So I just got back from the New River Gorge after a weekend a climbing. For the whole weekend the weather was gorgeous and the climbing very enjoyable. This morning we made the approach into summersville lake early, and after a warm-up climb, my buddy Eryk attempted to lead Narciussus (5-12A). Up he goes through the beginning of the route with his GF on belay without any real effort. After hanging the draw on the third bolt, he attempts to clip his rope into the draw. As I stand almost below him, eating an apply, my heart stops for one brief moment as he misses the clip, and due to his fatigue and the mental psych-out that comes with a missed clip, falters and grabs for the draw. He manages to beifly hang on the draw with one finger but soon falls hitting the ground the with a sickening thud. My other friends who were one wall away and out of sight told me latter that all they heard at that moment was a loud thud and a girl (his GF who was belaying) scream.

As eryk laid there screaming "both my legs are broke!" me and the rest of my friends group around him. Even though he was in intense pain and probably shock, Eryk was the first to suggest that we call 911, and so we did. I then scavenged some pain killers from another group of climbers, and after we laid him down for a while, and I cleaned the draws off of Narcissus, the ranger showed up. Half an hour after, the EMT crew strapped up Eryk to the backboard and with our help moved him into the boat which thenn transfered him to a helicopter.

I saw eryk a couple of hours ago as he dropped of our gear at my place. Even though his leg (his left leg was broke) was causing him intense pain and he will see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow, he told me with a confident smile that he is gonna get back on that route and send it. He went on to say that I should expect him at the gym soon as he only requires one leg to climb! 

It was amazing watching Eryk throughout htis traumatic experience. Not only was he able to stop his girlfriend from freaking out, he was level headed throughout the entire situation, very positive, and rational. He was probably one of the clearest thinking guys on that cliff even with a broken leg. I really hope that he gets his wish and goes back to that wall to send Narcisssus. 

So i figure i should update this thing once a year or something....

Woke up this morning at 6:30 and ran the 5K Race for the Cure in the freaking cold. Yesterday i woke up at 6:15 to show up for my Yale Medical School Interview. Life has been hectic but fun.  I've started to run races for fun, my goal is to train up to a marathon by next summer. I've been running various length runs up to about ~9 miles for training with my buddy Mark and they been too bad. I've also been continuing with weightlifting pretty hardcore, but its hard to move up in weightclass with all the running that I've been doing. Hopefully i can keep up my running during the winter...

In other news, I've been going to med school interviews and averaging about one a week. Late yesterday night i got back from Yale, I've done Case, CCF, UMMS, and I have UPitt, UW, USC, NW, and others scheduled. Its gonna be a crazy semester . For instance, last friday I got done with my Case interview (which went from 7:30am to 3pm), went climbing, ate out with some climbers, analyzed data until 2am, met with Dr. Kandice Marchant at 10am the next day to go over my data, ran a difficult 4-5mile hill run wtih Mark, went to anchor splash for AAA (we did a silly synchronized swim and I swam a bunch of events), put some work in at the lab, belayed for a Bar Mitzpha for 3-4 hours, and went clubbing until 3am....erg.... But this type of schedule is also amazingly fun.

Climbing has also been an area where there has been great improvement. Over the summer I have spent a significant amount of time at the Red and the New River Gorges doing alot of lead climbing.  I just wish i had more time to spend in those amazing areas. Anyways i better actually do some HW, laundry, shopping, finish a secondary, and maybe take some microscope pictures at the lab. Tonight I am leading a AAA event at the CRG and maybe going to a party afterwards. I guess I've gotten used to the fact that i don't need sleep at all....

Anyways, I hope anyone is reading this is having a good time with life as well. It seems us old Pullmannites are starting to lose touch because I haven't heard from you guys in a long time so please leave some love in the comment section if you read this.  

So my friend Alex Merlino died this Thursday.  I just read the obitiuary half an hour ago, and I was completely shocked.  Although Alex liked to live a little on the wild side, something like this has caught me completely off guard.  Alex was a great guy, climber, and friend and I will always remember him.  I remember talking to him on wednesday (the day before he died) about plans for rock climbing and partying after the break, unfortunately that will never happen.  It's weird to think that I will never see him again on campus, in the rock climbing gym, at dinner, or at all.   

Alex was a good friend of mine, and i will always remember him. 

Buddy rest in peace...

Wow it's been a long time since i've posted anything.  Anyways to give a quick synopsis, life is good and has been very interesting.  Over the summer i studied for MCAT and met alot of really cool new people, went to a bunch of parties, and overall had an intersting time.  Both Falter and Liyang stopped by at various points over the summer.  Falter was here pretty much the entire summer except for a number of his excursions to places ranging from Washington D.C. to Argentina.  After the MCAT I had an amazing time first chilling with my MCAT study crew at a post-MCAT party at John Kanaan's, which was a really good time.  Afterwards i was an orientation leader which was fun despite my early doubts.  I met a bunch of cool freshmen many of which i still hang out with and party with.  That week was alot of fun.  Me and my good friends hanged out alot, checked out a bunch of parties and clubs.  Liyang came over during that time and i think he had a good time.   

This last week with classes has also been real laid black.  I got my first HW assignment yesterday which doesn't seem too bad.  I've been doing a little bit of reading but so far the courseload has been extremely light which gives me time to climb and tie up a number of loose odds and ends such as the BS/MS application.  Just yesterday, me and a group of friends headed down tot he Cleveland Rock Gym, afterwards me and 5 other guys went down to John Kanaan's parent's restaurant and ate so much good food.  We headed back and then popped over to Mickey's house to drink, play in the pool, and hang with friends that we hadn't seen all summer.  Anyways, I am having a blast this semester, and i am sure that the rest of the semester will be no different.

Peace out

Chad

Sitting in ENGL 398N right now, so to recap, I've been doing pretty much the usual.  Research, HW (lots of it), lifting, lots more climbing, and of course being me.....

Last weekend I went my orientation leader retreat, which was this outdoor camp called camp aspbury.  We did a bunch of skits, watched a move (The emporer's club with Mr Hundert heheheh), and had some discussion.  Overall it was enjoyable.

Also within the last week I've been climbing so much.  Our wall just opened so me and a bunch of the other climbers are busy setting routes and enjoying ourselves on the wall.  Unfortunately the management for the Veale center has no clue what its doing when it comes to this wall.  So the policies are all messed up, luckily we have our club climb time so during that time we make the rules.

Hopefully when the weather warms up we will be doing lots of outdoor climbing, i am so excited.

So anyways i probably should pay attention to class,

Laters