching the summit) doesn’t come to fruition. There is a very high chance that we wouldn’t get to climb to the summit, but with priorities in order, my worst case scenario would include at least 2 of 3 successes.

“The mountains will always be there, the trick is to make sure you are too.” Hervey Voge

Rest and Relief

On our hike both directions (up and down) we took structured breaks. We would hike for 1 to 1½ hours and then take a 10 to 15 minute break. The breaks give you a chance to shed the weight on your back, and to refuel for the upcoming stretch. A break give you a chance to catch your breath (if you need it) a chance to snap a few photos, and a chance to relieve yourself so that you can continue the next section without fatigue. Resting too long can cause you to get cold (literally), and makes it harder to restart. Not enough rest can also cause problems – like trying to get a few hours sleep in a makeshift bunk house packed with 18 people. When you don’t rest, your body doesn’t have time to recover and it can make things tough on you.

We stayed the night in this hut — probably the worst part of the whole trip. Trying to sleep in a tiny hut with 12 other climbers is not easy to do.

The Alpine Start

Climbers begin a mountain ascent in the early hours of the morning to avoid falling ice and rocks when the sun heats the mountain during daylight hours. An early start is also critical in order to ensure that there is time to get off the mountain in the case of unexpected hold-ups. When the light went on in the hut at about midnight, it was a relief for me and we got up to get ready to start our climb. After an oatmeal breakfast and a good drink, we put on our gear (harness and crampons), hooked on the rope and started at climb at about 1:15 am.

Watching the sun rise on the trail is one of the best parts of the climbing experience. As the sun comes up, your progress is slowly revealed, and incredible views appear.

An early start is a good idea in about anything. Even if you are fast, when you start late, those that left earlier end up in front of you, slowing you down and creating new obstacles for you to deal with. The later and longer you are on the mountain, the more chance you have for things to go wrong. When things go wrong early in the game, you’ve got time to deal with them. When they happen late in the game, there’s no time, and the effect can be exponentially worse.

As the sun came up, we were treated to a beautiful “pink sunrise”. This photo was taken by Yoshi, another climber on the trip. I still can’t figure out why I didn’t think to get my camera out – I think I was momentarily stunned by how beautiful it was.

Remember to Breathe

The key to keeping your energy and endurance at elevation is in proper breathing technique. When you are on the mountain at 13,000ft if you forget to intentionally breathe, or simply revert to your lower elevation breathing style you deprive your body of oxygen and run the risk of ending up a little bit light headed or out of energy. Climbing at elevation makes you realize your dependence on the air in our environment. Each breath is intentional, exaggerated, and in rhythm with the climbing motion. The breath helps focus, it helps the progress, and makes you feel alive.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the things that we are doing that we forget to take care of the essentials.

An early morning view from one of our breaks. We stopped on a steep section of the mountain just after sunrise. We all stayed attached to ropes and took a moment to drink, eat and breathe.

Reaching The Summit

We arrived at the summit at around 5:30 am. It was actually a surprise to me that we had reached the summit so quickly. I was expecting at least another hour of hiking. When we arrived we had clear skies and almost windless conditions. It was very cold on top —probably around 15 degrees or colder. We dropped our packs, took a quick drink of water and ate some food and then headed across the crater to the Columbia Crest which is 14,410 ft. above sea level. On top you could tell that this was not just a mountain, but a living, active volcano. The crater rim had exposed dirt, and you could see steam rising from it.

The photo above was taken from the true summit of Mt. Rainier. Needless to say, it’s quite the experience walking across the crater of an active volcano of that size, especially when you can see evidence that this thing isn’t all that dormant.

A panoramic view composed of a few different shots taken from the true summit.

Getting to the top is great feeling – although sometimes it can even seem a bit anti-climatic. The true summit is the smallest part of the mountain, it’s usually cold, windy and crowded, and there’s not a lot do do there other than to take a large sweeping view. It is also a place of great satisfaction. I never ever pictured myself on top of Rainier, yet there I was taking a picture. The view was amazing, you really get a sense of the horizon, with nothing blocking your view in any direction. For a moment you really are on the top of the world.

Making our way up to the true summit on dirt! After so much walking on ice and frozen snow, it was a strange feeling to step on soft warm dirt at the coldest place we’d been that day.

Looking down from the top, we could see a few clouds that were starting to surround the peak. There was also a beautiful sea of clouds at about 4,000 ft covering the valley floor.

Conditions Change

We arrived with sunny blue skies, but within 30 minutes or so, a cloud had covered the summit, blocking most of our view. Rainier is known to create it’s own weather – storms can appear all of the sudden, and can turn a sunny day into a snowstorm. For us, however, this was just a passing cloud and quickly swept over the mountain revealing blue skies a few minutes later.

On any mountain, weather can change instantly – we were prepared with full winter gear and I would have been comfortable in even much cooler temperatures. In life, you have to prepare for all conditions, and know that as fast as things get good, they might get bad.

Here’s Rob and I on the summit. Just as we got to the top a cover of clouds set in and it was almost a white out. It was pretty cold on top, and I was glad to be bundled in my comfy warm parka.

A few climbers in our group on the true summit of Mt. Rainier. It was cold up there with a bit of wind.

Just before we started our descent, this strange and beautiful cloud began forming off the edge of the crater.

The Descent

As with most everything in life, getting to the top is only half way – you have to make it back down. Most accidents in mountaineering happen on the way down. It can be harder to go down than up, and you’ve expended a great deal of energy to get to the top, and now you have to get down with tired legs. The trick is to prepare for the down climb the same way you prepare for the up. Take extra care, and be sure to make it down with something you gained from the top. You go up in the dark, but you get to come down in the daylight, viewing the whole mountain in a different light. Because of the angle of the mountain, when you go up you can only see a little ways in front of you without breaking your neck to look up. On the way down you can see the whole thing clearly and naturally. It makes you think you might not have even tried, had known what you were going up in the dark.

Descending the Ingraham glacier was truly spectacular. We climbed this section in the dark, and didn’t really get to see the details of the mountain on the way up.

Dealing with Danger and Risk

“Living with the immediacy of death helps you sort out your priorities in life. It helps you to live a less trivial life.” Sogyal Rinpoche

“It is not the goal of grand alpinism to face peril, but it is one of the tests one must undergo to deserve the joy of rising for an instant above the state of crawling grubs.” Lionel Terray

Rainier is a dangerous mountain, there’s no doubt about it. In just the time that I was preparing for this trip‚ two climbers were rescued due to adverse weather conditions. 10 more climbers were buried in an avalanche (9 rescued and 1 dead), and another climber mysteriously disappeared from his team and has yet to be found. Our guides warned us that there was a body on the mountain that may soon surface as the warm weather melts off the winter snow.

There’s danger all around—Rainier is an active volcano – it could blow like Mt. Saint Helens, you could fall into a crevasse, you could be hit by falling rock or ice, you could freeze to death. There’s chance for failure and even death but it doesn’t mean that you can’t do it, and It doesn’t mean that you will die. You have to accept the risk, do everything you can to minimize it, and be alert to know that you are minimizing the chance of an accident, not increasing it with your own stupidity.

The glaciers on Rainier are spectacular. These giant crevasses of the Ingraham Glacier were amazing to see. For a sense of scale, the small orange dot in the upper/middle left are tents.

Make the Path Better for Those Who Follow

On our way down, our guide made adjustments to the path to make it better for groups coming up in the coming days. There was one section of the path that required us to step over an open crevasse. The opening was larger than even just a few hours before when we crossed it on the way up. It had gotten to the point that the route would probably have to be changed shortly in order to keep it safe, and the route that we took would be closed for the rest of the season.

Helping keep the route safe is a huge benefit for all the climbers who attempt to summit Rainier. Even though there are several guide services who compete for individual business, there’s no competition on the mountain for the best route. Everyone contributes to making the route safe and enjoyable for everyone. Independent parties take advantage of the guide service’s day-to-day knowledge of the route.

Our guide Billy Nugent making some adjustments to the path, The small flags help climbers follow the path in the even of new snow or whiteout conditions. Also on the rope team behind me are Rob and Mike who has his head in the snow taking a much needed break.

Rich on the front of our rope team leading us down the mountain.

A spectacular view of Little Tahoma peak and the Ingraham glacier on the way down.

Epic

The trip was epic. I don’t really know how else to describe it. Mt. Rainier is a beautiful place, it’s a place that makes you feel alive. You can’t help but reflect on the stunning beauty of nature and your place in it. We had nearly perfect conditions and a only a few annoyances that will quickly be forgotten. And, as with all trips to the mountains – I learned more about nature, more about my place in it, and more about living.

I hope to find myself on another adventure soon.

Double Rainbow!

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:56:00 -0700

Double Rainbow!

My favorite moment of the week has been watching the Double Rainbow video posted by Paul Vasquez. Paul is sincerely in awe at the beauty of of something he witnessed in nature. The video is good for weeks of entertainment or more and it is easy to poke a little fun at Paul’s enthusiasm.

However, if you’ve never witnessed the beauty of nature in a way that made you go double rainbow like Paul did, you need to get out of the house more often. There are beautiful things to be seen in the world, and if you can witness them in the right moment it is truly incredible.

The video reminded me a double rainbow experience that I had myself a few weeks ago on an early morning training hike in the mountains above my house.

After the bit of rain passed, the skies cleared providing spectacular views from 9,000 ft. of Mt. Ogden to the north.

Still plenty of snow at 9,400 feet in June. Beautiful cornices breaking on the ridges.

Here’s to more double rainbow moments – and to Paul Vasquez for reminding us how incredible the world really is.