Pinfest 2011

The Black Hills Climbing Coalition is having their Pinfest in about two weeks. Here’s some info from their Facebook page. I’ve gone to a couple of these and they are fun. The Coalition sets up top ropes on some of the hardest climbs in the Needles. Like this one.

“Saturday, July 16 · 9:00am - 10:00pm

Location: Ten Pins Turnout - Custer State Park Needles - Black Hills

More Info: Come check out the excellent granite climbing of Custer State Park and join us for our annual Pin Fest at the Ten Pins climbing area, just uphill from the Cathedral Spires Parking Area. It's a very good idea to car pool, preferably from Rapid City, or from Sylvan Lake Parking Lot because parking at the ten pins is extremely limited. The event is free to all. Casual Potluck if you desire. See you soon!”

Bouldering Goes Uptown

Maybe bouldering is really catching on with the city folks. Here’s last weekend’s competition in Central Park, NYC.

The Unified Bouldering Championships Pro Tour brought the first-ever pro climbing competition to New York's Central Park with the Eastern Mountain Sports Pro on Saturday, June 25th, 2011.

Thousands and thousands of New Yorkers gathered to witness an amazing display of athleticism and drama from the world's best climbers. The crowd collectively held their breath, gasped, screamed and fist pumped the competitors on to their absolute limits. Feeding off the crowd's infectious energy, Vasya Vorotnikov and Angie Payne turned in inspired performances and snagged mens and womens first place victories.

On this day, pro climbing captured the attention of thousands of new fans and even found it's way into one of the world's most acclaimed publications, The New York Times. The sport of climbing was on display for all to see in front of one of the world's largest most influential audiences, New York City, and the result was a resoundingly huge success. Climbing represented itself to be every bit as worthy of delivering the energy, drama, excitement and athleticism expected from a major sporting event.

For full results, pictures, videos and more visit www.UBCprotour.com.

Music: Mon Voyage Neon (http://soundcloud.com/mon-voyage-neon)

Slackliners In Paris

www.sebmontaz.com adventure video blog is proud to share this urban highline experience.
Tancrede, Julien, Sebastien and Antoine highlined the highest twin towers in Paris, France.

Highliners

Sebastien brugalla
Tancrede Melet
Julien Millot
Antoine Moineviille
Rodolphe, Robin

More about them: http://www.thebadslackliners.fr/
www.sebmontaz.com, adventure video blog

Climbing With Women

The experience of a guy who pretended he was a woman (Well, not really. He just put on a wig.) and went climbing with a bunch of women. I like this quote:

“Overall I’d have to say it was an extremely educational experience, but again I caution any other men out there not to take on such an investigation lightly. You might shatter years of misconceptions,..”

Read the whole thing to learn about the secret world of women.

Victoria Canyon

This is a relatively new area developed in the Black Hills. The climbing in the video starts at about 3:35.

Expectations

In this post, the author discusses how his constantly changing expectations of his accomplishments can lead to unhappiness at his successes. A snippet:

“And the funny thing is that these goals seem to be more of expectations.  I don't become overjoyed when I accomplish one, I just make the mental tick and move on, usually adding something else to the list instantly.  Another case in point:  It's been a life goal to onsight 5.13b.  I guess I did that yesterday but it felt so easy that it somehow didn't count?  I've tried much harder to onsight 5.12b's.  Does that mean the route isn't hard?  Don't ask me.  Point being, I didn't feel satisfaction afterward.  In fact, it's never been a goal to do 2 5.14's in a day!  I somehow conjured that one up in a split second just before blowing it so that I would have something to be disappointed about!  Jeez...what a head case.
All I know is that climbing has been so all encompassing for me for so long now that I've lost sight of how far I've come, the places I've seen, the trips I've been on, the satisfaction I have felt.  Somehow I get lost in the moment of constantly pushing myself to do more, all the time, always better.  It's pretty lame in a sense.  But that desire, always nagging, has kept me healthy, alert, and alive.  It's kept me from getting old!

(The video of them climbing here at Ten Sleep is a little long. The rock sure looks good. )

Quite Civilized Climbing

A report on climbing near Chamonix has this quote:

“We’d finish our cappuccinos and leave at the civilized hour of 10 a.m. or so, climb a four-to-six-pitch route, and be back down sipping wine and eating cheese at an outdoor café by 3 p.m. Quite civilized, indeed.”

(Now of course, you can sip a cappuccino at Red Wing or Taylors Falls at 10AM, climb 4 to 6 climbs and be back eating a cheeseburger and sipping a beer by noon, if you wanted. [Plain cheese and wine are a little harder to come by.] So I don’t see what’s so great about the Alps.)

The author also wonders why there are more people who climb and hike in the mountains in that area than there are in the mountain areas of the U.S. Is it ease of access? History of climbing? Time off work? Fewer TV channels?

“But I do know this: while I love the solitude of climbing back home, I love the access here in Chamonix where, tomorrow morning, just like yesterday, a quick lift will take me nearly 10,000 feet up and onto a glacier into the heart of the Alps.”

(I was in Chamonix twice and if you don’t like unbelievable mountain scenery, glaciated peaks, great climbing, hiking, skiing, mountain biking, or wonderful food, there is no reason to go there. Plus parapenting.) Here’s a tour of downtown Chamonix by bike. At the end of the video, he takes the téléphérique up the mountain and you can see Mt Blanc in the background.

The Titan

The Smileys are at it again – climbing the “mudstone” of the largest freestanding sandstone tower in North America called The Titan.

Here’s the story of that climb.

We had our eyes set on completing #28 of our quest, The Titan via the Finger of Fate route in the Fisher Towers group. At 900 feet tall, the Titan is the largest freestanding sandstone tower in North America. Utah is home to several different types of sandstone, all of which vary in hardness. The majority of the Titan is made of “mudstone”, and as its name implies, it is the softest, and scariest, type of sandstone....

Read the rest of this trip report at: www.smileysproject.com

Icebergs

She has some great photos of icebergs, including, at the end, an iceberg rolling over. (Her descriptions of icebergs are slightly overwrought; icebergs are not people.)

How Much Sun Is Enough?

The Straight Dope explains sunscreen, sunlight, vitamin D. Short version:

“The media makes this subject appear complicated but the solution simply is not. We should get outside during the middle of the day on sunny days whenever we can. Not for long; a stroll through the park at lunch on a sunny day is likely plenty of exposure as long as you’re not completely covered up (the AMA recommends 15 minutes of exposure a ‘few times’ per week). You don’t need to be in a bathing suit but wearing shorts and jogging around the park on occasion wouldn’t hurt.”

and

“Trying to get too involved in the numbers of this subject will just confuse you. ‘Nobody really knows how much sunlight you need for optimal vitamin D synthesis versus too much sunlight,’ say Jean Tang, dermatologist and lead author of a government study that followed 36,000 women ages 50 to 79 for an average of seven years. And if someone like Tang doesn’t know the math, there’s no reason for you bother with it either.”

(I took this photo of my regular climbing friends last week at the beach. Notice, they are all wearing red.)

Cleaning A Route

Now this would be fun – unless the rock fell on you by accident. I wonder if cutting a tree is worse than putting in some bolts.

“Finally, for today, here is a clip I was sent of three Squamish locals removing a dangerous rock on Birds of Prey on the Squaw.  It’s a good reminder that just because something is big, does not mean it’s “safe”.  Be cautious out there, and DO NOT drop rocks without doing all the background work necessary,  this group had people on the ground for public safety.   Use the internet, chat rooms, billboards, climbing shops, the works.  PLEASE PLEASE BE SAFE.  Too many close calls that were NOT necessary are behind us, so please use common sense, we’ll all do the same.  Have fun.  Climb ON.   BOO-YA.”

Winning Spirit

Here’s a determined woman with true grit. (N.B. In the video, they say she often experiences “weakness and pain.” When I heard that I thought, “I often experience weakness and pain too. Maybe I should get checked out. Nah, most of my friends say I checked out years ago.”)

Climbing mountains with multiple sclerosis

Organic

The founder of Organic talks about his business and his climbing.

Carrying Heavy Loads For Money

A short story of two young climbers making money by carrying climbers’ haul bags from the summit of El Cap.

“As wall climbers get older, stiffer, and maybe just a little more lazy, they will hire the monkeys to porter the gear either to the base off El Cap, or off the summit.
The going rate to the base is $50-60 and from the top it is $150.
It seems like it's quite a bit of money, but the bags are very heavy, painful, and it's actually a bit dangerous. Descending the East Ledges isn't for someone without climbing experience.
I feel like I've been in the right place and the right time, and I've gotten to carry loads for 5 different teams making almost $500.”

Stealing Climbing Gear

Allii Rainey writes about the theft of her draws from a route she’s developed at Ten Sleep. She says:

“You, and every other person like you who steals gear from other climbers, destroys the sense of cooperative spirit and unity that binds the climbing community together.”

I understand her anger but I wonder why we assume climbing is different from other human activities. The “climbing community” consists of individuals who could be nice, generous, helpful, honest, truthful and also mean, competitive, dishonest, unhelpful, and thieving. What people who like to climb have in common is an interest in climbing. Your climbing friends would never do anything like steal gear. But that’s why they’re your friends. But to expect the same from the “climbing community,” I think, is naïve.

I have replaced many ‘biners at the anchor chains on Red Wing routes. Most of the time, they are still there when I check back. But, many times, someone has removed the new ones I placed and put an older one in its place. Or, just taken the new ones off. I have learned not to expect anything different from climbers than I would expect from drivers, shoppers, anglers, dog walkers, etc. So when I donate gear to a route, I don’t expect it to remain. That way, I ‘m not disappointed if it’s gone. Also, that way, I would never donate more gear than I’m willing to lose. As Edna St Vincent Millay said, “I love humanity but I hate people.” (I don’t really hate people, but I hope you get my point.)

There are consequences from not being able to trust the group of individuals who are climbers. She says this:

• “People will be less likely to leave in situ draws on climbs in the future.
• Crag developers tend to become less enthusiastic and open about sharing beta about the newest crags under development, preferring instead to wait until they’re done with climbing/bolting in these areas,”