Liz Rocks the Marmot Contest!

“Chicks With Picks” announces:

“We have a winner in our Girly Guns contest!

The contest collected a total of 229 votes over the past few days for our 43 total entrants. In the end the winner was Elizabeth for her submission of “Eliz Rocks her first climbing comp!”

Congratulations Elizabeth!

She has won an awesome prize package from Marmot that includes a Marmot 4P Hideaway Tent, a Sidecountry 20 Pack, and the women’s Angel Fire Sleeping Bag – a package worth more than $600!

Thanks to Marmot for putting up this awesome prize package, and William Glenn of Grenaider Design for hosting it.

Most of all, thanks to all the Chicks that submitted photos! We couldn’t have done it without you

Happy New Year to all! “

Rapelling the Tower in a Storm

These climbers found themselves in the middle of a nasty storm on top of Devils Tower.  Click here to read the full account of their descent:

"To my utter amazement, the rope did not fall.  Gravity inexplicably had failed.  Newton was wrong.  Instead of tumbling into the void below, the rope blew back up and into my face like a tangled mass of spaghetti."

“Because it's dangerous, it means it's real.”

I don’t buy into the attitude of this extreme kayaker that because it’s dangerous, it means it’s real. But I understand it.

The quote above comes from an article about the Banff Film Festival and mountain climbing in the Canadian Rockies posted here.

Ice Climbing Gear That Works

An Austrian guide details what gear he uses and why for ice climbing.

Always Use A Belay

A long-time Yosemite guide, who on his 36th birthday, climbed 36 pitches, was killed by a car while crossing the street. Climbing is dangerous. Life is dangerous,. If you cant’ get a belay while crossing the street, be sure to look both ways. Remember, we’re a split second from disaster 24/7.

John’s Canoe Trip On The Hayes River

Last August, John took a 12 day canoe trip over part of the Hayes river – which runs from Lake Winnipeg into Hudson’s Bay. From the 1670s to the 1800s, it was a major inland water way to bring goods in from the ocean and take furs out of the interior of Canada. They took two folding canoes so they could fit them into the plane for the flight out.

In the big waves, the folding canoes look like this:

 

 

 

Here he is along the river

Here’s the mouth of the Hayes near Seal Island, where the seals swim into the river from Hudson’s
Bay.

Secret Icefall

You’ll have to ask Pete or Chase where this is. It’s in the metro area, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy.

“Heft In The Head”

That’s what this woman says is good about the Cobra ice axe. Sounds like a ice axe a person should buy (if I believed girls could climb ice, I would probably buy that axe myself.)

“Climbing Is Demanding & Full Value”

Quite a long video – 25 minutes – on climbing in Scotland. One of the French climbers, explaining why it’s so hard placing pro in the iced-up rocks, says “The climbing is demanding and full value.” Great shots of setting pro in cracks and making anchors in icy conditions.

Scottish Icetrip - English from Petzl-sport on Vimeo.

Climbing, Kayaking & Fighting

In this movie made by a Polish couple, they sea kayak in freezing water to climb a 6,000 foot cliff in Greenland. There are a few domestic disagreements along the way. More here.

What A Great Idea

Today, I saw a snowman in the back of a pick ‘em up truck. What a great idea.

OK, This Is A Tough Deal

So you drive along the beach, look for rocks that haven’t been climbed, put in some bolts, and then climb it. Now that’s a tough life, I really hate Californians now. (No, it’s official.)

Check out this clip from our award winning film Spray, featuring Chris Lindner on the first assent of "Window of Opportunity" in Northern California. Chris calls it the "Most beautiful climb" of his life!

Download the whole film in HD today at iClimb.com or on iTunes.

Buy the DVD at www.BSProductions.us

Climbing In Oz

A swarm of locusts, emus, kangaroos and some great climbing in Australia. (One of the climbs – in the middle of the video - looks like “Namaste” in Zion Park.) More of their story here.

10 Months Of Climbing Across Africa

“Over the following 10 months, 60-odd (some indeed very odd) climbers from 13 different nationalities joined and left the expedition as the truck rumbled through Africa, from the Middle East overland all the way to South Africa taking in 14 countries, 35 major climbing destinations and countless travelling experiences on the way as we headed off the beaten track and into the rocky wilds of northern, eastern and southern Africa. On the way we’ve bouldered in Sudan, discovered crags new even to Hot Rock in both Ethiopia and Tanzania, clipped the best of the South African bolts and topped out (and sometimes been benighted) on long routes from Rum to the Spitzkoppe, Mount Kenya to Mount Mulanje”

Next year they’re going to South America.

What Happens When All The Hard Sport Routes Done?

If you’re like these guys, you lead them on trad gear. This is the story of a 5.14 R/X at the New River Gorge that was recently led on all trad gear. I like this quote:

“I placed two number one Camalots in the first 25 feet. From here things start getting a little more sporty.   The run out to the next gear placement is about 20 feet up and 10 feet to the left with the difficulty increasing with every move. The placement is from a flaring hand jam undercling that one can easily slip out of with no warning. I squeezed and focused all my energy into that hand jam. If I blew it I was well aware that my belayer would have a hard time keeping me off the deck.”

More info on other hard trad leads here.

“I Can Do This”

A woman climber writes about how she got motivated to be a better rock climber because she wanted to be a good ice climber. 

“t took all of the following summer for me to really identify myself as a climber – not just as someone who climbed sometimes. It took another year before I considered leading (I climb trad). I thought I really never would consider leading. I started by learning to place gear with my feet on the ground. I liked it. It felt like doing puzzles, and it helped me focus on one more awesome set of aspects in the majesty of nature…

Rock and ice climbing are so much more than just something that you do. They become part of who you are! You need to be quick and practical. You must learn to succinctly understand what is a crisis, what is an annoyance and what is just a small obstacle.”

Dam Climbing

This is a video of a 5 pitch, 540 foot climb of a dam in Switzerland. How neat is that?

Climbing In The Needles

These are the Needles in California not our (sorta) local Needles in SD. Pullharder.org has quite the story of a recent climbing trip to the Needles including this bit:

“He whipped about 25′ onto a 00 Metolius Ultralight TCU!  Woot!  Then he went right back up there!”

Shown at left is a 00  Metolius. That’s quite a fall on a very small piece of pro. One of the climbs they talk about is called “Airy Interlude” which is pictured below. What a classic line.

 

“A Girl Thing”

A new climbing movie about women climbers. Who knew women could climb? How neat is that?

Trailer "The Fanatic Search 2 - A Girl Thing" from WORKLESSCLIMBMORE Climbing Video on Vimeo.

“A GIRL THING...

The fanatic Search follows in the feminine with this volume 2 of "The Fanatic Search"!
A 90 minutes movie, who tells in 7 Chapters, the stages which mark the life of fanatic climbers among the best of the world. By choosing to follow and to film girls of any generations, from Brooke Raboutou 9 years, to 50-year-old Lynn Hill, this documentary allows to appreciate how evolves with years, the state of mind which leads these passionate climbers. With beautiful achievements, the movie presents these climbers to the best of their talent. A hymn dedicated to the feminine climbing.
DVD AVAILABLE ON WWW.TRIAYLAURENT.COM”

Leading Ladder

On the BMC website they explain a fun competition at indoor climbing gyms in Britain called “Leading Ladder.” For a 16 day period, people who enter the competition climb specially marked lead routes and score themselves based on how many attempts it requires to complete the route. The climbers can choose when they do each route and who their belayers are. It’s self-scored and based on the honesty of the climbers and belayers.

There are 10 routes per gym. Anyone can climb any of the routes. If you’re in the competition though, you can’t practice on the route. After the 16 day period, they change all the routes. There are 12 rounds so the entire competition lasts about 6 months. There are multiple divisions based on age and ability. It sounds like an interesting way to add some competition to a day of gym climbing. All of the details are here.

Alpine Climbing = “Being miserable.”

Raphael Slawinsi, a Canadian climber describes the appeal of alpine climbing, which includes being miserable

  “Being Miserable. Let's face it, if at no point you didn't wish you were somewhere else, you were probably not alpine climbing.”

But it also includes reaching the summit and climbing into some of the coolest places imaginable. Read the whole post.

Climbing Mt Rainier

This is a video by RockClimberGirl about her climb with several other women of Mt Rainier last August. Here she describes some of the gear she used.

 

A Woman's Place is on Top of Mount Rainier from Sara Lingafelter on Vimeo.

“This kick ass group of girls climbed Mount Rainier in August of 2010 to raise funds for Big City Mountaineers through the Summit for Someone program. Here's the long winded, friends and family version of our story.”

This Is Bad News For Marriage

Apparently if you’re married, you won’t be as fit. Bummer. So, based on Liz’s post below, two things to improve your climbing would be high end shoes and a divorce. Darn.

“The research, which followed nearly 8,900 adults over several years, found that both men and women who got married during that time tended to experience a dip in cardiovascular fitness, as measured by treadmill tests.”

This Is Good News For Winter Fans

In this article from March 2000, snow in Britain is predicted to be a thing of the past.

“Sledges, snowmen, snowballs and the excitement of waking to find that the stuff has settled outside are all a rapidly diminishing part of Britain's culture, as warmer winters - which scientists are attributing to global climate change - produce not only fewer white Christmases, but fewer white Januaries and Februaries.”

But now, and for the next 5 to 10 years:

“The good news for British Winter devotees is that we seem to be seeing a strongly negative trend in recent years with associated colder winter conditions.
If the current oscillation follows previous trends we might be in the middle of a ten-year spell of colder than average winters.”

Get Better, Not Stronger

An interesting read on technique vs. strength. 

“If you know how to move your body, you should be able to climb 5.12a,” Emily says, “no matter how ‘strong’ you are.” - Emily Harrington

Makes me think maybe it's time to get new shoes.

Chamonix Climbing

Climbing the granite peaks in and around Chamonix. More on this guy’s climbs in Chamonix here.

Chamonix Alpine Granite from Joshua Lavigne on Vimeo.

All Mixed up on The Big Drip

I swiped this from Chicks with Picks. Just goes to show , we are all looking for something different.


http://www.adventure-journal.com/2010/12/all-mixed-up-on-the-real-big-drip/

Ice climbing is a dodgy business. Protection is poor to nonexistent, cold and wet are often unrelenting, and your route breaks and crumbles under your tools and in worst case scenarios detaches and falls to the ground entirely. It’s also beautifully aesthetic, incredible addicting, and nearly as different from rock climbing as night is from day.

This video of Black Diamond athlete Jesse Huey probably won’t make you run out and drop $700 on carbon fiber-handled tools, but it sure gives a sense of the mission on what Huey calls “one of the biggest, baddest mixed climbs in the world.”

Located in the Ghost Wilderness of the Canadian Rockies, The Real Big Drip is rated M7 WI 6, which means a mixed climbing 7 on a scale that goes to M12 and water ice 6 on a scale of 7. Brrrly.

“My first trip into the RBD is forever seared into my memory banks,” writes Huey. “Mouth wide open, I watched as my partner sailed 30 feet through perfectly overhanging air after breaking a hold while punching it for the ice above the last bolt. An hour later, finding myself 15 feet above his exact position, all I can remember is shaking so heavily that I could barely clip the anchor and say “off belay.” In normal years, the RBD is much tamer. Returning this last year, I looked over from the safety of the hanging ice at the section we dry tooled the year before. Maybe a year wiser, or just a little more weary of the consequence, I just shook my head and vowed to never do something like that again.”

Never? As if.

BD grassroots athlete Jesse Huey on The Real Big Drip (M7 WI 6), Canadian Rockies from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

Monkey Swing

This is video shot at Smith Rocks. I like the monkey swing at the beginning. That’d be tons of fun.

Oreganic Volume 1
Rock climbing, Monkey Face Highline, and the Monkey Swing at Smith Rock State Park, Oregon.

Minnesota Climbing Co-Op

something new....click for the link

Are These The 10 Best Jumps?

I saw this posting on The Adventure Blog. The guy in the wing suit flying past the spectators sitting on the road, is my favorite.

Ropes & Redundancy

In tests Black Diamond did on older ropes, they found significant weakness at the ends.

“The first test we did was a piece from one of the totally worn-out ends. It broke at around 6 kN—and NOT at the knot.
Yowsa, I had just been whipping all over the place on that cord—and it broke at 6 kN, and NOT at the knot—scary stuff. Though the sporto falls I was taking were super soft (my wife was belaying and is light, and I am fat)—chances are the tension seen in the rope wasn’t anywhere near 6 kN, but if I had gotten slammed hard, low to the ground, etc??? It’s definitely possible to see these kinds of loads in the field.”

Read the whole thing. A commenter on that post made a great point:

“Isn't this an excellent argument for us to transition to a Twin or Half rope system?  I have designed mechanical systems for aircraft and from an engineering standpoint I would never be able to justify this in a system.  Yet, I continue to dangle myself from a single rope on a regular basis.  We are so careful building redundancy into our anchors but still have a single point of failure with our ropes.  I would really be interested in the failure rate comparison between half/twin/single rope systems. Would you fly in a plane when you are not sure about the structural integrity of the wing?”

My new idol Kim

Kim Czizmazia says before she was a mom she liked to do things like this. It's the nastiest bit of off width I have seen. It is called Trench Warfare. No wonder Will Gadd fell for her. Pun intended. Click here for the video.

Wow, can cross fit take me there????

 

The Pipe Dream

I just thought this was a cool photo of all these quick draws at an area at Maple Canyon called “The Pipe Dream.”

 

Looks Like Fairly Hard Climbing

First ascent of a 5.14d at Red River Gorge.

 

Pure Imagination from ARC'TERYX on Vimeo.

Got “Girly Guns?”

Chicks With Picks is sponsoring a photo contest. Winners receive lots of good stuff from Marmot. Only photos of women climbing are eligible. Details here.

Cult Fit Coyote Way & That Odd Woman on Robert Court

This website http://web.me.com/kimcsizmazia/Site/Welcome.html  is by Kimi, who is Will Gadd's wife and her friends. The claim to be newbie crossfit people. I love the concept of using what you have. I often wish is wasn't  looked at as odd to use the resources at hand.  I am that weird lady that biked to the playground, did the monkey bars twice, using hands and feet, then biked away. I confessed to my friends that I lay under a chair and pull up on it, I used my fireplace hearth for a stairmaster. I need to do this when I am home alone. I flake extension cords, I ski to work. It seems logical to me. The world is our gym and our playground, why let the kids have all the fun.? Looks like these gals are having a lot of fun in the garage and are getting super strong. I know Aaron stems his hallway and Liz is getting a hang board. Liz was also talking about competing in Passion for Flashin', perhaps as a group. I think that sounds like fun. I like to train for something. Anyone else interested?

Dark Horse Climbing Competition

Some video of a few problems of the recently completed Dark Horse climbing event in Boston. Info on the series here. More photos and description of this event here.

Untitled from Sean Harris on Vimeo.

Men Of Route Setting Calendar

The 2011 calendar is available here. All proceeds go to something that’s really good. (I didn’t recognize any of our local route setters. Que lastima!)

Perfect Ice Climbing Technique

Here’s Will Gadd demonstrating perfect ice climbing technique. Lots more detail here.

Riding Cables

The French are officially crazy when it comes to mountain sports. Here’s a video of a guy para skiing and then he skis down the cables of a cable car lift.

History Of Ice Climbing

The history of ice climbing is told here. Including answers to questions like:

Why were leashless tools invented?

“In 2001 the Ice Climbing World Cup accelerated gear development by banning leashes from competition. Event Organizers said the decision revolved around concerns for safety, but the real motive was making things harder for competitors.”

How ironic because leashless tools have made it easier for ice climbers to do harder routes.

Power Training By “Greasing The Groove”

 

This is a new training system developed by a Russian power training coach. It involves training on the same exercise 3 times a day.

“First, pick an exercise in which you want to get really strong (for example, a pull-up on a finger edge) and then add weight so you can do only one set of three reps, to failure, three times a day: in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening. Elites should do this for a block of five or six days in a row before taking a rest day and then repeating this cycle. Intermediates might extrapolate that they should train for two or three days in a row, probably only twice a day instead of three times. The important part is always to keep making the exercise harder, so that you can only just complete the three reps.

…the reason we find walking so easy is because we do it all the time, and that we should treat strength training the same way. If you can teach your body to adapt to a higher level of frequency, you get more gains than by training sporadically.”

Ice Caves Around The World

Photos taken from inside glacial “caves” in Alaska, France, Argentina, and Switzerland.

Climbing In Argentina

A trip report about rock climbing in Frey and Bariloche, Argentina. (Many posts, start here and keep scrolling down.) Quite a discussion in this MountainProject forum about climbing in Frey. A quote from the Mountain Project page on climbing in Frey:

“Granite spires in an incomparable setting, free camping, ridiculously friendly locals, beautiful cracks, and an abundance of classic, airy, challenging lines: this is Frey.
….an emerald tarn stretches to the end of a bowled-out cirque. White and black granite spires reflect on its surface. As you lift your gaze your hands begin to sweat: they're everywhere, needles in every shape and size, riddling the sides and rims of the cirque. It's a surreal landscape: The Fool, The Monk, The Grandfather, The Lunar Rocket, The Old Woman, The Splinter, The Three Marias - each spire has its own character. Condors weave spirals in the deep blue. You've made it to climber's heaven.”

Rocket Man

OK, how neat is this? Aerobatics with a rocket strapped to your back. A longer video  showing him riding up in the hot air balloon is here.

Climbing In Antarctica

Rock climbing at –22F and then BASE jumping from a 10,000 foot peak in Antarctica.

 

Hey Liz, Nice Job

Here’s Radio Liz’s report on her climbing competition in Duluth last weekend. (It’s certainly bold to compete, it’s very bold to write it up, but it’s super bold that you drove to Duluth in last weekend’s blizzard.)

You Think The Storm We Had Was Bad?

Look at what happened on the sun.when an entire hemisphere erupted. More info on this eruption – which actually happened last August but this video was only recently published– here. Man, that is scary. I am getting out of here so I don’t get hurt by all that solar stuff.

Why Do Risks Matter?

This brochure is called “Balancing Risks and Benefits in the Outdoors.” If you were ever a child or are a parent, scanning it might be helpful. It’s is published by the English Outdoor Council and aimed at teachers and other children’s services professionals.

“A mindset that is solely focused on safety does children and young people no favours. Far from keeping them safe from harm, it can deny them the very experiences that help them to learn how to handle the challenges that life may throw at them. There is an emerging
consensus that our society has become too focused on reducing or eliminating
risk in childhood. And research suggests that overprotecting children can lead to
longer-term problems with mental health and well-being….

A 2009 Girlguiding UK research report entitled Redefining Risk: Girls shout out! found that “over-anxious adults, exaggerated media coverage and the inconsistent application of rules
supposedly designed to keep girls safe have contributed to a climate of worry
and misinformation.”

Finding Unclimbed Peaks

A story of two friends exploring unclimbed peaks in Nepal and the difficulties involved in route finding when no beta is available. They succeed in an alpine ascent on a 20,000+ foot mountain with a one night bivouac.but have to spend two nights on the summit before they can find a way down.

“There are around 60 unclimbed peaks in Nepal for which permits can be obtained. Lists of these peaks are widely available. The tricky part is sifting through this information to find worthy independent summits. Many of the “peaks” are small sub-summits or BORs (bumps on a ridge). And, unsurprisingly, many are labeled with the wrong elevations, coordinates, and even names.

We found several different names for the pyramidal mountain we’d seen from Kang Nachugo. After much research, including talking to locals, we concluded that Jobo Rinjang, elevation 6,778 meters, was as close as we were likely to come to a definitive name. More important to us: Although Jobo Rinjang had been attempted at least once (by a Swiss team in 2008), it was still unclimbed.”

This is one of the fun parts of alpine climbing; going up is sometimes safer than going down.

“Suddenly a rock the size of a beer cooler sped past us, sounding like a helicopter as it skimmed over the surface of the ice.

‘Holy shit, did you see that?’ I yelled.

David’s reply was unemotional, a simple ‘yeah.’ My mind raced. But quickly I realized he had already understood our situation. Keep going up. We’ll get out of danger quicker if we continue up. David turned back to the ice and continued kicking away”

one more time

Richard and I are having artistic differences about the music on the ice climbing slideshow. Then there is this one. It is my favorite. Thanks, friend!

For Lisa

Some Call This Fun

Others call this dry tooling. (Still others – sassier – call it BDSM.) It’s actually from a review of the Petzl “Ergo.”

Using Ice Tools

Will Gadd has a video as well as more details – here – on using ice tools. How neat is that?

Tough For Us To Do

Those of us used to climbing 50-60 foot walls, would have a hard time taking the advice of Dave MacLeod who advises training for outdoor routes this way:

“Get out and climb at a standard that allows you to do 12 x 30m routes a day or more. That’s 2500 metres climbed in a week minimum.”

So, for the longest route at Red Wing – 62 feet – you’d have to climb it 19 times in one day and about 132 times in a week. I can see how you get good at building endurance that way. But, man, what a drag!

Fun With Picks

Here’s why dry tooling is so fun. This is a shot of Lisa at Sandstone yesterday. In order to get past the blank rock section and back on to the ice above, she had to match both of her ice picks on a “ledge” the thickness of a quarter.

You can kinda see the “ledge” in the photo below.

 

Then she could stand up and reach the ice above. How neat is that? You go girl! (Don’t know why she’s wearing oven mitts. Ask her, if you dare.)

The Last Wild Mountain

These folks have been traveling the country filming this climbing documentary for a few years. Now they need your help to finish the project.

You can donate here.

Sandstone Ice Festival

Another post, same photos, not so fancy as Richards edit, but different music.

Mixed climbing and dry tooling were strenuous and fun. Companions were fun as always.

I felt there was no real advantage to the for us to be there during the festival, since we didn't climb the farmed ice and put up our own rope. I missed VE's presence. I think we could go up there anytime we wanted and have as much fun. So let's plan our own ice festival. Put up 4or 5 ropes and camp out.

The weather was great.

Sandstone Ice Festival

Lisa, John and I climbed at Sandstone yesterday. We were going to camp overnight in John’s special Arctic tent with the wood stove, but headed back early to beat the blizzard.

They did farm some ice on a few routes. We didn’t climb any of those. We stayed out of the way of the Festival (actually we were asked to stay out of their way) and spent most of our time climbing in the corner on the natural ice.

Lots of dry tooling and thin ice. Perfect temps and ice conditions.

12/11/10

More on...You can't have it both ways.

Recently Chicks with Picks introduced some possible T shirt designs. I thought the chicks had clearly lost their minds. If you want to be perceived as a strong, capable woman, don't wear this t-shirt.

If you want to be a "cupcake" buy several. It seems as if the posted was intended to recieve feed back and they did. It was a resounding "NO!!!"

Ladies, you are a distraction! No need to draw extra attention of the variety that is not particularly flattering.

That being said, I think Chicks with Picks' other T-shirt designs are great.

Maybe publicity is publicity good or bad, but I don't think so, let's take the high road.

I really like this Ice Betty Design. Now that I think of it, where is the line? If this is my opinion do I need to ditch my new "sweet ride"t shirt with the bike on it? It looked different on me than it did on the hanger. Is there a difference between "a little dirty" and downright slutty? hmmm. Who decides....What do you think?

Assisted Living

I am a woman and I know I can't have it both ways. If I am going to climb ice and mountains, I can't whine about shoveling the driveway. I am pretty sure my husband found me appealing because I didn't need a lot of tending to. I carry my own stuff. I don't play mind games. I will mow the lawn while he cooks dinner, it works for us.

For a couple of years now, I have been shown the benefits of assisted living. Someone has been carrying my pack, setting up top ropes, and driving me places. Now another has tightened my boots for me. My life is AWESOME! I am probably ruined. Can I have it both ways? Gosh I hope so.

This morning, I asked my hubby if he would bring me a cup of coffee this morning as I was all snuggles up in a blanket, he did! and then he brought me another one later, unrequested. Yes, this could work out just fine. We went into the blizzard to clear the snow. Man gets the snowblower, wife gets the shovel. What is that about? Well, I might have moved more snow than he did. shhhh.

Getting Spanked Ice Climbing

It’s common to get spanked by the steepness of the ice while ice climbing. It’s unusual to get spanked by your ice climbing partner. But that’s what happened yesterday at the Sandstone Ice Festival.