Goodbye Benzy

It has finally happened...

I have sold my 1981 300TD Mercedes Benz Wagon...

Sexy Pose

"Benzy" was a good car, although our relationship had some ups and downs
We had poor communication (She is German)
and sometimes I didnt understand why she was upset (broken).

Middle of Nowhere, CA
Summer 2009

But... she did get me all over the place on road trips in style (I lived in her for 2500 miles of roadtrippin' one Summer)

Living room couch...
great views of the outdoors

One of our many mornings...

She always had people givin' her the eye (she was pretty sexy...1981, leather seats, power windows, and 7 ash trays for 5 seats...hott damn!)

Up on the San Francisco Peaks

But it was time to let go...

She is off to a new and different type of owner...

One that will work on her little attitude...

She will be converted to Veggie Oil one day (Always was a dream of mine...)

Maybe she will get a new look...

Either way...
Ill always remember her as Benzy.

Until we meet again...

One mans trash...

Is another mans dinner???

Well that might be the case if you find yourself immersed in the sub-culture of dumpster diving. I was introduced to dumpster diving almost 2 years ago by a self proclaimed dumpster revolutionary. At first I was in complete disbelief that such a thing existed and to be completely honest I thought it was a bit gross...
I mean it really is trash.

A dumpster

(what were you expecting?)

But... none the less this dumpster leader persisted that I went out with him and his other divers and check out what this "trash" has to offer. So we all jumped on our bikes (any true diver commutes with a bike and trailer in pull, I guess?) and headed to some of the local dumpsters. I was instantly amazed at some of the stuff that we were able to pull out on that first dive.
It was right then and there that I was instantly pulled into this crazy and fun culture of dumpster diving. It really is a culture. There are thousands of people all around the world that are "divers". They have clubs and meetings, prime dumpster locations, and web sites.



Check out these divers...
mydumpsterdive
dumpster-diving-spots




I even have a friend that recently decided that she is writing her college thesis on the culture of dumpster diving! Its actually such a big culture in some areas like Portland or S.F. that you can even meet up with divers in your city that treat there diving communities like a diving co-op. Its actually pretty interesting that some people completely commit to using the dumpster as a way of life.

Looking in at our local
dumpster

I dont find myself to be in that category...

Im more of a part-time diver...
a weekend warrior of dumpster diving.

More recently though, I have been diving quite a bit because I have a roommate that actively jumps in a dumpster. Recently diving has turned up quite a bit of great stuff. Chris has been pulling loads of fruits, breads, veggies etc. (recently a whole bunch of "old" Easter chocolates)

I thinks its to the point where our house is eating off of around 80% dumpster food! I know it sounds a little weird and gross but once I was able to get over the fact that it is "trash" it has been really rewarding and a fun hobby. Chris has been able to further introduce me to the culture of diving because he has been doing it for a while. He tries to get to the dumpster a few times a week and I am always amazed at what he drags back.
(This Winter Chris was able to make I dont even know how many pounds of homemade smoked jerky with a smoker he also dumpster dove! This is on top of the pounds of dehydrated fruits and veggies he is able to whip up...)

Chris jumping in.

So after all the diving what have I learned most?
OUR SOCIETY IS SO WASTEFUL!!!

This brings me to one of the most important rules of dumpster diving:
Never feel like you are doing something wrong.

It is absolutely ridiculous to see some of things that we are able to pull out that are said to be "trash". I would say that most of the stuff that we pull doesn't seem to have anything wrong with it at all!

Trash you might pull...
Veggies like bell peppers, potatoes, greens, and tons of organic tomatoes (fruit or veggy??)
Fruits like bananas, apples, oranges, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries... anything that ends in "berry"
bread
assortments of cheese
seasonal pies and baked treats (cookie monster should move into these dumpsters)
local veg-fed eggs by the dozen
milk
chips and yes...salsa!
beer (whoa!!!)
and tons of useful around the house stuff...

Sometimes though you come out with nothing but dirty hands and sticky shoes...

But... back to that waste stuff.

Its really sad to see how much our society really wastes. All of the perfectly yummy veggies and fruits or the plastic packaged items that travel far distances to just end up in our local dumps. I even at times pull out garbage bags full of the plastic bags that our stores are telling us to bring back so we can "RECYCLE." Shocking and sad stuff...

Its crazy think about all of the wo/man hours that goes into producing, transporting, arranging and selling...
Not to mention...
all of the energy used to produce the plastics, power the production plants, water our farms, harvest the petrol that is used to drive our products all around the world to then just be thrown away to lay waste in our landfills...
Whew...
That was a bite to chew!

Lets think about it...
Why are our products so expensive?
Why are our landfills filling so quickly??
Why does the price of petrol effect the price of my gallon of milk???
How can we possibly feed all of these hungry people????

There are hundreds of questions with even more answers but a part of it can be found in our trash cans?!?!


So what happens then???
Unfortunately most large business dont seem to care about the waste...its a crime to them.
In some instances I have heard of some divers getting harassed for trespassing and, in some extreme cases, stealing?!
A major bummer if you are telling yourself your not doing anything wrong...

Luckily enough I have never ran into any trouble diving.
In one case employees that were in the back on break actually helped get some good stuff together (sshhhhh...)

I did one time have a police officer confront me and ask "why I was in the trash?" After a brief discussion about what I was doing, why I was doing it, and offering him some of the really awesome fruit I had just pulled he told me I couldn't pull it in front of him but that I didn't have to throw it back away...Logical and kind officer.

So...overall diving has provided me a fun and, at times, exciting way to go out and do some shopping. Next time you think that shopping is boring think of the dumpster out back... it might hold that next treasure or maybe just a bunch of stinky cabbage... who knows?
Check out your local stores... maybe you will never have to buy cookies again!
Go give trash a chance...

Here are few shots from our last dive

Chris looking at his score
of hard goods.

Chris whipped up a 99.99%
dumpster dinner. Homemade sauce
and all!

Headed back out

to West Elden to finish up my project. Sent it first try...but I wont say that it was easy.

West Elden

Finally had a chance to go to West Elden to climb yesterday. What I really enjoy about W. Elden, besides its remoteness from other climbers, is the style of climbing out there. It is one N. Arizona oldest climbing areas with history back into the early 60's! Its also the only type of rock in N. Arizona that truly resembles climbing on granite. Its all glassy and funky. It has a real old school style of climbing and at times can be a little weird/tricky... and a bit scary. Perfect for early season trad!
Because of our heavy snowfall this year its been an impossible area to climb at...I tried a few times to make it out but there was tons of snow at the base of the cliff and everything either had crummy ice hanging off of it or it was soaking wet.
But with our warmer weather recently I rallied some of my eager friends to head on out and see what we could climb around on. Since the road was still closed we hiked the 20 or so minutes we got to the cliff which was in the sun, warm and for the most part free of any ice or water.
After warming up on some of the funky/heady old school classics it was time to head over to a project that I had tried on the day of our first snow storm last Fall. Since I only got one real go before it started snowing I had been dreaming about getting back on it all winter...

Looking up at Andrew on the route.

The climb uses the right arching crack
system through the roof and tops out up by the tree.

So... I thought that all the climbing and leading I did this winter was going to make finishing up this route easy... I was wrong. After climbing through the easy terrain I was quickly reminded again about the funkiness of the area! By time I reached crack in the roof I was already pretty pumped so I fell going for the final hard move. Dang thing is hard! The crack in the roof is a really crappy size and the steepness of the wall is matched by glassy, steep footwork which makes staying on the wall a real challenge. I had to remind myself that falling wasnt such a big deal cause it just as important for me (on certain days) to work on flailing through the air...

Me hangdoggin on my rope looking up at the crux.
Dang thing is so steep and its all slickery rock.

After falling a few more times and getting really pumped now I decided to just lower off my last piece of gear and take a rest... plus its good to let your belayer climb sometimes also.
After hanging out with everyone on the ground for awhile, drinking some water, and eating some "good for you hippie bars" I was pretty psyched to tie back in and give it another go.

Since I had left the gear in up to the crux it made getting up there quick and really quite easy, which helped my psych. Its really great in climbing to have the moments before you do something stand out more than the climb itself. Recently I have tried to maintained a very optimistic approach going into something hard and tell myself that I can do it over and over again. For whatever reason it might be it helps with my climbing and hopefully it will work in all aspects of my life someday.
But... for whatever reason it was...maybe the rest, the water, food, the happy thoughts, or fairy dust...
I topped the route out for the first time without falling which made me very happy. It always makes me feel calm and content when I finally am certain that I can do something. With all of the climbing that I do its still really great to do something when you really dont expect it to happen. In this case it was a happy reminder to me how much I love trying hard while climbing. So much goes into your success on the wall it really quite unexplainable, and very difficult to master.

Me passing through the crux
for the pink point.

Now all I need to do is get back out there and do it clean while placing all my gear... guess there is always tomorrow!

Lets catch up

Since I keep hearing from my friends and family ( ehm..Tina and Brooke) that they "never know what I am up to..." I thought it would be easy for me to start to journal about what I is I have actually been up to... Im not sure exactly if what I am up to is interesting to anyone but I do think it will be a good way for me to keep track of whats going on for at least me. I guess I will treat this like a journal of sorts except for instead of keeping it under my bed I just let it float around on the interweb... Hopefully you will enjoy my adventures as well as some of my rants as Im sure both will show up... enjoy

This Winter I spent most of my time working as much as possible while still finding time to get out and have fun. Since winter is not the best time to get out (expecially with our snowfall this winter...200ish inches!?), I thought it too be a good idea to spend as much time as I could working and learning some new stuff. This year I was very busy splitting my time between two jobs...if you can call them that. I started my 3rd year up at the Arizona Snowbowl working in the Terrain Park.
From the get go I was feeling somewhat excited to use my opportunity to learn some new things about working in the back-country and working on my skiing.
For some time now I had been interested in trying to test out Ski Patrol. With some convincing, I found myself being able to train with Patrol as well as continue my job over in the terrain park which worked with me.
I began my training in the beginning of February. For 10 days I spent my time learning about everything from medical certifications to snow mobile driving. It was a whole lot of fun and I got to learn from some of the best, some of which have worked in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness for over 25 years! So for the last few months I got to ski it up everyday and spend time working on the snow. Not such a bad gig in my opinion...


I also have now been working at Vertical Relief Climbing Center for over 3 years now. As you know... I like to rock climbing just a bit. Climbing has been my up most passion for the past 4 years now. Really I think it just a love/hate relationship!
Right now I am the head coach for the junior climbing team, I help teach an intermediate climbing class through the University and well...I am around to do about anything else my boss wants me to.
This winter has reminded me how much I enjoy working with in climbing industry. Its a really unique and rad opportunity to work with all types of people and work around climbing everyday. I have been working with the youth climbing teams since day one way back in 2007.
The team is a group of 15 kids ranging anywhere from 10 years old to 15. Talk about a challenge some days! Even though sometimes I want to hang them upside down by all of their toes overall it is really great to work with all the youngster climbers.











I also work with my co-worker Chris with the NAU climbing classes. Right now I work with intermediate climbing class with is 18 college students that want to slack off and climb for credit... sounds like me!
It really fun and a great way for me to learn tons of stuff. Chris is super knowledgeable and I feel like Im learning new stuff every class also. Its also a great way to practice my skills by teaching. I have realized that knowing something and being able to teach something is very different and pretty difficult at times.