Author: elijah

Ojai X-treme

Marcela took me climbing Sunday in Ojai. My first trad climb in probably forever, The Tree Route (5.6) on the Black Wall, offered a revealing glimpse in to the realm of traditional climbing. Marcela would like me to give this trad thing a chance. I’m trying. And that’s all I’m going to say. This creek… Continue reading Ojai X-treme

all Tor, all day

Last weekend, my first trip back to Santa Maria since the hospital, we went to Mr. Lee’s before Owl Tor. This time, we went straight to the Tor. Excellent idea. The Tor is way more rad in my opinion and its routes are not forgiving to tired climbers. The Power of Eating (5.11d), once my… Continue reading all Tor, all day

Naples Beach

I walked down to Naples Beach, Goleta today to check it out for spearfishing. From the cliff I saw about 20 seals lounging around with their pups. These suckers were skittish, checking me out the whole time from the beach and water, so I didn’t get any closer. They look like Twinkies with eyes.http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf crankenstein.com

party at Cottage

I just got my bill from Cottage Hospital. Pneumonia isn’t cheap. Well, it isn’t cheap if your jackass physician tells you it’s the flu so you sit at home while the infection bones your lungs hard. If you do that before you go to the hospital it costs about $450,000. This bill from Cottage Hospital… Continue reading party at Cottage

pneumonia does not help your freediving

So, I went to the hospital and stuff for pneumonia last month. It sucked and has set back my freediving by more than a little. In fact, my breath holds are now ridiculous – ridiculous in a bad way. Hopefully, by this summer I’ll be out there. crankenstein.com

back in the game

It’s been a while. It’s been almost 6 months since I’ve written about the bench. Sorry, bench press. I have no excuse. Well, I have one excuse: my seventeen day vacation to Cottage Hospital. From October through January I was benching light, trying to keep my strength while losing weight for climbing. Then I got… Continue reading back in the game

thanks, everyone

I need to thank everyone who participated in my care at Santa Barbara’s Cottage Hospital, visited me, called or had me in their thoughts while I was not doing so well. This is a whole bunch of people. Without the dedication of the doctors in charge of my treatment, the personal interest every nurse and… Continue reading thanks, everyone