On A Mountain, Women Are A Drag

Interesting ad for clothing.

"Indoors, women are useful - even pleasant. On a mountain, they are something of a drag. So don't go hauling them up a cliff just to show off your Drummond climbing sweaters."

I see those sweaters are still available here. Maybe I'll get one.

"Fists of Rage"

Will Gadd describes how to hold ice tools. One of the ways to grip is the "fist of rage." Which is probably the grip we use most of the time.

  "The “Fist of Rage” is primarily used when you’re gripped, on hard mixed climbs, and by most novices and even those who should know better but have enough power to substitute that for skill."

I Did Not Know Women Could Climb

Until I saw this video, I did not know women had an interest in climbing. I like their footwear in the opening shots.

Women's Climbing Symposium from Outcrop Films on Vimeo.

A Christmas Belay

Would you trust these guys with a belay?
It's my Mr. Grinch Christmas belay outfit next to Kyle's new jacket taken at VEM last Friday.

Build Your Brain Through Exercise

Better learning through exercise. Apparently a few minutes of exercise at 55-60% of your heart rate maximum, helps you learn by building new brain cells.  But be careful, too much exercise isn't good:  “When your body is stressed and you have high levels of cortisol,' a hormone released in response to physical and psychological stress, Ratey says, 'the brain cells will shrink, and eventually they’ll die. '"

Fun With Zip Lines

Zip lining on skis into Lake Powell. And 2 person zip-lining. Watch the second person get launched when the first person falls off.

Chicks With Nuts

An attention-getting name for a climbing school in West Virginia.

Workout From Hell

An article in Outside about a fitness program developed by a well-known climber. In order for the author to be trained in the gym, he needs to go through a pre-fitness program. Here's part of his description of his pre-training:

"Once a week for the next two months, I drove to a grassy field where Parker, a stunning physical specimen with a fondness for climbing waterfall ice in designer leather pants, schooled me in 'the Gym Jones way.'The first day, she threw a medicine ball so hard that it knocked the wind out of me."

Perfect Face Protection For Winter

Tired of wearing that same old face mask? Here's a new idea.

 

Booming Ice Chasm

Great photos of a newly discovered ice cave in the Rockies. "The cave, called Booming Ice Chasm, was named for it's incredible acoustics - as falling rocks crash and 'boom' when they tumble down the 140 metre deep cave. The crystal clear ice is several meters thick - and explorers say navigating across it makes them feel like they are flying."

Our Vacation In Mexico

A summary of our trip below.


Cancun Dec 2012 from rgsletten on Vimeo.

Interval Workout

Tabata interval workouts; do anything hard for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, go another 20 seconds for a total of 4 minutes. Info here.

Games Climbers Play

A short speech based on the classic approach to climbing:

• Practice trad climbing on short walls so that...
• You can practice leading big walls so that..
• You can practice alpine climbing so that...
• You can climb in the Himalaya

Now people have the money to pay others to lead them up climbs because they don't have the time to learn on their own. 

At first, I thought he was complaining in his speech that too many people are climbing and they are not doing it the "right way." (You know the complaint; "When I was a kid I walked 3 miles uphill both ways to school.") But he surprised me with his conclusion.

Longest Ridge On 8,000 Meter Peak

Two 50-plus year old climbers completed a six-mile-long ridge on Nanga Parbat this last summer. Which "... is the longest ridge on any mountain over 8,000 meters and traverses the summits of eight peaks over 7,000-meters." 


In order to finish the climb, the two slept two nights in a snow cave above 7,000 meters and went without food and water for 3 days. Quite a story. Summary of the climb here. Their blog report here. 

A First-Time Visit To VE

An article on Outside magazine describes a first-time visit to VE in Mpls. She walked around

"...taking note of the hippie-ish, well-muscled climbers already clamoring up and across walls slanted outward from the floor like spider people."
Clamoring??? I think she means clambering.

The article reminds me that when reporters write about things I am familiar with, they usually get the details wrong. Such as her descriptions of "tar chips" on the floor and the "rubber holds" on the walls.

It still is fun to see the climbing gym through the eyes of a newbie.