So Cal Climbers

Hey, lookin for anyone in the so cal area whos a climber, me 'n my tribe of tree junkies are always looking for new blood and thought this would be a good way to find other climbers in the area (we are on the Los Padres National Forest, in the Ventura Co. mountains). If anyone is in the area, or just visiting, looking for some great old growth conifer climbing, hit me up.

Cool- where do ya climb? I live in LA. I'm trying to get some connections to do rec climbing legally in the FS...let's talk!

love
nick

We are mostly in the Frazier Park area. we've got alot of places to climb, depending on how technical we wanna get. We have Old growth Jeffery pine, Big Cone Doug fir, White Fir, Sugar Pine, Pinyon (they are small, but its like bouldering...) and the Biggest Jeffery Pine on the Los Padres, "The Whittner Tree" is withing ten miles of our base of operations. You can email me directly if you want to come climb. Our group is mostly FS Climbers who climb for fun on the weekends. I have some good secret spots that we have on occasion turned into several day excursions. Hope this helps
J

I'll email you when I get back from the Rendezvous. I'd love to check it out. Bob from Goleta isn't too far from you, too. This could be fun!

hey dude. i live in hawaii but im in cali from time to time. im actually planning a trip to go to cali and climb some red woods. im not sure if your into large pines but i sure am. hit me up if you would like to meet up someday.

Redwoods are great trees to climb, but a few things to consider are that their bark is really delicate and slippery, it rubs off really easy and this may complicate climbing, that and the lower branches have a tendency to break easy. but other than that they're fun. We dont have many reds' around my immediate area, we usually go up to the Big Sur area for them. but our old growth jeffery/ponderosa stands are more than a match... other than that, we've got some massive sugar pines and White fir, Big Cone Douglas fir and like I said earlier the largest jeffery in the Los Padres in within ten miles of our home base. Most of my climbing experiance has been in the huge old growth conifers that are iconic of the west coast forests. Reguardless of the species, climbing is all about connecting with nature in a way many people dont ever experiance or even consider.

Heres a link to a video we made and posted on youtube.com
enjoy

USFSclimber,
While I like the quality and editing of your video, I must comment on the music you selected. Freak on a leash? More like on a lanyard. While climbing, I feel a particular sense of serenity, calmness, and relaxation. Right from the start, your selected music made me feel nervous, angry, and anxious. None of which are feelings I would any of want my recreational climbers to experience.

And... The "finger" photo? C'mon guys, what are you, in junior high?

While it is obvious you enjoy the work you do, and even though you may be good at it, your video does portray tree climbers as bad-asses and rebels.

IMPO, rebels are something this sport doesn't need. Look what it did for skateboarding, and I've been fighting THAT stigma for over 35 years now too.

I appreciate your opinion, baker. Although in my defence, i must point out that this sport is all about the individual, if i'm not mistaken, and each individual is responsible for their own actions. Youre correct, we are not in junior high, we are all adults and that makes the individual in question accountable for their own actions. While it may be easy to label people "rebels" or look down upon them, please remember that this sport is ,again, about the individual and the experiance. and were we not all "rebels" to get into 'climbing in the first place? I mean this gig isn't exactly mainstream. so appreciate the video project for what it's worth, and thanks again for the constructive criticisim, round two will be more polished and less abrasive.

WARNING: The above video contains adult themes and mild offensive content, viewer discretion is advised.

Tipper Gore would be proud of you..... I know you meant no harm.

Ha, thanx Baker. all in good fun, right? anyway for anyone who's interested, my climbing group has a new website:
http://mtpinostreeclimbers.blogspot.com
let me know what you think