How Much Beer Should You Buy?

How much beer should be given in payment to your friend for loaning you climbing equipment? Here’s a handy guide. I like these:

“2 beers:

• Friend/climbing partner picked you up and drove to the trailhead while you slept in the passenger seat
• Friend/climbing partner picked you up and had donuts and/or coffee for you; you did not sleep in the passenger seat on the way to the trailhead
• Climbing partner led the hard pitch, or pitches
• You borrowed a pair of skis or snowboard
• You are very late getting home from hiking/climbing; friend/climbing partner calls your spouse and explains that it was his/her fault you are late
• Friend/climbing partner cooked dinner on overnight trip; it was better than you can cook at home”

Climbing In “School Teacher Socks”

She’s a kindergartner teacher who’s climbing 5.14 in “school teacher socks.” More on her here.

In the last 10 years, Vennon has risen to become one of the top female sport climbers in the U.S. while holding down a full-time job as a Kindergarten teacher.

“I love Kindergarten,” Vennon says. “Those kids are the only people who think I’m funny.”

She is one of the few women to have ticked the elusive 5.14 grade in Rifle with her recent (second female) ascent of the 7 P.M. Show (5.14a), in addition to ticking off some difficult, sandbagged 5.13d’s there as well such as Living in Fear, Gropius, Simply Read and Slice of Life.

Before coming to Rifle in 2006, Vennon cut her teeth in the Red River Gorge, where the steep, enduro climbing informed much of her unique and intuitive style. High heel hooks and the ability to shake out on any hold forever are her fortes. Vennon, however, likes to say that her weakness in climbing is her “weakness,” and that “if there’s an easier way to do a move, you’ll be sure I will figure it out.” Climbing for her isn’t about competitive performance, but rather it’s a lifestyle and a way to be outdoors, testing her personal limits in the natural world.

Calling For Help From A Mountain

Two experienced climbers get a little lost trying to descend a mountain in Chamonix. They call the mountain guides’ office for directions at 2AM.

“’Yes, ummm, I’m calling from the Midi-Plan traverse, we are on the Rognon du Plan, on the arete, and we are having a hard time finding the actual route?’ I explain in French as my teeth chatter and my body shakes.”

Vertical Yoga: Freedom at the Edge

The next time you find yourself going through the motions in your yoga practice, why not imagine that your mat ends at the edge of the grand canyon?

By Shiva Rea

Imagine you are balancing on the edge. With a mixture of inspiration and trepidation, you contemplate your next move. You press down through your foot and hold yourself steady with one hand as you prepare to reach as far as you can with your other arm and leg. You make your move on an inhalation to harness the power of your breath and maintain your inner steadiness. For a moment, time stands still—no thought, no separation—just an expanded sense of being alive, of being whole, as you hover on the edge.

This edge could be a rock face in Joshua Tree or the pose Vasisthasana, in which you balance on the side of one foot and the palm of your hand, holding your big toe and extending your leg into the sky. Yoga and rock climbing meet at this potent place, "the edge"—where meditation happens spontaneously through intense focus, like a fire starting from a magnified ray of sunlight. The edge sharpens your concentration: Being several stories off the ground or standing on your hands naturally wakes you up. But it takes skill to be there and enjoy what the edge offers, not with reckless abandon but with mindfulness and respect.

Many people who practice hatha yoga and meditation are heading to the rocks for vertical yoga teachings: learning to move from the center, to cultivate meditation within action, and live within the present moment, breath by breath. What is often taken for granted on our yoga mats becomes pivotal on the rock. While awareness of the mound of your big toe is important in standing poses, it is sometimes all you have as a balance point when you're climbing. Being centered is the difference between reaching to the next level or falling into the ropes. Staying focused is the difference between moving with lightness or stalling from fear. Like yoga, what brings people back to the rocks is the transformation experienced at the end of a climb, when there is a reconnection with oneself, with nature, and with the joy of life itself.

The next time you find yourself going through the motions in your yoga practice, imagine that your mat ends at the edge of the grand canyon. As you look down within your imagination, the sense of expansive space can take you quickly out of the doldrums and help you, in the words of the late, great Poonjaji, "wake up and roar!" As you move through the asanas, explore the balance point within a pose as if your life depended on it. Seizing the moment, find freedom on the edge.

Shiva Rea teaches at Yoga Works in Santa Monica, California

She’s Got A Good Story Of Adventure

I’ve never seen her TV show, but her life story sounds intriguing. And the title of her new book is great: “Pink Boots And A Machete.”

Should Climbers Have To Pay The Full Costs Of Climbing?

The National Park Service wants to raise the fees for climbing Denali. They want the costs of dealing with and rescuing climbers to be recouped by charging more for climbers. Of course,

“… the Access Fund, the American Alpine Club, and the American Mountain Guides Association said higher park entrance fees for all visitors…wouldn’t be unreasonable.”

In other words, those groups want all visitors to pay for the few who want to climb the mountain. Seems to me, climbers should carry their own weight.

Radical Reels 2011

Here’s the trailer for the Radical Reels tour coming to Duluth on April 12th and Minneapolis on April 15th. In a way, the videos are a little humdrum – “Oh, there’s another crazy stunt.” (Maybe I’ve seen too many of them.)

Is It A Bad Idea To Spot Someone While Standing On A Ledge?

Maybe not the best way to spot someone on a boulder route. You be the judge.

Rock Climbing Fail - Watch more Funny Videos

A Mountain Of Snow

Two climbers attempt a newly discovered mountain of snow. One of them slips and almost falls to the bottom before he is caught by his partner. Quite an achievement. Their rope work and use of their climbing gear is stunningly effective. More of their story here.

Above the Sun from Coudal Partners on Vimeo.

Diving In Mexico

Until this week, I hadn’t been SCUBA diving in over 10 years. It’s a lot like climbing though – jump in and hold your breath.

Barb & I did 3 dives in Cozumel on a 3 day vacation. Here’s one of the places. (I didn’t make this video and I don’t know who Tim is. He looks a little googly-eyed here.) But we did see lion fish, turtles, sponges, shrimp, lobsters, crabs and lots of cougars. (The cougars were only spotted at the resort bar. Everything else we saw underwater.)

New Shoe Review

I read this review by Steph Davis of a new kind of climbing shoe with some interest. “Hmmm, sounds like they’re pretty good. Maybe I should buy a pair.” Kicker is, they’re not available.

She Said/She Said

Two women discuss outdoor adventures. I like this part because I, too, would rather take the lighter load. That’s why, whenever I can. I travel with boys who are bigger than me.

“My group of guys knows that I can keep a quick pace so long as I’m not too bogged down with extra gear. It’s not that I can’t carry extra gear. It just means that, naturally, I won’t be as fast. So if my fastest pace is still slower than their average pace, then they may be waiting for me every once in awhile. They would usually rather carry the rope instead of having me take on the extra weight.”

Sara & Theresa’s Training Plan

They are challenging themselves to climb better but procrastinating on the training.

“You see, I've got this beautiful machine that carries my mind, heart, and spirit to all the incredible places I want to go to in this world. And, the machine wants to move. Time to shift into a higher gear.”

Training Program For Indian Creek

She wants to build her endurance for climbing long routes at Indian Cree, so here’s part of her training plan:

“I usually climb at the gym 2 nights a week, so I’ve started working an endurance night into most weeks: either a crack endurance night (climbing 2-3 laps on a crack without rest x 7-8 cracks = a lot of pitches) or a TR face climbing endurance pyramid (2 laps per route on  10b, 10c, 10d, 11a, 11b, 11a, 10c, 10a, or similar pyramid, with rests only between routes, to belay my partner.)”

 

Shiver Bivy

A first ascent in Patagonia left the two climbers at the summit when night fell. They decided to bivy there:

“We decided to rely instead on our incredible human body’s capacity to shiver and warm itself. Works great but is not an enjoyable technique.

They do look cold.