Learn the Ethics

The rock climbing community has to be one of the most awesome communities I have ever been a part of. People who think like mindedly about each other, who care about their actions, and try their best to respect the environment. After all, the environment is our playground. If we don’t respect our climbing areas then they could soon disappear. With the massive influx of rock climbers entering the community, due to rock climbing’s accessibility, I feel the community is beginning to become displaced in its ideas of maybe the most important part of cragging… ETHIICS!

The climbing gyms of America are breeding climbers who don’t have the first idea about crag ethics. Time and time again I go to popular crags and watch sport climbers, belay improperly, back clip quick draws, top rope through the anchors, or monopolize routes. This is the equivalent at screaming during someone’s back swing in golf. SWING GOLFER GOLFER GOLFER!?!?!!?!?!?!?! I don’t expect these skills to be known or even to be something you could necessarily read about, but you certainly should learn the ethics of the crags you are at. At some locations it may be kosher to top rope on the anchors. In others, monopolizing routes may be the correct edict. The fact of the matter is that for many new outdoor climbers these ideas aren’t even on their radar. Why?

The why is the part that scares me most about the futures of rock climbing and our crags? The gyms certainly aren’t stressing ethics. They are just moneymaking pleasure feeding machines. People who are “gym rats” do not give a flying dung muffin about ethics outdoors. Why would they? They have no need too; there are no environmental or social impacts when climbing at the gym. But when they make that transition to outdoor climbing with the same “I don’t give a shit, I’m just here to rock climb,” mentality it becomes a major problem. I feel there are really only two avenues available for climbers to enter outdoor climbing with respect to the crags and its climbers.

There is the peer method. Experience climbers who take “gumbies” climbing with them, teaching them ethics and know-how as they begin their outdoor climbing experience. Instilling these ethics as just another part of outdoor adventure and climbing. “That is a copperhead… it is poisonous… NO, don’t touch it… (Grumbling) stupid gumbies.” The major problem with this is not all new climbers know experienced climbers, and there are many that don’t care to. The same goes for the veterans. They may not want the responsibility of taking a “newbie” out climbing. The only alternative method, to learning an area’s ethics, is to read, to communicate, and spend time with the locals of a specific area or the crag.

I’ll give you an example. When I began rock climbing outdoors I had no idea what to expect. I knew there was no sport climbing in CT, the land of Ken Nichols, but everyone at the gym said there was tons of toproping. Before I bought a single piece of gear I had purchased the Climbing CT guidebook and read it cover to cover. This, while giving me a baseline, didn’t even begin to cover the cluster fuck that is climbing ethics in CT. While I did all the important stuff right, building anchors in the proper spots for routes, tying anchors to trees and walking off instead of repelling (all things mentioned in the book), I was in no position to understand why there were no bolt anchors. The same always baffled me about the incredibility long hike into Main cliff at Ragged Mountain that the book described. When in fact there was a shorter route.

Ragged Mountian Map (Notice the incredibly long walk)

I later found out that Ken Nichols, who had a whole ton of first ascents in CT, did almost all of them without fixed protection, and he intended the area to stay “pure.” As for the hike, well the short hike crosses private property. The landowners are ok with the locals using it, but they didn’t want the ever-exploding climbing community to be waking though their yards on a daily basis, quite understandable.

Notorious bolt chopping asshole

Another quick example is the climbing in VT. The administrators of their access group called Crag-VT operate more in secrecy then anything else. They have access issues with almost all of their crags, and they are quoted as saying “There will never be a guide book to VT.” This ethic allows them to keep the crowds away and keeps the crags open for the locals. The only people who climb there are people who have learned about the climbing by word of mouth. They have taken the peer approach to ensuring that their crags will be kept safe and clean.

The total opposite is an area like the Red River Gorge, where almost everything is bolted and documented down to the last tree. This area is breeding accidents and has seen a higher increase in the amount of climbing accidents in the recent years then almost any other area. Not to mention the blatant disregard of ethics has lead to the closures and restrictions placed on Torrent Falls, Muir Valley, and most recently Road Side Crag ( Road Side Closure Info ).

Torrent Falls Red River Gorge KY

The only thing that is for certain is for better or worse this sport is becoming mainstream, and the crowds are only going to get worse. So please learn the proper way to respect crags, teach others of your knowledge, listen to the locals, and don’t ever assume you are always right. Keep our crags and areas open and clean for others.

Top 5 Pick Up Lines/Strategies for the Climbing Gym

Lets be honest, the climbing gym is a place full of attractive folks. You could let this intimidate you (so…many…abs) or you could roll with it. If you choose the latter, this blog post is for you! A handy guide to the best and most effective pick up strategies at the gym.

1. "Can you spot me?"

Translation: can you stop what you're doing and look at my backside right now? This is especially effective when you're getting on a climb that you know you can send easily.

2. "Nice beta on that move, I'm going to try it!"

Translation: I really enjoy watching your muscles while you climb, but I need an excuse to be staring so intently. Alright got it, I can pretend like I am studying your beta. Yeah, thats it.

3. The pen pal strategy

This one has a few steps, but putting in the time up front can pay dividends later. First: set a route or boulder problem. Next: name the problem with a targeted pick up line for your person of interest. Last: hope that they see it and respond favorably. You may laugh, but this method has a proven track record. You know who you are.

4. Take off your shirt

There aren't many places in Boston where you can get away with taking off your shirt in public. At the gym, its totally normal to be like "oh wow I am soooo hot from all this climbing, oops there goes my shirt LOL". This is to be used as the checkmate move at the end of the night.

*Alternate beta. If you've spent the winter feasting on post climbing burritos and beers, you might not be quite ready to show off the goods under the hood. Fortunately, there is another strategy. Just wear zip-off pants and sensually turn them into shorts. Oh yeahhhhh look at my awesome calves. Be sure to make a scene of the unzipping.

5. Post climbing ab workout.

Ending a climbing session with an ab workout can be great from a fitness perspective, and even greater as a pickup strategy. Here's your chance to impress your special someone by proving that you can do more inverted twisted crunches than they can. You could say that ab workouts aren't always competitive, but you would be wrong.

Well, that's about all the advice I have for today. Best of luck out there, ladies and gentlemen and remember: The couple that belays together stays together.

Passion is a Habit

Throughout my life there have been a few things that have "come" to me and changed my perspective on life. One is climbing, nothing has transformed my view of the world so drastically, enough to change the course of my very existence. Little back story...for this we're going to go back to the golden year of 2001. What a year, GW was our new president, Harry Potter made his way into the theaters (and our hearts), Britney Spears established herself as a pop culture icon, and Bryan Rafferty topped out at 265lbs. Wait...what?! Yeah, 10 years ago I weighed 265lbs of unmotivated laziness. My glorious sunny weekends were not spent at the crag but scratching my crack while drinking a slightly cool Milwaukee's Best Ice...ok it was piss warm but hardly the point. In steps Andy Brower, now best friend, and roommate at the time. Andy was one of those, how do I put this, jack of all trades types that could crawl off the couch and kick your ass at almost anything if you dared challenge him.

Andy and I after one of many marathons that he runs without really training for...douche...

Anywho, his goal was to get me motivated to stop being as he put it, "the fat kid that shouldn't be fat." So one day Andy drags me up the hill of our campus to the rec center, and gets me to traverse along the bottom of our school's half assed woody and do a bit of bouldering (mainly because I was scared to death to go above 10 feet - rope or no rope). The beginning of the end, it's amazing that the 25ft high woody acted as my temple and sanctuary for the remainder of my years in school. Since then climbing has become my passion, my sanity and what has helped me find myself in the dark. I've dropped 85 pounds and have made climbing my life. I do not see myself going back anytime soon.

The second is a little book known as "The Symbol"...hahahaha just kidding. I'd like to say that it is something magically ridiculous but inspiration doesn't always work like that. I found the second on a whim, the intrigue had always been building, the means and motivation were not always there however. Once I got the news that I was going to be a father, the decision was simple. I wanted to document as much of my child's life as I possibly could and make it look good. Desire turned into reality when I bought my first D-SLR, what I'm talking about of course is photography, granted this is something very new to me but I have that good old fashioned feeling again, that tingling inside that gets you excited for that next fix. And more importantly than that, it complements climbing beautifully. I find myself absorbing as much as I can when I can, examining photographs and thinking about how that moment was captured in time. I started to analyze what I never would have considered when viewing a photograph; lighting, depth of field, colors, it's mind blowing!!! So this blog post is a way for me to share some of my favorites. They are not very good and by no way anything special, but when I see them I smile and find a small sense of pride. So I share them with you all:

Jamie 'Dreads' Anacleto - my first bout with photoshop and remote flashes. Love this photo...

Boof's eyeball through the sign 

Black and white adds such an amazing feel to photos 

Color is pretty cool too though 

Hehehe...Noah...having fun with the stink eye 

My first sunset shot, the shot I took two minutes earlier looked like shit, made me realize how timing and lighting play such a huge part in a photo 

Josh Larson on something hard! Photoshopped to shit but 

the angles and shadows were what I was focusing on

So there you have it, my newest venture, diving into the world of photography. I welcome feedback from you photogs out there because in all honesty I have no idea what I'm doing. But I know that it makes me smile to think about where I can take it and how great it feels to point and shoot. Hope you all enjoy the first batch, hopefully there will be more to come.

Cheers,

Raff

PS. Baby pics coming October 2011 :)

Too Many Puppies are Just Like Me!

This is a story purely about my experience so here is the disclaimer about this post's content.

The following story is totally about me, for me, and by me. If you don't care for me, you should stop reading abruptly. I originally wanted to tie this into some sort of message for everyone, but since I couldn't find any, I'm just going to write my story about me. So shut up and deal with it.

For the last 4 years I have been attempting to climb my first 5.12. It started on a trip to Red River Gorge with a few of my friends in 2008. After a 7 day climbing trip, I finally felt that my sport skills had progressed to the point where I could send a 5.12. So I picked out a climb in the guidebook and started working. Unfortunately for me I settled on a climb called, "Too Many Puppies." Named after a Primus song and bolted by the famous Porter Jarrard, I feel as if I might have made a mistake.


Making the last clip before the final boulder problem.


That first year I chuffed the crap out of that climb, stringing together only 2 bolts on my first attempt. These two bolts being the rest section that now feels like 5.10a/bish. During that first attempt I was so weak, I couldn't even finish the final boulder problem.


The second boulder problem and difficulty crux.

Fast-forward another year. I had had a rough winter with school and work, not done much training, but I was psyched to try again. I tired every easy 5.12a in the Red that year with no avail and I finally made it back to Too Many Puppies on the last day of the trip. I decided that this climb wouldn't beat me again no matter what. Well it beat me again. I managed to string a few more clips together, but again the top boulder problem reigned supreme and spat me off the top 6-8 times. If you haven't done this climb before then you should know you have to pull the last boulder problem to make the final clip, which is at your shins. So 6-8 times I took that 30 footer, down down down the route. 5.12, clearly, was still not in my cards. As I finally pulled the move and whimpered my way up to the chains I felt better for finishing the route this time, but it wasn't enough.

It is important to note that I am mostly a trad climber. I don't often climb sport. I really enjoy the trad climbing in the Northeast and don't often work on climbing the difficult sport in the area. I like to climb stuff that scares me and is beautiful. But Too Many Puppies needed to be done.



The last move of the second boulder problem.

Year three. Back to the Red again. 5.12 still on the brain. Spring 2010 was a bad few months for Jay. I was working 20+ hours a week, taking a full course load (including my senior project and the hardest of the Computer Science courses at NU) and working 10ish hours a week at Metrorock. I didn't climb for almost 3 weeks before the trip. I hadn't trained all winter. I lost my voice and got sick 2 days before the trip. No matter I was going to send that Fucken climb. I went to KY with one quest in mind 5.12!!!!!!!!!!! I again attempted a few of the 12a's in the Red without success, but I wasn't really after them. I wanted to crush Too Many Puppies. I took a rest day on the day before last. (Honestly I was just to dam sick to climb) I slept at the crag all day and tried no to cough my lungs out of my body. Finally, on the last day, I decided it was now or never. I warmed up and stayed away from Wild Yet Tasty, maybe the easiest 5.12a in the Red. It was likely that I would have sent that, but I didn't care. I needed to climb Too Many Puppies. Just at the other end of the wall loomed the ominous Arete, with its three boulder problems stacked on each other. Too Many Puppies are being shot in the dark. I had to put a stop to this obsession. I tried the climb again. I fell off the second boulder problem, but lowered and went from the start. I made it up to the final bolt before the top boulder problem. There I was just to pumped to continue. I grabbed the draw (Mendongza style) and clipped the rope. This was my best run on the climb to date. I rested and finished the top boulder problem and clipped the chains 1 hanging the route. I was ecstatic, but this still wasn't enough. Too Many Puppies are trained to kill. The trip ended 5.12 still hadn't happened, but worse there were just TOO MANY FUCKEN PUPPIES!!!!!!!


The only rest on the route... right before the final boulder problem.

Year: 4 (Last week) Goal: "Too Many Puppies." This year when I got to RRG I had only faced one set back in the last year, for a change. I broke my humorous around Xmas and wasn't able to climb for 3 months. No matter though I still had a month to recover. Finally, the trip came. We stopped in the New for a couple of days, then on to RRG. A good warm up I suppose. We spent the next few days climbing over hung climbs to stay out of the rain. Finally on Thursday the weather cleared up and "Too Many Puppies" was in the forecast. We warmed up at Military Wall then hiked to Left Flank. Jeb hung the draws on "Too Many Puppies" and we began to work the route. Too Many Puppies with guns in their hands. On my final burn of that day I had the bottom two boulder problems wired and made it 90% of the way through the top boulder problem, which I believe to be the redpoint crux. I felt accomplished. The next day I would send this climb!

When the next day came, I was so sore; sitting up in bed was a challenge. No matter back to the project. We dropped the size of our climbing entourage that day to just my car, Jay, Jeb, Shay, and Justin. We spent all morning warming up on the climb to the left of "Too Many Puppies." This climb is a slabby and then overhung 10, called "To Defy the Laws of Tradition," another Primus song. That Porter Jarrard always had great names for his routes. After putting one send attempt down, in which I made it one hold further in the top boulder problem. Then all hell broke loose. I decided to take a nap to wait for the sun to warm the climb. 3 hours later I couldn't even do the bottom boulder problem off the ground. I was so pissed. I ripped my shoes off and threw them in the dirt. My fingers were getting bare from so many attempts on the sharp crimpy holds. I was so mad I could scream… and I did. Too Many Puppies are trained not to bark at the sight of blood that must be spilled, so we may maintain our oil fields.

Jeb then promptly jumped on the route and sent the climb!!!! You would think this would inspire me, but for some reason it sent me for a loop. I became even more discouraged. I wasn't sure if I could ever send this climb. It had bested me so many times. Clearly, just Too Many FUCKEN PUPPIES!!!!!!


The fallen.

That night I got drunk at Miguel's, wallowing in my own sorrows and drinking what I had expected to be my victory beers. I decided to call it a night and passed out early. The next day, I woke up and had to go back to get my draws off Too Many Puppies, so I could climb somewhere else. Shay, with the promise of not having to return to Left Flank ever again after this, came with me. I decided that this was my last chance this season and I would give it one more burn. After warming up, I flew through the bottom two boulder problems without issue or even pump. I felt great. When I got to the only rest on the climb I felt like I was able to get back to about 90%, then I began to fire the top boulder problem. I pulled straight passed the moves that had given me problems in the past. Then I fired the crux move to the right-handed undercling in the ceiling. The end was so near. There was only one puppy (hard move) left to go. I heel hook matched my left hand for balance on the arete and fired my left hand for the jug on the ceiling and as I did my heel popped. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO……. FUCK!!!!!!!! I screamed as I fell the 30 feet to the end of the rope. So close. So close…. SO CLOSE. I was ready to pull back up the climb, do the top, and take my draws when Shay convinced me to try one final time. She had been at the bottom of that climb taking pictures and belaying for me for 3 days. I owed her one final go. So I lowered, rested for about 10 minutes and went again. Same result, I fired through the bottom crux and up to the rest. I felt like I was able to get back to about 90% again. Then I began to fire the top boulder problem this time I acquired the undercling on the ceiling with a little more ease. I then jammed the crap out of my heel onto the crimp rail to match my left hand. Then up into the ceiling, as my fingers closed around the jug… I knew it was over. I brought my feet back under me pulled to the final jug and clipped the shunts!!!!!! FUCK YA!!!!! I screamed as I let go of the final jug and hung on the anchors. Too Many Puppies are just like me!

Overall I wouldn’t have traded the work or experience for anything.

There were Good Attempts:


There were Bad Attempts:


And at least one Funny Attempt:


Too Many Puppies was my climbing grail for many years and my motivation to break into the next level. 4 years of trying and failing, a quest I never want to be on again, and my first 5.12, finally, done. Watch out Red River Gorge. You are now in my sights. Now there are no longer "Too Many Puppies" just to many classic 12's in the Red to be climbed in a lifetime.

Set for Life

My favorite aspect of climbing is the amazing pants by Prana that women seem to favor wearing. MMMHMMM!!! Prana, I thank you. However, another aspect of climbing that I have come to adore is the art of route setting. When climbing outdoors you have set parameters. The holds are already there and you have to unlock the predestined sequence(s). However, when climbing on artificial terrain the powers of nature that created the outdoor climbs we all adore are eliminated and replaced with human creativity (another brilliant force of nature).

While I dabbled in setting in the past I never really started until January of 2006 when Bill Schifone added me to Metrorock’s infamous route setter list. My skills, as a setter and climber, were limited then. It didn’t matter though, I thought I was awesome (FAR from the truth). Back then I would spend hours laboring over a single problem that if I climbed today I would jump off of and say “what a CHOSS pile, who set that, a drunk one armed monkey!?!” Alex Enright recently told me whenever he and Mike Majerczyk (a former Metrorock employee) climbed a route they disliked with no placard on it they would say to one another “may as well put BooF on the card.”

With each new climb my ability to set evolved and grew. I was now visualizing the moves rather than tinkering with every single one. I used to struggle with setters block and immediately fill with angst and anger. Now, when I get stumped, I walk away from that move and come back to it with a fresh new outlook. I began setting multiple climbs at once, bouncing back and forth between them in sprees of my own setter attention deficit. When I am trying to force a move and it doesn’t work, I take the climb in a new direction, abandoning the sinking ship I found myself in. The past 5 years have seen my technique greatly improve, aiding in my resistance to the allure of setting dynamic, reachy, power climbs every single time (and now instead put them up every other time, HA). Slopers are still my favorite though. Probably has something to do with that whole Prana pants thing. Hug those curves like a Porsche.

In the beginning I was excited to set so I could put up climbs that I would enjoy. As I set more and more I came to really enjoy the gratification of setting climbs for others. I began eavesdropping on people who finished my climbs, were on my climbs, or were even near my climbs, hoping to learn what they liked or loathed about my latest plastic pathway. Having someone tell me how much they enjoyed a particular climb of mine fills me with immense gratification. A lot goes into putting climbs up and it’s nice to have peoples appreciation verbalized.

Back at the onset, I could not take criticism. If someone had a problem with one of my climbs I would grumble to myself about it. Now I actually enjoy hearing people bemoan my climbs. Everyone has an opinion and climbers (especially those who do not set on a regular basis) LOVE to grumble about how “this climb is sandbagged, I Always onsite 5.10d” or “that climb can’t be a V3, I don’t climb that hard.” I used to loath putting a grade on my climbs, fearful of the slings and arrows to be slung in my direction if my grade was not accepted by the masses. Over time my skin hardened and I begun slinging my own arrows back as the quips and remarks bounced off me like pebbles on armor.

I came to realize how subjective climbing grades really are. There are so many different strengths and styles of climbing that it’s impossible for grading to ever be anything more than an educated guess by the powers that be. The best thing a setter can do is choose their grade and stick to their guns. If someone calls you a sandbagger tell them to stop sneaking late night Frosties and Nugs off the dollar menu. If someone tells you your grades are soft, tell them to they should lay off the steroid shakes and the Shake Weights. Climbing is all about having fun anyway. DAMN THE NUMBERS (even though we are all guilty of chasing them)

I have come to enjoy the aesthetic allures of route setting. I believe setting to be an art form. Many of my fellow setters even refer to a blank wall as a blank canvas (something we crave daily). Setting a rock climb is the choreography to a sultry salsa dance with the wall, or the notes to a rockin power ballad composed of plastic grips, or even the outline of an epic tale of misadventure for those who dare to climb your creation.

For me setting is about creating a series of movement that is exciting, makes you think, and makes you smile. Its about that sequence that haunts you while you sleep, or a move that sucks you in to be tried over and over again. It’s about those moments when someone goes out of their way to tell you how psyched they are about your latest creation (or harass you to create even more). Setting is my therapy. Nights alone at the gym setting after hours are meditative and mentally restorative (sometimes). Head to Metrorock on a Sunday night, lock the doors, throw on some tunes, sift through a giant stack of freshly washed plastic, lay it all out in front of a blank wall, call up my setting buds, and go to town (maybe imbibing an ale or two, shhhhhh). Let the Shenanigans commence.

When boxes of new holds arrive at the gym setters swoon like preteens at a Bieber concert. When these boxes open the scene becomes more like that of the feeding frenzies that fill the screen on Discovery’s Shark Week. Cries of “dibs” pierce the air like raptor shrieks. Plastic bags shred like Watergate files as holds pour to the floor. A new section of wall magically becomes stripped in the blink of an eye. Friendships of years come crashing down like the Hindenburg when an awesome new sloper gets used as a foothold.

For those of you out there who say indoor climbing is only about training for outdoor climbing, SHAME ON YOU. If you believe that and are reading this please go glue some rocks to your living room wall and hang from them every night because you hurt the feelings of my creations. Hearing this statement is like a dagger that cuts through my bold setter’s heart. Yes, indoor climbing is about training, but like all endeavors with climbing it should also be about enjoying yourself. Making friends, gossiping about the latest climbing couple, dreaming of a beer in your hand later, and throwing yourself at the wonderful abominations both I and my fellow setters have slaved to prepare for you. Hearing someone in their silly serious tone denounce indoor climbing boils my blood to a magma state. When you reduce indoor climbing to a chore used to enhance your outdoor feats you leave it sounding a lot less spectacular than it really is and leave passionate setters in pools of tears.

I look forward to what the future holds for me as a setter. It has been a needed outlet for me over these past 5 years. What began as a means of obtaining a free membership, evolved to become a large part of my life. The term “Boofy” Climb has become a permanent entry in the Metrorock dictionary. I have set over a thousand climbs to date, almost of all of which are now but a valued memory. I look forward to a future filled with complaints and compliments, sandbags and softies, setter’s blocks and setter sprees, classic climbs and Choss piles. When its all said and done, my idea of an awesome night is a painstaking, curse filled, chalk clouded assortment of colorful plastic, blasting music, and climbing new creations with some friends, oh and of course, Prana pants.

Vocab for any non climbers

Choss – a steaming pile of crap(in the figurative sense)

Onsite – finishing a climb without falling on your first attempt

Sandbagged climb – not what boobs feel like (silly 40 year old virgin). When the difficulty rating of a climb is lower than what the general public believes it to be.

Soft climb – when the difficulty rating of a climb is higher than what the general public believes it to be

Sloper – a type of climbing hold to be treated like the curves of a voluptuous woman. Don’t hold too tight. Don’t tug greedily. A relaxed grip and some tenderness are all you need.

Setters block – a terrible ailment that strikes all setters. This happens when all moves you come up with are dumb, bland, repetitive, nonsense, and pretty much complete garbage. Usually it’s about now that you get a spinner as well.

Spinner – when the threads on a bolt get stripped and the hold gets stuck on the wall. The mortal enemy of all setters.

TANTRUM!!

So this blog post comes in two parts...

First -

We've all done it or been there when a fellow climber has done it. You can feel it coming, the frustration rises like a river during the spring thaw. As the day goes on more and more grunting ensues, what starts as a simple attempt turns into an aggro encrusted rage-a-thon. Some people handle it differently than others. Some may simply turn red and move to a corner of the crag where they don't speak to anyone for an hour, and some may throw their shoes and light there hat on fire...either way it's not pretty. What I'm talking about is the elusive Tantrum, a climber turning into a white hot ball of rage when they can't send after time and time again.

I know this feeling all to well. Most of the time I can keep my cool and don't let the climb get the best of me, and sometimes...well that leads us to our second part.

Second -

I recently got a nice new D-SLR that I'm totally addicted too. Lucky for me, not only does it take sick photos, but also shoots in full HD video. What a better way to document my long standing project, Pipe Dreams out at Farley, MA (see past blog posts). This past weekend a few of us went out to camp out at the bottom of this epic climb for the send. What ended up happening was falling...a lot. And lucky for you all I got it all on video. Now keep in mind, this video is meant to be just a way for me to practice cutting audio and video clips to create what will eventually be the video of my send of Pipe Dreams. Really I'm just having fun with my new camera. So I created this video that I call Tantrum...and you'll see why.

TANTRUM!! from Bryan Rafferty on Vimeo.

What I learned from making the video:

1. I really need a wide angle lens
2. This shit is addictive, make no mistake about it
3. I hate that foot...really
4. Boof's mohawk is awesome
5. A lot on CyberLink PowerDirector 9 (the program I used to cut the video), really easy to use and produces really great quality in little time
6. Bright colors make a huge difference on climbers
7. I need to play around with a lot of angles and close ups to make a good video

I hope you all enjoy.