The Rock Behind the Climb

Episode Link: https://soundcloud.com/quinn-todzo/trbtc-ep12-the-grotto?si=3208f1ecae6846dcac2bfe9393d86947&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing  The glorious stone columns of The Grotto Episode Transcript: I want to climb Somewhere Devine I’ve been I miner for a crag of gold Tectonic compressions And volcanic slime Keep me climbing at  A crag of golddddd And im getting bold Hello and welcome back to the Rock Behind the Climb, the podcast about the geology of different rock climbing spots. I am your host Quinn “The Jazzhammer” Todzo bringing some rare auriferous luster back to your podcast feed. This episode I am taking you to gold country in the Sierra foothills of California, to discuss the formation of giant stone columns, perfectly vertical cracks, and the great wall of California. I am speaking of course about The Grotto in Table Mountain. I have wanted to cover this spot for a long time. Just looking at photos of these 100 foot colo...

Episode link: https://soundcloud.com/quinn-todzo/the-struggle-to-protect-the-california-coastline Note this is a painting of the cliffs in Malibu, CA (which is not where this story takes place) Episode Transcript California is being swallowed into the Pacific Ocean, and it is really hard to stop or even slow down that process. With sea levels that are rising at increasingly alarming rates, 800 miles of shear beach cliffs along the California coastline are eroding at rates as much as 5-10 feet per year. From houses to highways to important infrastructure, there is a lot at stake on the edge of California, so what are we doing about it. Well, today I am going to bring you a boots on the ground story of how we are trying to protect our coast from erosion, and the difficulty in doing so. Before I go any further I do want to mention that I am not going to really talk about rock climbing in this episode. As I discussed in my last rock behind the climb episode on Mickey’s Beach this issue i...

  Mickey’s Beach TRBTC Script The ever majestic Emperor boulder sitting on the water's edge So normally when I think about an outdoor rock climbing crag, I have it in my mind that the routes and especially the walls and formations will be the same every time I go back. The geology and weathering of most landforms are processes that happen over millions of years, so I can count on rocks remaining relatively unchanged each time I return back aside from maybe a chipped hold or a slightly smoother edge. Now this adage is true for a large number of rock climbing spots, but at Mickey’s Beach you can have different climbs on routes that didn’t previously exist or on rocks that weren’t previously present. Things change drastically out there not on the scale of millions of years, but rather on the tens of years. In fact you could actually have a completely different experience on completely different routes just based on the season or even the time of day that you show up. On this episo...