Team Christensen

Wingsuit Pictures

2011-05-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

The newest member of Team Christensen will be...

2011-05-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

A girl!!!

Scuba Video

2011-04-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

Wingsuit Big Ways, Lodi, April 2, 2011

2011-04-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

Wingsuit Big Way, Lodi California, Vertical Stack Formation

2011-04-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is a video of Susie and I flocking with our friends in Lodi. We are wearing the blue and grey wingsuits, I am on the left of the formation, and Susie on the right. Footage by Jade Edaj.

And for our next adventure. . .

2011-03-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

New baby due September 20, 2011. WoooHoo!

Wingsuits

2010-11-18T12:45:00.001-08:00

Europe

2010-10-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

We spent a month climbing in France and Spain, from September 5 to October 5, 2010.

France

The best food I have ever eaten in my life, with Estelle in France.

Ceuse

Map of Ceuse France. We camped at Les Guerins near the center of the photo, and hiked up a massive hill for an hour and a half to reach the climbs.

Our first rental car, the Ford KA. "Where's the KA?" we would ask.

Les Gorges du Verdon, France. We climbed Dingomaniaque, a 6 pitch route with a crux pitch of about 5.12a. The routes are approached from the top, and you have to rappel down into the canyon and then climb out.

Susie on Super Mickey, Ceuse France.

La Petit Illusion, 7a+. (about 5.12b+). Susie redpointed on her second try.

Another great sunset at Ceuse.

We spent a lot of time rigging ropes to take good climbing photographs on this trip. It takes a lot of work to get good photographs, and at least three climbers. We would make friends with other climbers at the cliff in order to get one of them to belay Susie while I took photos hanging from a rope up above. In return for the belay, I would take pictures of them as well. This worked out great because everybody wants pictures of themselves. Every time I pulled out my camera with the big looking zoom lens, we made new friends. I would usually practice taking pictures of the other climbers first, to test everything out, then take pictures of Susie after I had worked out all the kinks and found the best angles. There were plenty of days where I would spend 3 or 4 hours taking photos of beautiful climbing babes that Susie had recruited to help out. Not a bad job.

Katia (Zurich Switzerland)

Andrea (Zurich Switzerland)
Anna (Catalunya)

Trisha (Salt Lake City)

Blanca (Girona, Catalunya)

Dani (Rodellar Spain)

Ann (Texas)

Susie and Ann.

Katia, Susie, Andrea.

Most of the time I was the one taking the pictures. However, from time to time I had to also take it upon myself to show everyone how to pose for climbing photographs.

I got a blister that became infected and was a huge pain in the neck.

Rodellar, Catalunya Spain

Delfin, 7c+ a crazy arch feature.

The Gran Boveda, a wall in Rodellar with lots of tufa climbs.

Susie is crushing another route onsight that I had to hang in the rope twice on.

These are some Catalan guys we met in Rodellar. I got a cold so I spent the day hanging out with them at the cliffs and taking photographs. They were awesome.

Mallorca, Spain

Psycobloc (Deep Water Soloing) on Mallorca, an island east of Barcelona. This is the Diablo Wall. I am climbing Afroman, 7b+ (5.12c).

Siurana, Catalunya Spain

L'escamarla, 7c+, Siurana.

This is our friend Toni Arbones. He runs the campground in Siurana. We met him in Yosemite this spring and he told us about Siurana.

Climbing bolted cracks, Euro style.

Susie redpointed her first 5.13 in Siurana Spain. La Ardilla Roja, 7c+ (The Red Squirrel). It took her about 6 tries. She redpointed it in the last moments of our last climbing day of our trip, just before dark. It was amazing to watch. I had tried the route a few days earlier on toprope after she first got on it, and I had to lower off at the crux because I could not even hold on to the holds.

Sector El Pati. Susie's route La Ardilla Roja is about the center of the wall here.
Siruana has pretty rough rock.

In Siurana we camped at Toni Arbones' climbers campground.

Our last night in Spain we stayed in a campground near Barcelona. It was overcast and the city lights lit up the clouds. This image was a 30 second exposure. This is straight out of the camera, no photoshop.

La Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona.

We had about an 8 hour layover in Geneva Switzerland on the way home, so we spent the night on the Airport floor.

Skydiving August 14, 2010

2010-08-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

We did a couple amazing flocking jumps in Lodi yesterday, Andrew and Ammon in wingsuits and me in tracking gear. Ammon's in the black wingsuit, I'm in the blue jacket and white helmet, and Andrew is flying camera.

April 3, 2010 - Paragliding

2010-06-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

My first tandem with Arnel

Dingo and Dinguette

Me and Estelle
Estelle kiting...
...while Damien looks on
My turn kiting the small wing. I think Damien's being a monster or something behind me. Consider it a work of art, up for interpretation.
Andrew's first time under a paraglider wing in maybe four years? Getting some last minute reminders from Anne before the blast-off.
A little push....and he's off! Like he'd never skipped a day of paragliding in his life.

Now time for me to try kiting the big wing. After some careful blow-by-blow instructions from Anne, and several failed attempts, I finally got it!
Then at last! Time for the real deal. It was only a sled ride, but it was awesome! Can't wait to get back out.

Et enfin, a para-base to close out the day.

March 2010 - Yosemite with the Olsens

2010-06-08T17:10:00.000-07:00

I finally talked my parents into coming out to Yosemite, and as expected, they loved it! We took them to El Cap Meadow, hiked to Lower Yosemite Falls, went to the Awahnee (a first for me and Andrew....my mom LOVED it there) and took them climbing for their very first time. It was awesome! Because of my dad's Fire Dept experience, he was a natural with all the gear, and belayed me on two different routes at Swan Slabs. He even got on one of them, and did a great job! And check out the anchor he built. What a guy! I'm so glad I finally got to share Yosemite with them!

Climbing gear 101:

All set up to belay me

Now this is what I call a simul-rap:

Perfectly equalized anchor!

January 2010 - NYC

2010-05-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

In January, we went to NYC to visit Andrew's good friend Brian. We met Brian's cute baby boy, checked out all of our favorite 30 Rock sites, took the Staten Island Ferry, and got to see Brian in action in his office.

Christmas 2009

2010-02-01T17:24:00.001-08:00

Just like last year, we timed our tri-state drive to Utah precisely at the peak of a tri-state winter storm.

Christmas morning at the Christensens

Big Brother is WATCHING

Don and Barbara....or....Russ and Heather?

Christmas afternoon at the Olsens

Sisters!!!

I don't think we're in California anymore...

Pearls from 'Nam

Stairway to Heaven, December 2009

2010-02-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

December 23: Five pitches of beautiful ice!

Andrew sporting his sweet red one-piece

Me pretending to lead...

December 26: Mixed Climbing (or some semblance thereof...)

As you see, it started off really well.

Yes, our very own "A Christmas Story" moment.

Andrew dry-tooling

Britany and Erik's Wedding - San Diego, Dec. 29

2010-02-01T17:23:00.000-08:00

Vietnam Sport Climbing

2009-12-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

Sport Climbing in Northern Vietnam

The Face, Ha Long Bay

Susie Onsights 5.12b: All the training pays off!

Chris Glastonbury (Austrailia): photos of Susie on the Face

Butterfly Valley, Cat Ba Island

Flight of the Bumblebee, 5.13a

Dream Weaver, 5.13a

Peter Mortimer (South Africa) on Dream Weaver

Firefly, 5.11. First ascent, onsight.

Installing anchor bolts on Firefly with Yann Papin (France/Canada)

Ben Beo Harbor

Vietnam, Deep Water Solo

2009-12-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam

Deep Water Soloing

Jason Piper on Fisherman's Way

Vietnam - Cat Ba Island

2009-12-01T03:58:00.000-08:00

Cat Ba Island, Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Motor Bike

Stairway to Heaven, Provo Utah, December 2008.

2009-09-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Utah Trip, July 2009.

2009-09-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

Half Dome, Regular Northwest Face, Yosemite. August 3, 2009.

2009-09-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

I forgot the sleeping bags. . .

We approached the route up the Death Slabs. 5 hours.

We started at 5 a.m., and Susie led the first half of the route.

I led the second half of the route, starting at the Robbin's Traverse.
On top of the chimneys, pitch 14.

Going up to Big Sandy Ledge, pitch 17.
Talking to Mr. Olsen. We had the phone because I was expecting a call for a job interview that morning.
Zig Zags, pitch 18.

Just after Thank God Ledge, pitch 21. Only two more pitches to go.

Summit at 9 pm. 16 hours of climbing.
Descending the cables.
This is the pile of gloves left at the base of the cables.

Astroman 5.11c, Washington Column Yosemite. July 3, 2009

2009-09-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Enduro Corner, 5.11c.
Susie leading up the 4th pitch, 5.10.
Staircase Flake, Pitch 5, going up into the Harding Slot.
Harding Slot.

Ledge on top of pitch 7.
Susie leading the 5.11b Changing Corners, pitch 8.

We finished the route in 9 hours.
We were happy to find a trickle of water on the descent. We had been out of water for several hours and were hurting pretty bad.

Galactic Hitchhiker, Glacier Point Yosemite, May 23, 2009.

2009-09-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

Indian Creek, Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-12-10T17:03:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving in SLC

2008-12-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

Olympic Museum for my mom's birthday

Wii with the Olsens

Me, Andrew, and a giant picture of Mark Bohn. What else?

Yosemite with the Christensens

2008-09-28T16:27:00.001-07:00

El Capitan, The Shield Route, August 3-10, 2008

2008-08-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

The Shield

Day 1: Epic
We hiked our bags to the base of the route on Sunday night. We were planning to sleep at the base until we discovered that a hungry skunk happened to be planning an evening at the base as well. So we made the executive decision to let the skunk win, and slept on a ledge about 50 feet up instead.

We officially started climbing on Monday morning. Andrew and I split off from our partner, Gregg, to climb the first 10 pitches of the route without the burden of the haul bags. The two of us took off that morning with a camelbak full of water, and a couple of energy bars. Surely enough resources to fuel our morning climb, right? We soon found out that this would have been adequate if 1) it wasn't 105 degrees that day, and 2) we were in shape. As it turned out, we had neither of these circumstances in our favor. So instead we practiced the tried and true method of suffering.

About 700 feet up with 300 more to go, Andrew took the last sips of our water, ate the last bites of our food, and fearlessly led our dehydrated, sunburned, exhausted selves onto the ledge where we were supposed to meet Gregg. To say the least we barely made it in one piece, and had started fantasizing about selling all of our gear and giving up climbing completely.

Day 2: From Heart Ledges to Gray Ledges
We woke up still wondering how much cash we could get from selling all our gear, but decided to keep going to see what would happen. This is us that morning contemplating why, exactly, we think this is fun.

We climbed a few good pitches and one slippery chimney, and in no time found ourselves on Gray Ledges. Though it was still extremely hot, we were well-hydrated and were actually beginning to feel pretty good about climbing once again. When we got to the ledge, we took inventory of our water situation. Factoring in the sweltering heat, we realized that we may not have enough water to make it all the way. It was a pivotal moment: anything above Gray Ledges would put us at the point of no return. So we had to decide: do we go for it and hope for the best? bail? go get more water?

Day 3: To Bail or Not to Bail?
Procrastination was the decision. We'd go get more water, and then decide whether or not to officially bail. So we rappelled down, jumped in the river, ate some pizza, filled up water bottles, took naps under a tree, then worked our way back up to Gray Ledges.

Here's a brief encounter we had with the "Shield Monster"

Day 4: The Shield Roof and the Headwall
We took new inventory of our water, and determined that we could easily climb for another week and still have enough to take showers with at the top. With so much water, at that point it was ridiculous to bail. So upward we went. This is me leading the first pitch off of Gray Ledges:

This is me and Andrew a couple pitches above Gray.

In no time, we found ourselves directly beneath the Shield Roof: infamous for being the "crux pitch" of the route. Here's Andrew just getting into the meat of it:

Me and Gregg at the belay

Andrew styled his way up it, and it was soon time for the second to head up. That meant it was my turn, so I lowered myself out 30 feet from the anchor until I was dangling in the middle of space.

The top of the roof brought us to the first pitch of the (extremely) overhanging headwall: 600 feet of beautiful smooth, golden, rock with one perfect seam running straight up the middle. Just how overhanging was it? Every time the second lowered out from the belay, they'd find themselves 20-30 feet away from where they started. Here's such a moment:

And just how exposed was it? Looking down from your anchor, you become vibrantly aware that the only thing between you and the ground is 2,000 or so feet of air.

We spent that night in the middle of the headwall:

Day 5: The Headwall
We woke up the next morning to the two (actual) hardest pitches on the route. Andrew took the diciest one - The Groove:

And Gregg took Triple Cracks:

This is Andrew getting aggro with his hammer cleaning a stubborn piece of gear on Triple Cracks:

Here we all are at the belay. It was a lot colder up there (who knew?) so we had to arm ourselves in all the warm gear we had.

We (Andrew) blasted up the next three pitches so we could make it to Chickenhead Ledge before dark.

Day 6: Summit
We woke up the next morning pretty worked...

...but we enjoyed every second of having our feet on solid ground at Chickenhead Ledge. After a quick breakfast, we were summit-bound.

It went something like this: I led a pitch, Gregg led a pitch, Gregg led another pitch, Andrew led the weird downsloping roof, Andrew led the crappy, grovelly squeeze chimney pitch, then I led the slabby summit pitch. All before 5p.m.!

First pitch off Chickenhead.

Practicing karate on the summit:

Summit or Die!!!

Cairo Egypt, May 2008

2008-06-04T09:40:00.001-07:00

Yosemite Lodge, Memorial Day, May 2008

2008-06-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

motorcycle practice

2008-05-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

Harber Cabin, Brian Head Scenic Byway. Feb 23, 24, 2008

2008-02-25T14:52:00.000-08:00

Susie learning to sit-fly. Feb 18, 2008

2008-02-20T13:16:00.000-08:00

Skiing at Alta, Dec '07

2008-02-19T17:19:00.000-08:00

Death of a Computer

2008-02-19T15:50:00.001-08:00

My old HP laptop died a good death. December 2007, Bountiful Utah

Ice Climbing Dec. 07 Stairway to Heaven

2008-02-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

Stairway to Heaven, Provo Canyon Utah.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. . .

2008-02-19T15:17:00.001-08:00

Parasailing behind the truck.

Andrew and Susie's First Skydives, March 2006

2008-02-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

Pasadena with the Fackrells Feb 9, 2008

2008-02-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2007, Salt Lake City

2008-01-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

Wedding

2007-10-11T14:03:00.001-07:00

Honeymoon in Canada, Vancouver & Squamish BC

2007-10-08T12:33:00.001-07:00

First Wingsuit Skydive

2007-09-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

skydiving

2007-08-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Christensen and Olsen BBQ Aug 5, 2007

2007-08-14T11:34:00.001-07:00

Engaged, Monday July 16, 2007

2007-08-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

Alameda Estuary, San Francisco Bay.

bf gf

2007-07-09T16:09:00.001-07:00

Four way skydive with Shelly and Lito - May 19, 2007

2007-07-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Santa Barbara - Memorial Day 2007

2007-07-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

El Cap, East Buttress. Saturday, June 16, 2007

2007-06-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Utah, April1, 2005

2007-06-28T12:17:00.001-07:00