Rockclimbing is something that I was interested in for a long time, starting in late 1995. I won't write a long article about my involvement in it, but suffice it to say that I was never very good at either bouldering -- much though I enjoyed my regular outings to the boulders with my friend Rod Williamson -- or roped climbing, which in the end Rod and I did very little of (despite the fact that at one time I had amassed a tremendous rack of climbing gear -- see photo above -- which I later sold on eBay). We only ever climbed in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque, and in all, we did the "West Face Traverse" (5.5) on the Tombstone three times, "Estrellita" (5.8) twice, and "Miss Piggy" (5.8) once. Rod, who at one time was an excellent climber, did all of the hard leads; however, he was already starting to be hampered by arthritis (which essentially prevents his even bouldering these days). And, apart from my lack of ability, I was limited by drop-dead acrophobia.The climbing photos above are all from the last time Rod and I did the Tombstone in September 2002. The first one shows me leading the first pitch (minus the actual traverse, which we always did as a separate pitch). The second shows me belaying Rod on the traverse, and the third one shows me arriving at the top. (I took a few photos of Rod leading the last pitch, although they were all shot directly into the sun; later, I reached up and handed Rod the camera so that he could take the last photo before I topped out.) The black-and-white photo, taken from a guidebook, gives some perspective on the formation: the route starts near the right side of the sunlit face, traverses to the left side at mid-height, and wanders around from there to the top.
I'd like to start bouldering regularly again, even though, having aged, I'm a worse climber now than ever. However, it isn't something I enjoy doing by myself; aside from concerns about safety, it's simply more fun with someone else along.
