Perfect Pitch

The coach of my crew team in high school had a big impact on my life as an athlete and as a person. Whenever I can't summon up the motivation for an alpine start or trip to the gym, I remember Bill and become re-inspired. One of his (numerous) wise sayings, is that "The perfect stroke has never been taken." In a 2-kilometer race, we'd take over 200 strokes, so knowing that each one of these could be improved was something that stuck in the mind of an impressionable 16-year-old.

And I think the principal applies to much of our lives. Has the 'Perfect Pitch' ever been climbed?

Dave Evans on the first (and likely one of the few) ascents of the Breathing Stone - Western Spaces Wall

I'm off this evening for an 11-day trip to Red Rock National Conservation Area. On the "to-do" list is a freeclimb of the well-known Rainbow Wall, and an additional dozen routes that we're hoping most climbers haven't done, or haven't even heard of.

The Breathing Stone, Line of Addiction, Enterprise, and Ancient Futures... these are just a few of the long, difficult(for me), and potentially excellent routes that lie hidden on the park's lesser-visited walls. But with a long list of climbs, mostly following a 1-3hr approaches, this will be a good test of my fitness and ability to climb hard day-after-day. With the RPs, offset nuts, screamers, and lots of extra tat packed away, I'm ready to have an adventure! And to have the energy and psyche to punch it through that runout on day 9 and pitch 100, I just need to work on climbing some perfect pitches. Starting tomorrow...