This Is A Lot Like Climbing

It’s kinda silly to even think about doing and it is dangerous.

Who’s Climbing In The Black Hills With Me?

Yesterday, Lisa got me thinking about a climbing trip to the Black Hills this spring. (I know, we still have to finish our climbing trip to Red Rocks. But a guy – and a gal – have to think ahead.)

On the left, is my all-time favorite climb – Sandberg Peak. One year, we had 3 people on the summit. Maybe 4 this year? (Assuming it hasn’t toppled over.)

We have gone climbing in the “Hills” every year for the past 4 years. Sometimes more than once. Because the Black Hills have great climbing (trad, sport, bouldering), are fairly close (9 hours by car’; 7.5 hours if you ride with Aaron in his BMW) and are beautiful.

OK, an admission on my part: my tendency is to go too early in the year. Like last year, when we went in May. And it was chilly and rainy. It’s only because I am always so excited to get out there that I push the season. (So sue me!) Maybe early June is the earliest target for fairly predictable weather. Yeah, but April and May can have good weather. (OK, you got me again. April is way too early.)

So who’s in? Lisa? Pete? Aaron? Ron? Amy? Liz? Jen? (Jen, where the heck have you been?) Killer? Marianna? Eric? The Natster? Dawson? Fabrice? (I know you’re moving your business, so you can’t) When do we go?

The last few times we’ve gone, we’ve rented those camper cabins which are very nice on a cold, rainy night. But camping is free. (The only problem with camping is the access to great climbing. You have to walk about 100-200 yards to get to the climbs. Why do they put those rocks so far away?)

Last year, because of Reverend Scott, we found out about a whole new area – to us – near Custer with the possibility of lots of first ascents.

Oops, sorry guys. Just talking about that area means I have to leave tonite. Too bad you couldn’t come with me. I will be climbing there by Sunday noon.

But, while I am gone, you can watch this never-before-seen video of me climbing partway up Sandberg Peak. Ron and Aaron shot this under poor lighting conditions. Two quotes in this video struck me as funny. Ron & Aaron are telling me to place a sling around a horn. Of course, I won’t listen to them – never have, never will. Then Aaron says (I think) “Slings are for babies.” I think that’s my new motto. (In fact, in the Black Hills, placing pro is for babies.) I climb a little farther up and Aaron says, “You are ground fall right now.” I say, “Yep, thank you.” (What else could I say?) What a fun route. I did not know it made so many others nervous.

Red Rocks And Zion

I found this video taken last year by Zach at VE showing Anthony (who used to work at VE) climbing an amazing heuco-y route in Zion on the Namaste wall. In watching it, I was reminded of some of the heucos we saw in Red Rocks last year.

 

Like this photo of a route in the Black Corridor.

 

 

 

 

And this photo of Killer inside a hueco. It’s super fun climbing.

 

 

Don’t Bring Snacks When You Climb

If you leave snacks out – especially chips – while I am belaying you, this is what will happen.

Gravity - Original Version from Michael Eggert - "Pixelphile" on Vimeo.

Cave People Of The Himalaya

A new TV show about exploring caves in Nepal.

“In the 1990s, a high Himalayan cave in Upper Mustang, Nepal was discovered to contain 42 ancient people, buried on wooden bunk beds. American archaeologist Dr. Mark Aldenderfer believes there must be more burial caves, but the challenge is how to find them deep within cliff faces in the cold and inhospitable environment of the Himalaya. He enlists the world's best technical climbers to do the searching. Aldenderfer's theory is the funerary caves were carved out by the earliest people to have settled in the Himalaya. If he can find their remains and extract their DNA, he'll learn who these people were and what brought them to the toughest parts of the planet to live.”

Watch Full Episode on PBS. See more from Cave People of the Himalaya.

Another Reason To Go To Moab

Not that I need another reason to go there, but this looks fun – “World’s Largest Rope Swing.”

Horatio Blankensmythe “Greatest Explorer Of The World”

Explains why his “1500km race across the frozen Siberian wilderness on old school Ural motorbikes to the only town in the world sitting on the Arctic circle” is such a good idea.

Rope As Climbing Anchor

The American Alpine Institute discusses how to use your rope as an anchor. Of course, if you need the full length of your rope, this would be tough.

Climbing On An Ice Building

At the Harbin, China ice festival:

“In a little under 3 weeks, over 12,000 workers create an icy wonderland the size of 16

soccer fields. The giant towers, picturesque palaces, bridges, slides and cathedrals were all built of single blocks of ice; similar to the pyramids in Egypt.”

It’s kinda like the St. Paul Winter Carnival if it we really had winter here. And they brought in thousands of workers. And if everyone spoke Chinese.

Below, is a video of Ines Papert climbing one of the ice buildings.

When In Vegas..

We should stop at the Heart Attack Grill after a long day of climbing. And pick up a “Double Bypass” burger and “Flatliner” fries. If I am really hungry, I might opt for their 8,000 calorie “Quadruple Bypass” burger. Ummm, ummm, good.

Of course, some guy just had a heart attack eating there. But I am sure this is a fluke.

Red Rocks - Classic Adventures

Outside magazine has videos of “seven of North America’s best adventure destinations.” Including this video of Red Rocks and the Bugaboos in Canada.

Soloing “The Prow”

A woman climber soloed “The Prow” on Washington’s Column in Yosemite, and writes about her climb here. She admits she is inexperienced and makes a lot of mistakes. But she succeeds in climbing all 12 pitches over the course of 6 days. I liked this quote:

“I’d heard about all the heads on the route, and was scared of them. I’d read on the internet that singing to yourself helps, and the song that came to mind was “Down to the River to Pray” from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack.
As I balanced up on one mashed in bit of metal with a frayed wire after another I felt strangely calm. Though scary the fall potential was completely safe, and after 3 heads and one free move a bomber cam was reached.”

Climbing In The Fairy Chimneys Of Cappadocia

A short clip from a show about the cave dwellers of Cappadocia, Turkey. Near the end, they demonstrate how they climbed inside the cave to reach the higher dwelling areas.

Can’t Imagine Why This Would Be Controversial

All Red Bull did for their recent snowboard tournament, was cut down a few trees and trim a few others. A little bit of grooming to make the forest neater. Here’s an article about the controversy. Below is a video of how they trimmed up the trees to prepare for this competition.

Climbing Helmcken Falls

This is the area that Will Gadd discovered last year. A recent trip report on the effort involved to climb this icicle-encrusted cave. I liked this quote:

“Hanging from my bolt I could tap a coffee table piece of ice and watch it plummet to the ground with ease.  Strangely satisfying! Ok, finding bolts with a metal detector on a horizontal roof covered with big icicles is no easy task.  I nearly gave up after much ab

torching hovering, but the heckling of my buddies had me persist.  “Just swing your tool in the ice and hang on it so you can reach further with the metal detector”.  What???  But this is exactly what it took…and after I found my first bolt, I was hooked…atleast till the end of that day!”