Moo’s Road BLAG

I built a Kegbot

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 13:20:15 -0800

Inspired by kegbot.org’s RFID web-enabled kegerator, I built my own version based on the arduino.

First I built a three tap kegerator using a Sanyo SR-4912M (4.9 ft3), and a three-tap draft tower. In case you’re wondering how I fit three kegs into a 4.9 cubic foot fridge, the third keg is a 2-gallon taylor ice-cream keg which has been adapted (1/8 37º flare to 1/4 MPT) to use standard beer fittings.

The kegerator also accepts a standard CO2 fitting, which makes removing the CO2 line for charging quite easy.

ROBOT-KEG FUNCTIONS:
•display remaining beer in each keg •measure CO2 tank level •check temperature of refrigerator & draft-tower •measure temperature of the draft tower •turn on & off refrigerator compressor •display status on a graphic LCD •wirelessly communicate to a PC (my mac) via XBEE radio •wirelessly reprogrammable firmware 

HOW IT WORKS
I. KEG-SENSE PAD VOLTAGE-DIVIDER CIRCUIT
Each keg sits on a “keg-sense pad,” load-distributing disk, underwhich a force-sense resistor (FSR) is taped to a felt furniture pad. (The same setup is used to measure CO2).

To get started, I ordered (2) 100-lb tekscan flexi-force FSRs and used them in parallel to make the sensor less sensitive to the placement of the corny keg on the keg-sense pad.

The resistance of these sensors decreases from about 5MΩ to 100Ω as you apply more-and-more force to the sensors.

They are wired in parallel so the total resistance:

R = RFSR-1 * RFSR-2 / (RFSR-1 + RFSR-2).

The arduino applies +5V to the FSR circuit, which is wired through a 1MΩ trim-pot voltage divider.

VOUT = VIN * R / (RTRIM + R)

This method has several down-sides. The first and foremost is the low resolution of this circuit resulting from the small dynamic voltage range of 1.7V to 3.9V (2.2V range). Secondly, it is the conductance and not the resistance of flexiforce sensors that positively correlated with force. Because of this, the resistance vs force is non linear. In other words:

GFSR = K * tekscan(F), therefore

1/RFSR = K * tekscan(F),

where G is conductance, F is force on the sensor, and K is some constant.

II. INVERTING OPERATIONAL-AMPLIFIER CIRCUIT
Later I switched to a better (cheaper) design that uses only one 25# FSR per keg-sense pad, and a MCP6004 rail-to-rail operational amplifier. The 25-lb sensors are more suitable because the arrangement of the felt pads causes each felt pad to experience approximately one-third of the weight. A full 5-gallon corny keg weighs 58 pounds (58/3=19.3 lbs).

This circuit does a good job at linearizing the output voltage with respect to force on the sensor. This output voltage is equal to:

VOUT = -VIN * (RF / RFSR)

This a cool trick, note that the output voltage is proportional to the inverse of RFSR. Another way to put this is, that VOUT is proportional to the FSR conductance (G) and therefore to force. Recall that:

1/RFSR = GFSR = K * tekscan(F), so

VOUT = -VIN * RF * GFSR, and finally

VOUT = -VIN * RF * K * tekscan(F)

You’ll notice that this circuit requires negative 5 volts through the FSR. There are many ways to achieve this, the easiest for me was to buy a multiple output power-supply. I found one for $20 at “HALTED” which looks a bit like a “wall-wart” that outputs +12V, +5, & -5V. Switching to this higher quality shielded & choked power-supply resulted in a huge reduction of noise in the analog sensors.

III. CALIBRATION CURVE
To calibrate, I placed an empty keg on a pad and repeatedly added a half-gallon of water and took measurements using a voltmeter. I used a 40 kΩ resistor for RF. Note: arduino analog input ADC value = 1024 / 5V.

Calibration measurements yielded this relation:

%full = 20 * (ValueADC - 177) / 142

Because this is so linear, using the map() function from the minimum to maximum value works fittingly.

Later I learned that the flexiforce reading depends on temperature. The better controlled the temperature is the more accurate the reading, plus you must also account for hysteresis. The best way to calibrate is in the fridge at the proper temperature, and allowing 10+ minutes for the sensor to settle between readings.

IV. TEMPERATURE SENSOR
Temperature sensing is done with the Analog Devices TMP36. It’s quite simple and returns a voltage linearly related to the temperature in degrees C.

(VOUT - 0.5V) * (100 ºC / V) = Temperature

I soldered them to the very end of a long ethernet cable which is inside the fridge. To deal with the long cable’s capacitance (which can effect measurements), I soldered two components directly to the TMP36 IC leads:
•a 680Ω resistor on the signal-out line, and •a 0.1 µF decoupling-capacitor across the +Vs and GND lines.

The final assembly is wrapped in electrical tape then shrink wrapped to keep out any condensation.

I soldered one IC badly (see image to the left), this offset the readings by +1.464ºC, which is corrected in the arduino firmware. (I calibrated using a frozen banana). The other TMP36 IC seemed unaffected. 

DISPLAY
This display is a 128x64 monochrome LCD based on the KS0108 chipset from adafruit-store. Interfacing this device was pretty straight forward except that the contrast was too bright, and insensitive to adjusting the 10kΩ trimpot. I replaced this trimpot with a 1MΩ trimpot and now the display is readable.

WIRING
Category-5 ethernet cable connects each sensor to a DB25 female solder cup in a project box outside the fridge (hidden in back). From there a DB25 M-M cable connects the breakout-box to the kegbot PCB & µcontroller. The DB25 cable “breaks-out” many unused arduino IO pins to get them close to the refrigerator for any future improvements. This way, for the next version, I can use the same PCB and not mess with wiring inside the case.

The relay board used is the sparkfun version. It simplifies the final kegshield design by keeping all the support & protection electronics near the relay. This relay is hidden inside the thermostat box.

SCHEMATIC
This schematic has main four parts
1. The basic structure for an arduino “shield” which is based on molex-type female headers (extra-long pin type)
2. Many IO pins are “broken-out” to the DB25 cable connector
a. FSRs are connected to trimpot voltage dividers
3. The graphical LCD display connector wiring for parallel IO
1. Ladyada design wireless reprogramming which uses the adafruit XBEE board 

CASE / MOUNT

FINAL RESULT
SURPRISES
Arduino IDE version 17 has a bug that disables analog inputs 8-15 of the arduino mega board. A temporary fix can be found here. Noise is real! The FSR signals bounced around by 60% of the mean DC value when using an unshielded wall-wart. I used an RC filter with various capacitors to fix this at first, but settled on using software smoothing because its easier to change. Therefore, my next revision will have a ground plane and shielded signal cables.

My “keg-sense pads” use felt furniture pads to distribute the load onto the FSRs. These absorb water (and beer). Water destroys those tekscan sensors. So a beer spill would get pulled up from the floor onto the sensor thru the pad! Using just one FSR works (instead of two), but the accuracy depends greatly on how centered the keg is on the pad.

I also switched to the max6675 ic and type-k thermocouples. This breakout board simplifies things.

CONCLUSION
In summary, this has been a great project. The FSRs work proficiently in their current configuration using an op-amp. However with an unshielded power-supply & a voltage divider setup, they could only reliability sense between empty & full in quarter-keg increments. Unfortunately with all the noise and nonlinear response, the sensors weren’t very accurate. Using an op-amp to condition the signal to 0-5V instead of using voltage dividers made a huge difference. The accuracy is no longer dominated by noise, but limited by the drift of the sensors, and the placement of the keg on the pads. They drift at maximum about 480mV from the actual value (about 10%). Using two sensors and averaging the input could reduce the total drift error.

I’ve tried to include everything needed to repeat this project and make it better! If you come up with anything please email me a link!

VERSION 2.0 PLANS:
• case
• kegpads that don’t absorb water (w/ connectors)
• op-amp circuit for FSRs & shielded cable
• door-open sensor
• µC controlled fan blowing into tower
• modular design

FILES
eagle files & library (v1.0)
arduino code (v1.0)
laser cutting DXF

RESOURCES
WEBSITES
FSR tutorial (ladyada)
TMP36 tutorial (ladyada)
TMP36 water proofing (instructables)
GLCD (arduino playground)

BOOKS
Making things talk - Tom Igoe
Physical Computing - Tom Igoe
Getting Started in Electronics - Forrest M. Mims III

Injuries!!!

Sun, 2 Nov 2008 14:13:06 -0800

What’s the point of having a blog if you don’t bitch anonymously?

Running tally of injuries this year:
• Sprained left wrist
• Dislocated a small wrist bone in right wrist
• Ruptured right ear drum
• Sprain right ankle (+gnarliest and latest)

All of these are diffusion limited processes (well the healing anyway)! At least you don’t need to be able to walk to hangboard.

The Nose, El Capitain Trip Report

Fri, 16 May 2008 10:45:13 -0700

Bobby Pool and I climbed the Nose. Additional pictures by me, and by Tom Evans are posted in the photography section. I’ve dreamt of this route for as long as I can remember. After all these years, The Nose continues to be quite an adventure. Leading up to El Cap, much planning, deliberating and shuffling of feet must be done.

As a working stiff, I found quite limited time to train --only 3 short weekends, plus biking to & from work (25 mi/day) for two months. In the end, it didn’t matter, we had both climbed enough in our lifetimes.

Rack, Ropes & Bivy Gear
We kept our rack as small as we could (approx. double rack) :
• (2x) BD C3 #000 - #00
• BD C3 #0 - #2
• BD #0.3 - #0.75
• (2x) BD #1 - #4
• BD #5
• OP Link-cam #1
• (full set) Metolius offset TCUs
• Metolius TCU orange
• Metolius Master cam #5
• CCH Aliens green-red
• (2x) HB brassie offset micro-nuts
• BD stopper nuts.
• 2 QDs, 4 slings, 2 double-shoulder length slings, 2 shorty slings
• (20+) locking carabiners
• (60+) carabiners
• (3) Cam hooks.
• (5) hero loops

Both Bobby and I wished for doubles of both link-cams. Leapfrogging these while aiding saves phenomenal amounts of time. The Metolius master cam barely saw rock, yet the BD 0.75 was placed quite frequently. The smallest of the RPs were mostly unused as well, sizes 3-5 being the best during moderate aid. Hybrid aliens find more placements than offset TCUs, as TCUs have u-stem lobe attachments on either side of the cam head that block shallower scar placements. The offsets did get the job done though, and cost over one hundred bucks less a set than CCH. Many of the “ultralight” TCUs had major trigger wire damage, including breakage or wire fraying. The hero loops could have been replaced with untied flat webbing.

Ropes/hauling
Equipment : 60m 10.2mm dynamic, 60m 10.2mm static, 30m 8mm static, petzl pro traxion, bd rotor swivel, bd haul bag, A5 designs ledge, CMI micro pulley, BD el-cheapo micro pulley, Metolius waste case.

We hauled 1:1 using “body haul.” During two difficult hauls I rigged a yosemite 3:1. We also employed: a WC ropeman II (rope-grab), & ti-bloc. (Used for space juggin’, occasional 3:1 z-drag, & redundency.) A short length of 8mm static fixed the pig to the anchor via munter-mule at each belay.

Because the leader is hauling, its critical that the bag isn’t so heavy that 1:1 bodyweight hauling is unfeasible for one person (unless you plan on 2:1 a ratchet). During the first day, I had to sit on the haul line as well as kick/push against the wall (exhausting). After day one, oinkers was light enough that just sitting on the jumar would haul her up minutes before the second reached the belay.

Tied to the same locker as the pig were two 5mm perlioon cow’s tail daisy chains long enough to sit inside the cinch-top of the haul bag. (2 alpine butterflies, and a bowline tied at the bitter end.) We always clipped shoes, water, and the food stuff sack to these lines. Once the cinch was opened you could easily pull all the relevant stuff out.

Shelter
We took very lightweight sleeping bags, and only one Bibbler “bigwall” bivy (to be shared in case of emergency). Between the two of us, there was only one synthetic insulated parka, one synethic insulated vest, and one soft shell. We both wore non-insulated synthetic pants (nylon). We shared clothes depending on belays, and wind protection. We both wore all our clothes to bed to compensate for light summer bags. This resulted in perhaps 10+ pounds saved.

Food
After climbing Freeblast a scorching weekend prior, I convinced Bobby into taking a gallon per person-day. We ended up with 3 gallons each + one emergency gallon. It was excessive, but gave me peace of mind. We could always pour it out later. Wall cuisine as follows: 6 bagels in crushproof Tuperware, small sausage, three smaller tuna “pouches,” 7 Cliff bars, Peanut granola bars, cheese & cracker packs, 3 Pop-Tarts, dried mangos, beef jerky, Pringles chips, small trail-mix, bulk Skittles, bulk Starburst, bulk gummy dinosaurs (for dinosaur power).

Ledge / Fixing
The ledge ended up being critical. With around 20 people hovering near sickle ledge, and many people bailing late in the day, we spent over 6 hours waiting behind slow parties, making no progress what-so-ever. Without a portaledge we would’ve been forced either to quit, wait yet another day, or at the very least climb many more moonlit hours. Since we could climb & haul the first four pitches in under four hours & because we had a ledge, fixing to sickle didn’t make sense. We lead in 2-3 pitch blocks (usually only two pitches). Next time: 3-4 pitch blocks. It saves lots of time, and once you’re in lead-mode, one more pitch isn’t that bad.

Pitch-by-Pitch
p1: There are so many people fumbling low on the Nose that starting was a chore. We jug Pine Line only to find a slow moving party half way up the pitch. (It will take them almost two full days to get to sickle before bailing). Bobby fixes to a tree only partway up. We rappel down and wait to start tomorrow. 1/2-pitch fixed, hah! To celebrate we feast on pizza.

p2 5.11b C1, p3 5.10: I link these two. After mentally preparing for the “worst part of the Nose,” p2 feels fun and delicate. The 11b was easier to hang-dog than to aid. The link up takes just over 30 min including hauling.

p4 5.10 C2+ (sickle ledge): Bobby free climbs until the awkward aid traverse onto sickle. We didn’t bring a talon or bat hook, so he bat/grapple hooks using a CAM hook. He’ll repeat this maneuver again before we summit. Many fixed pieces with fresh slings make the lower-outs a breeze. There are parties messing about with the sickle anchors. I wait about 20 minutes before starting to clean the pitch.

p5 4th: Walk across sickle ledge. Here we wait about 1 hour for a slow party to move. Some climber is singing Eye of the Tiger (including the crunchy guitar effects) in the background.

Unknown climbers below on sickle ledge.

p6 5.9: Fun 5.9 in a corner with great protection, leads to a easier-than-it-looks bulge. I find another party at the belay, so I aid/french the last 2m. The second is confused about lower-outs and it takes three attempts and lots of advice to lower-out to the bottom of dolt hole pitch. He is worn out, & the team fights clusterfucks and logistical problems. We wait for 6 hours until they realize they need to bail.

p7 5.9 A0 (dolt hole): Bob is very frustrated. We’re both worried about how little progress we can make today. We talk about passing via alternate routes, but neither of us can see more than one bolt of the passing variation. The logistics of passing a party in mid-bail seem risky. The short penji and pitch are quick. We find out later that the bolted variation (with no penji) leads to a beautiful 5.9 splitter handcrack.

p8 5.8 (stove legs penji): Bobby charges the penji. A crazed man is sprinting above my head running sideways, in two-dimensional mario style he leaps over a dihedral, and keeps running. I shout encouragement! Go,... run motherfucker! You can do it! RUN! After a handful of tries Bob lowers even more and makes the penji.

We bust out the ledge early and rest, enjoying sausage dinner bagels. Tomorrow is the big day, if we’re fast enough and don’t get held up by shenanigans, we’ll be in good shape. We plan for 13 pitches (but only make 11).

p9 5.10 ow C1: A bit of oh-dub. Shit where is that other #4?! It looks like I have to free this! I decide to more-french-than-free it. I’d wedge myself in the crack, walk up the cam while trying to pretend I’m not freaking out, pull myself up with help from the rope --graceful a walrus learning to fly. After Bobby jumars up I hear “dude, you’ve got another number four clipped to your harness right there.” Doh!

p10 5.10c C1: More fists and off width. Why does 5.8 fists seem just as hard as 5.10c fists? Yarr! I layback and fight, reaching the belay out of breath and panting. I close my eyes while during the monotony of hauling. Time slows down.

p11 5.10c C1: Bob takes us to the top of Dolt Tower. I don’t even notice how he got through the OW. At the end of the pitch it eases off and 5.8 crack leads to the Dolt Tower. I expected something bigger. Oh well. We wait here to allow a Nose-in-a-Day crew to blast past. What beautiful climbing they’re doing! I need the rest.

Photograph © Tom Evans, reproduced with permission.

Photograph © Tom Evans, reproduced with permission.

p12 5.8: Bobby quickly jaunts up the 5.8.

p13 5.9: More fists?! I brace myself mentally and decide to lay the entire pitch back. At the belay I stupidly attach the traxion to the power point (low). Now I only have inches of travel to body haul (instead of the usual 1.5 feet). Note to self: always clip the hauler as high as possible! What do we do now? We were thinking about using Jardine chisel job to save time, but looking it up at, I cant tell how to A0 it. 5.12 face sounds stupid difficult in our state. I decide to head towards the king-swing.

p14 5.7: Fun times! The pitch wanders, but I’m just enjoying my lead. I’m climbing slower, but steadily. I almost missed the ledge, but noticed some chalk and 4 feet of face traverse later we arrive at a perfect laser cut ledge. Bob thinks I stopped short, “this can’t be it man, its gotta be way bigger.”
“So you’re telling me someone hand drilled 5 bolts here and its not the bivy?!”
“It is pretty flat...”

Photograph © Tom Evans, reproduced with permission.

p15 5.9: Bobby shouts down to me in a confused voice, “Dude?!, Its... its like... its like a REAL chimney!”
“WHAT?”
“A REAL chimney. I don’t know how to chimney!!” Of course its a chimney, I think. After ascending the line I instantly understand. Where is the protection? Our ropes get stuck twice here on the debris before texas flake. As I reach the belay, “I don’t need to say anything about the lead do I?”
“Nope.”

Photograph © Tom Evans, reproduced with permission.

p16 C1+: My turn! Ladder, to hooks. One tiny RP leads to cam hooking that seemed more straight forward than micro nuts. 3 cam hooks in a row, but I’m over bolts. I place a cam hook that is too thin, it I weight it, and start looking for my next placement. The cam hook slides one foot down the crack. Whoa! It holds, and I quickly move on via BD C3s. The Camelpack mouth-piece breaks rendering it useless.

p17 5.10c: Bobby leads it. After a little advice from Nanook, he gets the Swing first go, then free climbs to the top of p17. Yarr! The lower out is simpler than expected, I use use the 30m line for the pig. For myself, I tie in short, and pull the rope through the rings at the anchor, then rappel off the end of the rope. All the while moving the jumars further along the traverse and up rope.

p18: Sick of climbing shoes Bob aides this pitch. We’re both moving slower. Jugging seems harder and my arms are cramping such that my elbow gets stuck at 90. Its getting late. Fuck I’m tired. I mutter something lame about how we might as well just put the ledge up now. We’re only two pitches away from camp IV. Bob encourages me with man-talk, “sometimes you have to keep going. We need to make up time.” He just led King Swing without even a peep. Time to sack up.

p19 5.10d C1: I’m reluctant to start, but once I’m in lead-mode my brain stops worrying about what-if and moves to what-next. I’m tired and climbing slower. Planned on switching to aid once it gets hard. Halfway up the pitch, I haven’t placed enough pro to be safe. Decide to gun it for a fixed pin and end up laying back some awkward corner before a mini-bulge. Almost fall, but screaming holds me on. Can’t seem to down-climb the layback. Clip a single biner to the piton, but shoulders are cramping and I can’t lift the rope to clip it. Now I’m two-fingering the biner. Shit! Almost loose it again! Swap hands on the carabiner,... feet skate. Getting really gripped. Time actually stops. Eventually I get my Yates daisy in. I aid the rest of pitch at drunken-snail speed, using a headlamp to see. What poor judgement. A placement before the lay back would have taken quite a few meters off potential falls. Why was I taking needless risks?

We arrive at an intermediate hauling anchor and call it a night, setting up the ledge via moonlight. Our ropes get stuck below this ledge. That night we have gale-force winds that rock the ledge all night long. Neither one of us sleep. We’re extremely slow starting the next day. The sun has shone bright for nearly an hour before I begin dismantling.

p20 5.7: Bob takes us up to camp IV. Another bivy missed.

p21 C1: Feeling worked from yesterday, Bobby aides.

p22 C2F: Bob trades me pancake flake for the great roof. The aiding takes quite a while, but he leaves plenty of gear for the second. With the fixed gear, seconding the pitch is a breeze. One jumar pops off and I decide to live a little longer. We start clipping the “extra” ‘biner to the top of our ascenders. Previous parties had already tied hero loops to the lower-out pieces. The roof ends in mandatory 5.7 face for two moves. In your tennis shoes it seems wild!

Photograph © Tom Evans, reproduced with permission.

Photograph © Tom Evans, reproduced with permission.

p23 5.10: Pancake flake. The bolts are now chopped, but that doesn’t matter. This pitch eats up good protection. Its pitches like this one that make the Nose so classic. This bomber hand crack continues forever! Feeling increasingly broken down, I can only climb in short bursts between protection.

Photograph © Tom Evans, reproduced with permission.

p24 5.11+ C1+ (Camp IV): An inward sloping crack is hidden deep inside this flaring corner. I try to top step all my placements. To stay upright while top stepping, I must use the finger crack and get small thin finger locks, while using OW foot stacking technique against the crack whilst in etriers. Quite strenuous, but faster than usual. Eventually the slopes flatten out, and the aid becomes straight forward. A 5.5 friction ramp felt daunting in tennis shoes. Rope drag inducing meandering yields the upper belay.

Photograph © Tom Evans, reproduced with permission.

p25 C1 (Glowering spot): Excellent straightforward aid. “I personally guarantee this rope will not get stuck.” ;)

p26 5.8 C1+ (Camp VI): Yay!

We’re so high up now. The view is breathtaking. The summit looks so close. Should we keep pushing skyward? Spending a night on an actual bivy ledge sounds much more enjoyable. Chuck and Nanook catch up to us and decide to take it easy. We hang out that night. Hey, wash the soap, we have company over!

Final day!
Photo by: Logan Tallbot.

p27 C2 (Changing corners): This pitch NEVER ends. After I clear potential decking height, I start running it out. Its hard to know if I’ll need a piece again, and the crack stays parallel for sections. Since we have a double rack... Many #4-5 RP offsets this pitch. In the gnarliest part I watch a C3’s lobe open slowly while placing an RP. Finally I reach the 5.8 section, but free climbing sounds like so much work. Once you get into those etriers its hard to ever get back out. I shamefully C1 the 5.8 ledges.

p28 5.8 C1: I aid past the 10d section, and free the rest. Man, this pitch would be so stellar if it were craggable. Right now I don’t have it in me. The aiding is fun, top stepping is very easy on this pitch.

p29 C1: Bob mellows out and aides up. C-one-is-fun! Crazy exposed view, the entire ocean of granite opens up below your feet. Trees look miniscule. I belay bobby with feet in the etriers, practically laying down, eating skittles. Best belay ever.

p30 C1: Can these link with a 60m? After a quick debate, Bob decides to pitch it out. The short lower angle crack eats gear and Bob reaches the one-bolt belay.

p31 (bolt ladder): I figured if Harding drilled all these bolts into the night, that they’d be super far apart. However each bolt was pretty close to its predecessor. Following this pitch was easy, I re-aided by way of fifi in the bolt hangers.

p32 (Summit Tree): Wait, hold the phone... we’re not done?! I run up to the tree. Fix some sings and hook up the traxion. I arm-haul to assist Bob who is dragging up the pig. We stay tied in until the pig reaches the trees. We leave three spare unopened gallons of water at the top.

Descent:
If given the option stay low closer to the cliff-side. We, found old trails, that demanded bushwhacking. The rappels are simple and mellow with fixed lines.

Hoaxed

Mon, 21 May 2007 14:44:21 -0700

Yosemite was interesting to say the least. Tino, Ben and I attempted to climb the Nose, but many small mistakes added up to us progressing very slowly on our second day. After getting less than 1.5 pitches away from Dolt Tower we decided the safest / best option was the bail.

What a hard decision! We were climbing without a portaledge (as most people advise for the Nose). Had we taken one, I doubt we would have bailed. I don’t think anyone in the party (including me) really considered the level of commitment that climbing without a ledge entails. What it would be like to miss a bivy ledge and be sleeping our a haul bags, or sleeping hanging in our harnesses? Our plan was just make it happen; make it to those ledges.

Getting off route, dropping some gear, taking extra time to top-step in your etriers on those C2 sections, letting oneself get dehydrated, slowed us down. The next couple of days we were all depressed about it.

Looking back on the experience I’m really glad that we tried. Next year I’ll have to try again. Hopefully the things I learned will make the difference.

Yosemite

Wed, 2 May 2007 14:05:55 -0700

In just eight short days I’ll be back in Yosemite valley gearing up to climb El Capitan for my first time. Wish me luck everyone!

Tino, Ben and I plan to spend ~3 days and 2 nights on the The Nose route. Climbing at a rate of approximately 10 pitches per day.