I took another calming breath, smiled at the world, wiggled my toes, and turned around continuing the climb.  The freedom was exhilarating, no harness, rope, belayer, or mental thickness.  Despite my spirit cartwheels I moved carefully up the rock, keeping my mind now/here. 

Free-soloing is dangerous, because a trip or stumble means death.  As a Rocky Mountain Rescue friend of mine put it:

 “I won’t free solo until I can go a year without tripping on the sidewalk, and that’s never happened.” 

The chances are too great that a slip will happen;  however, as another climber friend stated:

 “Free soloing on a grade you are really comfortable on is about as dangerous as skiing back country in Colorado; both have risks that are out of our control.”

I used to free solo stuff all the time as a kid; buildings, trees, rock.  My dad and I once got all the way up a chimney on the back side of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills and couldn’t top out.  I freaked, cried, thought we were going to die, but my dad calmed me down and talked me through the careful downclimb. 

I pretty much gave up rock climbing at that point.  From age 12 to 20 I pursued other things, but then in college discovered climbing ropes and harnesses, and re-opened that door.  Today I love taking falls in the gym, pushing the limits of fear and climbing ability in a totally safe manner.  I regularly climb 5.12 on plastic, and occasionally push 5.13.  Outside I push 5.12 on a really good day, and often flash hard 5.11’s. 

Anyway, I don’t list these as a glory-seeking statement.  If there is one thing I’ve fully integrated while in Boulder, it’s that whatever your level there is always someone better, so quit with the ratings and get out and do it for yourself!  I merely state this to show that free-soloing the 1st Flatiron is well below my normal climbing limit, and on par with a grade I occasionally do in the gym with only one arm, or blind folded. 

I’ve stayed away from Trad because the limits are more nebulous than sport.  How far can one go between gear placements?  Where does trad end and fee-solo begin?  Earlier this summer I opened that door with a friend.  We simul-climbed the 5th Flatiron, and it was awesome, fun, and easy. 

Friday afternoon, when the right turn lane to my house was backed up with an abnormal amount of cars I went straight instead, and ended up standing on 1000 feet of rock on top of a Flatiron in my Vibram Five Fingers. 

Free soloing has been circling in my spirit ever since that day in the Black Hills with my dad.   I have two incredible friends, Scott, and Steph, I respect a lot, who explore the human spirit by walking the edges of fear and exhilaration through free soloing, base jumping, highlining, etc.  They have taught me lessons I might never have learned. I know the challenges are mental in free-soloing; the moves are easy, but the mind state is not. 

It is like many other things in my life that require moving to a place of consuming success.  Handling multi-million dollar space optics at work ;  driving a rescue vehicle with Boulder Emergency Squad; and belaying a good friend are all simple tasks with extreme consequences.  A “slip” is not an option, and so the mind must be prepared for cool, efficient, success. 

Friday’s climb was smooth like that, enthusiasm was held in check, and so was fear.  I felt both of them climbing beside me as silent companions; every once in awhile one would make a noise as if to distract me, but the other would say:

 “Shhh. Let Larkin climb!” and inner silence would remain.

Such endeavors pull me back to the sharp end of life, aware, conscious, here, full of power and succinctly able to create the moments of my future.

 The force of the collision pushed a shriek out of my lungs, and yet, when that shriek was finished I was still flying through the air, accelerating downward and outward, and so I quickly filled my lungs and let loose another.  And as a third shriek became a full whoop, falling became flying, and my motion changed from downward to up, and out…

A huge rope swing was set up on Monkey Face in Smith Rock State Park near Bend Oregon.  We had heard stories about it the day before from a local, along with a boast of “It was the most fun thing I have ever done.”  We hiked up to Monkey Face to take a look, and it was still rigged!

 I took pictures with the zoom lens and checked out the equipment.  The rigging looked bomber.  A double line for the swing, well backed up, and protected from abrasion dangled 100ft or so down from a prominent prow of the reverse tapering Monkey Face monolith. 

Plan A was simple, swing until I quite moving, then uncoil the swing ropes and rappel down the double line to the ground.  My ATC was already locked in, so I wouldn’t have anything to do, no rope transfers, rigging adventures, or possible mishaps.  Safe, simple, perfect.

The wind was intense!  After the 4^th swing my path changed orbit and I smacked into the Monkey Face tower, using my feet and legs as shock absorbers.  Finally I sat still dangling in space, over a hundred feet from anything except an overhung aid route.

…I sat in my harness, letting the adrenaline seep through my skin and float away on the breeze.  Looking up along the rope to the anchors I saw one of the climbers poking his head over the edge to check on my status.  I heard some excited voices from the rock I had launched from, as the nearby fabric of life rippled making room for the intense energy of the recent event. 

 The harness I had meticulously tightened while prepping for the swing was starting to cut off the blood flow to my legs as I sat in space and uncoiled the ropes.  My legs began to tingle as I lowered the lines toward the ground.   Fully uncoiled they dangled, and snapped in the breeze still far short of the rocks below…  Damn.

Plan B involved a complicated rope transfer with a single line rappel to the ground.  I had hoped to avoid this, but the swing turned out to be bigger than I thought.  I mentally added another 50ft to all my distance estimates which left me 120ft from the anchors and 150ft from the ground.  The peak of my swing probably put me close to 300ft off the deck with another 200-300ft down to the river below.  Wow!   It was one hell of a swing! 

Take a look at the photos my brother took, and the video Sophia took to get a good feel for the magnitude.  Major props to Joel for such an awesome rigging job.  I would have liked to meet you, but thanks for making it bomber and leaving it up an extra day.

Monkey Face Rope Swing Sequence (jump sequence as taken from my brother’s position).

We’re good at what we do; we continue to act, to do our job and live our lives, until a moment like this comes along and there is a pause, a moment to stop and feel.  I stood in that road for hours feeling my body grow tired, watching for the stars to come out, and then realizing they wouldn’t because it was cloudy, listening to the evening silence of nature.  The now stretches for hours, or days, or years, or maybe a lifetime if you’re quick about it. 

Death is a doorway through which the soul travels, sometimes when it is ready, sometimes not.  There is an important moment that comes, a need to recognize all the love that transcends this doorway of death.  A moment where we need to sit, watch the moon as it rises above the earth, appreciate its beauty fully and completely because at any moment it could disappear behind the clouds, leaving us without its brilliance. 

I strive to experience each moment, each interaction with this intention.  I pause, dive in completely, let it wash over me with everything it has to share.  Each death comes with so much sadness closing out something beautiful, but more than anything it is a reminder to live!

I adjusted the angle of the light and it caught something reflective as Andy hauled himself across the untensioned highline back to the access tunnel. The smell of rust and the reverberating echoes of friends rigging the line filtered through my concentrating mind as I adjusted exposure settings on the camera. What a wild place!

The steel launch doors high above were painted red with sheets of rusted metal peeling off. Andrew sat on a stairway to nowhere surveying the operation; his shadow powerfully projected on the ceiling. Although no protection was set for the ascent A rope hung nearby for rappelling back down to the tunnel. The multitude of pipes, bolts, conduit, and miscellaneous hardware provided plenty of bomber hand and foot holds for easy ascent.

34′ below the highline the water reflected the blackness of above giving the launch tube an eerie bottomless appearance. It was impossible to say just how deep the water was, but probably over 50′ of rust, chemicals, and stagnant liquid. A fall from the walls of the tube or the line itself probably wouldn’t result in immediate death, but the thought of touching the toxic vat of liquid was quite unpleasant.

Friend after friend sent the 1st ever underground highline as I climbed around exploring and getting shots from various angles. The focused calm shown while on the line was inspiring. I tied in, and moved out on the line, sat for a moment, took a long slow breath, and then stood up. Wham! The unnatural energy of the place sucker-punched my balance, and put my concentration in a choke hold. I whipped under the line, caught by my harness, but loosing my hat to the blackness below. A couple more tries, each one accompanied by a fall, left me pensive, and bowled over by the freight train in my chest. I moved back to the solid ground, an edge found, a limit tested. No send today.

The explosion rocked the complex, reverberating through each of us with a shocking deep roar, a taste of what this place would have been like during a missile launch. Nice work friend, a bit of simple chemistry and preparation threw a whole new level of excitement in amongst an already pivotal mission. Passing the double 4” thick steel blast doors, was yet another reminder of the power that was once held underground here.

We made our way back above ground greeted by the hum of high voltage lines, a just-past-full moon, and a breeze of warm Colorado air. It was quite a different trip then the last exploration Buried Blackness and yet again amazing, exciting, full of good people, and adventuring. Thanks to all who made it great, the best sleepless adventure I’ve had in awhile.

The Big Thompson flood killed over 150 people and was caused by nothing more than rain.  The same thing can (will) happen again in many other Front Range canyons.  Will you have enough time to get out of the floodpath?

Boulder County has recently implemented a new emergency notification system to augment the current systems.  Citizens can be notified via email, text message, and cell phone calls but you must sign up! (http://BoCo911Alert.com).   This adds a new level of notification for those not near a landline, and also supplements the traditional sirens located throughout Boulder County that sound during emergencies.

Because of its wide use and rapid communication social media has vast potential to increase the safety of citizens of the world.  It is in the beginning stages, but already some see the potential.  Los Angeles Fire Department (@LAFD) has been using Twitter to notify citizens of incidents https://twitter.com/LAFD as well as an increasing number of public safety agencies throughout the world. 

9-1-1 is the most reliable way to notify of an emergency; but additional methods help increase safety.  There have been many recorded events (such as the recent Haiti Quake) where mobile texting helped notify authorities of possible dangers.  Twitter being one of the fastest growing social networks, and one of the most succinct and mobile, is a perfect place to expand this capability.

The problem: no one is on the other end.  Government Twitter streams are usually sent out by ‘bots or automatic tweeting programs.  While this is great for getting info out, it does not help use the twitterverse to receive info.  We have a lot of growing to do before we can use the social media world effectively to gather information.

Signup for mobile alerts at BoCo911Alert.com if you live or work in Boulder County, and also follow @BoCoAlert  (https://twitter.com/BoCoAlert) if you are on Twitter for Emergency only Tweets (consider having these tweets pushed directly to your mobile device).  There are a few other public safety agencies within Boulder County that sometimes have a person behind the stream.  @BoulderRescue (https://twitter.com/BoulderRescue) is one who often tweets alerts and info (From Boulder Emergency Squad) and @BoulderPolice (https://twitter.com/BoulderPolice) is another who always has valuable information to share,  and usually knows first.
Some emails exchanged with those integrating the new CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system in Boulder County left me less than satisfied with the plans to integrate mobile warning system technology into Boulder County.  However, a year later we have BoCo911Alert.com.  Awesome!  We have forward progress.

I led a discussion at PodCamp Boulder this winter about Social media and Emergencies.  We concluded that it is a great addition, but will never be a stable replacement.  The discussion was wonderful and inspiring!  There is a lot of potential for increased safety in the world, and lot of people willing to help make it happen. 

I often use social media to judge what people are interested in and what the general public knows.  Last Monday there was a shooting in Boulder (turned out to be a double homicide suicide), and at the time there was a possibility of a shooter on the loose in Boulder.  It took 3 hours for this to reach the twitterverse (and general public), which is far too long if there was actually a shooter loose, or any other major emergency in Boulder.

BoCo911Alert.com came into existence a couple months ago, and today was the first message that came through; an alert for a missing person with dementia within Boulder County.  There are two types of messages that can come through: alerts such as the one today, and emergencies such as a flood, fire, terrorist attack, etc.  Signup!  You can’t be notified if you don’t.

Also, check out BoulderFloodInfo.net  for more information of what to do during the next flood in Boulder County.