It is my understanding that Rikard Hedman has climbed this route before, maybe even a few times... Serial repeatist? Yet, Utan Smör at Örnberget always finds a way to reinvent itself, especially in the spring, and at least twice this day... 
Gym climbing at a chipped choss pile. Erik Massih estimated this variant to have "maybe three natural grips". Is a variable ethic somehow justifiable depending on the quality of the rock?
1/200, F5.0, 105 mm, ISO100 © 2010 Shawn Boye
"About that time when I wrote Heart of Gold, and I was touring, I had also -- just, you know, being a rich hippie for the first time -- I had purchased a ranch, and I still live there today. And there was a couple living on it that were the caretakers, an old gentleman named Louis Avala and his wife Clara. And there was this old blue Jeep there, and Louis took me for a ride in this blue Jeep. He gets me up there on the top side of the place, and there's this lake up there that fed all the pastures, and he says, "Well, tell me, how does a young man like yourself have enough money to buy a place like this?" And I said, "Well, just lucky, Louie, just real lucky." And he said, "Well, that's the darndest thing I ever heard." And I wrote this song for him."
—Neil Young
1/640, F4.0, 82 mm, ISO125 © 2010 Shawn Boye
We've all heard of the mechanic who drives the beat up car and we hold a certain skepticism for the climber with shinny gear. So, where is the middle ground? Erik Massih on the variable traits of gravity: "Why would I waste a 70 or 80 meter rope at a crag like this?"
1/200, F5.0, 105 mm, ISO100 © 2010 Shawn Boye
When pressed, when not sure what to do or where to go, how do you respond? What are your opportunities for success? How often do you say "Take!"?
Felix de Oliveira searching for the next hold on Girburken 6c, Uringe. A short but excellent climb that keeps you guessing; you know where you have to go but it's not quite clear how you're going to get there. Go before the bugs do...
Christian Seeger on the traverse of Slitvargen 6c, Uringe. Sometimes you encounter a climb that is more an experience than anything else; the sort of climb you try and make your buddies climb too... That's Uringe, you're not likely to go back but it's better if you're not the only one who's been there.
A crowd in a hole; Daniel Widman fighting the layback on the ever popular Split Personality, 6C+, Focksta.
Ry Morrison in spring sun on the immaculate crux of Anomalocaris 7a, Ekoberget. 
Ry Morrison demonstrating the spring belaying technique... Yuji would have been proud, but when you've been inside for 6 months such minor details are irrelevant. Ry flashed Ekoturism in good style. 
It's not that I'm skeptical to slabs, Ekoturism is a fantastic climb, it's just that it's more efficient to move one's eyes than head... 
I've alluded to problems that hand models can encounter before... Well, you can add a week in Font and no hand cream to the list. Ry Morrison explaining why his palm doesn't have any skin... That Swedish climbing was so serious. Well, I knew all along and that's why I did what I've done. I doubt you'll understand. But I'll try, if you say a route is dangerous and it proves not to be, all you have demonstrated is that your judgement is flawed. That is dangerous. If it's ok to bolt because you're a big fish in a little pond, that's segregation. Climbing gives us access to a whole dimension that most never experience. We should not take this lightly and demean it with self-glorification. I wish you all the best. Good luck.
-2010-04-10, 12:46 am, after watching Crackoholic
Climbers probably don't make the best hand models and for that matter, neither do chefs. Here you can see what happens when a climber tries to cook... notice the third degree burns on the thumb. The scotch serves the purpose of both wetting your appetite and distracting Veera Kainiemi.
Some people escape to warmer locations to start the season... but climbing here, in the setting sun after a long, cold winter, what could be better? Linda Söderlund working on Likplundraren, 6c+, Bistaberget. 1/800, F4.5, 24 mm, ISO125 © 2010 Shawn Boye
Conny Dahlin considering what to take with him and where it might take him... 
1/250, F5.6, 105 mm, ISO100 © 2010 Shawn Boye
Well, I still am. Interestingly, people age at different rates than they travel around the sun. But I digress... Years ago we would go up on the hill behind the old homestead and look for the crocuses poking through the snow; the first signs of spring. Maybe, these days, the scene is more diluted but nature, she still finds her way.
Contrary to the guide book, the obvious line to Skriet från vildmarken, Bistaberget, is straight up the crack, or at least that's how I climbed it, placing a couple of cams after diverging from the described line.
After several attempts at the traverse and not intent on a big pendulum, Oscar, who didn't have any gear with him, decided to run it out straight up the crack, if you call 3m between bolts running it out. Just as Oscar finally managed to clip a bolt on an adjacent route, Kapten Krok, one of his feet popped, adding a bit of drama and making for a memorable climb.
1/125, F9.0, 24 mm, ISO100 © 2010 Shawn Boye
