Moonlight Dreams, Zion National Park, 2010

MOONLIGHT DREAMS

I’m about 800 feet up Moonlight Buttress, one of the most classic and iconic big wall free climbs in the world, at the crossroads between a dream and disappointment. This world famous route has been climbed no falls, first try only a hand full of times, and it’s looking like I might be joining the club…but I’m starting to bonk. I’m seeing spots and to emphasize the thread I’m hanging by, my left forearm cramps when I clip into the anchor…Not Good!
I unlock my hand from it’s clenched, clawlike position and pull some clif blocs out of my pocket. I chase a couple blocs down with the last of my water, and then lay my head against the thousand foot tall, red sandstone cliff for a moment, waiting for the calories and electrolytes to do their job. There are only a couple more 5.12 pitches to go, but with no idea what to expect, and very little in the reserve tank, I know that a free ascent is far from in the bag. This is probably the best multipitch sandstone climb in the world and to walk up to it and climb it without falling has been a dream that I’ve entertained for some time, but deemed highly unlikely. Some really great climbers have come one fall away.

I do have experience on my side, I tell myself. In the last five years I’ve spent a good deal of my time in Indian Creek near Moab Utah, a downright mecca for sandstone crack climbing. During my time there, I repeated countless hard cracks and even put up a few testpieces of my own, and with each day in the creek, I got a little more proficient and a little more in tune with the subtlety and some times pure thuggery of climbing these unique parallel sided “Splitters.” “How are you feeling,” my fiancé Nelissa asks me, snapping me out of introspection.

I lift my head slowly from the wall. I can feel the blocs and water doing their job. I slowly open and close my swollen hands without them cramping! This is encouraging! I quickly organize my gear for the next pitch and then with renewed momentum I set off. I practically jog up the vertical finger, and before I know it I’m twenty feet above my last piece, and looking at a huge fall, but I’m feeling pretty locked in!!! The last hard pitches are a blur. Nelissa Yells up words of encouragement, and I climb beyond my ability, an experience I’ve had before on big climbs. “You’ve come this far,” I tell myself, “Now it’s time to be at your best.”
As I move up this huge majestic wall, almost outside of myself, I am overcome by a wave of pure childlike joy. I’m thankful for my rope and think of young Alex who climbed up here without one. I love the desert, I love climbing, and this is as perfect a moment as I could as for! “WOOOHOOOOOO” I yell as I clip into yet another anchor.
And somehow, through a mix of good fortune, hard work and years of experience, I stand on top of Moonlight Buttress, without a fall! I couldn’t be more psyched. Nellissa and I share a clif bar and then head down the trail, with thoughts of burritos and margaritas luring us on!!!

A couple of months ago I had the extreme pleasure of repeating Moonlight as a free climb. Moonlight buttress is probably the single best sandstone bigwall freeclimb in the world and to manage to scrap up it first try no falls was one of the highlights of my year, and sharing it with my bride to be made it even more special. Read more...

Rocky Mountain HIGHLINE

About a month ago, Andy Lewis, or "Sketchy Andy" called me up and said he had a "sick" highline set up up above Estes. Andy Lewis is one of the best slackliners in the world and had recently walked the longest Highline ever... so I figured it might be fun to go up for a couple hours and test out my new 5d mark ii camera. I headed up with my good friend Timmy O'Neil and had a great time scaring the crap out of myself on the line and getting a few shots as well!! Read more...

Yosemite in a Day

I was invited to give a presentation at the Yosemite Facelift 2010, a park wide clean up event originally started by climbers and spearheaded by Ken Yager. The Facelift is now the largest National Park clean up in the country!!! For my last few slideshows, I have showed the day before to shoot and edit a short "In a Day" video. I feel like it's a unique and original element of my show, and people get psyched to see something created in real time! However, the amount of work that this entails is pretty ridiculous, and usually at around Five A.M. after a sleepless night of editing, I swear that I will never do it again. This particular "In A Day" installment features some of Yosemites Top "Unheard Of" climbers, an overview of the Facelift, and then, Yosemites Best Climber crushing blood from the stone!!! Thanks to Black Diamond The North Face and Blue Water Ropes who all sponsored the Facelift. Read more...

Wanna Be a Bad Ass? Drink Vics!!!

Short Commerical I cut for the Reel Rock world Premiere!!! Read more...

REEL ROCK TOUR 2010 TRAILER

Hey Guys Cedar Here, be sure to get out for the Reel Rock Tour when it comes through your neigborhood! A bunch of the shots from the Daniel Woods Games segment, and Australia film are mine so psyched to be seeing my camera work on the big screen, and I star in the Australia segment along with Matt Segal, James Pearson, Heidi Wirtz, and Jason "Singer" Smith, which is the most hilarious climbing film ever!! Read more...

The Diamond Shaped Rock Formation

We are squeezing out the end of summer up in the Rocky Mountain National Park alpine wonderlands...here is the latest on the route D1 up the center of the Diamond. Thanks for checking it, ~reo

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As It Happens..vimeo staff pick!

We are super stoked to have our film from Nepal “As It Happens” a staff pick on vimeo.com! For us being recognized on this platform of creatives is a huge honor. Although we often contribute such works to film festivals and give the audience the full cinema experience we also believe in the value of sharing content online. So here you go, the full 16 min film... Cheers, ~reo


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Behind the Scenes in Nepal

We were so psyched about our Kessler Pocket Dolly during expedition to Nepal this past January. Here is a little recap of the some of our favorite shots from the adventure! Stay tuned for some organic posts from our adventures up in Rocky Mountain National Park on the Diamond and beyond. As always thanks for tuning in! ~reo
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FIRST ASCENT The Series!!!

Perhaps you have seen Renan and I in some of the classic climbing films that Sender Films has put out over the years, such as First Ascent, Return to Sender and The Sharp End. Nick Rosen and Peter Mortimer who are the "genius" behind Sender films were a big part of my inspiration to get into Film Making in the first place, and they still set the bar for adventure climbing movies. I figured if they could be such a junkshow and pull it off, maybe their was hope for me!!! Their latest work which will air as a five part series on National Geographic television in Europe later this year is all here, including "Promises," which stars Renan, myself and one of my best Friends Sean Leary. Read more...

>>>TNF Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc>>pre-race_dispatch

After a long stint working on a big brand video for The North Face which will launch on thenorthface.com later this fall we are psyched to be able to release a "dispatch" from a new assignment. Bringing a story direct to a wide audience right after it happens is part of our soul as filmmakers...so here is the latest from the last few days!

Thanks to all those involved here in alpine wonderland of Chamonix, France.

MUSIC>>>green button music


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Boogie 'til You Poop

While shooting my Squamish in a Day video, Jason Kruk got his knee stuck in a 5.11 offwidth called "Boogie 'til You Puke," and required a rescue. Luckily Andrew Burr was there shooting stills while I shot video and switched his 5d to video mode to capture me in rescue mode... in what is perhaps the most horrific and hilarious climbing experience I have ever witnessed first hand. By this end of this short movie, you should understand why the climb is now officially renamed "Boogie 'til You Poop!" Read more...

NEW ALBUM, and "Why I Climb"

We climbers have a term called "The Elvis" or "Sewing Machine Leg.” Most climbers who find themselves in a difficult and or dangerous situation will eventually experience this unusual phenomena. “The Elvis” is characterized by a spasmodic, uncontrollable, and unwelcome shaking of the leg. Some people, like me get “The Elvis” so bad that not just their leg shakes. In worse case scenarios, the vibrations can take over my entire body!

More times than I can count I have found myself stranded in a sea of terror, on a horrifically dangerous rock climb, with nothing between me and certain death…and then… at the least opportune moment… my whole body begins to vibrate like a paint shaker on overdrive! Usually I recite my patented danger mantra, “Oh No….Oh No….OH NOOO.”

Many people find it too unnerving to watch me climb. More that one pour soul while witnessing my uncertain situation, has been overcome with nausea and had to vacate the scene! I seem to recall someone vomiting in the bushes after witnessing one of my near death sketch fests!

You might ask, why put your self through that kind of abuse? Why Climb? My response is that moments like these are exactly why I climb. When in the face of uncertainty and fear, I somehow find the courage to overcome body tremors, the unknown, and the possibility of broken legs, to push through, and make it to the top! These small personal victories are a strange mix of cleansing, and addictive. I somehow find joy in overcoming danger!

Some of my most ecstatic points have been reached through risk in climbing. Before I discovered the climbing life at the age of twenty one I was aimless, listless and lost in a haze of my own creation. Whether climbing “saved my life” is debatable, but certainly with Climbing I discovered real passion for the first time. I can say confidently that climbing has vastly improved me as a person. It’s been the framework on which I have built my life. It has made me a healthier happier person.

I have lost a lot of friends to climbing, especially in the mountains, and some would say that it’s not worth the risk. I however firmly believe that life with out risk and passion really isn’t life at all. I think that a year living your personal dream, and squeezing the juice out of life, is worth more than a lifetime of mundane, uninspired and depressing security. The bottom line is that I climb because it makes me happy. I’m not saying that you need to risk your life to find happiness, but almost certainly you need to risk something. For me, I find precious moments run out on a rope, with my leg shaking like Elvis at a sewing machine!
Greetings Vertical Carnival Denizens!! Cedar Here!! I'm super psyched to be releasing my second "vertical carnival" album as a digital download. This installment which I've entitled "Senses Meet" features, an interesting mix of original material, and covers of civil war era protest, unrequited love, and folk type songs!! There are 27 songs on the album, and I'm peddling it for eight dollars!! I really hope you like it. Also, the folks at Backcountry asked me to wax philosophical as to why I climb, so click on read more to check out my thoughts!!! Read more...

Squamish in a Day....eh!!!

This summer I had the pleasure of giving a presentation at the Squamish Mountain Film Festival and arrived a day early to do some shooting with the perhaps overly ambitious idea of presenting an original climbing film that I shot and cut in a day. It turned out to be a lot of work and I literally didn't sleep for a night to get this ready for the show, but everyone was super psyched to see a slice of their home area presented to them in near real time. This movie features Jason Kruk, Will Stanhope, Tommy Caldwell, and Hazel Findlay crushing Squamish's world class stone!!! Hope you enjoy it!!! Cheers!!! Cedar Read more...

UltraRunner... or UltraDouche?!?!?

What does it take to run for over a hundred miles without stopping? Follow Timmy O'Neill as he seeks out and trains with one of the countries top long distance runners Scott Jureck. Timmy pushes his mind and body to the limit in search of the ultimate challenge...will he prove himself an UltraRunner, or just a massive UltraDouche??? This showed twice in Telluride Mountain Film!!! Cheers everyone....Cedar Wright!!! Read more...

Total Eclipse_The Australia Dispatch

This spring I spent a month an a half with James Pearson, Matt Segal, Heidi Wirtz, Rob Frost, and Jason Singer Smith exploring the climbing potential in Australia. We discovered wild unclimbed cliffs in Tazmania, and full on traddy-pucker-fests in the Grampians. They call it God's own stone for a reason, the Grampians is quite possibly the best rock I have ever climbed on, and The Totem Pole in Tazmania is one of the best climbs and single best spire I have ever have ever done. Rob Frost from Sender FIlms captured all the action for this year's reel rock tour, so stay tuned for that, it's going to be SICK!!! The Reviews are in and they are great! "The single greatest climbing music video to Total Eclipse ever created." "A new level for all other Movie Makers to strive for, and yet inevitably fail to achieve." "A work of pure unadulterated Genius." "The feel good climbing movie of the year!" ...Strap on your seat belts folks....this is going to be SICK!!! Stay tuned for the full story in this year's Reel Rock Tour courtesy of Sender Films. There's a reason they call it God's own stone! Read more...

Arms Bazaar _Nellie Milfeld_5.12aR

Hey Guys...Cedar here!!! Long time no see!! Now that Renan's Turkey sport climbing gnarnia disatches have come to a close it's time to get TRAD!!! In an era of sport climbers, and boulderers, Boulder Local Nellie Milfeld stands out as a talented and bold traditional climber. This short movie is brought to you by BlueWater Ropes, and features Nellie crushing "Arms Bazaar" a 5.12aR at Bells Buttress in Boulder Colorado. Read more...

FREE RANGE TURKEY_dispatch #8

The final take away installment of the FREE RANGE TURKEY dispatches. Thanks for following!
Produced by: camp4collective
Additional Imagery: boone speed
SONG Almost Familiar
ALBUM Taking Up Your Precious Time
ARTIST Pretty Lights
Currently Cedar is in Yosemite going for a free ascent of Golden Gate on El Cap and I'm headed up to AK for another go at the Tooth Traverse in the Ruth Gorge....stay tuned....!! Cheers, ~renan Read more...

FREE RANGE TURKEY_dispatch #7

Samarai warrior??....Ninja assassin??.....Bruce Lee??

No, it's Yuji Hirayama!!!

In dispatch 7 we discover his personal philosophy for life and climbing as he floats up some of the world's most difficult rock climbs [Devers Royal 8c+? hardest climb in Turkey!] . Loosely translated from Japanese!

Edit: Renan

Yuji's Site: THE STONE RIDER

Additional Imagery: Boone Speed

Music:
Omar Faruk Tekbilek
GREEN BUTTON MUSIC
Of Porcelain

Pocket Dolly: Kessler
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5point Film Festival

We were honored to screen "As It Happens" and "Living the Dream" at the 5point film festival this past weekend to a crowd of nearly 800 people! It was great re-entry to the US after the FREE RANGE TURKEY assignment. Stay tuned for the final Turkey Dispatches!

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Battle in The Bubble Three

Hey Guys Cedar Here! I'm Fresh Back from a Australia where I was climbing with Heidi Wirtz, Matt Segal and James Pearson for an upcoming Sender Films Reel Rock Tour piece... so due to exclusivity, there will be no Australia dispatches....sorry!! The footage and the climbing is sick but you'll have to wate for the tour... But in the mean time here is a short video I put together for the spot promoting the upcoming Battle in the Bubble. If you are around May 14th and 15th in Boulder its going to be an incredible party! Read more...