The climbing allure of Zion National Park has quietly been tempting me for the last three years. A friend took me down there once to teach me how to aid climb, but we only ended up "aid cragging" at the base of some of the bigger lines. Since that day, I've climbed bigger stuff in Yosemite and elsewhere, always bypassing Zion because it was too hot, too local, too whatever. Well, with less than inspiring weather everywhere except Zion, I conned trusty Sam into coming down to chase down the line, Prodigal Sun, on Angel's Landing.
Angel's Landing is a striking formation that extends from the canyon walls like a peninsula in the sky and is a major hiking destination for many park visitors. The hike itself is a proud scramble that occasionally turns fatal as the exposure is extreme and the terrain rugged. Maybe 10 years ago, I stood on the summit oblivious to the real climbing possibilities.
Prodigal Sun is predominately an aid line that ascends the right side of the above picture. It is continuously steep with a smattering of tricky placements and hook moves. I had planned on leading the majority of the climb and having Sam dispatch the C1 pitches and the last free pitch. But first, we had to cross the river, which was flowing at 300+ cfs. The flow wasn't difficult, maybe just above the knees (mid thigh for Sam), but the water was ICY cold. Painfully cold. We crossed without mishap, pantless, but with puffy jackets and beanies.
I lost the trail and mud soloed a small cliff band, where I could look down and point Sam in the right direction. He skirted around, and soon we found the base of the climb.
Looking up canyon toward Moonlight Buttress
A look East at the Organ and the Virgin River
The route starts with a good ole fashioned bolt/pin ladder
Sam jugging in the background
Sam had practiced ascending a fixed line the day before in my garage. It's a little different doing it for a thousand feet straight up. But, like all things, he picked it up quickly and made easy work of cleaning the route.
Somewhere near this point, after seeing the cumbersome engineering that is aiding and hearing me mutter something about breaking my ankles while above tipped out cams, hooks, and poorly placed tricams, Sam decided he'd be better off jugging the rest of the route and graciously let me lead the whole thing.
The jugging machine
Up Canyon, Moonlight and Spaceshot visible
Cerberus Gendarme
Near the top of the route
We just finished in the daylight then hiked out to the Grotto where we caught the second to last bus back to the visitor's center. A short drive led us to Hurricane where a McDonald's victory dinner awaited.
That night, we drove out to Gooseberry Mesa and tried to sleep through a wind storm and even a little snow. Actually, I slept pretty well in the Subaru.
Sam still hiding in the tent.
We went on a mellow short ride with Sam coaching me the whole time.
Sam
Sam near the "point"
Beautiful view toward Zion
And lastly, my new love affair
Jessie and I are up at Whitefish Lake in Montana right now enjoying a little sleet and snow on our vacation. Too bad I didn't bring my skis.
Our line descends from the top, cuts through the middle of the upper cliff bands and takes the chute on the looker's left. 
The La Sals are a beautiful range with an apparent abundance of big lines.
Riding the Slickrock Trail seconds before laying my bike down. I am a terrible mountain biker. The ride was by far the scariest part of the day for me. 
and made it out just before dark.
After so much talking and lusting after this line, I finally got the chance to ski it today, May 13th, in prime powdery conditions. I've been spending a bunch of time running, climbing, and vacationing with Jessie so there hasn't been much time to ski lately. I even did my first bike race last night at the DMV Crit. I guess after the WURLOS I had had my fill for a bit. But, I was starting to think I should make the most of my time off and get in some skiing to prepare for the Volcano Tour 2010 (more to come on that in late May). I called Adam who called a friend of a friend, and we decided we'd head up Bell's around 6:30 AM. Why Bell's? I feel like I've hiked up and down that enough this year. We wore running shoes and ditched them in a tree at the snow line a couple miles up. I wasn't feeling all that strong, likely as a result of too much gluttony at sea level last week and the most time off snow I've had all winter. A couple sweaty hours later we found ourselves at the base of Lone Peak's impressive NE face wondering which line was the NE Couloir. From the bottom, there are a number of cliff bands and the chute proper isn't visible. We guessed right and traversed in above the cliffs ready to boot our way to the summit. 
Sam had practiced ascending a fixed line the day before in my garage. It's a little different doing it for a thousand feet straight up. But, like all things, he picked it up quickly and made easy work of cleaning the route. 
We just finished in the daylight then hiked out to the Grotto where we caught the second to last bus back to the visitor's center. A short drive led us to Hurricane where a McDonald's victory dinner awaited. 
