Take the lead
I have seen some pretty nasty things happen during this current credit crisis but this one might be the hardest to deal with. Alpinist Magazine is going under. I will miss the great pictures and stories.
I’ve got a front row seat to the economy blowing up and it is ugly. The bailout bill that passed last week was supposed to help but the last two days have seen the worst declines in recent memory. It really hurts.
Even though Congress is screwing the proverbial pooch, I do have to admire the fact that they took a moment and recognized what an achievement the first ascent of El Cap was. You can read about it here (link)
Because these politicians decided to act like human beings I will grant them one day free of contempt for dropping the ball on the economy.
North Carolina is known for its lack of sport climbing and its abundance of friction climbing. North Carolina is definitely not known for its crack climbing, yet somehow Rumbling Bald has been blessed with four amazing, moderate splitters all within a 100 feet of each other. Read the rest of this entry »
If you have ever wanted to see what 5.12c offwidth climbing was then here is a great video of a Kris “odub” Hampton playing on Hidden Dragon in Red River Gorge. The line starts with an offwidth roof that you have to pull some sick moves to get up over. I have no idea why anybody would want to climb offwidth but odub does it hear with some semblance of style and grace.
The climb really starts from the moment you step out of the car and onto the trail. It is a decent forty minute hike up to where the fun begins but it is actually not that bad because a forest fire ripped through the area a while back and everything is burned to hell which quite different than the typical North Carolina bushwhacking type hike.
Hike up the trail until you reach a small spring which trickles down a fairly steep gully. It is a bit of a scramble down the gully but its fun. When you reach the bottom of it, you’ll be dumped on to a little trail which you follow until it comes to an end at a 100′ cliff which requires a full 60m rope to rappel down. The rock can be a little sketch but there are plenty of solid trees to rap off. Read the rest of this entry »
Today the world’s financials markets blew up. I should know because I had a front row seat. Tomorrow may be worse but we’ll take it a day at a time.
Coincidentally another major company blew up recently, or more specifically threw in the towel. Grivel North America is no more. (link) They cited this reason:
Grivel North America ceased distributing Grivel products on September 1st, 2008. We did our best over the last few years to keep the company alive but the flagging US economy and the Euro’s strength against the dollar prevented us from doing so.
While my wallet is hurting from the financials markets blowing up, my heart is hurting because Grivel is no more. I really do love my Grivel G12 crampons.
I recently had the opportunity to test a pair of CU belay glasses made by a German company called Power’n Play. The general idea behind the belay glasses is to be able to watch the climber without craning your neck for extended periods. Power’n Play did this using prisms that bend the light and allow you to see ‘up’ without looking ‘up’. It is actually quite ingenious to use prisms because the image is not flipped like it is when you use a mirror.
I’ll be honest, at first I thought the CU belay glasses were a little gimmicky but Power’n Play wanted me to give them a review so with an open mind I took them to Shortoff Mountain to give them a go. Read the rest of this entry »
Normally I cringe at the cliche’d term “corporate citizen” because 99 times out of 99 it is some asshole marketing whiz that thinks recycling beer cans means going green. But everyonce in a while a company doesn’t proclaim they are the great savior of all things important, they just do it.
I am a big fan of Patagonia’s clothing especially the capilene pants but I’m not a big fan of the prices. The old adage “you get what you pay for” is very true here, to get quality you have to pay for it.
The reason I mention Patagonia is because they don’t say they are a good corporate citizen, they just are. It may be old news but Patagonia has a website called The Footprint Chronicles. I’m stealing their description because they put it best:
Our reason for being is to make the best product and cause no unnecessary harm.
Yet we’re keenly aware that everything we do as a business - or have done in our name - leaves its mark on the environment. As yet, there is no such thing as a sustainable business but every day we take steps to lighten our footprint and do less harm.
The Footprint Chronicles allows you to track the impact of a specific Patagonia product from design through delivery.
And with that I recommend checking out the site, it is pretty damn cool The Footprint Chronicles.
Hypothermia sucks! End of story. It is even worse when you are stuck on the face of a mountain with absolutely no where to hide from the cold. American Alpine Institute had a hypothermia post which was drawn from a NOLS hypothermia post. (AAI) (NOLS)
Apparently the best way to treat backcountry hypothermia to try to rig a hyporthermia burrito wrap made out of three sleeping bags, two sleeping pads and a tarp. Picture below courtesy of NOLS:
Now I don’t know about you but I don’t carry that much stuff when I’m climbing.
If the shit hits the fan and I need to make an unplanned bivy in chilly weather this is what I do after I find a decent bivy site that is sheltered from the wind. I set up my rope as a makeshift sleeping pad/seat, I put on every piece of clothing I brought, I put my feet inside my backpack straps into the snow and I focus on the saying, “it doesn’t have to be fun to be fun”.
I also usually climb with a Cilogear Worksack backpack which has a removable bivy pad. I’m not sure why all backpacks don’t work in a bivy pad but I’m sure as hell glad the Graham at Cilogear figured it out.
BTW, if you are reading this Graham, your packs rock and I would be more than happy to be paid to say that!
