Andy's Equinox

Lise and I got through our first marathon last weekend. Not a bad first one too - the beautiful , mostly off road Equinox Marathon is demanding but rewarding. I snuck in just under 4 hours and Lise in 4:40. A far more interesting story is that of our close friend Andy Roberts. The three of us ran as a relay team last year and all went solo this year. As you can see from the article below, from the local 'Fairbanks Daily News Miner', Andy's was a really noteworthy and inspirational achievement. In the last 18 months, he's been diagnosed with- and determinedly fought cancer, started a family with Anna, started a new job, organized and participated in a large sea ice field camp in the Arctic Ocean, and dedicated plenty of time and energy to the cancer support community up here. Andy was the reason that we have been involved in the cancer relays that many of you have generously given to. Thanks again for your support of such a worthy cause.

Me and Andy after the run - stoked but struggling to stand!

Equinox runners and walkers raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

By Dermot Cole
Staff Writer
Published September 15, 2007

Andrew Roberts, who plans to run the Equinox Marathon today, is doing so out of gratitude and a desire to help others.

Though he hopes to reach the finish line in about four hours, for him, even just reaching the starting line after what he’s been through has to be considered one of life’s victories.

“I feel like the luckiest man alive,” he said.

He is part of the Fairbanks contingent of runners and walkers competing for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. Together, they have raised about $100,000 to fight cancer and honor the memory of Susan Butcher and others.

Roberts, 36, is a meteorologist and a post-doctoral fellow at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center and the International Arctic Research Center at UAF. He is working on a new high resolution computer model of the Arctic being developed by a group of U.S. institutions.

He is also a survivor of blood cancer.

He and his wife, Anna, moved to Fairbanks from Australia three years ago to begin a research fellowship. About a year later he noticed a small painless lump on his neck that grew by the day.

Several weeks of medical tests produced a diagnosis that he was suffering from lymphoma, an blood cancer related to leukemia.

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy followed. He didn’t smoke, he was healthy and there was no family history of the disease. In other words, he had no clue why the disease struck.

The chemical treatments involved a strong cocktail of drugs administered intravenously every two or three weeks.

“The drugs halt progression of cancer cells, but they also limit production of healthy cells, causing substantial side effects,” he said.

One of those is increased susceptibility to infection and weakness. He became anemic and sometimes fainted simply because he stood up. Exhaustion became a normal part of his life.

One of the things he learned along the way, he said, was that a positive attitude is important in fighting a life-threatening disease.

“The real trick with cancer, I discovered, was to never let it get your mind,” he said.

“Each day during therapy I would go for a walk, regardless of how slowly, sometimes with my wife by my side to make sure I didn’t fall over.”

As he took each step, he repeated words that became a personal mantra: “This cancer has chosen the wrong body and I am going to beat it.”

Roberts said that with the help of medical research, the doctors and nurses at the Fairbanks Cancer Treatment Center and “my wonderful wife,” he has made enormous strides back to a healthy life.

Eighteen months after ending treatment he is still cancer-free and regaining his strength.

Roberts was a long-distance runner in Australia and he has put in more than 300 miles training for the Equinox.

When he was sick, friends hosted a community spaghetti feed for his family and he wants to respond by raising as much money as he can for the Team in Training.

One of the side effects of chemotherapy was a reduction in fertility. Because the Roberts wanted children, they made an rush trip to a male fertility clinic in Seattle before the chemical injections began. They had a child conceived by in vitro fertilization in Melbourne, Australia.

About four weeks ago, Anna gave birth to Chloe at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.

“Chloe is our pride and joy and we call her our little survivor,” Roberts said. “She’s the greatest thing to come from our recent challenge.”

Pringle at Prindle

The last weekend before the marathon I finally got out to Mt. Prindle with Pierre. Prindle is a 5300 ft Peak surrounded by huge open valleys, boggy tundra and the only multi-pitch climbing in the interior. The ridges are dotted with granite tors with names like the Wind Chimes, Chessmen and Stegasourus. But our destination was the 1000+ft granite flanks of a huge protruding granite pluton.

After a one and a half hour drive, a packing accident at the trail head (one dead beer, one wet sleeping bag) , and a 2 1/4 hour fast hike, we settled on a tent site. Uh-oh, its actually getting properly dark at night now! Saturday, we hiked American Creek drainage around to the main wall. This creek once had an alpine glacier and was one of the only glaciated areas in interior Alaska during the last ice age. No glacier now but this huge valley was resplendent in its fall colors, with plenty of wild mountain sheep and blueberries. And one big old grizzly.

A sighting not an encounter. We were up valley, across the creek and up wind. Pierre spotted him about 500 m away as he stood up, sniffing the wind. We stopped. He ambled clumsily to the river. We scanned for cubs. He stalled in the water. I fingered the bear spray and felt the 4 hour hike to the car. Then he bolted across the valley before, thank god, hanging a right and punching up a gear down valley. Certainly much more graceful at speed than doddling. Pretty impressive really.

After that we skirted the valley a little higher up, and turned the corner to the main wall. Right then it started to drizzle. With the tent up, the weather holding, and the gear sorted, we stashed the food and got into it.

Pierre had been out there with Laura and Jason earlier in the summer so I claimed first leading rights. 'Short Stack' 5.8 (200 ft) was a nice long pitch up a steepening ramp to a stack of pancake-like flakes, some more secure than others. The gear wasn't great, and the rock surface a bit skittery with lichen and crumply cracks, but overall a nice long pitch in a spectacular setting. This is probably the entry level pitch at Prindle.

We then rocked around the back and set our sights on 'Klondike' 5.10 (200 ft). This is touted as the only sport climb at Prindle, but with gear advised. In the end, it was 7 bolts, one backed up with a small cam, and 4 other cams in 55 m. Fantastic, varied climbing down low mostly on good-sized holds and then tettering up the tapering dike higher up. From an achor of one bolt and a couple of cams, I wandered upwards and soon spotted a bolt high and left. This lead us into the 'X' routes, the right arm of which we followed to the top. 55 more meters with one bolt, one cam and about 30 m of semi-rotten 5.5 climbing. The only good gear was the belay at the top. After a walkoff and tottering down the talus field in rock shoes, the drizzle had picked up and we called it for dinner. De-hy pasta with tuna, then a couple of Elephant beers and a box of shortbread up under the overhang. Kwal-i-tay.

Well, it rained on and off all night so we bailed at 10am and hiked up the creek to the 4000 ft tors and on up to the summit of Prindle. Great views until the weather rolled in from the west. In the end, it just added another element to the trip and reminded us it really was an alpine environment. By 3:30pm we were back at the car, completely soaked (except for Pierre and his fancy one zillion swiss franc jacket) and into the cookies.

Definitely worth a return trip or two next summer, but I'll try the Faith Creek access. That's supposed to be faster, though less spectacular. Let's see what this 'rest weekend' did for us. Pierre and I, and Lisa and Andy and doing the Marathon tomorrow...

Rocksploration

We're closing in on the real end of summer, but I've been out on several rock finding missions. And I found enough things to be excited about the arrival of the next climbing season (as if the end of winter won't be enough..)

Lise and I had a really nice overnight camping trip this last weekend - Labor Day weekend up here, and Father's Day weekend at home. Happy Father's Day Bob and Butch! Anyway, we camped out on top of Wickersham Dome about an hour north of town. The marmots left us alone overnight and we spent the day cleaning and climbing rocks (you know who) and sleeping in the sun.

Bouldering with Lise out on Wickersham Dome. Weathered granite ( I think?) blocks in a beautiful setting.

Arc de Trompe, at Narnia. No typo in the name, the idea for which came from a Pixies album; the climbing is super tricky. Easily the tallest, hardest lines found so far on Fairbanks limestone. The arch itself is about 20 ft high, the overlap roof is about 2 feet deep, and the tallest lines about 50 ft tall. Tom Ellis and I put in a couple of anchor bolts for the central lines and spent some time cleaning. But on top of the hilly 1 hr bushwhack, that left us too tired to send. Routes here will likely be (left to right) 5.9 / 5.11+ / 5.12+ / 5.12 / 5.11+/ 5.13+. There are a couple other big outcrops at Narnia, and they have much better rock quality and features than the main Grapefruit hill. Choice.

Mike Ruckhaus at the base of the 40+ ft overhanging arete/ groove we found behind Crackland. The rock was loose, needed a well-organized top rope anchor, but the climbing was really nice and sustained at about 5.10.

Hopefully one of two last burns for this season, but the schedule is looking pretty full with the marathon, Lisa's parents visiting and a workshop to attend. And, a climbing trip planned this weekend. ;-)