Shackleton’s 100 Year-Old Whisky

This is how they recreated the whisky which was found underneath the South Pole explorer Ernest Shackleton’s hut.

“In 2007, just about a century later, the whisky was found, intact, at the expedition's hut at Cape Royds in Antarctica.

The stuff was made by Mackinlay & Co at the Glen Mhor distillery in 1896 or thereabouts. Mackinlay hasn't been an active brand for a while now, but the current owner of the Mackinlay name, Whyte and Mackay, obtained a few of the precious bottles and set out to do what any right-thinking Scot would do: first, taste the whisky; and second, attempt to analyze and re-create it. The result, a product called Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky, is, as of this writing, buyable in stores.”

This Ice Climbing Reminds Me Of The Brick Yards

Not! This is some real ice climbing on a glacier in Alaska. It looks fun.

I Never Want To Get This Strong

If I got this strong, it’d be too easy for me to climb hard routes. Anyway, I can already do almost everything he does – I go to a climbing gym, I pick up weights, I can run on a treadmill and I can do some pull ups. .

I am not sure what’s more impressive in the first few minutes of this video – the one finger pull up or the one armed pull up and lock-off using 22 pounds of weight.

Beginning Canyoneering

I’ve always thought canyoneering was for old rock climbers. But I think you can do it when you’re young and still enjoy yourself. A good resource for beginning canyoneering is here.

Red Rocks–More Climbs

This is one of Russell’s favorites. The photo below is of the pitch that enters the tunnel. Great description with photos here.

Red Rocks–Part 4

OK, let’s pick some dates and make some reservations. So far, Liz, Pete, Chase and I are ready to go. And I have talked to several others who might want to come. And we are thinking the first week in March – could be a few days on either side depending on airfares and schedules. Again, I think it’s best to figure on at least 4 days just because it takes a day or two to orient yourself and get used to the rock. I also think it’s best to plan a maximum number of weekdays since weekends are busier.

Today, I talked to Ryan and Dan at VE who have been out there a few times. Dan raved about Olive Oil and Birdland. He also thought Solar Slab would be fun. The last time Dan was there, it was in January and he said they climbed in long sleeves all the time and looked for routes in the sun, but they stayed warm. And, it was very busy at the sport climbing areas nearest the road. In January!.

I have been watching airfares and they are always around the $320 amount.

Pete and I talked about trad gear today, and between the two of us, we have plenty. (I am still going to buy some more, because, as you know, a gal can never have too many accessories.)

I have been asked about my role in this trip and what would be expected of others. I don’t want to be a guide leading people up routes. I do want to do some trad climbs and would like climbing partners who are comfortable at least doing lead belays and rappels. Swapping leads would be icing on the cake. Also, if you want to start leading or do some “easy” routes to get more practice, there are plenty of opportunities. We can help each other, provide some instruction and lots of gear. (There are whole areas with several “starter” lead climbs that look like they’d be fun.)

I expect we’ll do many sport climbs as well as several multi-pitch trad routes. Depends on weather and how fit we feel. I don’t think anyone has any specific “must-do” climbs, so we can certainly be flexible.

I assume that people will have slightly different schedules. But we should coordinate schedules so we have at least one other climbing partner while we’re out there.

So what’s the best way to arrange all this? Let me know.

(Part 1 of our Red Rock trip planning is here, part 2 is here, part 3 is here.)

PS, If it rains so we can’t climb for a day, we can always do something fun like this:

Franklin Bridge Ice Report

I stopped there today (1/4/12) and took these photos. There is no ice on the north side. There is some ice on the south side, but everything is very wet as you can imagine. Pete climbed ice at Arcola yesterday and John told me they climbed ice at the Brick Yards. John said it was “surprising good.” Pete said that water was flowing out of the ice at the bottom of the Arcola icicle.

Moon’s Crater

A recent set of satellite photos from a Moon crater twice as deep as the Grand Canyon . Details here. If you go here, you can even zoom in to see your favorite boulder.

“Twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and 26 miles wide, Aristarchus was created when an asteroid hit the moon approximately 450 million years ago. The impact excavated deep into the lunar crust and produced dark clumps and streamers of pyroclastic ash—glasses formed during fiery eruptions similar to those in the Hawaiian Islands. Ledges seen on the wall are topped with sagging blocks of pre-impact lunar crust.”

Santa Works Off His Belly Fat At VE

Knowing that belly fat on men is very unhealthy, Santa visits VE in St. Paul one more time for a good workout before he heads back up north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homer’s Ice

Today, 1/3/12, I stopped at Homer’s to look at the ice. It’s pretty pitiful.

Santa & The Gimpster

Santa – I know the Santa season is already over – ran into Lisa, The Gimpster, today at VE. She caught him in his short pants. 

 

Then she showed us the cool crampons she has built into the feet of her crutches. She does love ice climbing.

Photos Of Patagonia At Night

This shot shows two rappellers descending Cerro Torre at night. You can see their two headlamps at the top of the highest peak on the left. More photos here.

“Man Yoga”

This video is of a recently completed mixed climb in Banff National Park in Alberta on the Stanley Headwall.. More details here. They named it “Man Yoga” because, as they say in the video:

“You do yoga positions with a bit of consequences.” “And your brain gets stretched out too.”

El Potrero Chico

Lisa reported that on Levi’s first day of climbing at El Potrero, they did this climb – “Snott Girlz” – a 7 pitch, 5.10+ sport climb. Sounds like fun. He also did this climb. I am not even going to type its name. You will have to click on the link to see the name. (My hunch is, that it was named by some guys. D’ya think?)

Exploratory Climbing

A recent trip to the Brooks Range in far northern Alaska by Tommy Caldwell and others results in a new route. Tough conditions.