03

15March

the SportS, LEISUrE & oUtdoorS issue

Natural Highs

➤ Stone temple zealotS

The sport and religion of rock climbing

➤ the nature next door

More great hikes in your own backyard

➤ Field tripS

A photo essay on outdoor life in Las Vegas

+ Palate play Bar food scores a gourmet goal at Sporting Life

Subaru of Las Vegas 5385 West Sahara Avenue (702) 495-2100 Subaruoflasvegas.com

http://www.summerlin.com

For tickets visit cirquedusoleil.com/vegaslocals or call 866.439.9272

How many

shows are in your backyard

*Offer valid through March 31, 2015. Subject to availability. Management reserves all rights. Price varies per show, date and time.

Locals Experience

ONE PRICE FOR ANY SEATTICKETS FROM $59*

BOOK EARLYLIMITED

QUANTITY

How would you use your share of a $2.7 million bonus dividend?CCCU is owned by its account holders. That means all of

our extra earnings are really yours. Earlier this year, CCCU member-owners shared almost $2.7 million dollars in direct cash back payments. And since 2001, it’s been nearly $50 million. That’s cash to help with loan payments, household bills, vacation money, or savings for college.

You’re already banking somewhere. Why not get paid for it?Whatever you do with your bank, you can do right here at your credit union. Then, when the next bonus dividend comes around, you’ll get a piece of it. For information and to open an account,Call (702) 228-2228, or online at OPENCCCU.com.

Somebody’smakingmoneyoff yourcar loan.

Shouldn’t it be you?

Your deposi ts are insured up to $250,000American Share Insurance insures each account up to $250,000.This institution is not federally insured, and if the institution fails, the FederalGovernment does not guarantee that depositors will get back their money.

4 March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com

EDiTOR’S NOTE

Now is a great time to get outside — and not just because of the weather. In fact, if I were the type to indulge in grandiose, hyperventilating, all-caps overstatement, I’d say we got a full-on NATURAL WONDERS RENAISSANCE go-

ing on up in here. *Makes it rain with pine cones.* From Great Basin National Park to Sloan Canyon, there’s been a sanguine streak of victories and vindications lately af-firming that — in contraindication to recent shady Con-gressional feints at, ugh, reanimating the corpse of a nuke waste dump at Yucca Mountain — the Silver State is not (to go earnestly bumper-sticker on you for a moment) a wasteland. Consider: After years of grassroots activism and populist realpolitiking, Protectors of Tule Springs finally saw preservationists’ dreams come true with the creation of the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. And after years of idling on standby thanks to a sour economy, Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area gets an ambitious improvement plan this month, promising amenities that will raise its profile to match that of Red Rock and Valley of Fire. Up north, academics, preservation activists and park officials have launched a campaign to make Great Basin National Park, home to some of the darkest night skies in the continental U.S., the site of a world-class astronomical observatory. Next door, meanwhile, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has introduced a bill that would protect millions of acres of desert just beyond our doorstep, expanding Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve. And the continued push for land pres-ervation by Sen. Harry Reid’s office promises to protect even more of our most sensitive, valuable and beautiful desert. In each case, sure, this expands the playground

of Nevada public lands — this means more hikes to complete, more summits to conquer, more gorgeous vistas to use as selfie backgrounds. And, of course, it fosters a more ennobled kind of tourism that doesn’t involve drinking daiquiri out of a plastic Eiffel Tower without pants.

But besides that, I also like to think these happy devel-opments have in them the power to nudge the world’s perception of our personality, so the word Nevada in-stinctively evokes more than desert wastelands or neon misadventure.

And yet words like nature and phrases like public lands always conjure a certain out-thereness that make of the natural landscape an other, severed from our everyday experience. Well, you don’t have to drive or walk far to see real Southern Nevada. On p. 38, we bring out an-other installment of our much-loved hikes in your own backyard — and that applies whether your backyard is Henderson or Centennial Hills. Another story in this is-sue will make you reconsider how you think of Southern Nevada’s backyard — that is, Red Rock National Conser-vation Area. Certainly, it’s both a gem of a hiking desti-nation and beautiful backdrop to the clamor and gleam of Las Vegas. But after you read Heidi Kyser’s piece, “Stone Temple Zealots,” you might envision Red Rock as something closer to a holy site. Heidi’s deep dive into the world of rock climbers reveals a fascinating subculture of aficionados for whom the sport is much more than a sport. It’s also a philosophy, a religion, an obsession and a way of life. And Red Rock is their shrine, their ocean and, in some cases, their white whale.

But I’m flinging mere words to try to lasso a profound relationship that we flatlanders can only hope to understand. Which, to get grandiose again, is the point of getting out in nature in the first place: To momentarily divest ourselves of the approximations of language and enter a world where words don’t have to suffice.

Outside chance

Andrew Kiralyeditor

Next MONth Style is in

season with

our spring

fashion issue

FOllOw desert cOmpaniOnwww.facebook.com/Desertcompanionwww.twitter.com/Desertcompanion

4 color process

The will to do wonders®

The will to do wonders®

®

®

Caesars Foundation is proud to support Make-A-Wish

Southern Nevada’s Walk for Wishes event for our

third consecutive year, which helps further its mission

of helping children with life-threatening medical

conditions be enriched with hope, strength and joy.

Please join us on Saturday, March 21st.

For more information, visit www.snv.wish.org.

facebook.com/CaesarsFoundation @CaesarsFdn

WISHES WELCOME

6 March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com

1 Reader Brent Parrish is leaving Las Vegas, and we’re sorry to see him go. A magazine needs good readers every

bit as much as it needs good writers, artists and editors, and Parrish certainly fit the bill, as his farewell letter makes clear. It’s also an excellent primer on how to settle in and come to love a place that isn’t always easy to love:

I hated Las Vegas. It is full of concrete, strip malls and ubiquitous housing devel-opments. Worst of all, there is not a single ounce of sweet gray fog. My union with Las Vegas was an arranged marriage, one that ripped me from the love of my youth and the only home I’ve ever known: North-ern California. I left Napa feeling an acute emptiness over all the things I had left un-explored. To make my stay more excruci-ating, the promotion promised to my wife (also our largest motivation for moving) was being given to someone else. Smaller misfortunes followed, and the reality of my location seemed like pure lunacy. I couldn’t have chosen this!

Things didn’t change in one day but I know for sure it started with a trip Downtown to a place called EAT. I was so thrilled to see things on a menu that were grown on a farm in the same state that I was living in! And right across the street was some construction project being built with shipping containers! That’s the day I knew there was hope, maybe this arranged marriage to Ms. Vegas could be something, maybe there could be love. … I was also introduced to the best free mag-azine I will ever read: Desert Companion. I read at least half of the November 2013 issue over one cappuccino that day. I was so engrossed that I nearly forgot how perturbed I was that it was November and it wasn’t cool enough to even wear

long sleeves. Even though my real

marriage was in a rapid decline, everything else was getting better. I had some great new friends, and we started our own hiking club. After exhausting trails at Red Rock we spent nearly every Tuesday last summer hiking at Mount Charleston, then descending to the west side of town to swim in the shade and push our culinary boundaries with nothing but a tabletop grill. ... Of course there were copious amounts of craft brew consumed, too!

I would be remiss not to recount a little sandwich shack in front of a dive bar on the most famous street in Las Vegas. I don’t know what I ate before the Good-wich. I love seeing those same owners buying fresh greens from the grocery store I work at. I get giddy as a kitten with yarn when I get to see local celebri-ties shop where I work, like a lovely and personable food events coordinator or a magazine editor who always says hello to me. And how great is a city where you can attain ramen at 2 a.m. and which has more genuinely great pizza places than an octopus has arms? That city is so great I might not ever want to leave it.

Sadly, as my marriage has ended so must my marriage to this city. I have to go back to start over. I never would have thought 16 months ago that leaving Las Vegas would break my heart, but it has already begun to. There is plenty that needs to change about Las Vegas, but there is an overwhelming tide of people who really care. This can

feel like a stoic and unwelcoming place; Las Vegas isn’t a place where beauty has fully established itself, but it is better for that reason. There is so much to love but you have to find it, you have to make this city yours because it won’t do it for you.

Northern Cali-fornia may be my home, but Las Ve-

gas will always be my city. Farewell.

2 There was some Facebook response to Heidi Kyser’s February report

“Waiting to Inhale,” about asbestos in the soil near Boulder City and the scien-tific/bureaucratic squabbles it prompted.

Bruce Reynolds wrote: “Interesting story, and perhaps the danger from the asbestos around Boulder City is minimal. And perhaps not. But I’d like to know more about where the asbestos is, how much of it is there and what the health risks are. The State of Nevada and the EPA need to do a lot more studies!!”

Norman Umberger, on the other hand, didn’t seem worried at all. “If you know anything about asbestos, you know the danger is minimal to the public and zero from environmental.”

Jason Reek, identified on social media as a research assistant at UNLV’s Depart-ment of Geoscience, countered: “I don’t think it’s very accurate to say there is zero danger from asbestos occurring in the environment. It doesn’t matter what the source is, the moment of entry into the lungs it become a hazard.”

letters@desertcompanion.comMarch 2015 VolUme 13 IssUe 2

FEBRUARY 2015 DESERTCOMPANION.COM34 PHOTOGRAPHY CHRISTOPHER SMITH & BRENT HOLMES

HEALTH

WAITING TO INHALEAfter two UNLV researchers discovered asbestos in Southern Nevada soil, they wanted to study it further. Why did state health authorities stand in their way? B Y HE ID I K YSE R

Breathe

uneasy:

Researchers

Rodney Metcalf,

left, and

Brenda Buck

Sitting in her small, cluttered of-fice on the fourth floor of UNLV’s Science and Engineering Building, geology professor Brenda Buck pauses to ponder my question:

Has her recent discovery of naturally oc-curring asbestos in the Boulder City area had any personal — emotional, maybe — impact on her? The sun shines through a north-facing window, lighting up her strawberry-blond hair and blue eyes.

“Yes,” she finally says. “I used to board

my horse, Jimmy, at a stable in Boulder City. Sometimes, when my grandkids were little, I’d take them for rides out there. I can’t remember specifically where we’d go or whether it was windy, which would have increased their chance of exposure (to any asbestos in the air), but I do think about that now.”

A few weeks later, from his Carson City office at the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, Ihsan Azzam says almost exactly the opposite, without the slightest

hesitation: “I would move to Boulder City in a heartbeat,” he says. “I would be happy to live there with my kids and grandkids. I would not be wor-ried about the risk at all.”

As the state epidemiologist, Azzam says, it’s his responsibility to make sure Nevadans are safe. Sounding every bit as sincere over the phone as Buck appeared in person, he repeats several times that he is convinced her discovery is no cause for alarm, that the existence of asbestos in the environment alone does not equal an im-pending public health crisis.

How are we to know who’s right?Buck has recently been on a public

speaking tour of sorts, appearing in com-munity forums and academic gatherings to present the findings she and fellow UNLV geology professor Rodney Metcalf have gleaned from nearly five years of col-lecting and testing soil samples in South-ern Nevada — findings that were pub-lished in an academic paper in January. At

034_health.indd 34 1/23/15 1:05 PM

REGISTRATION IS OPEN AT WWW.ACTIVE.COM

5K RUN AND 1-MILE FUN WALKMARCH 28, 2015

Join Cirque du Soleil for its 14th Annual 5K Run and 1-Mile Fun Walk at the Springs Preserve. Run or walk with your favorite Cirque du Soleil artists at this annual event that includes music from cast and crew, photo opportunities with performers and a circus play area for children!

This event is presented by Cirque du Soleil in partnership with the Springs Preserve. All proceeds support the Springs Preserve and Cirque du Soleil Foundations.

For more information visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/5KRun

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com8

Features

www.desertcompanion.com

bir

dw

at

ch

ing

ph

ot

o b

y s

ha

nt

i c

ol

an

ge

lo

-c

ur

ra

n

52 Stone temple zealotSThey came, they climbed, they stayed — among the thousands of rock climbing tourists who flock to Southern Nevada is a hardy tribe of those who couldn’t leave the wonderful red stone behind. Inside Vegas’ climbing community. By Heidi Kyser

62 out there From paddling to parkour, football to fishing, stargaz-ing to bird-watching — our photographers capture the panorama of outdoor fun in Southern Nevada.

March 2015 VolUme 13 IssUe 03

TICKETS STARTING AT $29VISIT THESMITHCENTER.COM TO SEE THE FULL LINEUP

702.749.2000 | TTY: 800.326.6868 or dial 711 | For group inquiries call 702.749.2348361 Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89106

March 12 – 6:00pmAN EVEN I N G WITH

BRUCE HORNSBYSATURDAY, APRIL 18 – 7:30pm

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

WITH PIAN I ST YUJA WAN GMONDAY, MARCH 30 – 7:30pm

PHOTO BY ART STREIBER © ROLEX FADIL BERISHA

AN EVEN I N G WITH

GARRISON KEILLORTHURSDAY, APRIL 16 – 7:30pm

In a solo performance, the acclaimed host of A Prairie Home Companion shares hilarious anecdotes about growing up in the American Midwest,

the people of Lake Wobegon and “late-life fatherhood.”

APRIL 28 – MAY 3

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com10

gu

tt

er

cr

ed

it l

ef

t

all thingS

19 biz20 Selling LV’s tap

water for fun and profit

22 environment What’s next for Sloan Canyon?

24 zeit bites March in a flow chart

26 Profile A golf prodigy tees up her future

28 style Model Dani Reeves: selfie queen

30 oPen toPic Can’t we keep up with Tulsa?

34 communityHitting the streets with homelessness activist Merideth Spriggs By Matt Kelemen

38 outdoorSHiking in, practically, your own backyard By Alan Gegax, Heidi Kyser and Brent Holmes

45 dining

46 the Dish Scoring big at Sporting Life

48 eat this now There’s no Benny like an Arepas Benny

50 at first bite At Bardot Brasserie, you’ll always have Paris

75 the guideGrab your umbrella, it’s cultural monsoon season!

80 end noteUrban hiking sketchbook By Scott Dickensheets

on the cover

photography Alex Johnson by Aaron Mayes

26

34

46

38

departments

March 2015 VolUme 13 IssUe 03 www.desertcompanion.com

http://www.abrighternevada.com

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com12

Mission stateMentDesert Companion is the premier city magazine that celebrates the pursuits, passions and aspirations of Southern Nevadans. With award-winning lifestyle journalism and design, Desert Companion does more than inform and entertain. We spark dialogue, engage people and define the spirit of the Las Vegas Valley.

publ ishe D by n e va Da publ ic raDio

issn 2157-8389 (print)issn 2157-8397 (online)

Publisher  Melanie Cannon

AssociAte Publisher  Christine Kiely

editor  Andrew Kiraly

Art director  Christopher Smith

dePuty editor  Scott Dickensheets

stAff writer  Heidi Kyser

GrAPhic desiGner  Brent Holmes

Account executives  Sharon Clifton, Parker McCoy, Favian Perez, Leigh Stinger, Noelle Tokar, Markus Van’t Hul

MArketinG MAnAGer  Lisa Kelly

subscriPtion MAnAGer  Chris Bitonti

web AdMinistrAtor  Danielle Branton

trAffic coordinAtor  Karen Wong

AdvertisinG coPy editor  Carla J. Zvosec

contributinG writers  Cybele, Shanti Colangelo-Curran, Alan Gegax, Mé-lanie Hope, Hugh Jackson, Matt Kelemen, Debbie Lee, Sage Leehey, Aaron Mayes, Greg Blake Miller, Christie Moeller, Molly O'Donnell, Greg Thilmont, Mitchell Wilburn

contributinG Artists   Shanti Colangelo-Curran, Aaron Mayes, Chris Morris, Sabin Orr, Checko Salgado/Focalchrome, Lucky Wenzel, Ched Whitney

Editorial: Andrew Kiraly, (702) 259-7856; andrew@desertcompanion.com

Fax: (702) 258-5646

advErtising: Christine Kiely, (702) 259-7813; christine@desertcompanion.com

subscriptions: Chris Bitonti, (702) 259-7810; subscriptions@desertcompanion.com

WEbsitE: www.desertcompanion.com

Desert Companion is published 12 times a year by Nevada Public Radio, 1289 S. Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89146. It is available by subscription at desertcompanion.com, or as part of Nevada Public Radio membership. It is also distributed free at select locations in the Las Vegas Valley. All photos, artwork and ad designs printed are the sole property of Desert Companion and may not be duplicated or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. The views of Desert Companion con-tributing writers are not necessarily the views of Desert Companion or Nevada Public Radio. Contact Chris Bitonti for back issues, which are available for purchase for $7.95.

Design | Installation | Renovation | Consultation | Maintenance | Tree Care Hardscapes | Small Jobs | Irrigation | Lighting

licen

se 0

0572

80 L

icen

sed,

Bon

ded,

& I

nsur

ed

#WE8589-A#WE9147-A

Call (702) 452-5272to schedule a tree care visit

Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter @SchillingHort

schillinghorticulture.com

Our tree professionals and certified arborists take great pride in thoughtfully and skillfully performing the highest quality tree care in

Southern Nevada. We really know our trees; we want to know yours, too.

• Pruning & Trimming • Planting & Transplanting• Fertilization & Soil Management • Tree & Stump Removal• Insect & Disease Management • Young Tree Development

Mention the word SAGE when scheduling your tree service for 15% off (Offer expires March 31, 2015)

2 0 0 7T H R U2 0 1 4

Stumped About Tree Care? Hire Us.

Aria.com

Saturday and Sunday.

Brunch chic.

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com14

Follow Desert Companionwww.facebook.com/DesertCompanionwww.twitter.com/DesertCompanion

Board of directors

Officers

cynthiA AlexAnder, esQ. chair

Snell & Wilmer

Jerry nAdAl vice chair Cirque du Soleil

tiM wonG  treasurer

Arcata Associates

florence M.e. roGers  secretary Nevada Public Radio

DirectOrs

kevin M. buckley First Real Estate Companies

dAve cAbrAl emeritus Business Finance Corp.

louis cAstle  emeritus

PAtrick n. chAPin, esQ. emeritus

richArd i. dreitzer, esQ. Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP

elizAbeth fretwell emeritus City of Las Vegas

bob GlAser BNY Mellon

GAvin isAAcs Scientific Games

JAn Jones blAckhurst Caesars Entertainment Corporation

John r. klAi iiKlai Juba Wald Architects

lAMAr MArchese  president emeritus

williAM MAson Taylor International Corporation

chris MurrAy  emeritus

Avissa Corporation

williAM J. “bill” noonAn  emeritus Boyd Gaming Corporation

kAthe nylen  

Anthony J. PeArl, esQ. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

MArk ricciArdi, esQ.  emeritus Fisher & Phillips, LLP

Mickey roeMer emeritus Roemer Gaming

Winter is over, and now is the time for adventure. Fly 20 feet in the air with your own jetpack, roar over dunes in an ATV, or speed around one of the biggest racetracks in the world, all in Pahrump.

Find your spring adventure at VISITPAHRUMP.COM

Winter is over, and now is the time for adventure. Fly 20 feet in the air with your own jetpack, roar over dunes in an ATV, or speed around one of the biggest racetracks in the world, all in Pahrump.

Find your spring adventure at VISITPAHRUMP.COM

On February 5th, Nevada Public Radio invited its major donors, Board of Directors, Community Advisory Board, corporate supporters, and community dignitaries to our premiere annual event, Bids, Bites & Beverages. In addition to enjoying signature beverages and gourmet bites, guests participated in both silent and live auctions. The event raised over $50,000 and we welcomed over 400 guests to the Donald W. Reynolds Broadcast Center. Check out more photos at facebook.com/desertcompanion.

On February 5th, Nevada Public Radio invited its major donors, Board of Directors, Community Advisory Board, corporate supporters, and community dignitaries to our premiere annual event, Bids, Bites & Beverages. In addition to enjoying signature beverages and gourmet bites, guests participated in both silent and live auctions. The event raised over $50,000 and we welcomed over 400 guests to the Donald W. Reynolds Broadcast Center. Check out more photos at facebook.com/desertcompanion.

http://www.lasvegasparties.com

19March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com

03 15

de si g n e r Wate r , Wate r , eve ryWhe re . . .

I llustr atIon chris morris

a model’s tips on style — and selfies

page 28

business

Real thirstWith alkalized water brands tapping our precious local supply, has the bottled water business gone too far? B y He id i K yse r

A few months ago in her Carson City home, Abby Johnson’s cleaning lady held up a bottle of Real Water and declared that the stuff had changed

her life — she was sleeping better and feeling more energetic since she started drinking it, she said. “Let me see that,” Johnson replied, examining the bottle. Amid the fine print, she saw these words: “Source of water: Las Vegas Valley Water District.”

“This is not what it seems to be,” she told her cleaning lady, explaining that the product was treated tap water. “Her eyes got really big,” Johnson says. “She was shocked.”

Here’s the irony: Johnson heads the Great Basin Water Network, whose raison d’etre is to kill the Southern Neva-da Water Association’s plan to pump water from Eastern Nevada, where Johnson has a second home, and ship it to a certain increasingly thirsty — and dry — metropolitan center in the south.

“We’re focused on encouraging meaningful con-servation in the Las Vegas Valley as an alternative to the groundwater pipeline project,” Johnson says. “It’s illogical to take water out of the (Colorado River) system and export it. We’re all for economic development, but

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com20

ALL Things business

if there was one thing Las Vegas should import instead of export, it would be bottled water.”

Brent Jones disagrees. The CEO of Affinity Lifestyles, Real Water’s parent, argues that his company is creating jobs — 40 to 60, he estimates — by providing a good product that consumers are clamor-ing for. He pays the standard commercial water rate, just like the casinos and hotels whose myriad customers run countless gallons down the drain each day. And, notes Jones, who’s also the state assem-blyman for District 35 in Enterprise, he’s not doing anything illegal.

Still, some say there’s something unseemly about taking a resource from the public supply, repackaging it and selling it at a premium to outsiders. Has bottled water crossed the line between what should and shouldn’t be allowed? Or is it simply smart business that should be left alone to flourish?

Hot waterReal Water is on fire. Jones won’t give

out his closely held company’s revenue or profit numbers, but he says that the brand’s top customers are Sprouts and Whole Foods, and that market research firm SPINS ranks it No. 2 in the natural products category. He has facilities in San Diego and Tennessee, and plans to expand into Texas. And Real Water’s web-site includes a photo gallery of celebrities from Common to Courtney Cox flaunting the square bottle with the “RE2AL” logo.

That little “2” has a lot to do with the product’s popularity. It refers to E2 Technology, the company’s proprietary method for — to use its lingo — “infusing it with negative ions.” Asked to explain the process, Jones declined, saying only, “It’s alkalized, which a number of waters are becoming now. No one else has figured out how to permanently infuse the water with negative ions. People make it that way with machines, but you have to drink it right away. We’ve figured out how to make it shelf-stable.”

Indeed, Real Water isn’t the only local company jumping on the alkalization bandwagon. Alkame Water’s website also features a photo gallery of celebrities that drink its alkaline product, although

it focuses mainly on athletes and claims its water is also “oxygenat-ed.” Red Rock Springs Water is one of several selling alkaline water in bulk — through large refillable jugs — and offers a lengthy explanation of why it is healthier than other water. Jones is more circumspect. Although he refers to Real Water as a “healthy product,” he won’t elaborate, citing FDA regulations that prevent natural products from making health claims.

This convenient conundrum — being able to claim your product is healthy while being legally prevented from explaining why — has produced some skeptics. “Yeah … I’ve got nothing,” says UNLV Chem-istry Department Chair David Hatchett, searching the SciFinder online database for studies of alkaline water’s health benefits. “I’m always of the opinion that, if you do the science, I’ll listen. The problem is, there’s no data on this.”

Besides, Hatchett says, there are two obvious problems with the whole alka-line/negative ion water business. First, alkaline-water makers tout its acid-bal-ancing properties, but, Hatchett says, “If you drink something with high alkalinity, your body will continue to produce acid until it’s neutralized.”

Second, and most emphatically, he adds, “There’s no such thing as negative ion water. You have to make a positive ion to have a negative ion. It’s basic physics: Charge neutrality must be maintained. If it’s not, you couldn’t swim in the ocean, because you’d get electrocuted.”

That said, Hatchett thinks he may know why people such as Johnson’s cleaning lady feel better when they drink Real Water: It tastes good, so they take in lots of it. And the better hydrated your body is, the better it works.

all Bottled upHealthy beverage fads come and go (re-

member when Gatorade was considered good for you?). The enduring problem is bottled water in general. For one thing, the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act requires that municipal water companies like the Las Vegas Valley Water District provide the public with a safe potable supply. Ratepay-

ers help to fund the infrastructure for treating and delivering this wa-ter to their homes. Is it fair that they foot part of the bill for Alkame and Real Water’s business? (Commer-cial customers with a 1.5-inch pipe, such as Real Water’s, pay the same base rate as residential customers with a 5/8-inch pipe — $1.16-$4.58 per 1,000 gallons — but commercial customers have significantly higher

surcharges. A dozen 1-liter bottles of Real Water sell for $28 on its website.)

SNWA is neutral on the issue. “You’re paying to make sure that the water coming to your house is safe to drink,” spokesman Bronson Mack says. “These guys are pay-ing for the water going to their business.”

Mack points out that it’s pretty hard to argue against a specific abuse of the public water system when anyone can take a jug to a park, fill it up at a fountain and take it home. Or that residents widely patronize bulk distributors such as Sparkletts, which tap, treat and repackage municipal water.

But, he adds, “One element to think about, from a larger, socially conscious position, is that it takes a lot of power to treat and deliver our water. It takes a lot of power and fossil fuels to bottle water.”

According to the Pacific Institute, pro-ducing bottles for American consump-tion in 2006 required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation. It also produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.

This, consumer watchdog agency Food & Water Watch says, is especially egregious for a product that is readily available on tap in virtually every home in the country. In a 2013 position paper titled “Take Back the Tap,” the orga-nization writes, “Consumers should switch back from bottled to tap water and reclaim the clean and affordable resource that flows from our faucets.”

In other words, the power is in the purchaser’s hands: the environmental, energy and financial costs of bottled water; or, your monthly water bill plus, if taste obliges, the price of a home filter. Which one will you choose?

Hear more What’s the

future of

Lake Mead?

Hear a

discussion

on “KNPR’s

State of

Nevada”

at desert companion.com/hear more

The Southern Nevada Water Authority is a not-for-profi t water utility.

W H AT D O E S WAT E R B R I N G TO T H E D E S E R T ?

A little water can bring life to the community. Which is why we’re working hard to make sure that Southern Nevada has a reliable water supply for families, neighborhoods and businesses. Over the years, the community has conserved billions of gallons of water and is still continuing to � ourish, proving you don’t need a lot of water to grow a city. So let’s stay water smart, Southern Nevada. Learn more at snwa.com.

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com22

Let’s play compare and contrast. Red Rock and Sloan Canyon are both national conservation

areas. They both feature breathtaking vistas, amazing petroglyphs, diverse wildlife and, of course, wonderful hiking opportunities.

But the similarities end there. Drive through Red Rock and you’ll see a well-appointed visitors center, clearly marked hiking trails, educational kiosks, plentiful parking. Drive through Sloan Canyon and, well, you’re in for a bumpy ride, figuratively and literally. The road to get to the 48,000-acre area is rough and rutted — four-wheel-drive is a must — oh, and good luck finding a restroom or in-terpretive signs, let alone a visitors center. When you visit Sloan Canyon, you’re pretty much on your own. It’s often been a source of wonder to both visitors and

activists: Why doesn’t Sloan Canyon seem to get any love?

It isn’t about love but, rather, money. Bankrolled largely by interest from a $65 million federal land sale, Sloan Canyon doesn’t get annual federal funding, nor does it rake in the fat fees — think entrance fees, camping fees, special recreation fees — that Red Rock does. (To be fair, Sloan Canyon is about a quarter of the size of Red Rock, and receives about 78,000 visitors per year while Red Rock sees about 1.2 million.)

The result: the national conservation area christened in 2002 has remained something of a gem in the rough — de-spite longstanding plans to make the area more visitor-friendly. It’s been a source of anticipation — and some frustration — to outdoors enthusiasts and activists such as J.T. Reynolds, president of Friends

of Sloan Canyon. They feel like the BLM has been a little overcautious in spending only the interest from the land sale money for fear of depleting its bankroll.

“And that’s okay. That’s one option to consider, but you still need to put facili-ties out there and you still need to have personnel to manage those resources and to better protect them,” he says.

More than a decade later, Sloan Can-yon is still rough around the edges. Blame the economy: In the boom years, a 2005 plan that envisioned a visitors center, a paved entrance road and trail improve-ments was put in deep hibernation when the economy crashed — right on Sloan Canyon’s doorstep. Planned community Inspirada, a major prospective source of Sloan Canyon’s visitors, faltered and went into bankruptcy. “It didn’t make sense to build a road that was going to require a third of the funding when there was sud-denly going to be virtually no visitation,” says BLM spokesperson Kirsten Cannon.

“The fate of Sloan Canyon and the fate of Inspirada were intertwined.”

Now, with the economy (and Inspi-rada) revving again, the plan is back

— tweaked and scaled down a bit, but definitely back. Set for release this month, the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area Implementation Plan will include a visitors center, information kiosks and professional staff — finally spending down the $65 million bankroll dedicated to the area. “People are eager to see something on the ground now that the economy is bouncing back,” says Cannon.

Friends of Sloan Canyon Vice President Terri Robertson is certainly eager. When she first learned of housing developments slated near Sloan Can-yon, she had concerns about suburban encroachment. Now she sees the people moving in as potential allies in preserving this natural gem of Henderson.

“The more good people you get out here,” she says, “the better it gets.”

PhotograPhy christopher smith

ALL Things outdoors

Rocky road:

The BLM has

big plans

in store for

Sloan Canyon.

conservation

Diamond in the desertAmong natural areas, Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area has long seemed like a neglected stepchild. But that’s about to change B y sag e l e e Hey

http://www.springspreserve.org

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com24

The Rebel enters

the gym.

He enters the gym

and takes his seat.

He enters the gym

and takes his seat

and watches as the

spotlights swirl.

He watches the spotlights swirl as his stu-

dents, tall fellows, greet each other in the glow.

The students, the tall fellows, listen as the

Rebel’s name is proclaimed.

The Rebel’s name has not always been spo-

ken in kind tones. The Rebel breaks rules, they

say. Sometimes, they may even be right. The

Rebel says everyone sometimes breaks rules.

The Rebel has chosen a city. Here his name

is proclaimed. The people howl, they shout.

The madness beneath these lights is joyful. If it

were a hateful joy, a joy that comes merely out

of adulation, celebration, aggression, elevation

of man to god, unwholesome integration of

circus and church, it would be frightening.

But it is not a hateful joy. It is something

more like love.

The Rebel knows how to laugh at himself.

He does not seek power. He seeks beauty.

The Rebel tells himself that the ends justify

the means. Even his allies, from time to time,

grow uncomfortable with the means, or the

rumored means. Does the Rebel break rules?

Or are the rules themselves broken? Is it ac-

ceptable to break broken rules?

The beauty: The students play basketball. No

one has ever played basketball like the Rebel’s

students play basketball. A strange wind whips

through the arena, lifts them, swirls them in

celestial motion, sweeps them across the uni-

verse, toward the center, the knotted strings,

the opening in the knotted strings. The ball falls

through, again and again, a storm without end.

The motion of these young men, almost

boys, creates gravity, and the gravity pulls

upon the city, and the city finds a center and

the center finds a soul, and the soul fills the

boys and the city and the Rebel. None of us,

not the citizens, not the boys, not the Rebel,

expected to be here. This desert does not

need us. But now we realize, all of us, that we

need it. — greg Blake Miller

ALL Things zeit bites

Song of the SharkIn memory of Jerry Tarkanian

chart palpitations

What should I celebrate in March?

No

yes

yes

No

No

yes

3. let’s get serious for a minute

2. i’m geeky, yet also ready to engage in modest carousal!

1. i’m ready to par-tay!

Beer?

Beer + yelling at TV screens?

Beer + unfortunate ethnic stereotyping?

Beer + seccessionist ardor + Rick Perry impres-

sions + 10-gallon hats?

To hell with all that. Wine me up, Pierre!

firSt day of Spring!

MARCH 20

march madneSS begins MARCH 17

St. patrick’S day MARCH 17

texaS independence day MARCH 2

international francophile month

Do you understand why Pi Day would be March 14?

pi dayMARCH 14

Do you totally trust your BFF Brutus?

ideS of marchMARCH 15

Have you been trying to devise a drinking game re-lated to six-sided shapes?

No

HASN’T EVERyONE?

Want to totally creep

us out?

DOESN’T EVERyONE?

Save a Spider day

MARCH 14

NoSun-earth

dayMARCH 18 hexagonal

awareneSS month

Want to redress a bit of historical

imbalance?

SuRE DO!

women’S hiStory month

Is that actual pie in your pie hole?

national nutrition

month

No

What are your favorite guts?

ColoN! KidNey!colorectal cancer awareneSS month

world kidney dayMARCH 12

(you might want to rethink that answer)

PRESENTED BY

IMAGINED BY IMAGINED BY

March 20, 2015A one-night only unique production with world renowned performers alongside artists from Cirque du Soleil to raise

funds and awareness for critical water issues

At The Beatles™ LOVE™ Theatre at The Mirage Hotel & Casino

TICKETS ON SALE NOW1.844.33.WATER • ONEDROP.ORG/ONENIGHT

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com26

But she’s not dawdling in the meantime. Joels is utterly committed to — you might even say obsessed with — golf. After school, she golfs at her home course at TPC Summerlin for about three hours until it’s dark — and then even longer on the weekends. She also teaches clinics for kids and for women on Saturdays. “It’s really fun for me, and it teaches me a lot. It takes me back to fundamentals, so it helps my swing a lot. And it helps me to focus on the basics again.” She learned those basics early. Joels began golfing at the age of 9 and, not long after, started compet-ing in local tournaments. “And that’s when I realized that I could probably go somewhere with this,” Joels says. By age 13, she won the U.S. Kids Teen

World Championships in her division. “And that’s when I realized I could probably take this all the way. I could get a scholarship for this.”

What accounts for Joels’ fast rise? Passion? Practice? The strange magic of being a prodigy? To her, it comes down to having the heart for it. “It’s mostly about determination, how bad you want it. … If you want it bad enough, you’re going to try to get it as hard as you can.” Joels certainly wants it. She has won 94 junior tournaments and is sponsored by Titleist and FootJoy. She’s ranked 355 on the Junior Golf Scoreboard, 304 on the Polo Golf rankings and 254 on Golfweek rankings. In her graduating class of 2018, she’s ranked at about 30th

in the world. Her father, Doug, attributes much of

her success to her perfect form, which came from being taught solid technique from the beginning. “She just has a really good mechanical swing, and she has outstanding technique. … She hits the ball very long, and being a long hitter is probably her biggest asset,” he says.

There is a downside to her passion. Joels’ high standards for herself means losing is not part of any game plan. “I know I can beat everybody out on the course, but if I don’t play my best and if I don’t count on myself and I focus on the other people too much and I get beat because of that, I hate that. I hate that so much.” — Sage Leehey

profile

Veronica JoelsJunior golfer

PhotograPhy checko salgado / focalchrome

ALL Things people

C oming from a 14-year-old, it’s kind of a shocking confession: “I’d rather be on the golf course than with my friends,” says rising golf star Veronica Joels, quickly adding, “I love my friends, obviously,

but me and a golf ball on a course — I don’t have anything else going on. It’s just nice and calm.” Ah, calm. The lives of teenagers are rarely calm to begin with, but calm is especially rare for Joels these days amid the growing buzz about her talent on the green. Joels is only a freshman at the Mead-ows School, but she’s already being courted by more than 25 Division One colleges because of her skills in golf. While most of her classmates probably haven’t even thought about their college plans yet, Joels is busy fielding letters from golf programs around the country. (Her current favorite is Stanford, but she said she hasn’t visited enough yet to choose — and she still has a few years to make that decision.)

MARCH 2015 DeseRtCompAnion.Com 27

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com28

ALL Things style

trendsetter

Dani ReevesThe fashion model on style, seasonal trends and great selfies

B y C h r i s t i e M o e l l e r

PhotograPhy by lucky Wenzel

Born in Hamburg, Iowa, Dani Reeves kick-started her modeling career after she won the 2007 Miss Iowa USA competition. Today

she lives in Las Vegas, but her modeling gigs take her everywhere from L.A. to Milan. How wouLD you DesCRiBe youR peRsonAL

styLe? Incredibly eclectic and diverse while main-taining a very glamorous element to each look.

wHAt is youR styLe motto? Tom Ford couldn’t have said it better: “Dressing well is a form of good manners.”

youR Best ADviCe foR tACkLing spRing

2015’s tRenDs? You must be able to relate to the trend in order to pull it off. If you’re not comfortable and do not feel 100 percent about yourself when you walk out of the door, it’s not for you. If you’re still looking to integrate that season’s trend into your own personal style, but don’t want to take on the pressure of buying something, try incorporating it through hair styles, scarves, jewelry and belts. Accessories are a girl’s best friend (besides diamonds, of course ... and

shoes and makeup ... and well, anyways …) and can transform any outfit!

wHAt spRing tRenDs ARe you Looking foRwARD to weARing? This season a lot of designers traveled back in time to the late ’60s-early ’70s. This was one of my favorite periods when it comes to fashion inspirations. This spring, the designers did a great job bringing back exciting trends such as skinny scarves and A-line skirts. Of course, fringe was on every runway this season. There is something sexy and magical about the movement of fringe. I also really love the accessories I saw this season. My favorite was mismatching earrings. Whether in different colors or in lengths, the beauty is in the irregularity.

if you CouLD swAp wARDRoBes witH Anyone, wHo wouLD it Be? I really love the fashion consultant and editor-at-large for Vogue Japan, Anna Dello Russo’s closet. Reportedly having more than 4,000 pairs of shoes, this woman is my hero! I mostly admire that she is not afraid of anything when it comes to style.

wHAt ARe youR tips foR tHe peRfeCt seLfie? I laugh at the quotes that talk about selfies. Like, “For every selfie, there are about 30 that didn’t make the cut.” Ha! So true! For the girl who has a flawless selfie on her first try, I either applaud you or think you’re some kind of alien. For the rest of us who sit in front of our phones snapping one horrible photo after another trying every angle, every pout and eye-squint, I totally can relate! The one thing I know to be true when taking any photo is lighting is paramount to a great photo!

1 Bond No. 9 NyC Central Park West,

perfume, $200-$295, Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Show

2 Peter thomas roth FirMx firming night

moisturizer, $125, Sephora in the Forum Shops, Miracle Mile, Town Square and Downtown Summerlin

3Free People limited edition Gianna’s

Valentine dress, $600, Free People Fashion Show and freepeople.com

4 lANViN pave crystal loVe

necklace, $1,345, Neiman Marcus in the Fashion Show Mall

5 Gucci leila studded platform sandal,

$696, Neiman Marcus Fashion Show

5 t h i n g s i c a n ' t l i v e W i t h o u t

Your help will help change lives.Like you, Planned Parenthood of Southern Nevada Cares.

No Matter What.

WeCareSouthernNevada.com/DesertCompanion

Planned Parenthood of Southern Nevada

LEARN HOW YOU CAN HELPWeCareSouthernNevada.com/DesertCompanion

For over 40 years,

Planned Parenthood of

Southern Nevada has been

honored to be part of your community.

And with your support and generosity, we

can continue to take care of our

Southern Nevada families.

We do this by providing high-quality healthcare

for everyone, education and informative resources

as well as advocacy for women’s rights.

Your donations help to keep our doors open to our community.

We need your support as we support Southern Nevada.

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com30

ALL Things style

IllustratIon brent holmes

ALL Things open topic

Seattle got most of the headlines. But last year, nine other cities and one county in the U.S. established higher minimum wages. Big cities were on the list — Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego — but several smaller California cities raised the

wage, too, as did Las Cruces, N.M. This year, at least a half-dozen local governments are considering proposals to raise the minimum wage, most prominently in New York City and Los Angeles (both city and county), but also in Portland, Maine, and Louisville, Ky.

In January, Tacoma, Wash., became the 16th U.S. city requiring employers to provide paid sick leave. A couple weeks ago, Philadelphia became the 17th.

From Hartford to San Jose, to Denver, San Antonio and Tulsa in between, several cities are establishing programs to provide universal or near-universal pre-kindergarten childcare.

Closer to home, Phoenix and Salt Lake City have moved aggressively on “Housing First” programs, which provide homeless veterans with housing without requiring them to pass a drug or sobriety test first. Both cities claim to have all but eliminated chronic veteran homelessness.

When low-income citizens don’t make economic progress, it’s not just bad for them. It’s bad for businesses that depend on people having enough money to buy whatever busi-nesses are selling. A “precariat” class mired in unstable, low-wage, low-quality jobs, pre-cariously and persistently teetering on the edge of financial collapse (i.e., maybe a third of Southern Nevada’s workforce), weakens a community’s consumer core while raising the demand for and cost of public services. Customary economic “thought” among pol-iticians — promote growth and wait for all that yummy prosperity to magically follow — has manifestly failed to deliver.

Instead, there is a turn to policies designed to help people directly — not just because it’s good for people who are struggling, but because it’s good for the economy. And in a

growing number of cities and counties, local officials, having glanced at the pol-icy wastelands of Washington, D.C., and most state capitals, are convinced that they must act, locally, to help assure high-er wages, child care, housing, transporta-tion, non-predatory banking or paid sick leave, and take other steps to tangibly and meaningfully improve the lives of their citizens. Cities and counties have discov-ered, or rediscovered, a willingness to tackle stubborn problems instead of, oh, waiting for Congress to do it.

So, naturally, the campaign for Las Ve-gas mayor is all about … a soccer stadium.

poliCy puNCHMajor League Soccer has passed on Las

Vegas for an expansion team. But the race between Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Councilman Stavros Anthony will still be about Goodman’s effort to publicly subsi-dize a private sports franchise — inasmuch as the race will be about anything at all.

Look, this isn’t really about them. By ignoring the role of local government in economic policy that might actually pack a punch, Goodman and Anthony are hardly unique.

Take minimum wage as an example. Organized labor has spearheaded the movement to raise the wage in Nevada. That movement has targeted Congress, corporations, the state Legislature and has tried more generally to move the nee-dle of public opinion. It hasn’t targeted city or county governments.

“I’m not sure we’ve done the work to move (city councilmembers or county commissioners) on those issues,” says Yvanna Cancella, the Culinary Union’s political director. Part of that may be the relative newness of local government action on wage regulation, sick pay and other issues. But Cancella says local gov-ernments in Nevada may not have the authority to act even if they wanted to.

Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak agrees. It’s a legal question that “has never been brought up,” but “I don’t think that we can have a separate minimum wage,” he says. Sisolak, echoing

c i v i c l i f e

SERIOUSLY, TULSA?Local governments across the u.S. are doing fresh, important things. Las Vegas is ... fighting over the meaning of an imaginary soccer stadium? b y H U g H J A C K s O n

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 31

perhaps every county commissioner and city councilman in the history of Nevada, says that local governments can do whatev-er the state allows them to do, and no more.

The city would appear to be in the same boat. There’s nothing in the City of Las Vegas Charter, sort of the city’s constitution, that authorizes wage regu-lation, says Val Steed, from the Las Vegas city attorney’s office.

Well, could the state Legislature pass a law authorizing local governments to, say, raise the minimum wage or require employers to provide paid sick days?

“I guess they could,” Sisolak says.“Theoretically,” Steed says.

all tHe wage“I’d love to do it,” says state Sen. Tick

Segerblom, D-Las Vegas. Segerblom has proposed a state con-

stitutional amendment to raise Nevada’s

statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour. (There’s “not a chance in hell” it will pass the Legislature, Segerblom recently told the Sun.)

Segerblom notes that the current wage ($8.25 an hour, $7.25 for employees of-fered a qualifying health care plan) is in the state constitution. So while he would like the state to authorize local govern-ments to raise the minimum wage, he suspects that authority might be mean-ingless without the amendment. (The constitution says employers will pay a wage “not less than” the minimum. That reads like a constitutional floor, not a con-stitutional ceiling. But I’m not a lawyer.)

Meantime, the prospects of a Nevada city or county pursuing initiatives that would cost public money — providing affordable child care or a Housing First plan for the homeless — are limited by state restrictions on local government’s

ability to tax and spend. It’s not as if the state refuses to grant

local governments any flexibility at all. For instance, cities can subsidize wan-nabe soccer team owners.

We’ll be reminded of that over the next few weeks during the campaign for the April 7 mayoral primary (almost assur-edly there won’t be a general election in June because one candidate will win the primary with more than 50 percent). But attack ads about a non-existent stadium erection should also remind us that local governments across the nation are tak-ing direct actions — as opposed to faith in “pro-growth” policy — to improve their citizenry’s economic well-being, and local governments in Southern Nevada aren’t.

The conventional wisdom is “it can’t be done.”

But Las Cruces? Phoenix? Seriously, Tulsa?

Born to fly.Book now. Reserve your flights to Germany and beyond by visiting

www.condor.com or by calling your local travel agent.

Fly Premium.

More LegrooooooomAdded Extras

Welcome to the Condor Premium Economy Class: Enjoy more legroom,premium entertainment, premium meals and much more.

RENO | TAHOE19

LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN!

ADVERTISEMENT

The smell of the sagebrush in the background is the perfect complement to the sight of Red-Tailed Hawks circling above us as we travel down the trail of rutted dirt and large rocks at times little more than a fast walking pace in a caravan of everything Land Rover. Welcome to another quarterly Land Rover Las Vegas customer “Wheels Event”.

It all started at 8 am on Sunday at the dealership, where invited customers and their families show up for the big day. Once everyone arrives they are greeted by a continental breakfast and gourmet coffee. After check-in followed by a few minutes of a safety discussion and handed a delicious lunch for on the trail later, all drivers were provided two-way radios and we are on our way for the day.The Wheels Events are just one of many things that Land Rover customers experience. Last year, we had a gourmet dinner prepared by a local top chef, and

served on the at the entrance of an active mine with a 180 degree Las Vegas valley view prepared by Chef Fernando of Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse.We also produced a fashion show with models walking adoptable dogs from the Nevada SPCA down a runway for charity right in the showroom, to name just a couple.We are also very active in the community by supporting the local Boy Scouts, Adam’s Place for Grief, Downtown events, and the MS Society to name just a few, and have done so for many years.Land Rover Las Vegas has been here for

over 16 years and are part of the Findlay Automotive Group, a family owned company that has been the Valley over 50 years.The future looks exciting for us as well. We are eagerly anticipating our first all-new small size SUV in nearly 8 years and starting at well under $38,000, the Land Rover Discovery Sport. With the spirit of adventure and a progressive design, it has available room for 7 and can get you safely across Sahara Avenue or across the Sahara Desert. A perfect vehicle to take you anywhere your dreams call you.

Land Rover Las Vegas5255 West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89146 702.579.0400 | www.LRLV.com

Jaguar Land Rover Reno9150 S. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89511 775.332.4000 | www.jlrreno.com

With an all-aluminum body and true Land Rover capability at its heart, the Range Rover delivers incredible off-road performance no matter what the terrain or conditions, with greater wading depth, raised air intake and class-leading departure angles. Range Rover offers an exclusive range of options that allow you to personalize your vehicle. To experience a Range Rover for yourself, visit Land Rover Las Vegas for a test drive today.

PURE INDULGENCE AND REFINEMENT.LAND ROVER:

Jaguar Land Rover Reno9150 S. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89511775.332.4000 www.jlrreno.com

RENO | TAHOE19

LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN!

ADVERTISEMENT

The smell of the sagebrush in the background is the perfect complement to the sight of Red-Tailed Hawks circling above us as we travel down the trail of rutted dirt and large rocks at times little more than a fast walking pace in a caravan of everything Land Rover. Welcome to another quarterly Land Rover Las Vegas customer “Wheels Event”.

It all started at 8 am on Sunday at the dealership, where invited customers and their families show up for the big day. Once everyone arrives they are greeted by a continental breakfast and gourmet coffee. After check-in followed by a few minutes of a safety discussion and handed a delicious lunch for on the trail later, all drivers were provided two-way radios and we are on our way for the day.The Wheels Events are just one of many things that Land Rover customers experience. Last year, we had a gourmet dinner prepared by a local top chef, and

served on the at the entrance of an active mine with a 180 degree Las Vegas valley view prepared by Chef Fernando of Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse.We also produced a fashion show with models walking adoptable dogs from the Nevada SPCA down a runway for charity right in the showroom, to name just a couple.We are also very active in the community by supporting the local Boy Scouts, Adam’s Place for Grief, Downtown events, and the MS Society to name just a few, and have done so for many years.Land Rover Las Vegas has been here for

over 16 years and are part of the Findlay Automotive Group, a family owned company that has been the Valley over 50 years.The future looks exciting for us as well. We are eagerly anticipating our first all-new small size SUV in nearly 8 years and starting at well under $38,000, the Land Rover Discovery Sport. With the spirit of adventure and a progressive design, it has available room for 7 and can get you safely across Sahara Avenue or across the Sahara Desert. A perfect vehicle to take you anywhere your dreams call you.

Land Rover Las Vegas5255 West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89146 702.579.0400 | www.LRLV.com

Jaguar Land Rover Reno9150 S. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89511 775.332.4000 | www.jlrreno.com

34 MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com PhotograPhy brent holmes

Heading north on Las Vegas Bou-levard on her weekly outreach hike, long black curls cascading from beneath her trademark black beanie, homeless advocate Mer-

ideth Spriggs leaves behind the Fremont Street Experience and Downtown Proj-ect’s urban-renewal zone. It’s the Tuesday between Christmas and New Year’s Eve — 363 days since she vowed to work toward ending homelessness in Las Vegas — and the temperature dropped below freezing overnight. Dressed for the cold, and dimin-utive compared to the mostly adult males she encounters on her route, she has pack-ages of socks, hygiene kits, bottled water and emergency blankets tightly folded into pocket-sized plastic bags. Each has a stick-er that reads “Warmest Wishes from City of Las Vegas Ward 3 Councilman Bob Cof-fin — Keep Someone Warm This Winter.”

Just before Bonanza Road, we pass a small pile of decaying matter that Spriggs identifies as discarded food donations. She’s seen fights break out after well-meaning souls drop off food from the safety of their

cars at places where indigents gather. We meet Alonzo, who says he’s 73 and came to Vegas from New York on a Greyhound bus. He’s so disheveled that Spriggs doubts he’s been on a bus anytime recently. The tip of his ring finger is gone and skin peels from the sticky hand he holds out to shake (staph infections are a risk in outreach work, so Spriggs carries anti-bacterial lotion rath-er that avoiding contact). “A pair of socks would help me out,” he says. “I’ve been wearing the same pair for five or six days.”

A lot next to a mostly abandoned strip mall looks like a refugee camp, dotted with tents both manufactured and makeshift, plus sleeping bags and piles of blankets. Spriggs is talking about how she’ll input data from today’s outreach into a Google doc shared with city officials when we come across a Rorschach-like explosion of brown on a wall. “That’s diarrhea from malt liquor,” she says. “They’re basically dehy-drated so when they go, it, like, shoots out.”

Helping bridge the gritty realities of street life with new outreach technology is one way Spriggs is working toward the

goal of a “functional zero” homeless popula-tion in Las Vegas. A vet-eran of San Diego’s war

on homelessness, Spriggs brings a famil-iarity with new supertools and new federal funding to her adopted hometown. She’s able to build coalitions and move between diverse groups, from nightlife executives and government officials to shelter work-ers and unsheltered veterans. She spent 2014 observing Las Vegas’ homeless situ-ation while employed by the Downtown Rangers, getting to know the players. She went to neighborhood meetings, arranged for representatives of advocacy organiza-tions to meet and minimize the doubling of efforts, and managed to find permanent housing for 23 clients. She hopes to do more with her own nonprofit, Caridad — Span-ish for charity — which she started in San Diego but revived last year here. For a city that recently lost one of its most passionate voices for the homeless, the late Linda Le-ra-Randle El, Spriggs couldn’t be surfacing at a better time.

Caridad’s approach includes providing streamlined access to existing resources, services and volunteer training “at the low-est possible cost to taxpayers," and working

A voice on the streetsOn the front lines with homeless advocate Merideth Spriggs B y M at t K e l e Me n

Hat's on: As much

as her ever-present

beanie, homeless

advocate Merideth

Spriggs is known for

her dedication and

upbeat nature.

community

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 35

with the city to identify potential clients among the most frequent homeless users of the jail and hospital systems.

In the vacant lot, Spriggs approaches a tent warily, with a cheery, “Good morning!” As a dog barks inside, a male voice accepts her offer of socks. She gets no answer from a nearby pile of assorted fabrics, but leaves one of Bob’s blankets in case there is a per-son underneath. A man in one cardboard box won’t turn to look as she offers help. She’ll talk with more street people as we circle back toward Fremont Street and the Downtown Rangers’ Seventh Street head-quarters, finding out if they’re veterans or need assistance obtaining identification and copies of birth certificates, before moving on to the next person who might need her help. Socks, for instance. Food is relatively easy to obtain, clean socks not so much.

the hoMeless Whisperer

two weeks later, she’s at the Downtown Rangers’ office across from the El Cor-tez’s parking garage. Before the end

of January, most of the Rangers will be laid off, as will Spriggs. She was brought on 11 months earlier to teach homeless-ness-sensitivity to Downtown Project’s “ambassadors of the downtown Las Vegas community” after meeting DTP prime mover Tony Hsieh on New Year’s Day 2014. It’s a meeting that came after a peri-od of soul-searching for Spriggs, a former aspiring youth pastor who had worked as a homeless advocate in San Diego before moving to Vegas. She woke up that morn-ing with a flash-of-lightning realization: She was ready to rejoin the fight against homelessness. Meeting Hsieh led to em-ployment with the Rangers, and Spriggs began outreach activity in the Downtown Project’s llama-shaped land holdings.

The layoff means Spriggs can now focus full time on Caridad, which she says Down-town Project has offered to help fund with a donation (she estimates Caridad needs annual funding of $185,025, which she is still considerably short of ). On this pre-lay-off morning, she’s wearing the same black beanie, which she first donned in Califor-nia. “The clients in San Diego were always trying to pull it off me. They’re like, ‘What’s your hair look like without the beanie?’ I had one client who always teased me: For full guidelines, contest rules and prizes, visit

desertcompanion.com/photocontest

MAX MOOREGrand Prize Winner 2014

SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE

APRIL 26

Upload your photos today!

OVER $4,250

in prizesprovided by

B & C C A M E RA

C A L L

F O R

E N T R I E S

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com36

community

‘You’re really bald under there, aren’t you?’ … I’m just too lazy to do my hair.”

Spriggs is effervescent as she relates her history, emphasizing her ups with ex-clamations (“Yay!”) and her downs with whispered hushes. The Illinois native first fought homelessness in Kansas City, where she attended Nazarene Theological Seminary and worked as an event planner in nightlife, which first brought her to Ve-gas. She moved to San Diego in 2006 and worked in administration at Point Loma Nazarene University, but lost her job in 2008 at the onset of the recession. Spriggs says she couch-surfed or lived out of her car while trying to hold down jobs in retail and at a coffeehouse. She began spending more time among San Diego’s street den-izens and developed a keen empathy for people at society’s lowest rungs.

“When I was homeless, there’d be times when I’d be sitting out and we’d get five homeless groups, people just driving by their leftovers and everything,” she says, laughing as she recalls the advice she re-ceived from her street peers. “They’re like, ‘Just say, ‘God bless you.’ It makes them feel better. That’s why they’re doing it anyway.’”

She also found out what it was like to barely hold on to street stability, let alone a job at a coffeehouse. “I’d always get park-ing tickets because you can’t always run out and feed the meter, but I had finally gotten a spot in this garage,” she says. “I couldn’t afford (it with) the tips one day, and I actu-ally had to panhandle to get my car out, and that was the most humiliating moment.” Another time she returned to her car at 2 a.m. to find a police officer and a tow truck. “I was like ‘Please don’t take my car. That’s like, my everything, you don’t understand.’ And he said, ‘You have unpaid traffic tick-ets.’ I said, ‘I can’t afford to pay them, please don’t take my car. I can’t afford to work. You’re ruining my life if you take my car.’” The car was towed, and Spriggs was left crying in the street with a dead cell phone.

After a year of being homeless, she was hired by the San Diego Rescue Mission, then worked for a nonprofit, PATH San Diego. Her husband, whom she had mar-ried in July 2011 and who refers to her as “the homeless whisperer,” helped her start Caridad. Her experience in event planning

led to some unorthodox coalition-building.“Once I got going, it was the (nightlife)

industry family that supported me,” she says. “What I discovered was that was an area not tapped into in terms of homeless services. They were good people, really generous spirits that were willing to give and willing to help.”

Spriggs says Caridad raised $5,800 in monetary donations and $50,372 worth of “in-kind donations” — clothing, socks, underwear — for partnering agencies from November 2011 to April 2013 (when she and her husband moved to Las Ve-gas). Caridad’s debut event took place in a nightclub, where church members mingled with agency workers. “I tried to get similar agencies together. ... So all the youth providers, I do an event for them, getting them all in the room and they’re talking, and I’m giving them money but also trying to facilitate community. I did a lot of education. All that is what I’m doing here, too, so I’m excited Downtown Proj-ect’s going to give me that platform, be-cause they’re going to help me get it going here. … I don’t want to reinvent the wheel. I don’t want to be a service-provider. I only want to do outreach and education.”

One of the first advocates she met with in Las Vegas was Jimmy Rolson, client op-erations director for Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada. “I asked him a bunch of questions. He said I was asking questions that were so hard, and were so knowledge-able, that he thought I was a reporter at first,” she says. “‘He said, ‘Oh, you poor girl. She doesn’t know anybody or anything in this town. She’s never gonna make it. She thinks she’s going to make a difference, but we’ll be lucky if we see any more of her.’”

“After I started asking her if she knew certain people in our community that deal with homeless services, she sought all of them out,” Rolson says. “These are not just service-providers but people that make things happen in the community. I started seeing her in meetings and other events and each time she had more and more to do with what is happening in our commu-nity and our clients’ lives. … She did not just

come in when there are a lot of tools to ad-dress the homeless population, but she is playing a big part of solving the homeless issues. She has become a voice that the en-tire community listens to.”

the hoMeless listener

What Spriggs doesn’t want is for her enthusiasm to be interpreted as a sign that she sees herself as

self-appointed savior for the homeless. She wants to help agencies work together. “She’s bringing people to the table,” says Thomas “Chicago” Randle El of outreach organization Straight from the Streets. “And see, the thing is, she knows that she’s got to come to the door, she’s got to kick the door in and have something to talk about. She’s got all that. She’s got something to talk about. Now, ain’t no-body invited her in. She’s made her own way. She’s making her own noise.”

Randle El met Spriggs after the death of his wife, Linda Lera-Randle El. The me-dia-savvy homeless advocate died in Octo-ber 2014 after a long illness, leaving a void that Spriggs is poised to help fill. Chicago Randle El says he allowed himself a day to mourn before he was back on the streets doing outreach. Spriggs accompanied him one night in December to look for a home-less woman in the area around Durango and Rampart, and he was impressed by her determination and street smarts.

“I can’t compare her to Linda because I don’t know her that well,” he says. “But from what I’ve seen in the last month, and what I’ve heard, it’s good things because I’ve seen she’s been shaking them up. (Laughs). She’s on the front lines like me. She’s out. She’s knowing people that I didn’t think she did know. She knows them. That means, to me, that she’s taking time out to listen to them. She’s a listener, too. When you’re dealing with the homeless, you got to listen to their stories. That’s how you read people.”

“We have been working with Merideth and her organization, and we feel she is making a true impact in just a relative-ly short period of time,” says Stephen K. Harsin, director of the City of Las Vegas’

“Now, ain't nobody invited (Merideth) in. She's got something to talk about. She's made her own way. She's making her own noise.”

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 37

Office of Community Services. “Her work is greatly appreciated and invaluable to our efforts on ending homelessness. Me-rideth is one of many examples of how community partnerships can produce meaningful results.”

all the right Moves

the day after our meeting at the Rang-ers’ office, she co-leads a coordinated outreach meeting at the Clark County

Social Services building. It’s the group's second meeting. Twenty-three people rep-resenting the breadth of regional outreach workers, healthcare givers and shelter pro-viders responded to Spriggs’ invitation to discuss issues affecting their work. Getting everyone in one room is sign of progress.

“It takes the local governments, the nonprofit organizations and the private sector, including individuals, all working together,” Harsin says. “We are now see-ing that level of collaboration.”

Again wearing her black beanie, Spriggs asks for success stories at the end of the meeting. Narratives are shared by repre-sentatives of organizations such as Cath-olic Charities, Help of Southern Nevada, Shade Tree, the Veteran’s Administration and WestCare Foundation. They talk of minor triumphs and near misses, of help-ing people get all-important identification papers and birth certificates, of providing transportation for veterans and helping people stranded in Vegas find their way back to family in other states. The 2014 South Nevada Homeless Census reported a “total point-in-time count” of 9,417, and an estimated 36,718 people who experi-enced homelessness during the year. The people gathered in the room are on the front lines of trying to reduce that number. Spriggs encourages their efforts. “Human-izing the homeless” is the big picture for Spriggs, a long process that takes positiv-ity and patience balanced with the ability, as Randle El says, to kick doors down.

“Merideth, to me, she’s bringing some-thing new to the town,” says Randle El. “She’s making the right moves. I just hope other people want to work with her, be-cause we’re two million strong. We can nip this homeless thing in the bud if ev-erybody works together.” Residential only; cannot be used for water restoration services. Must present promo code at time of service. Valid at participating locations only.

Combined living areas, L-shaped rooms and rooms over 300 sq. ft. are considered 2 areas. Baths, halls, large walk-in closets and area rugs are priced separately. Offer not applicable on natural stone flooring. Offer not applicable on certain types of wood flooring. Offer valid for single furnace system only. Additional furnace units will be charged separately. Sectional sofas may not be separated. Sofas over 7 ft. and certain fabrics may

incur additional charges. Offer not applicable to leather furniture. Offer does not include protector. Certain restrictions may apply. Call for details.

BEYOND CARPET CLEANINGCARPET | TILE & GROUT | HARDWOOD | UPHOLSTERY1-800-STEEMER® | stanleysteemer.com

Minimum charges apply. Must present coupon at time of service. Not valid with any other offer or coupon.Certain restrictions may apply. Call for details.

Cleaning Completed By 5/31/15 Promo Code: MAR1asthma & allergy friendly™ Certification applies to Carpet Cleaning service only.

ANY SERVICE SPECIAL

$40OFF

ORDERS OF $150 OR MORE

38 MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com PhotograPhy brent holmes & Christopher smith

Exploration pEakMountain’s EdgE

This urban trail has a little something for everyoneThis urban trail has everything: a park with an open, grassy field next to a hill of primitive rock and dirt. In between are restrooms, play areas, winding sidewalks and covered picnic tables. Although the hillside trail is less than half a mile long, it quickly ascends 600 feet, making it a heart-pounder. And because of the natural surface and loop that winds up to the peak and back down — and around and up again, for the hardier among us — it makes a great training circuit for trail-runners. Those more into flat surfaces can hang out at the park, which has its own circular, paved walking path. The entire spot is very dog- and kid-friendly, too. (1.2 miles, 30 minutes)

■ treasure hunt

The top of Exploration Peak is a selfis-ta’s dream, with 360-degree views of the Las Vegas Strip, Red Rock, Sloan Canyon and Lake Mead. A flat, circu-lar structure ringed with a wide bench provides the perfect place to set up a tripod and strike a pose.

■ GettinG there

9600 S. Buffalo Drive, at the entry-way to Mountain’s Edge. Numerous bike and walking paths lead to the top. Heidi Kyser

ardEn pEakanthEM

Tune in to broadcast viewsThe views from atop Black Mountain are hard to beat, which is part of the reason the trail is so popular. But Black Mountain

has a little brother next door who sold his soul to TV and radio: Arden Peak. Arden has nearly identical views of Las Vegas and Henderson, and gets only a fraction of the visitation, meaning trekkers can snatch some ever-fleeting solitude with their grandeur. And it’s a mile shorter to boot! Tip: Stay clear of the broadcast towers to avoid growing any extra limbs. (5.5 miles, 3 hours)

■ Treasure hunT

Hike this trail in the early morning to spot coyotes returning from the hunt on nearby golf courses to their dens hidden in the desert.

Nature right Next doorFind a walk to remember among these nine great hikes in your own backyard

outdoors

Above::

View from

Exploration

Peak; below:

Arden Peak

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 39

■ GettinG there

Anthem East Trailhead, Shadow Canyon Drive near Lewiston Place. Follow the main Anthem East Trail (well marked on Google Maps) and turn right onto the “Service Road” to Arden Peak. Alan Gegax

lakE las VEgas oVErlookLakE Las VEgas

Get some alone time (and taste the rainbow)Keep the views all to yourself along this beautifully built and almost complete-ly unused trail that climbs to a pair of peaks between Lake Las Vegas and Henderson. The trail is well-defined but poorly marked, which is part of the reason it’s managed to stay something of a local’s secret. The peaks have great views of Las Vegas and Lake Mead, and to the north, the panorama opens up with a shocking palette of colors in the aptly named Rainbow Gardens. Bring a book, relax, and soak in the views. You won’t be interrupted. (4 miles, 2 hours)

■ treasure hunt

About halfway up the hillside, a trail drops to the right (north) and heads for a huge alcove created by an al-most-always-dry waterfall. It makes an excellent detour, and leads to an alternate route back to the park.

■ GettinG there

Take Lake Las Vegas Parkway to Terrazza Park. The trail starts west along Las Vegas Wash, crosses a bridge, then goes north into the hills. AG

lonE MountainnorthEast Las VEgas

Put the “out” in your evening workoutThe perfect length for an after-work jaunt, with unobstructed views of the Vegas Valley, Lone Mountain is almost literally a backyard hike for residents of the northwest. The trail starts at Lone Mountain Park and meanders around

FIND A SAMMY’S IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

sammyspizza.comR

R

Bite into gluten-free satisfactionThis guilt-free grain will satiate your appetite for something comforting and delicious. With our patrons’ health in mind, we have adapted our menu to reflect their preferences.

RED QUINOA SALAD WILD ARUGULA, GOLDEN BEETSCITRUS CHILI VINAIGRETTE

Give Your Child Every AdvantageWe’ll challenge and inspire your child in a caring environment with programs that have successfully educated thousands of children in Las Vegas for more than fifty years.

3275 Red Rock St. • 702-362-1180 • LVDS.com

Kinderschool,Elementary &Middle School

Advanced Innovative CurriculumState-of-the-Art

Computer TechnologySpanishMusic

Competitive SportsEExtra Curricular Activities

State LicensedAdvancED National Accreditation

Call for Admissions

Information & Campus Tour

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com40

the mountain to the west side. Then the trail gets steep. Really steep. In less than half a mile, hikers ascend 600 feet to the limestone peak with panoramic views of the Las Vegas Valley. Don’t worry, there is rest for the weary on Lone Mountain in the form of benches about halfway up. Sit for a spell before making the final push to the summit. (2 miles, 1.5 hours)

■ treasure hunt

The limestone rocks that compose Lone Mountain are rich in fossils. Keep an eye out for fossilized corals, shells, and plants. As an added bonus, spot-ting a fossil is a great excuse to stop and catch your breath.

■ GettinG there

Lone Mountain Park, 9825 W. Lone Mountain Road, Las Vegas AG

CaliCo Hills trailrEd rock canyon nationaL consErVa-tion arEa

Get up close and per-sonal with our iconic landscapeThis is the prettiest place in Southern Nevada, if not on Earth — which, along with the abundance of scramble-friendly Aztec sandstone, makes it uber-popular, particularly among tourists and rock climbers. You may have to fight crowds along the most heavily trafficked sec-tions of the trail, but the rest of the route makes it worth the wait. You can’t get any closer than this to the rare beauty of Nevada’s red-white-and-pink-striped landscape. Although this is a moderate, well-marked trail, it’s all-natural — no paving or grading here. So, make sure to take proper hiking shoes and plenty of

water, and be prepared to sit for a spell as you roll up and down the path along the base of the mountain. (2-6 miles, 30 minutes-3 hours)

■ Treasure hunT

If you’re there to give rock climbing, bouldering or scrambling a try, watch where you put your fingers and toes. Scorpions, snakes and other beasties are known to slumber in the sand-stone’s crevices. Also note that after a rain, climbing is prohibited until two days later, as moisture makes the rock breakable.

MARCH 2015 DeserTCompanion.Com40

outdoors

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 41

■ GettinG there

Take Charleston Boulevard/State Route 159 west to Red Rock and turn right onto either Calico Basin Road or Scenic Loop Drive. The trail’s opposite ends, Calico Basin and Sandstone Quarry, are found respectively at the parking lot at the west end of Calico Basin Road and the second parking lot on the right side of Scenic Loop Drive. HK

stonEHEngErsonhEndErson

Embrace the mystery with a hike back in TIME Time time time …Hike back to the Neolithic within a stone’s throw of Henderson. In the un-assuming foothills of the River Moun-tains can be found an ever-growing number of “henges” people have built along the canyon walls and ridgelines. Lava rock monuments dot the hillsides, varying widely in size and intricacy. Who really put up these henges? It’s a mystery that will be left to future archaeologists, who will undoubtedly ascribe profound meaning and celestial alignments to the handiwork of creative Hendersonians. (3 miles, 2 hours)

■ treasure hunt

The whole hike is a treasure hunt, but as an added bonus, keep an eye out for the bighorn sheep that fre-quent this area and make their beds on the shaded hillsides.

■ GettinG there

Parallel park on Foothills Drive near Stirrup Drive, take the trail due east across the River Mountain Trail, cross under the power line towers and head into the canyon. AG

sEVEn Hills trailanthEM

A sneaker-friendly brisk walk — strollers and pooches welcome Like a chain connecting three stones on a necklace, the Seven Hills Trail links Allegro, Vivaldi and Sonata Parks into a gem of an outing. This urban path is

paved in concrete, so it’s not ideal for running, but its wide berth and smooth surface make it popular among casual bi-cyclists, dog-walkers and stroller-push-ers. It winds between the west-most housing developments of Anthem and the adjacent undeveloped land around the executive airport, alternating urban and wild-ish views, green spaces and xeriscaping. Truly tailored to the city hiker, Seven Hills Trail includes parking lots, restrooms, covered picnic tables and abundant pet waste bag dispenser/disposal stations. (3 miles, 1 hour)

■ treasure hunt

Get a brisk start for the little dips and climbs between Allegro and Vivaldi, which, if taken at a decent clip, can really get the heart racing.

■ GettinG there

Go south on Seven Hills Drive off St.

MARCH 2015 DeserTCompanion.Com 41

Clockwise from

opposite page: Calico

Hills, Seven Hills

Trail, Lone Mountain,

Stonehengerson,

Lake Las Vegas

Overlook

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com42

outdoors

Programs Offered• Infant• Toddler• Preschool• Elementary• Extended Care• Summer Program

• Daily family Connections activities• Student inspired project-based learning• Indoor/outdoor classroom environments• Artist-in-residency program• Healthy lunch & snacks

Features

310 S 9th Street, Las Vegas, NV 891019thBridgeSchool.com | 702.724.1436

Now Enrolling Entrepreneurs and Creators

Attendees receive waived application fees.

Join us for our Open HouseMar 26th at 4 pm.

Rose Parkway to Allegro Park, just south of Sunridge Heights Parkway, between Wolff Elementary School and Robert Realty (it’s a little hard to see the entrance from the street, but it’s there behind the office building). The trail heads south from Allegro to Vivaldi and then Sonata Parks. HK

sloan radio towErsouthErn highLands

A free 'room' with a priceless viewRooms at the M Resort with views of the city come at a hefty price. Look down on those suckers for the low, low price of FREE with a cross-country hike to Sloan Radio Tower. The hike mainly follows old service roads across the desert. Hiking south, the Southern Highlands Golf Club will fade away to the left, while surprisingly active train tracks creep in on the right. The eponymous broadcast towers are visible throughout the hike. As

the trail edges ever nearer the tracks, look for — and climb — the road that zigzags its way to the top of the moun-tain. (6 miles, 3 hours)

■ treasure

hunt

Trains! Oc-casional runs of lengthy freight trains provide a nice distraction during the hike, and make the hike really fun for kids who rarely see trains in action any more.

■ GettinG there

Find a legal parking spot on Starr Hills Avenue near Dahlia Grove

Street, then walk south on the dirt road, passing the detention basin, to get on the trail. AG

Bluffs trailLakE MEad wash

A perfect vista over man-made wetlands. Rock on!This narrow, well-marked path winds leisurely around the edge of the Las Vegas Wash inlet to Lake Mead. From the path beginning at the Lake Mead campground, the plants and animals of this popular birding spot are plenty, so bring those fancy binoculars. The faint roar of water from the valley below is so soothing you won’t even remember the $5 park access fee. (0.9 miles, 1 hour)

■ Treasure hunT

Rockhounds, rejoice. You’ll come across countless textbook geological formations and an amazing array of stones.

■ GettinG there

Take Lake Mead Parkway to the national recreation area to camp-ground site 724. Brent Holmes

MARCH 2015 DeserTCompanion.Com42

Above: Sloan Radio

Tower trail; at right:

Bluffs Trail

DON’T TOUCHElectricity is part of our daily lives, but it can be dangerous. Our folks are the experts. So, please keep off and don’t touch electrical equipment don’t climb power poles or substation fences or sit on transformers. The best way to stay safe is to stay away.

CALL BEFORE YOU DIGA shovel hitting an underground power line can be as dangerous as contacting an overhead line. Spring is coming, so when planting trees, digging holes for fence posts, installing underground sprinklers or other projects, please play it safe. Call Before You Dig to have utility lines marked at no cost to you.

OUTAGE MAPSign up for outage notifications through MyAccount. Then you’ll know what’s going on if Mother Nature turns things off.

CAR POLESome lines just aren’t worth crossing. If a power line falls across your vehicle, stay in the car and wait for emergency personnel. If you see a downed line, warn others and stay away. A downed line may still be energized.

nvenergy.com

We’re putting all of our energy into your energy.

Safe, not sorry.

http://www.unlvino.com

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 45

The Dish 46

eaT This now 49

aT firsT biTe 50

Ou r c i t y ' s be st sp Ot s tO e at & drin k

PhoTograPhy Sabin Orr

03 15

Glass it up:

Inside Bardot

Brasserie

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com46

Dining out

Rounding a corner at Jones and Robindale, I spy Sporting Life Bar for the first time. With colorful signage incorporating a football, baseball, hockey puck, etc., it strikes me as, eh, semi-interesting looking. But, really, it could be any of a dozen other locals-oriented Las Vegas sports-themed watering holes at this point. Entering Sporting Life, however, I soon get the notion

that this might be a step up in the world of sports bars. The bartops and tables boast abundant, rich wood tones. There’s a minimum of cheesy flashing beer logo lights. The walls showcase classy vintage poster reproductions.

Then I order the most prosaic, stereotypical sports bar menu item in history: chick-en wings. My plate arrives — complete with obligatory celery and carrot sticks — and I can tell these substantial wings did not plop out of some frozen bag willy-nilly into a deep fryer. They’re whole wings, not separated, and they’ve been cured with green salt (that is, salt mixed with fresh herbs), cooked confit-style to succulent tenderness and accompanied by a house-made Asian chili glaze. I bite in.

Goooaaal! My taste buds get sacked by a full-court press courtesy of Chef Daniel Dalton, the head coach behind Sporting Life’s impressive and adventurous culinary game plan. Mixed metaphors aside, Sporting Life’s menu is almost like a trick play. It follows the basic playbook of your standard mid-level sports bar, but then comes out of left field with gourmet spins on standards from appetizers and sandwiches to flatbreads and entrées.

Out Of left fieldIf your idea of bar food is uninspired chicken wings and fries, The Sporting Life brings some friendly gourmet competition B y G re G Thil m o n T

Game on: Sporting

Life serves upscale

bar food such as

duck breast, pastry

dough gnocchi and

saffron mussels.

The diSh

PhoTograPhy Sabin Orr

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 47

PromotionalOpportunities

Upcoming Events Desert Companion on Tour with Norm Schilling March 14 at 9:30am Star Nursery Open to the public

Nevada Public Radio Recycle Event April 25 at 8AM Nevada Public Radio Parking Lot Open to the public

Focus on Nevada Photo Showcase & Award Presentation May 28 at 6PM 5th Street School RSVP Required

More information at desertcompanion.com

Beyond Vegas May 2015 The Travel Issue

Viva La ‘Rita Margarita Promotion 2015

Medical & Dental Profiles August 2015: Health & Medicine Issue

Contact Christine Kiely for more information at 702.259.7813

You can thank Dalton’s culinary condi-tioning for that. A New Jersey boy whose parents owned a tavern, he went on to study at New York City’s French Culinary Institute (now the International Culi-nary Center). Like a free agent, he ven-tured through fine dining kitchens from Manhattan to Jamaica to Aspen, Colora-do, and Grand Teton National Park. A few years back, he landed here in Southern Nevada as a sous chef at Bouchon, where he was suffused in the Thomas Keller méthode. Now he’s transferred the in-tensity and passion of Bouchon to a more casual kitchen setting.

“I’m keeping that awesome standard,” Dalton says, using the example of an ev-eryday kitchen staple to show the care he brings to the kitchen. “This isn’t just a head of lettuce, it’s a beautiful, living piece of lettuce that someone cared for. … Everything I’m doing is from scratch. We’re doing the right thing at all times.” Even the décor follows that principle: The large, U-shaped central bar is fash-ioned from recycled Honduran mahoga-ny that once was the basketball court of the downtown Los Angeles YMCA. Var-ious tables in the tavern are constructed of reclaimed lumber from sources in-cluding a century-old Pennsylvania barn and a Northern California water tower.

Devilishly GooD

In the appetizers department, Dalton de-livers standards like nachos, but these hearty dippers are topped with proteins

such as beef asada or pork chile verde. The tongue-in-cheek “Skins and Balls” are rich chicken croquettes riddled with smoked gouda, bacon and green onion. Other fried items include pork skins and pig ears with cayenne honey and pickle chips with roasted red pepper sauce. And even though deviled eggs might cynically be seen as the new truffle fries — a trendy thing served way too many times too at way too many places — Dalton’s version deserve all the raves they get. They come in the classic form of egg white cradles filled elegant-ly with celery and cornich-on-laced yolk farce. For a topping, Dalton goes beyond

a mere dash or two of traditional paprika.“I’m using fried capers for texture and

seasoning,” Dalton says of the crispy, salty garnish that brings the snacks together.

The small plates menu starts with pork belly, as well it should. Dalton’s take on this midriff cut is a meaty, fatty baton of cider-bathed pig over creamy polenta. Again, polenta … sports bar. This place stands out in the saloon league. Other choices include a big bowl of saffron-scent-ed mussels, crab cakes with piquillo purée and mac ’n’ cheese with Tenaya Creek brown ale (a local brewery that Dalton fea-tures in numerous recipes).

Salads are in the sweet spot at Sport-ing Life. The house dressing is a piquant toasted cumin-sherry invention of Dal-ton’s, which lends a slight Spanish/Mexican flavor to the vinaigrette. The kale salad is not hip, it’s just plain good. Multi-hued flowering Brassica oleracea comes with poached egg and bacon lar-dons in a warm bacon vinaigrette. Curi-ously, this double-pig dish is not overly porky, with the lemony dressing and egg yolk toning down the meaty quotient.

The main evenT

The flatbread board, in keeping with the rest of the menu, ups ordinary tavern pizza’s game. Dalton’s grilled,

crispy dough planks keep things in the Italian-American zone with a Margher-ita (fresh mozzarella, basil, garlic confit, roma tomatoes and marinara sauce). And then there’s the duck confit flatbread (this place is confit crazy), which offers sumptuous shredded meat with sweet Medjool dates, creamy but tart goat cheese and mostarda, a savory dried fruit condiment with origins in medieval Italy.

In the sandwich corner, a sure con-tender is the bistro steak sandwich. But this is no scraggly 19th-hole clubhouse version of beef on bread. Dalton’s take involves sliced teres major, a tender sec-tion of the shoulder region, with tangy bearnaise-aioli, fragrant fresh arugula

and crunchy fried shallots on fresh ciabatta. A short rib Philly is stacked with peppers and onion, and the Reuben’s pastrami is

Sporting Life Bar7770 S. Jones Blvd.702-331-4647sportinglifebar.comOpen 24 hours

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com48

Dining out

corned and smoked in-house.Main event entrées reintroduce Sport-

ing Life’s all stars: beef bistro filet, beef short ribs and duck breast. Fresh off the bench are roasted Idaho trout and a wel-come take on gnocchi. Instead of pota-to bombs, Dalton’s dumplings are pâte à choux morsels that are like resilient pan-browned soufflés. As far as daily specials,

Dalton’s chalkboard can dis-play zingers like Peking duck, roast lamb or head cheese. It’s unpredict-able in the best sense.

The bar program is respectable, with nearly three dozen craft beers on tap, in-cluding Tenaya Creek, Henderson’s Jo-seph James, San Diego’s Green Flash and a number of European entries. Of note is

Czechvar, one of the ur-beers from the Czech Republic, which some call the “orig-inal Budweiser.” (And of course, there’s Bud Light.) This is a sports bar, after all. And the $5 Dark & Stormy (Gosling’s dark rum and ginger beer) has got to be one of Vegas’ best non-happy hour deals.

As a slight caveat for walk-ins: Note that it is a bar, and this is Nevada. So it’s a 21-and-up establishment, with gaming and ashtrays. On the ashtray subject, though, the bar is outfitted with a robust ventilation system, and it’s not a smoky dive at all. And as a bonus, Sporting Life is an all-comers, all-sports, all-teams kind of place. It’s not dedicated to one city, as so many dicier, more insular sports bars can be. Game on, indeed.

may we recommend ...DevileD eggsAre you over deviled eggs yet? Oh

no you’re not. The Sporting Life’s

version are rich with a bonus kick,

as the cornichon-rich yolk filling

is spiked with a generous dose of

paprika. Great as an appetizer, they

also do double duty as a light lunch.

“skins anD balls”Limp mozzarella sticks may be a

time-honored game-time finger food,

but graduate to The Sporting Life’s

“Skins and balls” and you won’t look

back. These crispy, savory chicken cro-

quettes stuffed with gouda, bacon and

green onion present a new standard

for bar food — like so many of the

menu items at The Sporting Life. gT

Play ball: Sporting

Life's "Skins and

Balls" features

stuffed chicken

croquettes.

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 49

arepa Benny at Makers & Finders coffee1120 S. Main St. # 110, 702-586-8255, makersandfinderslv.com

It’s difficult to improve on eggs Benedict with its seemingly perfect blend

of salty, chewy, and tangy that always equals satisfied. Brunch novelties on

the classic usually involve trying to elevate the palate of Benny lovers by

substituting Canadian bacon with crab and asparagus and the like. While

these cloth-napkin varieties are delicious in their own right, the heartiness of

the original seems to linger longer in your stomach and in your memory. Fi-

nally, someone’s gone the right way, though: the way of filling Latin comfort

food. Makers & Finders’ Arepa Benny uses the thick Venezuelan corn cake,

the arepa, in place of the measly English muffin, and layers coffee-rubbed

shredded beef, vine-ripened tomatoes and golden poached eggs, topping

it all off with salsa verde hollandaise sauce, salt and pepper, and freshly

chopped cilantro. This is how you do gluten-free, people. Molly o’Donnell

Duck confit cinnamon roll at comme ÇaThe Cosmopolitan, 702-698-7910, commecarestaurant.com/las-vegas

Few dishes both stimulate the senses and satisfy cravings like those

at Comme Ça. Case in point: the duck confit cinnamon roll. Flaky pas-

try twisted around cinnamon and rich, savory duck confit is just the

launching point for this dish. In addition to the roll, you also have a

duck fat, maple and smoked bacon frosting and huckleberry jam to

smother it in. No wonder this beautiful but decadent dish is the star

of an already legendary weekend brunch menu. Mitchell wilburn

hOT PLaTe

eat this nOw!

ag

ua

ch

ile

ve

rD

e:

ch

ris

To

Ph

er

sM

iTh

Upcoming foodie events you don’t want to miss

March Madness at lagasse’s stadiuMThrouGh MarchHungry for some basketball-season

eats? In honor of March Madness,

Lagasse’s Stadium will be serving a

special menu through March. Menu

items include a tomahawk bone-in

32-ounce ribeye served with mashed

potatoes; a surf ’n’ turf plate with

tomahawk bone-in 32-ounce ribeye

with grilled shrimp with garlic herb

butter and mashed potatoes; chilled

Alaskan crab legs with clarified butter

and Lagasse’s Kick Up cocktail

sauce, and fresh shucked oysters.

In the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. 702-607-2665, venetian.com

farM table dinner at hOney saltMarch 16Celebrating friends, community

and good food around a commu-

nal dining table, this month’s Farm

Table dinner features an Irish theme

in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Expect

Irish classics given a popular twist,

with such dishes as shaved corned

beef and horseradish, beet salad,

braised lamb shanks and oatmeal

cream pudding. In addition, each

Irish-inspired course is paired with

a classic Irish beverage, including

Jameson, Guinness and, of course,

Baileys Irish Coffee. $45. 702-445-6100. honeysalt.com

Vegas uncOrk’d by bOn appétitaPril 23-26Now in its ninth year, Vegas Uncork’d

by Bon Appétit, a celebration of

wine and spirits, returns to ARIA,

Bellagio, Caesars Palace and MGM

Grand, featuring a roster of tast-

ings, demonstrations and meet-

and-greets. A few of the headlin-

ers include chefs Jean-Georges

Vongerichten, Gordon Ramsay,

Julian Serrano, François Payard,

Masa Takayama, Michael Mina, and

Guy Savoy. Highlight events include

a Master Series brunch with Border

Grill’s Mary Sue Milliken and Susan

Feniger, a farm-to-table party at

Sage, and, of course, the center-

piece, the Grand Tasting at Caesars

Palace. Ticket prices TBA. vegasuncorkd.com

On The PLaTe

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com50

We appear to be approaching a Goldilocks moment in our local dining scene. From the gold-leaf and truffle-topped porridge devoured during

our city’s boom to the bacon-wrapped and deep-fried versions made popular during the bust, it’s been a while since anyone has paid any mind to the classics. Whatever happened to a solid meal, mi-nus the pretense or gimmicks?

Thankfully, there are chefs moving toward a middle ground. Michael Mina is the perfect example. In 2013, after shuttering his acclaimed Nobhill Tavern, as well as his more casual property Se-ablue, at MGM Grand, he unveiled Pub 1842 — a laid-back man cave of a restau-rant where a peanut butter-and-bacon burger generated the most buzz. It’s a fine plate of calories indeed, but hardly the best expression of Mina’s talents as a chef and restaurateur.

Bardot Brasserie, now open inside Aria, is a step back in the right direction. For $3 million in renovations, every trace of its former incarnation (Mina’s Ameri-can Fish) was wiped clean. The new vibe is decidedly Parisian. Glossy, dark lac-quered walls, marble accents, and dim lighting oozes sex appeal, and a bustling bar — which glows softly from very de rigueur polished brass fixtures — is a dream first-date destination.

With names like the Vol-taire (vodka, housemade ginger

syrup, Eric Bordelet sidre, baked apple bitters) and Charlemagne (Brenne single malt whisky, Tempus Fugit kina, Cham-bord, pineapple), cocktails are cerebral as well as seductive. However, my table opt-ed for wines by the glass ($11-$32), which our server — a Frenchman named Thier-ry, bien sûr — competently presented and poured without a trace of snootiness.

Mina was present on my visit, but credit is ultimately due to Executive Chef Joshua Smith. It’s no surprise to learn that he’s a veteran of Seablue and Estiatorio Milos after sampling his blue crab crepe; it’s the best of the three starters we tried. A buckwheat envelope, filled with generous amounts of crab meat and wood ear mushrooms, is given a tableside bath of buerre blanc before the diner is instructed to dive-bomb her fork into a raw egg yolk in the center.

This being a French experience, the yolks just keep on coming. A well-seasoned prime steak tartare arrives with its own wobbling sphere of organic orange cholesterol, and wood-grilled “duck a l’orange” — Bardot’s ver-

sion of Buffalo wings — is served with an ethereal sauce Maltaise, or orange-in-fused Hollandaise. Both are good but not particularly memorable. Perhaps I just had egg fatigue. For something more ap-proachable, there is always the French onion soup, but that comes with a gently poached egg, too.

I found respite in my entrée. Parisian gnocchi, made with semolina instead of potatoes, is a visual stunner: the dump-lings, seared on the surface and bearing

DInIng ouT

PhoTograPhy Sabin Orr

Bardot BraSSerieAria hotel-casino 702-590-8638, michaelmina.net

hOUrS Daily 5-10:30p

French twists: Left,

Bardot's prime steak

tartare; below, crab

crepe with wood ear

mushrooms; opposite,

Parisian gnocchi

aT FirST biTe

feeding les MassesMichael Mina goes mainstream at his new Parisian concept, Bardot Brasserie — but these dishes please without pandering B y D e BBie l e e

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 51

SIX INSPIRING

RESTAURANTS.

ONE EXCEPTIONAL

INGREDIENT.

SPAGO american | the forum shopsCUT steak | the palazzo POSTRIO american | the venetian LUPO italian | mandalay bay WOLFGANG PUCK BAR & GRILL american | mgm grand WOLFGANG PUCK PIZZERIA & CUCINA italian | the shops at crystals

W O L F G A N G P U C K .C O M

a faint resemblance to bay scallops, are carefully arranged with hand-trimmed celery, earthy wild mushrooms, and fresh goat cheese. Again, a server naps your plate with sauce — this time made with roasted garlic and cream. It’s like a walk in the woods on your plate.

An order of sautéed skate wing stood in sharp contrast. Did it come from the same kitchen? Served on a puddle of cauliflower puree with a few shards of kale on the side, it was uninspired. There were also bones still in the flesh.

Whales, ballers and hardcore Fran-cophiles can splurge on traditional côte de bœuf or lobster Thermidor for two; for those who are satisfied with sim-pler pleasures, there is “Le Steakburg-er.” Ain’t no Skippy on this patty: Comté cheese, garlic aioli and Bordelaise on-ions give it a French slant. Supplement the hand-cut fries with a separate order of chickpea frites, or panisse, to take it over the top. Smoky eggplant dip, sweet pickled peppers and bright pistou make a great improvised substitute for the usual burger condiments.

Desserts are an unfussy finish to the meal. Of the five French classics on of-fer, we enjoyed a caramelized tarte tatin, deeply flavorful and large enough for two. But a starkly presented mille feuille, constructed only of puff pastry wafers and crème patissiere, is a must-experi-ence exercise in minimalism. The deli-cate flavor of rum, paired with the con-trast of crunchy and creamy textures, was a memorable finish —neither high-falutin nor lowbrow, but just right.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com52

roCk Climbers arounD the worlD floCk to southern nevaDa for its legenDary Climbing. many settle here to pursue a life among the roCks — a life of hunger, Danger anD eCstasy

p ho to g r ap hy b y A A R O N M AY E S

s to r y b y H E i d i K Y S E R

Think back to the first time you went all the way west of town, to where Charleston

Boulevard disappears into State Route 159, city giving way to wilderness, and you saw the rusty cliffs of Red Rock rising 3,000 feet over the vast expanse of beige scrub. To you, to me, to most of us, the curiosity about striped hills was probably satisfied motoring nearby, or maybe strolling casually into, the canyons; mostly, we take in the splendor at camera’s-length. From time to time, we may put a hand on a wall to sample its texture or secure our footing as we ascend a slot, mindful of the teetering stones under our feet. Eventually, though, we take the geology for granted. It becomes scenery for a tourist trip around the loop, backdrop to a musical at Spring Mountain Ranch.

But we’re not rock climbers. To these tribal adventurers, the Aztec

sandstone of Red Rock is rare magic. Its densely compressed flanks are mounds of sediment heaved up from the primordial sea, sculpted by shifting winds and cemented over hundreds of millions of years. Red Rock’s many faces are distinguished by features climbers crave: gritty bumps and knobs good for hanging or tiptoeing onto; jutting overhangs called “roofs” that offer an inverted, gymnastic

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 53

T

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com54

CiRClE Of fRiENdSVegas wasn’t Joanne Urioste’s idea. In 1974, having just finished her bachelor’s degree in life science at Cornell, she

married her rock-climbing mentor, Jorge Urioste, a Bolivian Jesuit linguist 15 years her senior, and followed him to a job offer he’d gotten at UNLV. Joanne’s one condition for the move: They had to go someplace with hills.

She smiles remembering the first time she and Jorge drove out to Red Rock. “We expected it to be much smaller than it really is. We thought it was just a pile of rubble. As we saw the profile of Rainbow Mountain — the solar slab, from base to top is more than 1,500 feet of rock, and

then it breaks up a little bit and goes to the summit — we were amazed. It looked like a slab you could run up.”

In their enthusiasm, the pair broke out across a field and into a gully of scrub oak under the midday June sun. At the base of the formidable wall, drenched in sweat, legs covered in bloody scratches, the pale, soft-skinned 22-year-old realized how unprepared she was for the desert. Like many transplants from moister climates, Joanne Urioste initially disliked the parched, prickly Mojave landscape. But the sandstone eventually won her over. In her seminal story about Red Rock climbing for a 2009 edition of Alpinist magazine, she reflected on the gradual process of getting hooked on the “flying buttresses” of this “vertical wilderness”: “Shady walls gave us refuge from the summer heat. The

I was on Mt. Wilson, the highest in Red Rock, climbing a route called Gwondonnaland Boogie. That’s a really long route — I want to say 25 pitches (vertical sections a rope’s length in distance). I was leading the top pitch. We’d done a lot of climbing under a lot of pressure, going very fast, pushing ourselves to do it in one day. I was taking the last pitch, because it was my turn to lead. I looked up and saw a corner, and it appeared to get steep and blank out. It looked ominous and menacing, but I went up anyway. I went up to the corner, and where it started to peter out, the whole thing became rotten. And a person-sized piece of rotten rock started to tip off the corner. It might have only moved a millimeter, and when I touched it, it stabilized, but I knew it was just beginning to teeter, and that it would drop down and chop my rope and kill my belayer (climbing partner who controls the rope while another climbs). Then, all of a sudden the climbing became 5.10 — tiny little hand-holds. So, I was facing a death fall. On rotten rock.

And I just went, “Pop!” into an altered state. It was as if I was being guided by someone who was not me. I just floated across the rock, and then I got onto easier ground, established a belay at a tree and went into the most amazing euphoria of my life. (laughs) No, I can’t say, “my life,” because there have been other moments — like childbirth — but this was amazing. It seemed I wasn’t me anymore. It was as if something else was guiding my body, because it wasn’t shaking. I wasn’t afraid.

– Joanne urioste, granD Dame of reD roCk

EupHORiAchallenge; infinite vertical cracks of varying widths, from narrow enough for cramming, twisting and locking fingers into, to wide enough for shimmying up like a chimney sweep. Even better, over time, the whipping rain and snow lightly shellacked the tall, north-facing crags, turning them into dark, softly dimpled hands that reach down from the heavens, an open invitation skyward to anyone who can bushwhack his way through the sand and mesquite and find the seams between fingers, where the journey begins.

We laypeople barely scratch the surface of Red Rock. Its 10 west-east canyons hold a wonderland of formations to ascend. More than a thousand rock-climbing routes have been logged there over the last four decades, and a thousand more probably remain to be discovered. Generations of colorful pioneers have documented their first ascents, attracting ever-bigger waves of climbers to scour the sandstone in search of a virgin wall.

You may have seen these cliff-clinging acrobats while wandering the Calico hills. They sprawl on the escarpment, gecko-like, or hold the lifesaving rope below, craning their necks and shouting skyward in a dialect all their own. “On belay!” “Nice dyno!” We paint them with simplistic labels — hippie, rebel, adrenaline junkie — and stick to our path, passing them by like a pack of coyotes, a little too wild to be trusted.

Rock climbers are, indeed, a breed apart. And within their ranks are sects and subspecies distinguished by convictions and techniques that have as much to tell us about humans’ relationship with nature as any philosophy book. Nothing could be more different from your average couch potato than a rock climber; yet, enter their world, and you find nothing could be more different from the monastic trad climber, who patiently wedges protective gear into and out of cracks, than the shirtless, techno-blaring sport climber, who works out in a gym to train for a route, or the fun-loving boulderer, who ditches gear altogether to grapple with the rocks bare-handed. And between these personalities are endless variations that, nevertheless, have one thing in common: a climber is never as alive as he is on the rocks, and that life is one of danger, hunger and ecstasy.

V

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 55

sun warmed frozen fingers in wintertime. Quite simple, once you got the hang of it. Complex approaches, route finding and descents felt almost alpine at times. And the climbing here was just so good: sustained and airy, requiring problem-solving at every move and every moment.”

When the she arrived, the rock climbing scene was still in its infancy. Passers-through stumbled on it almost by accident, and resident climbers such as Joe Herbst and John Williamson were few and far between. The Uriostes, curious intellectuals who loved to entertain, embraced route development as a way to make their home city more inviting to other like-minded folks. When a climber charts a vertical path and makes the first ascent, he gets naming rights; optionally, he may place permanent anchors for protective gear along the way to make the route accessible to future climbers (a practice that’s been the source of disagreement throughout rock climbing’s history). Joanne Urioste remembers little frogs croaking at the bottom of Black Velvet Canyon where she dubbed the 770-foot climb Frogland

in 1978. Six years later — and four months pregnant — she made the first ascent of Prince of Darkness, so named not only for its flat, black surface, but also because it was the site of conflict, right next to Rock Warrior, a climb developed by rivals who believed that installing too much protection opened up their hills to debutantes.

Philosophical disagreements notwith-standing, the work of prolific route-setters — from the Uriostes in the ’70s and ’80s to Tom Moulin, Chad Umbel and Ben Williams in the 2000s — has made Las Vegas what it is: the top — some say only — U.S. metropolitan area with high-quality rock-climbing a half-hour’s drive from Downtown. Everyone interviewed for this story except the natives moved

here because of the proximity of Red Rock, as well as Mount Charleston, Mount Potosi and the crags of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah.

“The first time I came to Las Vegas, it was for a winter sports show. I stayed on the Strip, and I wasn’t impressed,” says Stephanie Forte, a PR and marketing executive who has lived here since 1998. “Then, I came to Vegas for a (Grateful)

Dead concert, and during that trip, I saw Red Rock for the first time. Everything changed. … Still, every time I drive out there, I feel that connection, that energy in the canyons.”

Rock climbers’ compulsion to be near crags, in part, gave rise to “dirtbag” culture, describing the nomads who dwell in campgrounds or vehicles they can park near routes, and who spend all their time either climbing or preparing for their next climb. Plenty of locals have had their dirtbag days, but, by and large, Las Vegas is different from other climbing destinations in this regard: You can climb all day or all weekend, and still be home in time to sleep in your own bed and make it to work in the morning. It’s allowed some climbers to get jobs in fields such as

Since the ‘70s, Joanne and Jorge Urioste have been among Southern Nevada’s most prolific route developers.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com56

theatrical rigging and search and rescue, making money off their alpinist skills. Others are weekend warriors, earning their living as blackjack dealers, engineers and real estate agents, and spending every spare moment in the mountains. These locals play host to a constant stream of climbers parading through Las Vegas for a week or a winter, when it’s too cold or too wet to climb in other places.

World-class climber Jonathan Siegrist recently wrote on his blog, “Five years ago, when I first checked out Las Vegas, I was astonished by how relatively quiet the scene was here. There was clearly a solid, motivated crew of locals, and even more clearly there was a wealth of incredible sport and traditional climbing nearby and a rapidly emerging bouldering contingent. … That year, I intended to stay in Las Vegas for two weeks, but ended up here for nearly three months. I’ve been back every winter since.”

Climbers can be an insular bunch, dating, marrying and even procreating within the pack. Because it demands both mental acuity and physical prowess, the sport attracts smart, healthy people who share a common love of adventure and the outdoors. And, it’s the epitome of teamwork: High above the ground, relying on each other in moments of fatigue, frustration and peril, they forge strong bonds. Not only are they friends for life, but they also may have a hard time relating to people who haven’t had this experience.

“Jorge and I have an unbelievable social life,” Joanne Urioste says. “Our house is known as the bunk house, where we have this ongoing party, but it’s not the climbing dirt-baggers that just overwhelm us, because we put limits on it. Usually we have small groups of

climbers, so we have a lot of connection — never more than six or eight people at our dinner table at once.”

Unlike the infamous dirt-baggers of Camp 4 at Yosemite National Park in California, Urioste says, those in her circle have led rich, diverse lives. They’ve held jobs, raised children and enjoyed endless evenings of good food, wine and conversation with others who love climbing as much as they do. “So, in a sense,” she adds, “we could never really compete with the cutting-edge climbers in Yosemite and Joshua Tree, the Stone Masters. They always looked down on us, because we weren’t as bold or as good, but we were weekend climbers, mostly, and we really, really enjoy life.”

lOvE ANd wARIn 1971, Royal Robbins struck out for Early Morning Light at Yosemite's famous El Capitan rock with

the intention of cutting all the bolts his archrival Warren Harding had left there the previous year. Philosophical enemies since the 1960s, the soft-spoken, clean-climbing Robbins and whiskey-swilling, bolt-happy Harding set the tone for generations of rock climbing spats to come. Tellingly, Robbins would eventually abandon his mission, admitting that the climb was harder than he thought and that Harding deserved credit for completing it.

Gear, along with codes of conduct governing its use, has been a driving factor in rock climbing’s evolution. It falls into a few main categories: things to put in the rock, such as bolts and pitons (metal spikes hammered into seams and

cracks); things to put on the climber, such as harnesses and ropes; and things to link the climber to the rock, such as carabiners. The 1970s and ’80s saw technological advances in the first category, called “protection” or “pro,” producing passive gear like spring-locking cams that could be wedged into cracks as needed and then removed. More invasive are bolts, circular protuberances screwed directly into the rock. The advent of the cordless rotary hammer in the mid-’80s made bolt placement much quicker and safer, but it’s easy to see how it displeased purists in the Robbins tradition.

Local legend Joe Herbst was such a climber. In her Alpinist story, Joanne Urioste writes, “The convergence between the hammerless ethics of the time (the 1970s) and the artistry of Joe’s climbing gave a unique form to Red Rock’s history. In many other areas, early pioneers tried to bag summits by the easier routes or by any means possible. Joe went directly for both the hardest,

Joanne Urioste conquers

Levitation 29 with Stone

Masters Lynn Hill and John Long, while

Jorge Urioste photographs. It epitomizes the

new style of fun, well-protected

route.

Mike and Tim Ward

open Desert Rock

Sports.

Joe Herbst and Larry Hamilton make the first ascent of the

1,800-foot Aeolian Wall on Mt. Wilson. Hamilton’s article

on the climb in Ascent magazine raises Red Rock’s national profile.

First publication of Joanne Urioste’s The Red Rocks of Southern Nevada, the area’s original climbing guide.

Richard Harrison,

Sal Mamusia and Paul Van Betten, aka Adventure Punks, bag

Buffalo Wall using minimal

gear.

Paul Van Betten (pictured in both shots) and his fellow Adventure Punks established hundreds of routes in Red Rock during the ‘80s.

1980 19851975 1990

sources: MountainProject.com; “Red Rock: Voices in the Desert,” by Joanne Urioste (Alpinist, Vol. 28); Red Rocks: A Climber’s Guide, by Jerry Handren.

December 1990

April 1991

1984

mAy 1981

mArch 1975

i

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 57

biggest lines and the purest, simplest methods he could envision.”

Following in Herbst’s path was Richard Harrison, a handsome, charismatic Stone Master from Southern California. Arriving in Las Vegas in 1981, Harrison quickly attracted a group of ambitious local climbers who would come to be known as the Adventure Punks. Among them was Paul Van Betten, a blond, green-eyed native who’d been inducted into the world of climbing while skipping school to horse around with friends at Red Rock. The Adventure Punks liked their music loud and their climbing hard. They adhered to a strict set of rules, such as no “hang-dogging,” or resting with one’s weight on a rope. (Translation: If you fell, you started over.) Above all, they believed routes should be established from the ground up.

lifEliNE

The BLM begins

enforcing its 2-year-old ban on bolting in Red Rock,

threatening Mark

Limage and others with

prosecution.

Well-known

climbing guide

Randall Grandstaff falls to his death at the Great Red Book,

a route he’d done many

times.

Tom Moulin is the first to free climb the Great

Red Roof, a local brass ring.

Local rock climbers mourn

the deaths of three pioneers,

Richard Harrison, Brian McCray and Tim Ward, in the

same year.

2000 2005

Wendell Broussard saved my life when I was 19 years old. We were climbing on Mt. Wilson back in ’82, and we were doing two days. There was a crew of five: Richard Harrison, Nick Nordblom, Wendell, a climbing ranger and me. The morning of the second day, it was super socked in with clouds and drizzling rain, and I didn’t have any rain gear. I had a couple long-sleeve flannel shirts and knew nothing — I was a brand-new rock climber, basically. So, I’m thinking, “OK, we’re going to start bailing out of here,” but Richard takes off and starts leading this climb — you know, like, “The clouds are gonna break.” We got dumped on all day. At the end of that day, it was just clouds up against the mountain, pure white, soaked, hypothermia, uncontrollable shaking. When we got close to the top, it broke up a little, so we coiled up the ropes, and the five of us were kind of scrambling up over the top. Richard and Wendell and the ranger had gone ahead, and I was moving across this rock with my pack and a wet rope coiled up over my shoulder. There was a bush with about a 60-pound flat block on a ledge in front of it, and I grabbed the block and it just slid off and landed on my chest. So, I was cantilevered, holding onto the bush, with this rock leaning on my chest, and it’s pushing me off. There was nowhere I could put my feet, nothing I could do. So, Nick yells up, “Wendell! Wendell!” and Wendell comes back, 30 feet above me on this ledge, and he looks down and sees me, this 19-year-old kid — and he’s got kids my age — and he’s like, “Hold on, buddy.” He uncoils this rope and drops it down, and it’s flipping around in front of me, and I can’t let go to grab it with my hand, so the only thing I can do is, I catch it in my teeth. And then I was like, “Whap!” I grabbed the rope with one hand, and then the other hand and did a little heel hook and let that giant block fall down between my legs. And Wendell pulled me up onto the ledge holding onto the rope. – paul van betten

2010 20152001

Jared McMillen

puts Calico Basin

bouldering on the map with routes

such as Fear of a

Black Hat.

2000June 2002

2014

mAy 2007

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com58

“We didn’t even wear harnesses,” Van Betten says, “we wore swami belts — webbing tied around your waist — because it’s super-lightweight and didn’t promote hanging on the rope. It made us better climbers.”

The Adventure Punks’ hard-core approach occasionally pitted them against other climbers. Route developers like the Uriostes — ever the good hosts — saw no harm in bolting crackless sections of otherwise continuous lines if it made routes more accessible to more people. And those turned on by the sheer athleticism of the sport figured out that resting on ropes and gear after falling off a face would allow them to repeat difficult moves over and over. From this practice, sport climbing evolved. Unlike the traditional (or “trad”) climbing style of Royal Robbins, sport climbing tolerated more active reliance on equipment. With the green light to place bolts, developers began establishing routes on formations such as overhangs that would otherwise have been inaccessible to all but an elite few. It allowed sport climbers to focus more on technique than on equipment management.

But what really outraged the Adventure Punks was the practice of rappel bolting. “There was an influx of people — usually from out of town — who would start at the top and rappel down, leaving bolts

for sport routes as they went,” Van Betten recalls. “We were doing it from the ground up and it would take two or three of us all day to finish a 1-pitch route. We’d come back the next day and there’d be bolts everywhere, from the top to the bottom of a route right next to the one we’d been working on. It was like the surfers back in the day who said, ‘Hey! This is our beach.’ This was our rock, there’s a finite amount of it, and we were trying to develop it our way.”

Territorial bandits would cut the offending usurpers’ bolts. Arguments

broke out in the canyons. Van Betten says he barely avoided fistfights on a couple occasions. Some in the rock-climbing world branded Las Vegas as an unfriendly place to climb.

Eventually, Van Betten concedes with a sigh, he and his compatriots lost the battle. As the ’90s rolled around, sport climbing exploded, and rock alteration moved from mainstream to extreme. Particularly at Mount Charleston and Mount Potosi, whose jagged limestone is more challenging to climb than sandstone, route developers began chiseling holds,

Clockwise from upper left: Marketing and PR executive Stephanie Forte and UNLV Phi-losophy Profes-sor Bill Ramsey were among the transplants of the ‘90s and 2000s who came for the climbing. Las Vegas Climbing Council President, Xavier Wasiak (pictured with family and friends) fosters the community.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 59

drilling finger pockets — creating gym-like routes in nature. Las Vegas had never been considered particularly eco-conscious by outsiders to begin with, notes Jackson Hole Mountain Guides’ Las Vegas Director Mark Limage. Now, some climbing magazine writers openly mocked the area as the epicenter of route manufacturing, coining the term “Mount Chiselton.”

“It actually got to be an art work,” Limage says. “They’d use epoxy and spray paint and you couldn’t tell it wasn’t natural rock. But it doesn’t matter, because traditionalists are still going to feel like you’re altering the rock to dumb it down to your level. For them, it’s a blatant aberration.”

In the January 2011 issue of Rock and Ice magazine, Bill Ramsey — a philosophy professor who left a position at Notre Dame for one at UNLV and the abundant nearby rock climbing — penned a controversial article calling attention to the hypocrisy inherent in criticism of route manufacturing. “Consider this:” he wrote, “If you are a serious climber who climbs relatively hard sport routes, there is a good chance that you have done a route with at least a few manufactured holds. Moreover, there is also a good chance that, despite the manufacturing, climbing the route was gratifying and rewarding. Now what should the appropriate attitude be toward the route preparer who spent time, money and energy so you could have

that experience?”Over time, Stephanie Forte says,

manufacturers backed off their extreme practices and the community found balance on the issue. “In the ’90s, things got out of hand,” she says. “But I think that every climber would agree that you’d always rather be climbing a natural route. It’s more beautiful, more pure.”

MAKiNg A plANTraditional climbers aren’t the only ones who frown on route manufacturing; so does the Bureau of Land

Management, which is responsible for Red Rock.

“Both drilling holds (aka chipping) and drilling holes for anchors is prohibited in the 2005 Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Resource Management Plan,” BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon says. She adds that the bureau is in the process of amending the plan to address permanent fixed anchors in Red Rock’s congressionally designated wilderness areas, Rainbow Mountain and La Madre Mountain. The plan is expected to undergo public review this spring and summer and be finalized in 2016. Then, the BLM will create a timeline for implementing a climbing management plan.

Local climbing veterans are skeptical this will happen as outlined. They say they agreed to the moratorium on bolt drilling a decade ago with the expectation that a climbing management plan would be done soon after. When one failed to materialize, route developers began drilling anew — on the down-low.

Behind the bureaucratic waiting game is a more widespread conflict between climbers, who view bolts as critical to their wilderness experience, and wilderness advocacy groups, which define fixed anchors as prohibited “installations.” Each side points to the 1964 Wilderness Act as support for its stance. And then there are those who consider themselves both climbers and conservationists; they simply wish the BLM would do more to discourage civilization’s encroachment on Red Rock.

But Xavier Wasiak isn’t letting politics hold him back. As current president of the Las Vegas Climbers Liaison Council,

Early on in my climbing, I’d met up with a guy named Mike Harris who had been a climber for a long time, and we went to do the Moon Goddess Arete in the Sierra Nevada. It was very beautiful backcountry, so we had to hike into a camp, get up the next day and hike across an ice field to get to the toe of this Arete. About halfway up the route, a storm came over the top of the mountains, and it started raining really heavily. After a while, we could see the storm wasn’t going to get better, and there was a lot of lightning — we had to escape. So, we moved into a gully to the right of the route and started to rappel down. The gully, as it rained, became a stream. We were putting gear in wet cracks, sometimes underneath the water, leaving all kinds of gear to make sure we could come down OK. That morning, we had started around 4 a.m., and when we started retreating, it was early afternoon. By the time we got back to our camp, it was about midnight. So, we’d been up 20 hours, in the dark, cold, wet, and we were so exhausted and dehydrated that we hardly said a word to each other. I remember, I just kind of motioned for him to lie down, and I went and got water to make soup. But it was a great feeling to share with someone else: We were fine. The next day, we would hike out and go home. I’ve always felt just as grateful for my failures as I have for my successes. – Xavier wasiak, presiDent of

the las vegas Climbers liaison CounCil

ESCApE

T

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com60

an affiliate of the national climbing nonprofit Access Fund, one of his responsibilities is to inform the BLM, National Park Service and other public agencies how the climbing community benefits the economy and what tools it needs to make the activity safe and enjoyable for the public. Wasiak says he has a great working relationship with the BLM, and he’s hopeful the management plan will get done.

A more urgent task for the climbers council, he says, is educating climbers and the public on responsible stewardship of natural resources. Popularity of outdoor activities is a double-edged sword for recreational groups: They want people to get out and enjoy nature. But the more people there are on a rock, the greater its chances of getting damaged.

And rock climbing’s popularity is exploding. The BLM gives five full-time special recreation permits for commercial guided rock-climbing tour operators (Limage’s Jackson Hole Mountain Guides is one example). Cannon says these five average a total of 5,000 user days per year for climbing today, compared with 3,500 in 2010. And this represents a fraction of all climbers, since most will go out on their own, not in organized excursions. That’s a lot of hands and feet on the red rock walls.

“I can stand outside and see the big picture,” Wasiak says. “When people walk past a cliff and see chalk on it, they might think it’s not very pretty. We have to talk to people and let them know what our culture is about. Education, signage around sensitive areas — those are going to be good issues for us to work on for the next five to 10 years. And, of course, waste disposal is never going to go away.”

“Waste disposal” is a polite euphemism for an unpleasant reality. About five years ago, Climbers Liaison Council members began to notice a sewage-like smell around areas where popular climbs start. Since climbers may spend many hours on the same remote route, they are unlikely to hike back to trailhead restrooms every time they need to relieve themselves. Etiquette dictates that they take compact shovels to dig holes and bury their excrement, but Wasiak acknowledges that many people simply won’t do that. So, the council came up with “potty bags.” Volunteers built six large brown

boxes mounted on poles, labeled with instructions and filled with bags for human waste disposal, and then placed them in popular areas for rock climbing. The biodegradable bags are to be brought back to dispenser stations and left in the trash. The council maintains the stations, restocking bags and emptying trash.

The council’s dedication to this task reflects its devotion to the Leave No Trace ethic. But fortunately for volunteers, the council’s not all dirty work and no play. The Access Fund sponsors the Red Rock Rendezvous, billed by organizers as “the country’s largest outdoor climbing festival,” and council members will be there March 27-29 teaching attendees not only how to climb, but also how to watch where they climb and pick up after themselves when they’re done.

THE wAY upWhen Alex Johnson was a tiny, blond thing in Hudson, Wisconsin, the managers of her daycare center would

occasionally call Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and threaten to ban their daughter. It seems she wouldn’t stop climbing on top of the swing set and scaring the bejeezus out of staff.

“I was kind of a terror,” the 25-year-old Johnson says today. “I’d climb anything — trees, ladders, buildings …” She can laugh now. Sponsored by North Face, she’s one of the country’s top three female climbers.

Since moving here a year ago, Johnson has had the occasional shock of witnessing environmental degradation firsthand. In the last few years, more professional boulderers have been doing first ascents at Red Rock, inspiring outsiders to come and experience those routes for themselves. Many of them don’t know the rock, which is fragile, especially 2-3 days after a rain.

“We’ve had people break off holds on a couple classic climbs,” Johnson says, frowning. “The Kraft Boulders (at Calico Basin) have taken a huge beating. People who climb during the week at the gym go out there to climb on the weekend and just throw their gear everywhere and step on the plants. They treat it like a gym. The Access Fund is working to educate people, and I hope it helps. It’s

not your bedroom!”Bouldering has had a lot to do with

rock climbing’s recent spike in popularity. Requiring only a chalk bag and crash pad, it has a lower barrier of entry than the gear-heavy trad and sport climbing. Also, it’s fun — acrobatic, fast-paced and often quite social.

Gyms have also played a role in the rock-climbing boom. Last October, Jeff and Beth Clapp opened a bouldering-only gym, Refuge Climbing & Fitness, where Johnson works out during the week. Andy Raether, a rising star in rock climbing, plans to open another, Origin Climbing and Fitness, in Henderson this spring. It will be two-and-a-half times larger than Refuge, the valley’s largest existing facility, and offer the full gamut of styles — bouldering, sport, trad — as well as weights and fitness equipment.

The community has also developed an insatiable appetite for social media, especially videos and alerts about daring ascents. Potential sponsors see a gold mine in the hours climbers spend on YouTube, Twitter and online forums. Clothing and gear manufacturers plaster their young, attractive spokes-climbers in branded gear and fly them off to exotic destinations to shoot slick movies that, some say, are little more than commercials.

The pressure to perform has its

World-class professional climbers like Alex Johnson, who moved here in 2014, show increased interest in Vegas.

W

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 61

downside. World-class climbers push the envelope, taking risks that may look brasher to the uninitiated than they actually are, such as Alex Honnold’s ascent of huge walls free-solo style — that is, with no safety gear at all. (Insiders say Honnold practices his climbs extensively with protection before free-soloing them.) And the lighter a climber's body, the better he climbs, which has led to rampant eating disorders in the sport’s top echelons.

Johnson says heavy competition has created a lack of cohesion among the few females who climb at the elite level, too. Because climbers have a short window — their youth, basically — to win competitions and land sponsors, they have to work extremely hard during that time and are loath to give any secrets away. Men, on the other hand, have the luxury of numerous peers in their class, so there are plenty outside their competitive sphere with whom they can collaborate on challenging projects.

Generally, today, climbing is seen as equal-opportunity, but one nasty vestige of sexism remains: males’ tendency to downgrade climbs after females do them. Both Johnson and Forte have experienced the bitter let-down of completing an extremely challenging climb one day and, the next day, reading comments posted on forums such as

MountainProject.com suggesting the climbs’ ratings should be lowered.

“People get ultra-competitive over it, which I don’t understand,” Forte says. “It’s not like I was going to do that (climb) and then come home and get a six-figure deal from Cover Girl. It took me six weeks, and it came down to one move that I had practiced over and over. So, when I was finally able to do it, it felt really good. It’s devastating to have that taken away, just because you’re a woman.”

Bouts of testosterone may be nothing new to rock climbing, but traditionalists say they’re also easy to circumvent. The sport has diversified so much that, unless you’re a professional, it’s just as easy to have a spiritual experience in nature as it is to have a heated duel in front of an electrified crowd. Record numbers of people may be introduced to climbing through bouldering and at gyms, but those who stick with it are likely to at least try sport and trad climbing, too. Professionals integrate a little of everything into their training.

But those professionals — with their sponsorships and competitions and professional pressures — never forget the essence of the rock-climbing experience. At 8 a.m. on a Tuesday, Johnson pulls on her stretchy clothes, zips up her puffy North Face jacket and steers her Toyota

toward the 159. Afternoons, she’s at the gym, and weekends often feature a quick trip to California or Utah. But weekday mornings are reserved for the solitary work of practicing difficult moves on familiar faces. Parked at the end of Calico Basin Road, she pulls a crash pad, folded backpack-style, out of the trunk and heads into the foothills of Kraft Mountain. With the pad placed carefully on the ground below, she claps chalk between her palms and steps onto the rock. By 1 p.m., having done a full circuit of boulders with the rising sun, she’ll be meeting friends for lunch at Sambalatte.

“When I tell people where I live,” she says, “I get a lot of wrinkled noses, ‘Vegas? Really?’ And I tell them it’s not what they think. … Since I became a professional climber, I haven’t stayed anywhere more than a year. You just travel and live in a van. It’s nice to have a home base in a place that’s so much less expensive than Boulder or Tahoe. And the climbing here is endless. Amazing and endless.”

CHAllENgE

It’s only recently we’ve seen all this competitiveness, and it’s because climbing is growing. It’s heading in the direction of having money involved, and everyone is going that direction, and maybe losing sight of why climbing is awesome. You go outside, hang out with your friends, do something fun and athletic that’s mentally challenging, work on a problem that’s rewarding, and then you go grab a burger and a beer. You get to be outside in the most gorgeous places on Earth – Zion, Yosemite, Colorado, here. I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want this lifestyle.

– aleX Johnson, Competitive roCk Climber

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com62

What (shoot hoops!)

Is there (paddle! stargaze!)

to Do (fishing! volleyball!)

outDoors?It’s a great big world out there, and these people make the most of itPhotographs by a a r o N M a Y e s & s h a N t I C o l a N g e l o - C u r r a N

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 63

◆ KaYaKINg Mike Smalls’ paddle digs softly into the water, propelling him quietly along as ducks forage and fish take f light here and there. This is his first time in a kayak, but you wouldn’t know it. It’s almost as though the serene surroundings bring out a natural confidence.

Smalls joins the group brought here to Lake Mead by Boulder City-based Desert Adventures (kayak-lasvegas.com) to enjoy the water on a perfect February day, proof that kayaking in Southern Nevada is popular all year long — and that popularity is growing. Last year, Black Canyon became a National Water Trail, the first such De-partment of Interior designation. Paddle sports continue to evolve, and Desert Adventures owner Izzy Collett notes the emergence of all sorts of water sports, including stand-up paddling, kayak fishing, and riverboarding.

“When I first moved here in 1996, there were no paddle shops around, and no retail stores anywhere that carried kayaking gear,” Collett says. “Now the Vegas Valley has several big-name sporting goods stores that carry entry-level pad-dling gear, and multiple outfitters and rental shops near the water that carry specialty kayaks, pad-dles and gear. Our local paddling Meetup group has more than 1,000 members.” Proof that in the desert, fun on the water is an all-season sport. A.M.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com64

◆ bIrD WatChINgJim Boone keeps a sharp eye out for birds at The Clark County Wetlands Park; it’s a hobby he shares with his wife Liz. “Birding is something you can do anywhere in the world, and spend as much or as little time doing it as you want,” says Liz. Jim adds, “You can do it in a downtown environment, or a natural environ-ment.” He should know. Jim runs an authoritative and extensive web-site on birding and hiking called, fittingly, birdandhike.com. S.C.

◆ flag footballBSB, in blue jerseys, squares off against War Machine at All Amer-ican Park. If you thought f lag foot-ball was just a quaint relic of high school P.E. classes, think again. It has become a popular pastime for adults, too. For eight years, Las Vegas Sports League President T.J. Love has been organizing games for men, women and kids. They get all the gridiron thrills — without the concussions and injuries traditional football is becoming known for. “I love what I do,” says Love. “Who wouldn’t love coming to the football field as their job? It’s just much better than sitting inside behind a desk.” S.C.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 65

◆ basKetballIt’s an unusually warm January evening on the Sunset Park basketball courts. As last light fades, Abraham, Jelani, Leopoldo and Michael play a warm-up game of two-on-two. Wilt, LeBron, Jordan and Dr. J they are not. But, oh, are they dedicated. You’ll find them here pounding it out every Saturday amid the rumble and roar of planes flying in and out of McCarran. They’ve been coming to Sunset for years for casual pick-up games. Sure, there’s the occasional hothead or court beef, but the competition is generally as friendly as it is plentiful.

“There are always a lot of new guys who come in, so you get to play with and meet different people every week,” says Michael Savage. “Then you get the same people (who) become your little rivals out here. It’s fun when you get to beat them.” When you ask them if this is a hobby, a pastime, a passion, the group an-swers in unison: “Ball is life.” A.M.

◆ taI ChITai chi practitioner and health edu-cator Tamalyn Taylor leads a class at The Gardens Park and Commu-nity Center in Summerlin. Taylor has been practicing tai chi for 12 years now, but her enthusiasm for it is as strong as when she began the practice. “I found that the slow and rhythmic pace of the movements helped me to increase my muscular control, coordination, and bal-ance,” she says. “Being mindful of the present moment brought more self-awareness and led me to giving up negative thought patterns that were interfering with my peace of mind. I found that as I progressed further into my tai chi practice, I was able to tone down my reactions to stressful events in my life. Best of all, I now have a practice that is gentle yet challenging enough that I can continue it for the rest of my life.” S.C.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com66

◆ CYClINgAlain Quesnel, right, rides with friends at Red Rock National Con-servation Area. He fell in love with cycling in 2005, and would come to Southern Nevada every winter to ride, finally moving here in 2012. “I love all the outdoor possibilities that Vegas has to offer. Whether nearby like Red Rock, or a couple of hours away like Death Valley, Valley of Fire or Zion.” Now he’s even sharing the love, organizing regional bike tours in his spare time. S.C.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 67

◆ larpINgSpear at the ready, Murphy, aka Bobby Parker, battles his foe Acrid the Scarecrow, aka Dustin Macari. During the week they’re normal guys, but come Saturdays at Desert Breeze Park, they’re fierce warriors.

They’re members of the local group Barad’Dun that plays Dagorhir, a full-contact medieval-themed combat sport — think men and a few women beating each other with foam swords, shields, arrows and spears. Barad’Dun is just one of many LARP (live-action role-playing) groups that congregate locally, bringing a little old-school chivalry — and wild battles — to the valley.

On this day, 20 players — some in full medieval outfits, others in shorts and T-shirts — fight for glory. Amid a pitched battle, one player holds her ground and pays the price. “Dead!” she yells, putting an arm above her head indicating she’s out this round. “Nice chest stab, bro,” she says to the victor. “I felt my soul shake.” A.M.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com68

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 69

◆ star gazINgRob Lambert, president of Las Vegas Astronomical Society, greets people to his station with a “Step right up!” shtick as he points out the Great Orion Nebula. A young girl looks on as Lambert explains that the nebula, seen on a small screen showing a live view from his telescope, is part of the Orion con-stellation. The nebula, he continues, holds a cluster of stars that were born out of hydrogen gas, and is 1,500 light years away from us. He knows he’s lost her, and pulls out his green laser pointer to show her where they are looking in the sky. She’s back.

The light-drenched Neon Museum might not seem to an ideal place for stargazing, but the 1,300-plus people who came out to the Jan. 24 “Stars & Stardust” event didn’t mind a little terrestrial f licker and glow. The plentiful powerful tele-scopes helped them enjoy a glimpse of celestial bodies that are other-wise drowned out in a town where dark skies are a rarity. AM.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com70

◆ traIl ruNNINgThe Southwest Ridge area near Blue Diamond Road and Hualapai Way is wildly popular with trail runners for its panoramic views and challenging terrain. Here, Kara Nassoiy hits the trail with some friends. “I ran cross-country in high school but never ran track,” she says. “I wasn’t really interest-ed in doing laps on a track when I could be running through fields, mountains and sometimes cow pas-tures with the cross-country team.” That translated into a lifelong love of running in the natural environ-ment. “There’s just something so amazing about being alone in the mountains with no sound other than your breathing, your footsteps hitting the earth below your feet, and the sound of the wind. It is absolutely inspiring.” S.C.

MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 71

◆ volleYballSand f lies from the feet of 702 Vol-leyball athletes as coach Jennifer Richards shouts encouragement to her team of high school girls. They bump, set, spike and dig in the pits at Sunset Park, a local hub for all things sand. The beach volleyball scene at the park “has exploded over the past couple of years,” Richards says. And while it’s a little harder these days to find an open court, the sandy scene still has a laid-back beach vibe. “It’s just really turned into a great relaxing scene with chairs and coolers and just a bunch of people and great socialization and great activity and great atmosphere.” A.M.

72 MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com

◆ flY fIshINgWater ripples with a soft breeze upon the Tule Springs reservoir as Randy Upton casts his line near a stand of cattails. For Upton, president of the Las Vegas Fly Fishing Club, f ly fishing is a sport, yes, but it’s also a form of medita-tion, requiring stillness, focus and patience. “You become a little more disconnected from the world around you,” he says. “It’s in that state where you are no longer worried about anything else around except for that one little thing in front of you.” A.M.

73MARCH 2015 DesertCompanion.Com

◆ parKourParkour enthusiast Perris Aqui-no practices moves on the UNLV campus. Aquino has been prac-ticing parkour — and its f lashier, exuberant cousin, freerunning — for almost 10 years. The sport has grown in popularity in recent years, with specialized gyms, parks and even classes dedicated to the craze, but Aquino prefers to leap off the beaten path. “Me, personally, I nev-er took any formal classes. It was kind of me just training by myself. And that’s kind of the route I took progressing in it.” S.C.

MOTORCYCLE RENTAL.

BMW MotorradUSA

Motorcyclessince 1923

6675 South Tenaya Way • www.bmwoflasvegas.com

Call 702.454.6269 to schedule your reservation. See store for details.

Summerlin | 702.433. 1233 | BrioItalian.com

HAPPYHOUR

JOIN US FOR

PLATES & POURS STARTING AT $3.95

MONDAY–FRIDAY 3:30 PM–6:30 PM

75

5take

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com

your Arts+EntErtAinmEnt cAlEndAr for mArch

0315

10MoMixReynolds Hall, tHe smitH CenteR

This troupe’s show alchemia looks like a cross between ballet and cirque du Soleil, with props, outlandish costumes, dramatic lighting effects, visual dreaminess and glowing items onstage. as you gather from the title, alchemia is themed after the four main elements: earth, air, fire and water. 7:30p, $19-$69, thesmithcenter.com

16Just in Favela & sean slatteryClaRk County GoveRnment CenteR Rotunda

Picture the glorious incongruity: the stately bureaucratic precincts of the county government center given riotous life by several piñatas in the shape of chicano lowriders. Because that’s how Favela and Slattery plan to roll. through may 8, opening reception 6p march 20

21Bishr h i Jaz i and the araB enseMBleWinCHesteR CultuRal CenteR

a quartet of musicians, playing the oud, electric guitar, violin and percussion, and fronted by an Egyptian-style dancer, perform classical arabian numbers. 7p, $10 advance, $12 door, 702-455-7340

19JaMaica K incaid & caryl Ph ill iPsstudent union, unlv

In the panel talk “crossing the Black atlantic,” the award-winning writers — both born in the caribbean — will discuss how they explore themes of race, identity and the heritage of the slave trade in their work. Sponsored by the Black Mountain Institute. 7p, free, blackmountaininstitute.org

17sPy ing on ant iquityBaRRiCk museum, unlv

If you attend just one lecture about the applications of declassified U.S. intelligence-satellite imagery to Near Eastern archaeology this year, make it this one. It’s presented by Jason Ur, a professor at harvard and director of the center for Geographic analysis. 7:30p, free, unlv.edu

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com76

THE GUIDE

• Monday, March 30 at 9 p.m. • Tuesday, March 31 at 9 p.m.• Wednesday, April 1 at 9 p.m.

Wednesday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m.

The Texas Tenors:

You Should Dream

Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies

180 Days:

Hartsville

Visit VegasPBS.org today to see the complete schedule.3050 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89121 • 702-799-1010

Tuesday, March 17 at 8 p.m.

James Baker: The Man Who Made Washington WorkTuesday, March 24 at 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m.

The Jewish Journey:

America

ART

PREFABTHROUGH MARCH 6Italian artist Giorgio Guidi’s new sculpture

is a design similar to roman basilicas.

The structure’s interior will be decorated

with graffiti provided by volunteers from

local institutions. The goal of the sculpture

is to make the viewer rethink accepted

assumptions and open a discussion about

the future of the community by forcing

communication between young and old.

Free. Clark County Government Center

Rotunda Gallery, clarkcountynv.gov

SANTA CONFESSIONALTHROUGH MARCH 8artist David colman invites guests to enter

a two-person confessional booth to have a

talk with him, dressed as Santa, through a

perforated privacy screen. Unlike a typical

confessional, this one is open air, putting

the confessional process on display and

likening it to the department-store Santa

installations of youth. Guests without the

time or inclination to confess can partici-

pate by eavesdropping on the confessions

of others. Free. the Cosmopolitan, cosmo-

politanlasvegas.com

DK SOLETHROUGH MARCH 13Sole creates small sculptures from dis-

carded items she finds along the streets.

More than one hundred of her assemblage

sculptures will be displayed along the walls

in clusters or “islands,” linked by threads.

The artist hopes to mirror the interplay

of human connections in the community

and to prompt viewers to pay attention to

these broken street-scraps as they might

pay attention to a crowd of faces. Free.

Winchester Cultural Center Gallery, clark-

countynv.gov

LINE IN THE SAND: THE PEOPLE, POWER AND PROGRESS OF THE CULI-NARY UNIONTHROUGH APRIL 1This dynamic exhibit explores the tena-

cious and determined history between the

culinary Workers Union, Local 226 and the

city of Las Vegas. Free. First floor gallery

at unlv’s lied library, library.unlv.edu

CHOCOLATE: THE EXHIBITIONTHROUGH MAY 3Interactive exhibits reveal the plant,

products and mystique of chocolate

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com76

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 77

Your smartwants to party.

throughout the ages in science, history and

popular culture. Enter a tropical rainforest

to learn how cacao is grown and how it is

processed to fulfill today’s global demand.

Examine chocolate’s role throughout histo-

ry and how mass production of chocolate

bars fueled the Industrial revolution. Free

with general admission. springs Preserve

ROCK STARS: STONE SCULPTURETHROUGH MAY 5, MON-THU 7A-5PThis exhibit includes various genres of

stone sculpture created by artists who

have studied stone-carving techniques at

Gainsburg Studio, taught by owner and

artist Sharon Gainsburg. Free. las vegas

City Hall Grand Gallery, 495 s. main st.,

first floor, 702-229-1012

IN HONOR OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE 2015 EXHIBITTHROUGH MAY 14, MON-THU

7A-5:30Partwork in various media celebrates af-

rican american Month and beyond. Free.

las vegas City Hall Chamber Gallery,

702-229-1012

COLLABORATION/ EXCHANGEMARCH 11-APRIL 12artist Lucky DeBellevue will use non-tra-

ditional materials to make an experi-

mental wedge-shaped sculpture and an

evolving wall print, encouraging guests

to expand their perception of sculpture

and creative thought around everyday

objects. Guests can join DeBellevue in

constructing one of his signature chenille

stem sculptures by weaving stems into

pattern overlay that will be added to the

sculptural form. Free. the Cosmopolitan,

cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

SPRINGS PRESERVE PHO-TO CONTEST EXHIBITIONMARCH 12-JUNE 21, 10A-6PThis year’s theme was “celebrations and

Traditions” when the challenge went out to

professional, amateur and youth photog-

raphers throughout the valley. come see

the results of the sixth-annual juried photo

contest. Free with regular admission. Big

springs Gallery at springs Preserve

CAR SHOWMARCH 16-MAY 8. ARTIST RECEP-

TION MARCH 20, 6P

artists Justin Favela and Sean Slattery will

collaborate to create an indoor car show

featuring three new, life-size recreations, in-

cluding one built piñata-style. Free. Clark

County Government Center Rotunda

Gallery, clarkcountynv.gov

ALLISON STREATERMARCH 24-MAY 15. RECEPTION

MARCH 27, 5:30PStreater’s mixed media collage series

features females from fashion catalogs

wearing material possessions the artist de-

sires, but cannot afford. The models’ vision

is blocked, representing how we all may be

blinded by the countless things in life that

restrict us from reaching our full potential.

Free. Winchester Cultural Center Gallery,

clarkcountynv.gov

DANCE

SHEN YUN 2015MARCH 2-4, 7:30PTake a journey through 5,000 years of

chinese culture via the universal languages

of music and dance. $54-$204. Reynolds

Hall at the smith Center

SIMPLY BALLROOMMARCH 8, 7PEnjoy breathtaking lifts, beautiful costumes

and a variety of ballroom dances including

the exciting Latin Samba of Brazil, the ma-

jestic Slow Waltz of austria, the rhythmical

cha-cha from cuba, the elegant ameri-

can Foxtrot and the intense Spanish Paso

Doble from the award-winning Southern

Utah University Ballroom Dance compa-

ny. Free. main theater at Clark County

library, lvccld.org

BALLET FOLKORICO DANCE SHOWCASEMARCH 13, 7PJourney through Mexican history as clark

county School District student dance

groups perform popular folkloric dances

from various regions and time periods.

Expect a celebration rich in culture, music

and tradition that will leave you with an ap-

preciation for the arts. Free. main theater

at Clark County library, lvccld.org

MUSIC

HAPAMARCH 6-7, 7PThe group is known as the “Sound of

Maui” with its hypnotic, liquid guitar runs

woven around clear, tenor hawaiian vo-

cals and immaculate harmonies driven by

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 77

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com78

poetic lyrics exulting the rapture of the

hawaiian landscape. $35-$45. Cabaret

Jazz at the smith Center

TROUBLE IN TAHITIMARCH 6-15, FRI-SAT 7P; SUN 2PSin city Opera presents Leonard Bern-

stein’s one-act opera that tells the candid

story of the troubled marriage of a 1950s

suburban couple. $10 in advance, $15 at

the door. Winchester Cultural Center,

clarkcountynv.gov

MASTERWORKS IV: CABRERA CONDUCTS MENDELSSOHN AND SCHUMANNMARCH 7, 7:30PMusic Director Donato cabrera leads the

orchestra in its first-ever performance of

Mendelssohn’s joyous Fourth Symphony,

known as the “Italian” symphony, inspired

by the composer’s travels to Italy. $26-$94.

Reynolds Hall at the smith Center

2CELLOSMARCH 7, 8PBreaking down boundaries between classi-

cal and popular music, croatians Luka Sulic

and Stjepan hauser are equally impressive

performing Bach and Vivaldi or rocking

out to aC/dC. $25-$75. unlv Performing

arts Center, unlv.edu/pac

BARBARA COOKMARCH 13-14, 7P; MARCH 15, 2Pcook will demonstrate her vocal prowess,

bringing back music from her runs in The

Music Man, Oklahoma! and carousel. The

first female pop singer ever to perform a

solo concert at the Metropolitan Opera,

this soprano will blow you away. $37-$59.

Cabaret Jazz at the smith Center

FRANKIE MORENO: UNDER THE INFLUENCEMARCH 17, 24 AND 31, 8PMixing rat Pack glam with classic hits,

vintage funk-infused sounds and some

original works, Moreno is a staple on the

Strip. $20-$25. Cabaret Jazz at the smith

Center

JAKE SHIMABUKUROMARCH 20-21, 7PIn his young career, ukulele wizard Shima-

bukuro has already redefined a heretofore

under-the-radar instrument, been declared

a musical “hero” by rolling Stone, wowed

audiences on TV and even performed for

the Queen of England. $39-$59. Cabaret

Jazz at the smith Center

ORQUESTA SINFÓNICA DEL ESTADO DE MÉXICOMARCH 20, 8PThe State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico

brings a program including Turina’s Danzas

fantasticas, Mexican composer Manuel

Ponce’s guitar concerto and Brahms’

Symphony No. 1 in c Minor. $25-$75. unlv

Performing arts Center, unlv.edu/pac

THE CRYSTAL TRIOMARCH 22, 2PIgor Sklyarov, Sergey Brodsky and Vladimir

Popras, all from russia, play only with

crystal glass. The vibration makes a pure,

delicate, singing sound unlike any other

instruments. Included will be adagio c-dur

for Glass armonika by Mozart, written

specifically for glass instruments. $10 in

advance, $12 concert day. Winchester

Cultural Center, clarkcountynv.gov

THE STARS OF COUNTRYMARCH 28, 7PPeter Pavone and the hole in the Wall

Band present a blockbuster tribute to

Johnny cash, reba McEntire, George Strait

and Dolly Parton. This high-energy show-

case featuring the best of legendary stars

by top tribute artists is sure to fill you with

that happy country spirit. $18. starbright

theater at sun City summerlin, sunci-

ty-summerlin.com/starbrighttheatre.htm

POPS IV: SYMPHONIC SPECTACULARMARCH 28, 7:30Pclassical showpieces famously quoted

in pop-culture are instantly recognizable

as Music Director Donato cabrera delves

into this fiery, fast-paced repertoire that

promises to deliver a memorable night at

the symphony. $26-$94. Reynolds Hall at

the smith Center

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS WITH YUJA WANGMARCH 30, 7:30PMaking a special appearance, one of the

world’s leading orchestras brings together

the greatest players from across the

globe. $29-$149. Reynolds Hall at the

smith Center

THE GUIDE

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT US ONLINE AT DESERTCOMPANION.COM/EVENTS

Fun with spring planting! Join us as horticulturist expert Norm Schilling shares his tips on seasonal

gardening, yard care and how to prune like a pro.

MARCH 14, 2015 9:30 A.M. AT STAR NURSERY

NEW

LOCATION

STAR NURSERY SOUTHWEST LOCATION 9480 W. Tropicana Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89147

March 2015 DesertCompanion.Com 79

THEATER

WELCOME, BOILS AND GHOULS!THROUGH MARCH 7, THU-SAT 7:30P;

SUN 2Pa tongue-in-cheek homage to the old Tales

from the crypt comic books, the perfor-

mance consists of six short plays hosted

by M.T. Graves, a ridiculous blend of the

cryptkeeper and Paul Lynde. $20. onyx

theatre, onyxtheatre.com

STAGE KISSTHROUGH MARCH 15, FRI-SAT 8P;

SUN 2PWhat really happens when two actors

kiss onstage? The newest work from

award-winning playwright Sarah ruhl ex-

plores the chemistry, the construction and

the sometimes ridiculous consequences of

a staged kiss. $16-$20. Cockroach theatre,

cockroachtheatre.com

FAMILY & FESTIVALS

BARK IN THE PARKMARCH 7, 10A-2Pa celebration for dog lovers and their ca-

nine friends, this event features entertain-

ment, contests, vendors and pet adoptions.

Free. Cornerstone Park, 1600 Wigwam

Parkway, cityofhenderson.com

SPRING FLING BOOKFAIRMARCH 14, 10:30A-4PWhether you’re an avid reader or an

aspiring writer, this is your opportunity to

get to know local writers and their work.

Meet more than 50 Las Vegas authors of

thrillers, romance, short stories, fiction,

poetry, self-help, nonfiction and more.

connect with our literary community or

participate in one of the many workshops

for writers. Free. main theater at Clark

County library, lvccld.org

FUNDRAISERS

RUN AWAY WITH CIRQUE DU SOLEILMARCH 28, 7AJoin dozens of artists from cirque du

Soleil’s Las Vegas shows and more than

1,000 community members for a 5K run

or 1-mile fun walk. Enjoy photo ops with

costumed characters, face painting, a

children’s play area and more! all pro-

ceeds support the cirque du Soleil and

Springs Preserve Foundations. $27-$40,

springs Preserve

GAME ON! YOUNG

PROFESSIONALS

TRIVIA NIGHT &

NETWORKING

TUESDAY

19MCMULLAN’S IRISH PUBJoin Nevada Public Radio and United Way’s Young Philanthropists Society for a fun night of

trivia, drinks, food and great company! Space is limited, please RSVP by March 16. Visit

desertcompanion.com for more details.

80

END NOTE

march 2015 DesertCompanion.Com

urban hiking doodleQuest!B y s c o t t d i c k e n s h e e t s

Awe-inspiring formations like Slotzilla fill you with hope for a better world …

Behold, the gravity-defying stride of the flat-billed Touristus inebriatus, the only creature that can simultaneously snap a selfie, drink a mile-long margarita and gargle, “Vegas, baby!”

Your urban hike will be full of socially instructive juxtapositions …

On second thought, it’s probably not a good idea to drink from the giant novelty fire hydrant on Fremont and Ninth.

The urban hiker must be a hardy and survival-oriented, ready to forage in the wild for what he needs.

Nature: very nice, but also full of bugs. And kinda far away. And shot through with quiet, contemplative moments when you can truly get a bead on your position in the universe and ponder what's important in life. Totally not my style. Instead, why not hike closer to home? Here are a few sights from recent rambles around Fremont Street.

http://www.nvbiggive.org

http://www.alexanderdawsonschool.org