Disappointing season

The weather is quickly closing the season here. (North Texas and Southern Oklahoma)  For those of you up North this may seem strange but in the flat lands in the summer this is not a good place to climb. Hundred degree temps and few trees so sun baked granite makes climbing a miserble chore. We will brave a couple of weekends just from cabin fever but we are quickly turning to other interest.

I'm left looking forward to September When the weather cools I'll try again to obtain progress on my goals. Truth is even during the season I haven't been climbing enough. Things went south when I made an employment change. No vacation time or personal time and I was stuck on a 5 day schedule. My climbing partners went for promotion in the corporate world and their schedules went to 70 hours per week.

We had decided to be more agressive about the weather less than 50% chance of rain and we would go anyway. Then gas prices went nuts and to risk over $100.00 just to be rained out soon became something they wouldn't sign up for. My part time job started cranking hours due to people quitting and soon I was looking at April and only 4 or 5 trips for the whole winter.

My goal of a Colorado trip fell apart as Air and shuttle fare kept creeping up and up. soon the $2000.00 budget was to $2300.00 and climbing. I thought of cutting a 7 day stint with a guide could be cut to 5 to make up the difference, and still the expenses climbed. It was soon to the point that over 2 grand for a 3 day cuorse just wasn't worth the expense so that fell away.

Now the goal for next season involves a job search. I'm tired of not progressing! So I've decided part fo my climbing goal is to get a job in Colorado, Washington, Oregon or Utah. I've got to get myself off the prairie. I love the time in my local haunts, but without a crag close to the house every trip is a weekend long production. I need a training ground closer to the house so when i only have 1/2 a day to climb I can at least  grab the crash pad and lay hands on stone.

On the good side the training and keeping in shape is progressing nicely. Core workouts are getting more and more intense and my runn time and distance is getting respectable. I'm determined to train in the heat to build endurance. I talked to my part time job and I will have a more predictable schedule this next season and I'l try for my goals again.

So the first step for next season is perfecting the resume. I'm applying for 2 climbing related positions and trying to get a network in Denver going.

Just some early morning ramblings.