“Kloofing” is canyoneering in Afrikaans. A story here on the sport of koofing on the cliffs in South Africa. According to the story, it’s best not to be a “skinny college girl” while kloofing.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Chris Sharma turn 30.
Still just a pup. Check out page 43 of the February issue of Climbing Magazine. Leave comments :)
Tough To Be A Guide
With the exception of putting up with people like me, sounds like it’d be a nice life to be a guide in Moab, UT. At least according to this guy.
“I was the lead climbing guide for Red River and Ancient Art was the route done if you wanted to do a mulit-pitch. This 3 pitch route taks the chimney on the south side and tops out on a spectacular corkscrew summit. Once the clients see the summit however, none want to risk the exposure to climb to the top.”
“During the early season, the Delores River runs high and fast with many intense rapids. Since the put in is 3 hours from Moab (driving time), we take a 30 mintue flight over the desert instead. The flight takes you over Arches National Park, Castelton Valley, and the Fisher Towers. The most amazing flight I have ever taken. The ride was very bumpy and was very glad the flight didnt take longer then it did… or else I would have needed to use a barf bag..”
Here’s My New Climbing Outfit
Of course, this is just for outdoor climbing or until I warm up indoors. What a great idea; I can sleep in these and then get up and walk to the bluffs. I already have the “Snuugie” for those days when I don’t want to leave the couch. But this “Forever Lazy” outfit is just the ticket for climbing. Plus, there’s a - what should we call it? – escape hatch out the back for those days when you’re in a hurry. Or you’re winter camping. I wonder if VE will sell them at a discount.
Dan & Netta Part Deux
(ED - Here is the 2nd part of Dan and Netta’s climbing trip report. I haven’t head from them since 1/11 so don’t know how the climbing was in Joshua Tree.)
We climbed a bit of sport in Calico Hills and did another five pitch climb called "Olive Oil." Best route of the trip thus far. Olive Oil moves from easy face climbing, to a perfect hand-crack, to finger locks, more (run-out) face climbing, Offwidth, and a long (195 ft) final pitch of chimeying. It was really good. Netta climbed here first pitch of Trad too! It was the first pitch of the Solar Gully. Rated 5.1 by the book, 
Twice I played guitar in downtown Vegas, making gas money for the trip to Joshua Tree. We drove through the Mojave Desert at dusk; a sight that will not be replicated in my lifetime, I'm sure. The Joshua Trees are really interesting Yucca plants, which grow at the rate of 1 inch a year. They are incredible, reminding me of those furry, bendy straws people use in crafts a lot. Something from Dr. Seuss. We didn't climb in J Tree yet, just woke up in the "Ryan" campsite amidst a shelter of boulders. We're at the visitor center in J Tree right now, just checking Netta's flight info and my route back to MN. Only five days left before she leaves! It all happens so fast.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Hiking Across The Alps
The Via Alpina trail runs the more than 1,200 miles over the spine of the Alps as it passes thru 8 countries. This is one couple’s story of their 111 day hike of it.
Dan & Nett’s Most Excellent Adventure
(This report is from the first few days of Dan and Netta’s climbing trip. They left at the end of December and were going to climb in southern Utah, Las Vegas and then Joshua Tree. (I have gotten two reports from them; this is the first one from about a week ago.)
The weather has been.. interesting. Netta and I left on the 28th; 15 hours to Fort Collins, CO. We stayed with an old college friend of mine in a real bed at her house. After a late morning we got on I-70 to head through the mountains, which is where all the fun began. Right around Vail, the snow started falling. I drove (Netta gets a little nervous driving in the snow) late into the night, arriving in Moab a little wet and very tired. The next morning we awoke to find two inches of snow on the tent. Castleton Tower: Bust.
We hiked up to the 
Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. I guess it's cool that we saw it with all that snow. That's not something everyone gets to see, right? We drove through the snow as long as we could handle it and slept at a truck stop somewhere in Utah. The following day (the 31st) we had sun, and drove straight into Vegas.
Las Vegas! We spent New Years Eve with thousands in the streets. I spent a little time playing guitar for tips (gas money) and we did our best to stay out of trouble. The new year brought the first day of climbing! We set up camp in Red Rock Canyon, napped off the previous night, then headed to Calico Hills for an afternoon with sun and sport. The climbing in the hills I have found to be fingery and sustained.
Sunday the 2nd we set our sights on Birdland, a beautiful 5 pitch 5.7+ that gets plenty of sun. The morning looked great, and we took our time getting to the crag. I led the first pitch in sun, but by the time Netta got to the belay ledge we had some cloud cover. The climbing was solid, juggy face climbing with great pro. However, by the time Netta got to the second belay ledge, I was really cold. Shivering pretty hard. We discussed over the lack of sun and the clothing that we brought, and finally decided to bail. We rapped down after the second pitch and hiked out just in time to see snow flakes coming down on the car as we got to the parking lot. Netta and I just nodded at each other. Good call.
The 3rd was a coffee shop day in the snow. Uneventful. A woman there told us she had lived in Vegas for 20 years and had only seen snow three times. Lovely.
On the 4th the rock was still too wet to climb, so we went southeast on a tip about some Arizona Hot Springs. Another good call. We hiked into the White Rock Canyon, a beautiful 3.3 mile trek through a wash surrounded by 500 foot cliffs banded in red and white. There were bolted routes on one of the walls on the hike. The hot springs were too good to be true; Three pools of varying temps: mild, medium, hot. The hottest getting to about 110 degrees. Our muscles and tent-stiff backs simply melted.
Birdland, we're back. The day of the 5th, we made it happen. We and 4 other parties. The climb was sort of a circus of dropped carabiners, broken holds, and machismo. Luckily, none were a result of Netta or I. Amazing 5.7 face climbing throughout, and a fifth pitch that is not to be missed. The crux of the route is right around 500 feet, about ten feet from the final anchor on an ultra exposed slabby face.
Today we took it easy on sport over at the Panty Wall. Lots of moderates. We met a really cool couple (Steve and Charlotte) who talked us into seeing the boulder field by Calico Basin. An amazing number of boulder problems surround the Kraft mountain, but we got there late and only hiked around to check it out.
It's looking good from here on out! The weather is supposed to hold out for the next ten days, so I'll definitely send you some more updates. Pictures will be coming over soon, I promise. The plan for tomorrow is Solar Slab and Johnny Vegas. Netta is going to lead something on Trad for the first time. She's pretty psyched! Hope all is well in the North!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Climbing In Montenegro
What a great couple of photos of climbing in Montenegro. Story here. Apparently there are only 15 climbers in the whole country including just one woman.
To Get The Best Jobs
According to this article, besides going to one the top 5 colleges in the country, you have to prove you’re not boring by doing something like mountain climbing.
“The report says elite law firms, investment banks, and consultancy firms are only looking for recruits from the "top 5," Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Wharton, according to her research.
And once you've got one of those schools on your resume, you have to prove you aren't "boring," a "tool," or a "bookworm," by climbing a mountain or being a nationally-ranked athlete.”
Wow, now you can get your parents to pay for an elite college and pay for a climbing trip. How neat is that?
Peabody Ice Climbing Club
Climbing farmed ice in Michigan. I like the iced-over crane linked to the telephone (?) pole. A woman writes about her climb of this structure here. I like this quote:
“I made the trip out to Peabody’s alone because none of my climbing friends were free on my only available evening. And some were just wusses (sorry, you were!).”
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Lonnie Dupre of Grand Marais is half way.
He he, that rhymes! And I am talking about a solo ascent of Denali. Go to http://lonniedupre.com/ to here an audio report.
Report From Red Rocks
Dan & Netta from VE arrived in Joshua Tree today. They plan to climb there for a few days. They drove to Joshua from Las Vegas where they had a few days of climbing. A brief recap in photos:
On their stop in the Utah desert, they had snow in Moab, so couldn’t climb there.
They had snow in Vegas on the first day. Then got to climb a few routes including “Birdland.” Here’s Netta on the 2nd pitch.
Here’s the Mojave desert on their drive into Joshua Tree park.
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