daniel kietzer

I had a lot of excitement in my life yesterday.  My friend John and I nearly drowned in the heavy flowing Barton Creek on the approach to our local climbing spot.  We were expecting waist deep water at the worst, similar to the crossing at Gus Fruh last week.  But it just kept getting deeper and deeper.  In the middle we were up to our shoulders and the current was really moving, and with a rope bag on my back, I couldn’t keep my feet down.  With John’s help, I managed to swim/thrash to grab a few branches on the other side.

But we got across, and that meant good climbing in sunny 65 degree weather.  We started the long and eventually incomplete process of drying everything out under the cliff.  Every once in a while a pair of climbers would shout at us from the opposite bank, asking how we got across.  No one was willing the brave the cold rushing water though, so we had the place to ourselves for the afternoon.  That, or they were scared away by John, who was wearing nothing but boxer-briefs and a harness.  The climbing was great.  We took it easy most of the time, keeping things at or just above John’s skill level, which was great for me to ease back into things after a week and a half away.

iPhone quality can't detract from the greatness in this picture.

I did get to test out my new quickdraws yesterday.  I need another six in my inventory for our trip to Mexico on the horizon, and seeing how I’ve been so impressed with DMM’s quality and attention to detail, I ordered six of their best – their Shield quickdraw set.  They have a pretty radical shape and design, and the gates are pretty stiff, which made me a little apprehensive.  But I was blown away from the first clip.  The shape just works so well in practice.  The curve in the spine just begs your extra fingers to use it, giving you secure leverage to get the rope past the stiff gate with no trouble.  The combination of usability and security is a huge confidence booster.

We risked getting hit by cars while crossing the Barton Creek bridge to get back to the other side, rather than brave the water again.  It was definitely the more sensible choice.  After a quick ride home, we ended up at another friend’s house later that evening, and spent the rest of the night in good company, talking about our exploits from a few hours earlier.

I’ve been away for a while.  Took a little trip, and spent too much time at the workplace.  Daily routine and worldly obligations have been cutting large pieces away from the things I’d really like to be focusing on, but I think I’ll be back to normal from here on out.

I had a nice little block of three days off last week, and my parents lobbied pretty hard to get me to come visit them.  I had grand visions of trains, camping, climbing and general debauchery; but at the risk of being completely disowned by my family, I jumped on an overnight bus instead, destination McAllen, TX.  As much as I dislike the Rio Grande Valley, at least a three day trip was easily digestible.

The morning I arrived I visited with my grandmother, who had good cancer news for me.  That morning the doctor told her she’s finished with chemo treatments.  Definitely a big milestone.  The two newest Kietzer’s, my brother’s wife and my new niece, were also in the same room, which was a pretty cool reunion.  Six Kietzer’s had dinner together that evening at my brother’s house, and, for a little while, it felt really good to be there.  I spent the rest of my time mostly with my parents, and trying to dodge the flu virus that was floating around my brother’s house.  It was a good trip.

Coming back to Austin, even after short trips, has always been a good feeling for me though.  Driving up to my house on Friday made me smile.

My weekend was a little lackluster.  I spent a lot of time at work watching the sun shine through the windows.  The one social encounter I wanted to have never quite materialized, and for some reason it left me in a poor mood.  Sunday I met a new girl at work who left fumbling for the right words as I helped her find some climbing equipment.  Absolutely gorgeous, and she just couldn’t stop smiling when she looked at me.  That helped me quite a bit.

I have today and tomorrow off from work.  Unfortunately it’s been raining since early this morning…  The forecast says it will dry out by this evening, and I certainly hope so.  I haven’t climbed in over a week, and my fingers are itching for it.  The last ten days of November, Rami and I, and whoever else feels like an epic adventure, will be heading down to Mexico for some big multi-pitch climbing at El Potrero Chico.  I want to be a little stronger before heading down there…

Yesterday I experienced a rare sight here in Austin.  The greenbelt has flowing water in it.  Word on the street says there hasn’t been water flowing in years, testament to the amount of consistent rain we’ve been having.  It was “dry” yesterday though.  The sun was even out at times.  And even though the humidity was hovering around 300%, Rami and I got a few good hours of climbing in at Gus Fruh.  Only a few critical holds were still wet; our shorts however stayed wet the entire time, after wading through the new greenbelt river to get to the wall.

We got started on Iranian Arms Deal (5.10a), moved over to an 5.11a, then finished up on Jerry’s Kids (5.11b).  These are pretty difficult routes for us, and we certainly were not helped by the moisture in the air, but we got a chance to work out a lot of awkward body movements.  I hadn’t been climbing since the last trip to Reimers Ranch, and I was definitely feeling the decrease in finger and arm strength.  Rami, however, is continuing to get stronger, and closer to his previous level.  I’m glad to have a good rope gun around.

We’re going to go again tomorrow morning, and at the moment I have plans for climbing at Reimers again on Saturday.  My toes are tingling.

Yesterday I talked through a few of my long term goals and objectives.  I don’t quite like starting something and stopping and the halfway point.  When I started climbing, I started because I wanted to beat my fear of heights.  It’s worked pretty well so far, but it’s far from finished.  Next summer I want to move back to Anchorage, AK.  By that time, I’d like to be fairly competent on technical rock.  The first summer in Alaska I’d like to learn more trad and alpine climbing technique, and then be ready to swing some ice axes by the time winter comes around.  A few seasons later, I think I’d be ready for big mountains.

I see bold alpine climbing as the pinnacle of the sport; where incredible skill and raw courage meet.  I’m not sure I can be satisfied until I get to that point.  That, and it’d be pretty incredible to finish my goal in the best style possible, in the mountains where it all started.

Whenever an exciting thought or exhilarating moment comes into my head, my toes start to tingle.  It’s always been this way.  Before I do a difficult or meaningful climb, my toes tingle.  When I’m immediately drawn to an attractive person, think about a big goal, hear a great song, remember a good memory – they always start going.  It’s my physical indicator that I’m doing something right, and tingling toes are an important part of my criteria for a “good day.”

My toes tingled a lot yesterday.  I was out at Reimers Ranch, climbing on limestone all day with Rami, and our new friends Patrick and Andrew.  Lots and lots of 5.10d/5.11 climbing.  We were really pushing the limits of our capabilities, and I totally love seeing my improvement from where I was a few months ago.  I gracefully pulled through moves that I could barely even attempt before.  We climbed a lot on Prototype wall, doing Prototype (10d), Sugar (10d, but felt harder than Prototype), and most of Bolt Talk (11a).  I feel like if I can continue my trend of improvement without injury, I’ll be leading 5.11 in no time.

I was talking to my mom a few days ago.  She said her and my dad have been talking about a move back to Alaska, probably two years down the road from now.  I won’t be waiting two years, but I do like the idea of my family following me up there.  I feel like things are starting to make sense.  Just a little bit.

This morning my housemate and I did a little cleaning around the house.  A few days ago the washing machine had a little draining malfunction while we were both out of the house, filling the living space with two inches of water.  It’s been hard to dry things out with the rain and humid weather, but I think we finally managed to get most things back in their place this morning.  I like having order and cleanliness at home.

Had a fantastic day out at Reimer’s Ranch today.  I had been dreaming about climbing at Reimer’s for a while now; most importantly, I’ve been dreaming about climbing at Reimer’s in sub-100 degree temperatures.  Today I got both!  It was a little humid and moist this morning, but overall, I couldn’t have asked for better conditions.  Ryan, Rami and I got out nice and early, and had the entire park to ourselves for most of the day.

We did warm-ups on Dr. Suess Wall, starting with Smitten Psychopath (5.9).  This was a surprisingly fun climb, with an exciting start.  Ryan made it look pretty easy on lead, but he was really on his A game today.  Next we jumped on Star Belly Sneech (5.10a), with Ryan getting another redpoint ascent.  This one turned out to be pretty tough.  Rami affirmed that he wasn’t feeling good today here, but he still climbed pretty hard today regardless.

Dr. Suess was fun, but I wanted to do something over-hanging, so we hiked.  Our destination was T-Roofic Wall, with it’s over-hung routes and big suitcase handle holds.  T-Roofic Detour (5.10d) was our first route.  Ryan led it perfectly again, and then it was my turn on the rope.  It was an incredibly fun route to climb.  At one point, you’re practically doing a one arm pull-up, then extending your opposite arm up to jam your fingers into a fist-sized pocket three feet about your head.  Intense!  In another memorable move, you’re literally supporting your body by a middle finger, pulling hard on it to grab the next hold.  I was excited to get up it, and even happier to have Ryan around to put up cool routes like this.

We strolled next door to Arbor Wall, and set up my 70m rope on two adjacent climbs, Mrs. Johnson (5.10b) and Cliptomania (5.11a).  These two would keep us entertained for the rest of the afternoon…  Cliptomania was especially fun and tricky.  The crux move had us going from two awkwardly wide and painfully sharp side-pulls, jumping for a ledge we discovered was equally poor to hold.  We worked it out to a point that I think we can send it the next time we’re out.  Mrs. Johnson turned out to be pretty good too, but the holds were fantastically sharp once again.  I aided up most of this one to clean the anchors, and we called it a day.

On the drive home, we saw our friend Ollie at a highway intersection on the outskirts of the city, manning the Hey Cupcake! Airstream trailer.  We knew that a visit would result in delicious cupcake consumption, so we had to drop by.  I didn’t realize how tired I was until I walked through my door, but I’ve been completely out of energy since getting home.  My fingers and toes are sore, and just typing is a chore.  What a great day!

There’s an army of mosquitoes in my backyard right now.  I can’t stay outside for more than a minute without getting viciously attacked.  They try to sneak inside, but if they do, they tend die a horrific death.  I’m an Alaskan at heart – mosquito hunting is in my blood.

I was at work most of the day yesterday, and it wasn’t the most exciting thing in the world.  I did get to meet a lot of interesting people though, and have some pretty exciting human interactions.  We sort of deal in the market of human adventure, sharing our experiences, and being a pretty important part of other’s adventures as well.  I’m so well versed in what we do that sometimes I think I catch people off guard.  Not too many folks can tell you what roads to ride on in Banff National Park, teach you about climbing rope, and fix your road bike in the same breath.

I’ve done a lot in my life so far.  Sometimes I think I might have started out too fast, and now I’m beginning to stall out.  Maybe that’s why I’ve started dabbling in the more extreme pursuits – I’ve run out of things capable of keeping my attention.  I’m apprehensive that it’s going to evolve into dodging avalanches on remote Alaskan mountains…

I picked up a new pair of climbing shoes last week.  After losing my Scarpa’s, I hastily purchased a pair of Evolv Evo’s to climb later that afternoon.  Unfortunately they never quite worked with my left foot, and the rubber just wasn’t as good as the Vibram rubber I was used to.  With some strong recommendations, I bought a pair of La Sportiva Miura shoes, and wow.  I think I’ve found my one pair of climbing shoes for life.  They’re wicked aggressive, but not toe smashers like you’d expect.  And talk about sticky…

Carolina and I want to be climbing and leading, respectively, 5.11 by the end of October.  I can get up 5.11 now, and should be able to handle the sharp end of the rope by then if I keep climbing consistently.  And then 5.12 by the end of the year…  It’s totally possible.  The ultimate goal is 5.13a by May, exactly one year after I started.