Martin'ski Hole'

It wasn't a technical climb but never forget that mountains are big. Roman, Emily, Kamil and I began our hike in the center of the town below, Martin, Slovakia. The weather was great and the view was fabulous.

What Bouldering Grade Is Everest?

That’s what one climber asks as kind of a joke. Here’s a thoughtful answer:

“I feel pretty confident in saying that the main obstacle to my climbing Everest is a large amount of money and time and not much else. It is remarkable that a climb which tested the limits of human endeavor in the 1950s is now essentially a tourist destination. A V12 in RMNP, while commonplace enough today, still demands a kind of commitment in terms of training and dedication that the average Seven Summitter doesn't require.”

Teva Mountain Games

 

Bouldering finals from Vail, CO.

 

Trad Climbing Video

 

In an era of sport climbers, and boulderers, Boulder Local Nellie Milfeld stands out as a talented and bold traditional climber. This short movie is brought to you by BlueWater Ropes, and features Nellie crushing "Arms Bazaar" a 5.12aR at Bells Buttress in Boulder Colorado.

Route Studying with Borna the Pirate

Watching Climbers in Paklinica...sigh...

Nice.....

You will find more nice photos here. I think it is Colorado, but the website is in Russian, so ...

Moonbow

An article describing moonbows with predictions of best times to see them in Yosemite. And a short video of a moonbow and rainbow in Patagonia. 

The Largest Climbing Gym

In Atlanta, the largest climbing gym just opened. Cool colors on the walls. Could make you a little seasick though.

Dubrovnik Tour

Or as we affectionately call it “D’ Town.” Old city founded in the 7th Century. It’s one of the best preserved walled cities in the world. We took a walking tour on top of the wall which surrounds the city.

Watch Marko’s legs as they become “El Busto.” Listen to Barbara and Bill’s annoying morning church bells.

Is This A New Thing?

Don’t think they’d allow this at VE, but who knows?

Watch a longer clip of the show here.

Skiing K2

This blog describes an attempt to ski down K2 – a 10,000 foot ski descent – which has never been done before. They just reached the base of K2 yesterday.

Swinging On The Adriatic

What to do when you find a rope swing over the sea? Watch and learn.

Swinging On The Adriatic

What to do when you see a rope swing over the sea? Watch and learn.

Buttshotphobia

For those of you going to the Black Hills next week, keep these photo tips in mind so you don’t have all your photos with butts in them.

       FOCUS ON FACES

       DEPTH OF FIELD

       LEADING LINE

       BE ORIGINAL

A Treatment For A Bad Ankle

If you’ve injured your ankle, this is a slightly different way to treat it:

“…two weeks of pampering for the goat and then a moment of bliss...a sweet is given to the goat as he stands on an alter surrounded by well wishers. At the end of the two weeks of pampering, as the goat chews the sweet while standing on the alter, a blade serrates his neck and sacrifices his life at the highest moment of satisfaction.”

I have not tried this…yet. But I’m thinking it might also work for climber’s elbow.

Paklenica Park

The mecca of sport climbing in Croatia. Tons of bolted climbs from 1 pitch to 20. We only bouldered a little bit here. We hiked up to a mountain hut for lunch and some homemade moonshine.

Kayaking Croatia

We did one day of kayaking on the Zrmanja and Krupa Rivers. The water is crystal clear.

Split, Croatia

Split’s the home of Diocletian’s palace. A guy who built his retirement home at the turn of the 4th century AD.

 

Here are some Roman Centurions at the top of the steps.

The entry to the palace, has a great a rotunda for singing. As shown here by Lisa & Barb. (Watch Carl turn and walk away. There’s always a critic.)

And here are some professional singers in the same rotunda.

 

A hike in the nearby Dinaric Alps, came with with a handy bath tub to clean up in.

Hvannadalshnjukur

Richard posted an account of the ascent of this peak in Iceland, a couple of weeks ago, this is a different spin, different experience, from Women's Adventure Magazine.

I’m a forty-three year old woman and I’m crying. Sniveling. Angry. Weak. I want to take my trekking pole and hurl it at the sturdier mountaineers in front of me, but they are too far ahead and that would require precision and more energy than I have left. On the positive side, I’ve managed to scale the highest peak in Iceland without impaling myself on my ice axe or yanking the seven other people, who were roped up to me earlier, into a crevasse.

The rest of the article is here

all about slopers

Kayaking Vrgada

A short video of our kayaking trip to the island of Vrgada off the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. (If your geography is spotty, Dalmatia is where the dogs come from,. That chase the fire trucks. Oh, you knew that. Never mind.)

 

The video quality is low because my connection was spotty. No, seriously, that’s the reason.

Rolling On The River - Croatia

After Plitvice Park – the place just lousy with beautiful, blue-green waterfalls – we drove south to the river Zrmanja for a day of kayaking. Because of the calcium carbonate, the water’s crystal clear.

 

The rapids are very small with a few exceptions – like this one.

Plitvice Park - Croatia

About 3 hours south of Zagreb, which is where we landed after Amsterdam, is Plitvice Park. It consists of 16 lakes (and a lot more waterfalls) that in a mountain range of dolomite and limestone. Because of this type of rock, the water has lots of calcium carbonate and that creates a blue green color. And the calcium carbonate combines with moss and algae to form travertine rock which is what stalactites in caves are made of. Here’s travertine which looks like a frozen waterfall. (It’s an outdoor stalactite, basically.)

Paklenica Park

Today we hiked in Paklenica which is the mecca of sport climbing in Croatia. There are hundreds of bolted climbs including some right outside the bathrooms, like this one Lisa is bouldering on.

And this one which is right above the store selling ice cream and climbing equipment. More later.

Practice Tip: Falling

This is from an article on Ukclimbing.com by Arno Ilgner here is the full article

We tend to practice falling, or anything stressful, to get it over with. This will not only delay our learning of the skill but will also cause us to learn it incorrectly. Our body will learn to tense up. Learning how to fall means we learn to remain relaxed while falling. Here is a learning-based approach to practicing falling.

1. Small increments:
Begin on toprope
First, simply hang on the rope and swing around.
Second, take toprope falls
Third, take lead falls

2. Gauge for learning: Comfort
First, stay at the same increment until you are comfortable
Second, you know you are comfortable when…
B: You’re breathing throughout the fall
E: You’re looking down during the fall
R: You’re relaxed throughout the fall
P: You’re arms are out; not grabbing the rope

3. Belaying: Giving a cushioned catch
First, do not progress to lead falls until your belayer learns how to give you a cushioned catch during toprope falls.
Second, a cushioned catch is: the belayer gives in to the pull when you fall. Your belayer should end up about five feet off the ground when your fall is ended. If he isn’t, then he will need to push off as the rope becomes taut. This will be a learning process for your belayer.

Croatia Part 1

We left the Cities about 5PM and flew directly to Amsterdam. We were super excited.

 

 

It never got completely dark – this shot over Hudson's Bay was the darkest.

 

Most of the flight over was overcast. But, on the western side of Greenland, I got this shot of hundreds of icebergs.

And this one of the plane’s engine just about to swallow an iceberg.

At Amsterdam, we found out that someone had mistakenly cancelled our flights to Croatia.

Than took two hours to re-schedule and a few hundred Euros. 

we were so excited to get our new boarding passes.

After a long plane delay, we arrived in Zagreb about 5PM. Tomorrow we head for Pltvice National Park and will be off the grid for about two days.

Density Training

Climb Strong talks about training for “density”which is increasing your strength as well as endurance.

“In the nebulous world between pure strength and pure endurance, there is another answer. If you’re training on a bouldering or system wall, you might just consider training for density. In fact, if I could choose just one type of workout to use for climbing, this would be the one.”

We’re Off To Croatia

We’ll be in Croatia for about 10 days. We fly into Zagreb then go to Plitvice Lakes National Park.

  
View Croatia Trip in a larger map

A preview of a Nature show on Plitvice Lakes National Park.

It’s Zach

Zach Bramel On Side Effects 5.10d

From mountainproject.com description of this climb on the link above:

    “For the brave, the crux move on the roof sets up reasonably well for a figure-4. Even with a bolt at your waist, it's a little heady though.”

Hiking The Appalachia Trail To Africa

There’s a plan to extend the Appalachia Trail across the Atlantic

“A few hundred million years ago, after the continental plates of Europe and North America collided, they broke up and drifted toward their present locations, Anderson said. The remnants of that colossal crash formed mountains that now rim the North Atlantic.

On the west they're called the Appalachians. On the east, they're known by a variety of names - from the Western Alps in Norway to the Caledonides on the British Isles and Atlas Mountains in Morocco, where they end.

As it's now shaping up, the IAT will brush the east coast of Greenland before picking up in Ireland and Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. It will resume on the mainland in Norway and proceed south through France, Portugal, nip western Spain and end in Morocco. Trails already exist along much of the conceptual route, planners point out, so participating countries in many cases can mark certain trail segments with the IAT sign to make it part of the network.”

I wish the planet would stop moving all over the place just settle down!

Ron & Fabrice At RW

Here’s a video of them climbing “Needles and Pins” and “Roof Burner.” (My new camera shoots in a green hue. I am returning it. I can adjust some of it out but not in some shots; that’s why Ron’s in B&W and Fabrice is in color. I left a little of the green in the first shot.)

Be Prepared To Have Impact

This article describes the damage climbers do to plants when they climb rocks on which plants grow. I kinda had already guessed that rock faces used a lot for climbing were not full of plant life.

      "Most climbers try to be responsible, but they are prepared to have a certain level of impact."

So as a climber, you do impact the rock. Just try not to impact the ground when you fall.

Blue Bagging At The ‘Wing

Here’s Fabrice celebrating the benefits of a blue bag for carrying the lead rope at Red Wing on Monday. He is climbing like a house-a-fire. Ron and I joined him for some perfect weather, quiet Monday climbing. 

Just Beautiful Climbing Photos

from Simon Carter's Onsight Photography

Click here to go, they are really good. like this one

Trad Climbing

I thought this had some nice shots of gear placements.

In an era of sport climbers, and boulderers, Boulder Local Nellie Milfeld stands out as a talented and bold traditional climber. This short movie is brought to you by BlueWater Ropes, and features Nellie attempting "Arms Bazaar" a 5.12aR at Bells Buttress in Boulder Colorado.

The Best thing since “Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey!

No need to check the weather from way out on the crag, just use your God given skills!

Russell the Wilderness Guide!

My Hero...
Click here to see a demonstration of Russell's first aid skills

Madagascar Stone Forest

So cool, I am not sure I believe it is real! More photos here. Here is some information about it from National Geographic.

Lynn Hill On Patience

We posted this video about two years ago. On re-watching, I thought it was worth posting again.

The route she climbs is called “The Perfect Child.” I could only find a few references to it on the ‘net. It appears to be in the Henry Mountains in southern Utah. One of the most remote – and the last discovered – mountain ranges in the continental U.S.

She says in the video, you need “sensitivity to your center of gravity. If you’re feeling out of balance, you have to ask yourself the right question. Why?”

Canadian On Everest

A climber from Calgary just became the first Canadian to summit Everest without oxygen (and return safely.) He climbed from the Chinese side. He talks about the climb and his training for it here. I found this part of his interview most interesting:

“When we were up there, you’re passing dead bodies. There are eight of them on the route I did. I only saw three, which is three too many as far as I’m concerned. These people died doing exactly what I was trying to do. And they’re not dead in any dramatic fashion. They’re laying there with their arms curled up under their head like they’re taking a nap. There’s one Indian climber we called Green Boots, he’s been there since 1996 …. The way I justify in my own head, is that if I’m driving back from a ski trip and you see a white cross in the ditch showing where somebody died, I don’t think you change your driving. You think about it, but you don’t change your driving. The only difference in Everest is that the body’s still there because you can’t get them down.”

Weather Insurance

If you want to climb somewhere and you don’t want your trip to be ruined because it rains, for example, here’s an online service that sells weather insurance. I plugged in a 5 day period in June in the Black Hills, and specified that I wanted to be paid $100 for each day it rained more than .5 inch, for a total payment of $500. Insurance for that is $34.

The Magic Bus

Fridays at VE, the Magic Bus shows up with an extensive hot dog menu.  As I waited for them to set up, I couldn’t help thinking:

"I'm so nervous, I just sit and smile (Too much, the Magic Bus).”

Finally, they let Liz, Lisa and me inside, where we enjoyed a tasty, healthful tube steak. Their menu is here.

 

Climbing Hvannadalshnúkur

Here’s the Gear Junkie’s recent story of climbing the highest peak in Iceland Hvannadalshnúkur.

Avoid the Tangle

Tech Tips on keeping the rope free of your feet. Including the:

“Rule of Opposites
On wandering climbs, follow this simple rule: left is right, and right is left.”