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    • The 15-minutes from Red Rock Restaurant Tour >
      • Indian
      • Sushi
      • Vietnamese
    • WTF 5..7 Tour - Red Rock >
      • General >
        • The Plan
        • Managing the Desert Heat
      • Black Velvet Canyon >
        • Lazy Buttress/Whisky Peak E >
          • Day 79: Schaeffer's Delight
          • Day 83: Ballantine Blast
          • Day 86: Lazy Buttress (Climb)
      • Calico 1 (1st Pullout) >
        • Amusement Park
        • Day 17: Civilization
        • Day 20: Panty Wall
        • Day 14: The Slab
        • Day 21: Wall of Death & Hamlet
        • Day 24: Child's Play
        • Day 49: Ultraman
        • Day 50: Dog Wall & Fixx Cliff
        • Day 51: Tuna and Chips
        • Day 53: Viagra Towers
        • Day 59 Iron Man - Necco Waif
        • Day 80 - Tuna Cookies
        • Day 80 - Diamond Dance - The Oasis
        • Day 81 - CarlyQuinn Crag
      • Calico 2 (2nd Pullout) >
        • Day 13: Meetup & Black Corridor
        • Day 28: Retirement Plan
        • Day 52: The Walrus, Running Man, & Sweet Pain
        • Day 54: USS Crag & Tsunami
        • Day 56: Great Red Book Wall
        • Day 66: The Gallery
      • First Creek Canyon >
        • First Creek Slabs >
          • Day 40: Falling Stars & Bad Moon Arising
          • Day 67: Smiley Face
        • Lotta Balls Wall >
          • Lotta Brews
        • Romper Room >
          • Day 42: Algae on Parade
          • Day 67: Romper Room 2
        • Schoolyard >
          • Day 44: School Yard 1 - Deja Vu & Short Subject
          • Day 77: School Yard -Sunday School & Dunce's Corner
          • Day 89: Schoolyard Bully
        • Slot Club Area >
          • Day 78: Escondite
        • Strawberry Hill >
          • Day 43: This Ain't the F'n Way!
      • Icebox Canyon >
        • Day 12: Sunnyside & Frigid Air
        • Day 39: Necromancer - Hop Route
        • Day 57: Tarkus Crack (Tiki Cliff)
      • Juniper Canyon >
        • Jackrabbit Buttress >
          • Day 16: Myster Z
          • Day 35: Mz. Why
        • Rose Tower >
          • Day 64: Canola Cracks
          • Day 87: Olive Oil
      • Kraft Mountain >
        • Day 6: Conundrum Crag
        • Day 7: Caligula Crag
        • Day 4: Three Peaks and Yin & Yang
        • Day 10: Winter Heat
      • Mt. Wilson >
        • Day 41: Limon
        • Day 72: Gentleman's Club - Silicone Sag
      • Oak Creek Canyon >
        • Day 37: Johnny Vegas
        • Day 65: Tan Line
        • Day 68: Byrd Pinnacle
      • Pine Creek Canyon >
        • Day 22: Mescalito E - Too Many Tantrums
        • Day 23: Mescalito E - Pauligk Pillar
        • Day 27: Straight Shooter Wall
        • Day 31: Robin Trowel (Abutment) & Stick Gully 1
        • Day 32-34: Flight Path
        • Day 34: Stick Gully 2 - Prelude
        • Day 36: Birdland
        • Day 38: Diarrhea Dialect (Bullnose Wall)
        • Day 48: Cat in the Hat
        • Day 62: Stick Gully - Box of Rain
        • Day 63: Cookie Monster
        • Day 69: Soloist Crack
      • Red Springs >
        • Day 2: Cowlick and Cannibal
        • Day 1: Cut Your Teeth, Hide & Seek, Happy Acres
        • Day 3: Dickies (Seems Like a Butt)
        • Day 8: Fringe
        • Day 5: Moderate Mecca
        • Day 9: Reptile & Fox Walls
        • Day 45: Gnat Man
        • Day 55: Coco Crag
        • Day 58: Ridinghood - In Through the Out Door
      • Sandstone Quarry >
        • Day 29: High Scalin'
        • Day 47: Man's Best Friend & Americrag
        • Day 66: Hall of Fame - Ms. Adventure
      • Southern Outcrops >
        • Day 70 & 71: Chocolate Rocks
        • Day 82: Illusion Crag - Part 1
      • White Rock Springs - Angel Food Wall >
        • Day 11: Group Therapy
        • Day 25: The Ledger
      • Willow Springs >
        • Day 15: Mother's and Outhouse
        • Day 18: Mossy Ledges - Pussy Nuts
        • Day 19: Mossy Ledges 2
        • Day 26: Graduate Cliff - Pre Skool Part 1 >
          • Day 46: Pre Skool Part Deux
        • Day 60 & 61: Graduate Cliff 2
        • Day 30 - Gold Digger
        • Day 61: Ragged Edges - Footloose
        • Day 62: Case Face - Space Case
        • Day 73: Ragged Edges Area
        • Day 74 Peaches (Children's Wall)
        • Day 75 N' Plus Ultra 1 - Geezer Face & Lucky Charms
        • Day 76: N'Plus Ultra 2 - Pillar Talk & Chocolate Tranquility Fountain
        • Day 84: N'Plus Ultra Part 3 - Cereal Killer
        • Day 84: Lost Creek Canyon - Grey Matter
        • Day 85: Communist Plan at Lost & Found
    • Meet Our Tools >
      • GPS Units
      • Lifeproof Phone Cases
      • Van Life: Tankenstein >
        • Tankenstein Gets Gutted
        • Van Life: Rebuilding Tankenstein >
          • Glowing Disco Counter Top
          • Cold Food Storage
          • Bouldering-pad-bench
          • Insulation and Vent Fan
          • Quick Fixes
          • Kingsized Pullout Bed
      • Ultralight Exposure Protection Gear
    • For the Ladies >
      • Cry
      • Getting Women Climbing Outside
      • Women's Resources
    • Red Rock Canyon, NV >
      • Camper Van Epic in Vegas
      • Mapping with Lady Lockoff
      • Vegas-epic-2
      • Vegas Mini-epic 3: Really?!?
    • Joshua Tree, CA >
      • Caterpillars! Van Rescue!
      • Gram Parsons' Logbook
      • Oh Shi*! Bees!
    • Hmmm or Haha >
      • Althea Crag & Mapping Dog
      • Exposure!
      • Realities
      • Silliness
      • Utterly Heinous Approaches
      • Podcast Interview: Ogden OUtdoor Adventure
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Adventure Blog: Realities

Sometimes I wonder how much should I share of the realities of the processes we we are going through to make these maps. Are people really interested in this information? Will it come across as complaining? (Which I never would want!)

I also don't really want to sugar-coat the realities of this process. This is our lives. This business is our lives - 24-7. That is no exaggeration. I could count on one hand the number of full days off - no business work at all - we have had in over a year.

We are putting everything into Climb-On Maps, and I mean EVERYTHING - our life savings, ALL of our time, and, when we are out in the field, sometimes we are even putting our lives on the line. We try to minimize and mitigate the dangerous situation thing, but it happens more often than we care to think too deeply about. We deal with it and try to be safe and smart, not pushing ourselves too far.

When we are home, processing data and dotting the business i's, we are working equally as hard, just differently.

Rick works especially hard. I can only put in about a 14 hour day (5 a.m. to 7 p.m.). Rick puts in 18 hour days. Non-stop days. No break days. 


4:51 AM - this is when I got up this morning - most mornings. Rick hasn't even come to bed yet. He has been climbing into bed between 4 AM and 6 AM nearly every morning since we got back from our last road trip. Rick sleeps until 10 AM or maybe noon, then gets up and does it again. You see, we have maps to publish. There are climbing events, and climbing seasons we need to catch.

Those two big computer screens in the photo below look blank, but they aren't. They are actually zoomed in parts of one of our maps - Rick is meticulous with the details. The small computer screen below (where you can actually see the image) is Rick's distraction while he tends to more of the "mindless" editing on the maps. Most of the time Rick is jamming to music, but sometimes he watches a show in the background. It is his little self-reward while working so hard.

The bar code image represents the work I am doing.

I am learning about super exciting things like UPC codes, ISBN numbers, and bar codes, and which of these should be on our maps (it turns out, for a map, we need all of them - surprisingly, that wasn't that easy to find out!). I am also learning about local taxes, interstate taxes, distribution, and large-scale printing. I am figuring out and maintaining social media, reaching out to retail stores, networking, and learning about advertising.

For the maps I make the crag stats, labeled photos, and "front matter." I am having to learn HTML to format the front matter for the maps because you just can't cut and paste a Word Doc into the program Rick is using to create the maps (and the WZIWIG editors don't make the document look like we need it to so I have to code). When making the crag stats and labeled images, I have to use Adobe Illustrator, which I cuss at all the time because I am not a professional graphic artist and that program is SO NOT intuitive. And, there are what feels like 20-million more items I have on my daily list.

Rick makes the maps and I do everything else. Unlike Rick, at least I am getting my full 8-hours of sleep!

Despite all of these things, I cannot imagine doing anything different at this moment in time. That is no bullshit.

Almost 2 years ago I quit a job from hell that made me sick - very sick. It took quite a bit of time and effort for me to recover. But recover I did. Now I work my ass of even more than in that previous job, but the difference is I am happy!

Is owning a business hard work and scary? Hell yes. Double hell yes. But, still, I feel grateful and fortunate to get to experience this process and create something that will hopefully help other climbers use their time well - for climbing of course!

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  • Home
  • Buy!
  • Maps
    • Hiking
    • City of Rocks, ID - Climber's Map
    • Joshua Tree, CA - Climber's Map
    • Red Rock Canyon, NV - Climber's Map
    • Smith Rock, OR - Climber's Map
  • Map Details
    • Quality
    • Map Elements
    • Methodology
    • Environment
  • About
  • Blog
    • The 15-minutes from Red Rock Restaurant Tour >
      • Indian
      • Sushi
      • Vietnamese
    • WTF 5..7 Tour - Red Rock >
      • General >
        • The Plan
        • Managing the Desert Heat
      • Black Velvet Canyon >
        • Lazy Buttress/Whisky Peak E >
          • Day 79: Schaeffer's Delight
          • Day 83: Ballantine Blast
          • Day 86: Lazy Buttress (Climb)
      • Calico 1 (1st Pullout) >
        • Amusement Park
        • Day 17: Civilization
        • Day 20: Panty Wall
        • Day 14: The Slab
        • Day 21: Wall of Death & Hamlet
        • Day 24: Child's Play
        • Day 49: Ultraman
        • Day 50: Dog Wall & Fixx Cliff
        • Day 51: Tuna and Chips
        • Day 53: Viagra Towers
        • Day 59 Iron Man - Necco Waif
        • Day 80 - Tuna Cookies
        • Day 80 - Diamond Dance - The Oasis
        • Day 81 - CarlyQuinn Crag
      • Calico 2 (2nd Pullout) >
        • Day 13: Meetup & Black Corridor
        • Day 28: Retirement Plan
        • Day 52: The Walrus, Running Man, & Sweet Pain
        • Day 54: USS Crag & Tsunami
        • Day 56: Great Red Book Wall
        • Day 66: The Gallery
      • First Creek Canyon >
        • First Creek Slabs >
          • Day 40: Falling Stars & Bad Moon Arising
          • Day 67: Smiley Face
        • Lotta Balls Wall >
          • Lotta Brews
        • Romper Room >
          • Day 42: Algae on Parade
          • Day 67: Romper Room 2
        • Schoolyard >
          • Day 44: School Yard 1 - Deja Vu & Short Subject
          • Day 77: School Yard -Sunday School & Dunce's Corner
          • Day 89: Schoolyard Bully
        • Slot Club Area >
          • Day 78: Escondite
        • Strawberry Hill >
          • Day 43: This Ain't the F'n Way!
      • Icebox Canyon >
        • Day 12: Sunnyside & Frigid Air
        • Day 39: Necromancer - Hop Route
        • Day 57: Tarkus Crack (Tiki Cliff)
      • Juniper Canyon >
        • Jackrabbit Buttress >
          • Day 16: Myster Z
          • Day 35: Mz. Why
        • Rose Tower >
          • Day 64: Canola Cracks
          • Day 87: Olive Oil
      • Kraft Mountain >
        • Day 6: Conundrum Crag
        • Day 7: Caligula Crag
        • Day 4: Three Peaks and Yin & Yang
        • Day 10: Winter Heat
      • Mt. Wilson >
        • Day 41: Limon
        • Day 72: Gentleman's Club - Silicone Sag
      • Oak Creek Canyon >
        • Day 37: Johnny Vegas
        • Day 65: Tan Line
        • Day 68: Byrd Pinnacle
      • Pine Creek Canyon >
        • Day 22: Mescalito E - Too Many Tantrums
        • Day 23: Mescalito E - Pauligk Pillar
        • Day 27: Straight Shooter Wall
        • Day 31: Robin Trowel (Abutment) & Stick Gully 1
        • Day 32-34: Flight Path
        • Day 34: Stick Gully 2 - Prelude
        • Day 36: Birdland
        • Day 38: Diarrhea Dialect (Bullnose Wall)
        • Day 48: Cat in the Hat
        • Day 62: Stick Gully - Box of Rain
        • Day 63: Cookie Monster
        • Day 69: Soloist Crack
      • Red Springs >
        • Day 2: Cowlick and Cannibal
        • Day 1: Cut Your Teeth, Hide & Seek, Happy Acres
        • Day 3: Dickies (Seems Like a Butt)
        • Day 8: Fringe
        • Day 5: Moderate Mecca
        • Day 9: Reptile & Fox Walls
        • Day 45: Gnat Man
        • Day 55: Coco Crag
        • Day 58: Ridinghood - In Through the Out Door
      • Sandstone Quarry >
        • Day 29: High Scalin'
        • Day 47: Man's Best Friend & Americrag
        • Day 66: Hall of Fame - Ms. Adventure
      • Southern Outcrops >
        • Day 70 & 71: Chocolate Rocks
        • Day 82: Illusion Crag - Part 1
      • White Rock Springs - Angel Food Wall >
        • Day 11: Group Therapy
        • Day 25: The Ledger
      • Willow Springs >
        • Day 15: Mother's and Outhouse
        • Day 18: Mossy Ledges - Pussy Nuts
        • Day 19: Mossy Ledges 2
        • Day 26: Graduate Cliff - Pre Skool Part 1 >
          • Day 46: Pre Skool Part Deux
        • Day 60 & 61: Graduate Cliff 2
        • Day 30 - Gold Digger
        • Day 61: Ragged Edges - Footloose
        • Day 62: Case Face - Space Case
        • Day 73: Ragged Edges Area
        • Day 74 Peaches (Children's Wall)
        • Day 75 N' Plus Ultra 1 - Geezer Face & Lucky Charms
        • Day 76: N'Plus Ultra 2 - Pillar Talk & Chocolate Tranquility Fountain
        • Day 84: N'Plus Ultra Part 3 - Cereal Killer
        • Day 84: Lost Creek Canyon - Grey Matter
        • Day 85: Communist Plan at Lost & Found
    • Meet Our Tools >
      • GPS Units
      • Lifeproof Phone Cases
      • Van Life: Tankenstein >
        • Tankenstein Gets Gutted
        • Van Life: Rebuilding Tankenstein >
          • Glowing Disco Counter Top
          • Cold Food Storage
          • Bouldering-pad-bench
          • Insulation and Vent Fan
          • Quick Fixes
          • Kingsized Pullout Bed
      • Ultralight Exposure Protection Gear
    • For the Ladies >
      • Cry
      • Getting Women Climbing Outside
      • Women's Resources
    • Red Rock Canyon, NV >
      • Camper Van Epic in Vegas
      • Mapping with Lady Lockoff
      • Vegas-epic-2
      • Vegas Mini-epic 3: Really?!?
    • Joshua Tree, CA >
      • Caterpillars! Van Rescue!
      • Gram Parsons' Logbook
      • Oh Shi*! Bees!
    • Hmmm or Haha >
      • Althea Crag & Mapping Dog
      • Exposure!
      • Realities
      • Silliness
      • Utterly Heinous Approaches
      • Podcast Interview: Ogden OUtdoor Adventure
  • Contact
    • Feedback
  • Retail Stores
  • Media Coverage
  • Calendar