I have been called a floozy many times because of my late-night bar hopping. And then, when the photos of me acting like a floozy, get posted on the' ‘net, I have gotten in big trouble.
I just ordered one of these so I don’t have to worry any more. How ‘bout you? I bet you need one of these too. (I know you do, I’ve seen you in the clubs. You are so sassy!)
A brother and sister team completed a 3,300 km tour of the Northwest Passage using kites and skis. More details here.
Cedar Wright tells the story here of his recent climbs on the island of Tioman in Malaysia. I liked this quote:
“The jungle in Tioman Island is pretty treacherous, with heinous spiky ferns dripping spiny tendrils that manage to consistently grab your clothing and skin as you attempt to weave through unscathed…We passed all kind of heinous creepy crawlies: ants the size of my
thumbnail, angry monkeys, a black snake that we later learned was a poisonous pit-viper, bizarre frogs, and this oddness all highlighted by the constant screech of mysterious bugs (or were they birds?)”
I like the idea of climbing a snow-filled couloir as fast as you can. This snowmobiler in Greenland missed getting over the top of the couloir by only a few feet. The slide down must have been fun too. More details here.
Pile it up under your sleeping pad. Or use it as a pillow. (This is more helpful if you are camping in the cold. In a Motel 6, I wouldn’t bother putting a rope under the mattress. Some other ideas for winter camping here.
I did not think this was possible - women biking without men. When did this start? I never got the memo. I am starting to think women can do anything. Who knew?
This is an amazing concept: people as old as 60 can mountain bike. A nice video tour of popular bike trails around Moab. I have ridden all of these except the very last one, which I hiked.
Grand Canyon National Park was all set to ban the sale of plastic water bottles. They heard the Coca-Cola Foundation, which donated more than $13 million to the parks, was concerned about the ban. Then they tabled the bottle ban.
I personally think people drink too much water. Causes you to spend too much time looking for the toilet when you could be hiking and looking at the scenery. But if the bottled water folks donate that much money, maybe I’ll start buying water.
A climber who accompanied Tommy Caldwell’s recent attempt to free climb a 5.14 on El Cap writes about what he saw. He includes a killer recipe for margaritas.
Those small white marks in the photo (lower, right hand side) are some of the crux moves on the hardest pitch.
Will Gadd predicts that leashed ice tools will become extinct like 60/40 fabric and gaiters. Although, I did find this bit interesting:
“I have yet to get a better swing out of a leashless tool than a well set-up leashed tool. The perfectly relaxed fast swing is the holy grail of leashless tools, and so far I haven’t felt it, and I try every new tool I can. It’s just that the other advantages of leashless tools outweight the disadvantages.”
A technical paper on the results of testing various types of anchors in ice. They tested Abalakov (V-thread) anchors as well as different lengths and angles of ice screws. Some conclusions:
No, this isn’t a photo of our driveway with the typical January ice. It’s a 1915 photo of Shackleton’s ship caught in the Antarctic ice. More color photos of his trip here.
I posted a video a few days ago about this climbing accident. Then I posted Will Gadd’s (a professional ice climber) opinion on what the two guys did and didn’t do right.
This new post on Will Gadd’s blog is from the climber who got hurt. He disagrees with some of Will’s assessments of what they – the two climbers – did wrong. I especially liked this advice:
“However, we did make one,major mistake: we did not a have a candid discussion before the climb about how we would react to potential risks, namely encountering
unstable snowpack once high on the route. I believe our extensive experience climbing together led us to think we would automatically be on the same page. That assumption, however, kept us from engaging in a challenging conversation that could have, although did not guarantee to have, prevented the slide. If I had one recommendation to others
it would be this: take the time to talk about risk before and during each climb, even if you think you are on the same page, or you think its unwarranted. Thinking proactively about what’s around the corner can save your life.”
Talking to your climbing partners about what each of you sees as the risks and why you see those as risks,seems like a good idea.
I watched this movie on Netflix – I know, I am at least a year behind in movie watching – and thought it was great. First of all, it takes place in France. What’s not to like about that? Second of all, it has lots of
shots of people in a cave. Oh, and then there is the oldest art ever discovered. I like this quote from one of the anthropologists who spent 5 days in the cave:
“Every day I was dreaming of lions.”
