things since may

it's been since april or may since i've written!!! a lot has happened, and i am excited to write about it all.

me on my dad's home line!

first: mike and i were sent to the east coast for some gibbon touring AND we got to spend some time in new hampshire, climbing at rumney with our friends jared, bess, and their darling baby layla! the tour was fun - we got to drive from colorado -> pennsylvania all the way to maine - into canada, and then BACK to colorado. it was tons of driving, but some of the demos were GREAT - as well as our attempt to get into canada with an enterprise van full of slacklines and metal structures. we were treated like bandits! mike almost lost it (and he NEVER gets that way). needless to say, we made it into the country but were informed that if we didnt leave in one week, there would be a warrant our for our arrest. NICE.



after the tour, we climbed. and i have to say. that week is when i actually progessed the most, ever, in my climbing. we would climb all day, almost every day. jared and mike were also up for really hard climbs, so bess and i had to try them! i lead my first 5.10, with many more, AND one 5.11a. i felt fearless! it was also great to spend time with such awesome people, i hope to see them again soon (and layla!!). please  check out www.jaredphotography.com to see some of jareds work. you'll enjoy it, i promise.

after the tour, mike was shipped off to germany for slackline events and competitions. so, i was left on my own for the first time with no place to live and no plans. being a nomad and living that lifestyle with mike as a companion was one thing, but ALONE?!  it was one of the scariest things i ever had to face. just me and my dog. what to do? for the first couple of days. i stayed with my friend evan in boulder, co. he's a ginger (just had to put that in there). evan will always be the guy who took me for my first trad climb. and it was the beginning of my obsession with getting my own trad gear! (for those of you who don't know what trad climbing is - it means that there are no bolts in the rock for you to easily clip into. to trad climb, you need gear that will fit inn the natural cracks and features of the rock, so that if you fall, that gear will save you.). my first trad climb was a 5.7 in boulder canyon at a place called "the blobs". it was a blast!!!! i now have my own set of nuts and am saving up to buy my first cams. thanks evan!

after boulder, i continued on to moab, utah (pretty much my favorite, and the most beautiful place in the US). there, i stayed with my friends brent and canyon and got to climb, slackline, and goof off for a month! in moab, i lead my second trad climb, called "lucy in the sky over potash" and it's rated 5.10a. i climbed it a bunch of times on top-rope first to feel comfortable, and then lead it trad . so terrifying, yet so amazing at the same time. i spent most of my time climbing, hanging around the water holes with my dog, helping to weave the tree nets in brents yard (see photo below) and meeting awesome people @ free lunch (if you go to moab theres a free lunch provided for anyone, offered by volunteers: please attend free lunch, u will meet amazing folk guaranteed - including a gentleman who's live for 10 years without utilizing money AT ALL).

these are the tree nets - brent taught me out to 

weave, and i was addicted!

this is my friend ross, be-"laying"

and this is my beezer, playing in the water :)

when i would get sick of moab (which was hard to do) i would drive about an hour to terry's house in fruita colorado. there, he has a sanctuary of slacklines (longlines, highlines, 100 foot chains, you name it), not to mention the location is astounding. so, i would crash there for a few days, spend my alone time, and then trek back into moab for some more adventuring.

eventually, finally, after what it felt like a millenium: mike returned! i picked him up in salt lake city, where we stayed for the outdoor retailer show with the gibbon crew! such a blast - we got to meet all of the team members from across the country (neil, micki, hayden, brad, and new  employee in the office : glynde!) glynde is 48 years old. glynde throws back flips off of the slackline. also, he rides skateboards on his hands in the middle of the night....see video below.

http://www.facebook.com/emily.sukiennik?v=app_9953271133#!/video/video.php?v=521141367040&subj=1068669277


alas, mike and i are back to colorado where we park it for a few weeks, and then fly to san diego, ca for the action sports retailer show for gibbon. which was, a blast! we stayed in this GORGEOUS house with a pool, a hot tub, a sauna in one of the bathrooms....you  name it. we had fun at the house, and also rocked it at the show. we had a competition which gathered a crowd, and hayden nickell won! congrats to him. his prize: a brad new surf line, AND to compete against alpha mike (yes, my boyfriend mike). below are a few pics fro, the show (oh - and we were across from the miss reef 2011 photo gallery booth thingy- which we gibbonized).

no caption.

that's all for now. enjoy! :-)