mount everest burns

in climbing news today, china torches mount everest to distract the world from beijing's oppressive occupation of tibet.



(free tibet.)

what's on your rescue biner?

this is a guest post by alex rowland. alex lives in athens, georgia and is the despot of homo climbtastic, a group for queer rock climbers. his day job consists of running a legal education web site for law students, the southeast law wiki, while trying to avoid failing out of law school.


Lots of climbers out there carry a "rescue biner" for those unforeseen climbing emergencies. While the assortments vary, the biners often include a tiny shiny petzl ascender, rappel rings, and a pocketknife for cutting Chris O'Donnell off the approach line.

But there are a few other things you should consider carrying for your own private emergencies. Here’s my list of 14 additional tools you might want to attach to your rescue biner. These few extra grams will go a long way:

1. Safety-goggles. Rock fall is hard on the eyes. If in doubt, remember Carol, who didn't wear her safety goggles and now doesn't need them.

2. Half-liter box of Tropicana orange juice. Hypoglycemia can strike at any time.

3. Sawed off shotgun. Cliff zombies do exist.

4. Porn. Despite harnesses, slings, and hard bodies, most climbers finish the day sexless and alone. With a copy of Playgirl (or Playboy) you can mitigate the lonely and dull stretches spent belaying overly ambitious partners. You only need to keep one hand on the rope, right?

5. Emery board. Useful for calluses on the other hand.

6. Christmas tree ornaments. The next time a hardcore old guy with gear from WWII makes fun of you for carrying shiny new camalots by asking you why you don't also bring along christmas tree ornaments, break out your set of REAL Christmas tree ornaments. An added bonus. You'll be on the cover of Rock & Ice for your series of first ascents with an undamaged Christopher Radko Bella d' Snowball Ornament.

7. Hexcentric. There’s always a chance you might encounter a hottie while on the cliff. Nothing impresses more than a confidently placed hexcentric.

8. Duct tape or modeling clay. It would be really embarrassing if your hex fell out before you finished your climb.

9. Gasoline and lighter. If you're ready to bail after reaching the first belay station, light a bush on fire and claim to bring gospels from the new Messiah. (Also great for establishing a perimeter against cliff zombies.)

10. Ballgag. This is exclusively for your beta-spewing partner. How do you make that move static? "Flurbblllurrerrerregrg!" The key to getting past the crux? "Flurbblllurrerrerregrg!"

11. Stick clip. If it doesn't look like you're going to flurbblllurrerergg it.

12. Raid. Jugs always have spiders. Big furry spiders. Kill them before they kill you.

13. Big furry spider. Be responsible and leave nature as you found it with a replacement big furry spider. Name it "Ashley."

14. Big furry spider #2. Your other big furry spider might get lonely. Name this one "Mary Kate."

how pedro could have quenched his thrill buds.

this tv spot is pretty great. i feel like i've met a few pedros.

stunning ice: the photographs of noriko furunishi

fine art japanese photographer noriko furunishi has a series of amazing ice landscape photos in the current issue (#37) of blind spot magazine.


if you look closely, you can see tiny climbers and their ropes. i don't think i've seen ice look this beautiful.

from gallery notes: "furunishi’s recent works portray the drama of the great american landscape. in this new series, furunishi turns away from the vibrant colors of southern california and presents a world almost entirely in black and white. ice park, shot in the snowy peaks of colorado, is a group of seven images that make up one single panoramic tableau, but are each discrete photographs. furunishi’s pictures seem to unravel western conventions of landscape depictions. rather than horizontal, they have a vertical orientation and lack a horizon line, sharing something with traditional japanese and chinese landscape painting. digital tapestries stitched together from views taken at varying distance and perspective, their field of vision is compressed and the images are uniformly high-definition. rather than provide a fixed point of view, they invite the viewer’s eye to wander restlessly across the photograph, allowing the image to recede freely and advance. in their topsy-turvy dismissal of a single, coherent perspective, furunishi’s photographs radically destabilize our experience of the world, challenging our natural assumption that the earth beneath our feet is enduring and immutable."

if climbing is a drug ...

... then we definitely need our narcs*. just to keep things from getting too out of control. right?

i've been meaning to let readers know about this blog: http://climbingnarc.com

brian, who birthed the blog, puts a lot of sweat into keeping things current. he's been at it for a bit over a year and shows no signs of slowing down. check it out sometime.

*yea, yea. i know the narc is short for narcissist.

chastening chase - or why cell phones and climbing shouldn't mix

first, let me start off by stating that i think this commercial is pretty great. i like the sense of authenticity - the exposure, the visible anchor, the hawk sound in the background(?). as a mainstream tv ad it does its job representing climbing as an adventurous outdoor activity.

however, when you look closer at the ad and start deconstructing the climbing that's taking place, you have to take some pause -- or at least giggle.

for starters, the belayer (female) is answering her phone on an exposed rock face. she's answering her phone instead of paying attention to the guy she should be belaying! crazy.

you could argue that the male climber is intentionally free soloing. this theory is supported by the fact that he isn't tied into anything. but with the kind of exposure that the wide shots suggest, is that such a smart idea? (you can watch and pause the video to confirm this. there's no rope connected to his belay loop.)

there's also something weird happening with the anchor. it seems to change during the different edit cuts.

to answer the climber's question. yes, this whole scene is scary. and funny. i'll give them funny too.

can anyone identify the climbers in this spot? the location appears to be the redgarden wall in eldorado canyon, co.

advertising agency: mcgarrybowen, new york, ny

5 questions for majka burhardt

i recently had the chance to chat with majka burhardt. majka is an AMGA certified rock guide, climber and writer who toils away in boulder, colorado. she has been guiding for over a decade and was the 4th woman to be certified in any discipline by the AMGA. majka penned the feature article "vertical ethiopia" in the january 2008 issue of climbing magazine.


for those who aren't familiar with your awesomeness, who is majka?

Is awesomeness a word? Guess so... it didn't spell check. I'm a woman trying to shot the gap between three different identities and jobs and create a career out of the combination. I grew up with four parents (two regular, two step) who all went to work at standard jobs and long ago decided I wanted something different. What I have, now, is the synergy of writing, climbing and guiding. I started with guiding when I was twenty-one and went after that profession full time. I added in writing later, and the climbing has been present throughout. Presented the best way, I get to travel the world and climb and explore, and then come home and write about it.

you are just getting ready to release your book vertical ethiopia: climbing towards possibility in the horn of africa. why the book? why africa? why now?

Vertical Ethiopia arose from my first visit to Ethiopia when, while staring at the bucolic landscape dripping with bright red, wild coffee cherries, I realized that Ethiopia was nothing like I expected. I became interested in what our presuppositions inform, and what they limit, in the world. I'm a climber and it didn't take too long until this thought pattern turned to climbing--or rather until I decided to see how climbing intersected my view of Ethiopia. I became obsessed with the possibility of adventure in this country that has been iconic for famine, drought, and communism. The book came out of this. In reality, the book came to me-- I was approached by an Ethiopian publisher to do the project once I'd already committed to an article. By giving myself over this larger project I was able to really probe at what it means to climb from several different perspectives. Why now? That is an interesting question for me. Now because Ethiopia is on the bring of becoming eclipsed by muslin-christina tension or becoming a fully operational African industrial player. The potential of Ethiopia is staggering on innumerable fronts. But the risks are just as big. I found a way to get involved and learn more about this country at its time of transition and, I hope, contribute to its move towards a more viable nation. If the question is Why Now for Me? Then I would say that I'm at a place of self-collaboration. I finished my MFA this past July and want to move forward integrating writing and exploring (in this case climbing). It seems like the perfect timing for a book.

as a guide, what advice would you give newbie climbers out there?

Keep learning. It seems simple or trite but it is true. I try to do the same every year. I think what is great about being a newbie is that you get to admittedly not know about things. If you can keep this attitude and be open to learning new systems and ways of climbing, your climbing will benefit and you will learn how to be safe. If you keep learning, you also keep asking questions and pushing those around you to be informed. I went through a stage when I was learning to climb when I hated to admit my lack of knowledge. I was obstinate and 20. The result was a lead fall that I had no business taking. What was that saying my volleyball coach had in high school? oh yeah. "do as I say and not as I do."

you are a hot climber chick - i just want to establish that for our readers. what's the one thing testosterone-driven hetero men should know about women at the crag?

One thing? (they might need to know 100 times that if they are looking to get a date... ). We're out there to climb, just like a guy is. But most likely, we also do more than climb with our lives. Figure out how to talk about all of these potential passions and see what happens.

what's next for you?

I'm traveling around the US and Canada for the book tour through the summer. I'll be everywhere, from climbing festivals to IMAX theaters to independent bookstores. I'll spice that up with a trip to the Bugaboos in August and then a return to Africa shortly thereafter for more new routes down south. Then there is another book project in the works as well...

thanks for the time majka.

photo: courtesy of majka burhardt

world movie premiere – spray

i hit the boulder theater last night to catch the world premiere of brian solano’s newest climbing film spray. the theater was nicely packed for a cold snowy night in boulder, colorado. people really seem to love all things rock climbing in this town.

after a few promotional exercises for folks that included the access fund, timberland, and smart wool, the film started with a quick and casual survey of some known and undiscovered northern californian climbing and bouldering spots including the beaches of arcata, the limestone of the trinity aretes, the shores of mickey's beach and the alpine stone of donner summit. the film focuses on climbing areas right up against the very wet pacific ocean but occasionally travels inward to more inland areas.

one thing that will strike you about this movie is the emphasized pairing of music with climbing problems. at times you feel like you are watching segmented 4 minute music videos. the pairings work mostly. there were times however when i wished i could just hear the ocean and nothing else. someone should compile a cd of the movie’s tracks though. the songs would make for a great climbing road trip album.

spray follows four climbers but focuses mostly on joe kinder and chris lindner. joe provides the appropriate californian “taking it easy” vibe while chris provides the more serious philosophical perspectives. i found chris to be the more interesting of the two characters, but i understand why solano included joe.

my one criticism of the film is that i wish it had taken more risks with its story lines. i also wanted lindner and especially kinder to be complex characters. at one point lindner starts talking about how his father broke his back trad climbing and how that influenced chris’s decision to focus on sport climbing. i was intrigued by the possibility of this narrative but was a bit disappointed by its cursory treatment. similarly, i wish joe had been a bit more vulnerable and raw in his conversations. he gets close to this point when talking about how chris sharma inspired him by climbing surf safari (5.14) at age 14 but the exposure is brief. i guess i was hoping for a little less spray.

the best part of the film was watching lindner grunt and fail his way up his first ascent of “window of opportunity.” the scene was smart, compelling and worth the $13 admission charge. the crowd seemed to agree.

it’s hard to make climbing films that transcend the “porn” genre. or better said, it is extremely challenging to make sport-specific films that shed light on our complex and universal humanity. solano does an admirable job with spray. he’s a young filmmaker with great potential and i look forward to seeing more of his films.

if you get a chance, go check out the movie. you can order a copy of the dvd at the bs productions’ website.

wyoming tent

i shot film in wyoming. with the pervasiveness of digital, it's something i rarely do these days.

the process takes time. you shoot frames, develop film, and finally scan. in homage, i've decided i'm going to slowly post my selects from the cirque of the towers trip. here's #2.

the hottest climbing rope in wyoming

i'm just getting around to editing some photos i took in wyoming during my august '07 trip to the wind rivers. here's a photo of my friend andrew's hot pink climbing rope. the cirque of the towers is in the background. hot. very hot.