Ah the benevolence of God to provide mortal climbers with such a place to play as the City of Rocks! One of my favorite things to do is climb during summer solstice in a landscape littered with giant, granite domes and towers! Lucky for me, that is exactly what I’ll be doing this summer solstice […]
The Grivel G Zero mountaineering axe stands in a long, illustrious line of climbing equipment dating back to when climbing equipment was first manufactured. The climbing equipment manufacturing company, Grivel, is over 200 years old! The G Zero is an awesome lightweight classic mountaineering axe, designed and manufactured at the foot of Mont Blanc, the […]
The main tenant when it comes to how to pack for a mountaineering trip is that light is right! Light is right for many reasons not least of which is that light is much easier and more enjoyable to carry. However, light-is-right is especially important to me because I go to the mountains to get […]
“Look, Mommy, this is re-credible!” my six year old son exclaimed as he hit the ice with his ice hammer as if slaying dragons. The concepts of precision and balance, using the tool as a point under which to center his feet, were uninteresting to him. What was interesting was the fantasy-land of ice. Slaying […]
My climbing partner sniffed out the seldom-formed ice pillar like a hounddog on a scent. It was a 100-foot, WI 5+, slender column of loosely associated icicles, aptly called The Bone. The trick to climbing sustained ice pillars is to avoid panic. Take the time to find balance, to climb efficiently. I could tell the […]
Get stoked for winter with a new Mammut Barryvox S Transceiver. Pop Quiz Should you face your transceiver towards your body, or away from your body? Why should you wear your avalanche transceiver under at least one layer of clothing? How far away from your transceiver should you carry any metals or electronics? (i.e cell […]
It takes 20 hours, not 10,000 hours to learn a skill. Last week I stood on the beach in Kauai and jealously watched kids catch small waves on their surfboards. Even as they fell off their boards they laughed. But, I hesitated. Why start now?” I asked. Surfing has a slow learning curve and requires […]
What is support? Arno Ilgner, of The Warriors Way – Mental Training, once told me, “Don’t belay as you would have others belay you. Rather, ask your partner how they like to be belayed.” I thought about this recently as I watched a young woman struggle to lead an off-fingers crack. Slowly, but surely, […]
Oh my Zim’s! I knew I would pay the price but I kept working the dynamic deadpoint anyway. And, sure enough, when I awoke the next morning my right-side oblique muscles were very sore. I had several options: take vitamin I(buprofin), apply cold or reach for my Zim’s Max Freeze. I chose Zim’s. Why? According […]
My climbing partner, Pete, and my son, Grady, and I are competitors. The first one to redpoint a route on lead gets to win. Though I’m younger, Pete is stronger and a foot taller. Pete and I have been climbing for decades. Grady has only been excited about climbing for a year—but he’s 23 and […]