the diary of a [newbie] rock climber

something new to try at the climbing gym

2008-06-23T19:22:00.004-06:00

getting bored of your usual gym routine?

here's something to try. you get a seven second head start. be sure your rope is nice and tight.

via: american gladiator / nbc

buildings and mountains - the republic tigers

2008-06-22T18:18:00.005-06:00

we've been waiting all our lives
for things we've always had
but have no eyes to see

all these buildings and mountains
slowly they'll arise
before our eyes

world movie premiere: dosage vol. 5

2008-06-05T01:05:00.015-06:00

hot off the virtual presses. i just got out of the world movie premiere of dosage vol.5, big up productions' fifth installment in the dosage film climbing series. according to co-director josh lowell, he had finished his final edit just hours ago.

as is typical in this crazy climbing colorado town, the premiere tonight at the boulder theater was packed. the lowell brothers, josh and brett, introduced the film by calling to the stage a cluster of some of the world's most elite climbers. the nobodies included: chris sharma, beth rodden, paul robinson, jason kehl and daila ojeda. (a funny aside. before i realized who she was, i tried to take beth rodden's chair. good thing tommy caldwell wasn't there.)

josh lowell continued his introduction by expressing that his guiding principle in making and editing dosage vol. 5 was "no bullshit." i haven't watched big up's other volumes, but i kept thinking this guiding principle was code for "no story line."

from my perspective, one of the limitations with a lot of these climbing films is that they don't venture into any kind of cohesive narrative(s). all you experience as a viewer are short "physical" vignettes set to hip-hop music. maybe that's enough for most viewers. for me, it all gets to be a little mind-numbing.

in addition to the lack of a story, or even stories, there were other problems with the film.

for one, the film editing was often heavy-handed. instead of letting a good sequence play out, the filmmakers would cut scenes to match the tempo of whatever sound track was selected. while this approach usually works with music videos, it doesn't always work with climbing. i felt cheated at times; especially when watching some of the first ascents. the staccato edits did work however when showing sequences of climbers trying and failing with particular moves.

another problem with the film is that it seems to cover way too much terrain and way too many climbers. china, spain, arkansas, yosemite, colorado, and ny. we also see at least thirteen elite climbers. more isn't always better. i wanted to get to know these folks a bit more intimately.

in general, the film's visual styling was inconsistent. i think young film makers need to learn restraint when using all the fast and accessible digital editing tools that are out there. it's great to experiment; just do it with rhyme/reason.

i also want to briefly comment on a specific cinematographic technique that was used a few times. the approach consists of a slow clinical camera pan. while this worked with some of the climbing problems, like randy puro on drive on (v11), it often made me feel too detached from the climbing environments. during a lot of those camera sequences i felt like i was watching an odd pbs nature special on the deliberate movements of iguanas.

oh, one final thing. the female voicing over the "dose 1, 2, 3... " intersticials was a little too sexy techno club mtv for me. i didn't get it.

you might be surprised to know that there were things i actually did like about the film. sometimes really liked.

in the film section titled, "dose 2," there were some great scenes in the yangshuo area of china. there's a good long whipper under some limestone towers that was almost worth the price of admission. seeing the locals react was great too.

my favorite part of the move was "dose 4" in catalunia, spain. one of the things that was great? no music. instead, we're treated to the awesome motivational chants of spaniards saying "venga, venga, venga.." (come on, come on, come on ...) and climbers viscerally grunting. this is climbing film making at its most pure and most authentic. in this section we also see the awesomely futuristic sport/bouldering problem known as ali hulk (9c). and finally, chris sharma does his magic here by climbing us through estado critico (9a), neanderthal project, and golpe estado project.

the final dose in the film shows beth roden tackling some beautiful 5.13 one-pitch yosemite cracks. her ascent of meltdown (14c) shows why she's such a climbing rock star.

some final thoughts. dosage vol. 5 excels when it doesn't try too hard. it also shows some flashes of brilliance when it experiments visually. this is an ambitious film and i applaud the lowell brothers for going big. maybe with vol. 6 they will go deep as well.

the long (?) list of climbing blogs

2008-05-17T22:20:00.005-06:00

i've often wondered. who else out there is blogging about this crazy sport?

here's a pretty good list.

some curious names include: barefoot among czechs, as the crow flies, choss monkey, it came from the garage, and rawfingers.

(via: dream in vertical)

mount everest burns

2008-05-08T01:58:00.003-06:00

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?

2008-04-28T00:14:00.015-06:00

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.

2008-04-16T22:11:00.005-06:00

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

stunning ice: the photographs of noriko furunishi

2008-04-07T00:27:00.006-06:00

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 ...

2008-03-19T23:12:00.003-06:00

... 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

2008-02-29T00:41:00.019-07:00

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

2008-02-13T22:20:00.020-07:00

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

2008-01-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-01-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-01-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

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.

on mr. mccandless - a guest commentary by sean

2008-01-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

i've been asking folks i meet to consider writing for my blog. there's a need for fresh ideas/content and i'm more than willing to turn over the pen. (if you are interested in writing, please drop me a note!)

this posting is from sean. 19 years old and originally from stanley, idaho at the base of the sawtooth mountains, sean considers himself an avid scrambler and occasional rock climber. he's a senior at denver university studying maps, er geography. --

Recent films such as Into the Wild have portrayed those seeking a purer existence removed from city strife and materialism as individuals destitute of rationale. Yes, Mr. McCandless is an extreme example, but I'm able to empathize more with his journey than that of urbane individuals seeking nothing beyond their morning commute.

I was once told, at the peak of my climbing frenzy, that the soaring mountains will be here much long than I will. Jaded in my drive to climb as often as possible, those words now resonate years later. However, intrinsic in that very sentiment is what I, and I believe Mr. McCandless, cherish so much about the wilderness. Unrelenting and irrevocable, the purity and ferocity of nature is shocking. Nothing is trivial and everything matters- the true allegory transcendence.

To paraphrase a friend, climbing and exploring are the sole activities that require the use of our primordial instincts: live or die. That is truly something unique.

Mr. McCandless was living a dream, spurred by the desire to adhere to life's fundamentals. In today's society, that's perceived as lunacy. However, from my home at 12,000' in the bitter cold Idaho Rockies, they are the ones who are crazy.

yea, i really like climbing

2008-01-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

with the snow season upon me, i haven't been climbing a whole lot. the last two months have been relatively horizontal. i've also been working crazy hours.

this last week, however, i've managed to find the climbing gym a few times. the routes have been moderate, the body movements predictable.

these visits have reminded me why i like to do this thing.

taking a break isn't always so bad.

"it is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves"

2008-01-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

rest in peace sir.

image: john waterson

uncharted: drake's (climbing?) fortune

2008-01-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

i haven't seriously played videos games since i was a kid. my last console was an atari 2600 from way back in 1986(!). electronic gaming has come a long way since.

uncharted: drake's fortune was just released a month or so ago as a playstation 3 game. it's getting impressive reviews and includes some climbing. a cure for the winter climbing blues maybe?

from gamedaily.com: "uncharted is a third person adventure that borrows elements from tomb raider and fuses them with good old fashioned over-the-shoulder gunplay. throughout the course of your journey, you'll navigate past the aforementioned waterfall, climb ledges, hit switches to solve puzzles and ascend mountains."

the 'mountains' giveth, the mountains taketh away

2007-12-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

i had a freak snowboarding accident yesterday.

heading into my last run at keystone, i hit an ice patch and went flying (fast) into a padded light pole near a tree line. it was one of the scariest experiences i've ever had. thoughts of paralysis rushed into my head as i laid in the snow.

the doc initially told me that i had broken my back. two hospital examinations and a few xrays and ct scans later, it looks like i'm going to be ok. my back isn't broken. no compound fractures either.

today, i'm sitting up in the mountains. in dillon, colorado to be exact. the pain meds are nice. so is the music from a group that goes by the name 'mountains.'

brendon anderegg and koen holtkamp, co-founders of the apestaartje record label, are the musicians that make up 'mountains.' the music can be generally described as mellow electronic. the group has a 2005 self-titled cd as well as a 2006 cd entitled sewn.

from the nyt in reference to the self-titled cd mountains:

"'mountains' is a mesmerizing – and very quiet – cd on which the main instruments are a softly plucked acoustic guitar, ambient electronic sounds and, to quote the liner notes, 'field recordings.' ... it’s also, in an odd way, likely to be much more useful than most cd’s you own. the densest book, the thorniest task, the hardest night, the gentlest morning: this diffident-but-never-bland disc can accompany just about any activity, or inactivity. you can lose yourself in the constantly shifting sounds (elegiac chords, glimmering tones) and textures (fine mists of white noise, whirring rhythms). or, just as easily, you can ignore them." 08/25/05

you can listen to some of their tracks on the other music website. definitely worth checking out.

green can be important like a mountain

2007-12-07T12:21:00.001-07:00

this blog entry has nothing to do with climbing really.

i came across this sesame street clip and thought i'd share. in it kermit the frog sings "it's not easy being green." did you know green can be important, like a mountain? it's a good color for blog themes too.

it's snowing today in boulder. not much green to be seen.

via: andy bosselman

"if you're going to climb everest you might die"

2007-12-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

everest 2: beyond the limit is currently airing on tuesday nights (10 pm et/pt) on the discovery channel.

i caught a glimpse of the show tonight and was pretty intrigued. during the episode the climbers encountered a dead climber's body near the camp site (#4) closest to the summit. creepy, yea.

there's a post fireside chat show called after the climb that gives great insight into a lot of the "whys."

the show runs until december 18. it's worth checking out if you've ever wondered what summiting everest (with an intense soundtrack) might be like.

climbers, avalanches and our 100th post!

2007-11-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

i'm taking a level one avalanche course this week with the colorado bryan mountain nordic ski patrol. so far it's been cool; an interesting grab bag of nerdy insight into snow crystals and "probing."

my motivation in signing up was to become a safer backcountry snowboarder. i wasn't thinking about mountaineering or climbing at all. what's been interesting to learn however is that climbers encounter avalanches quite a bit.

here's a curious graph courtesy of the colorado avalanche information center.

from 1950-1988 the leading activity in avalanche fatalities was "climbing/hiking." it's noted by the green line. (larger graph here.) the fastest growing fatality-inducing avy activity? snowmobiling.

there are some other statistics about avalanches on the caic website as well.

(an aside. this is the diary's 100th post. wild!)

liquidation sale! mountain logos - 50% off!

2007-11-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

when i wrote about mountain logos in "mountain logos abound," i described my initial encounter with the summit entertainment brand on tv.

there was something about that logo that seemed way too familiar. i knew i had seen it before but couldn't put my finger on its familiarity.

i can now.

one of the most popular climbing web sites, the mountain project, uses an inverted version of the same logo. the typography is similar as well. oops.

here's to original design!

i see mountains in the oddest places (redux)

2007-11-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

here we go again. this time, burger king chicken fries! i shot this today in the studio.

we'll call this one "breaded alpining."

someone get me outside.

who needs climbing tape?

2007-10-31T11:19:00.000-06:00

if you have hansaplast extreme band-aids, your raw overworked fingers are as good as new. according to this slovenian ad anyway.

this spot features climber chad greedy and was apparently shot in one of colorado's most popular climbing destinations - eldorado canyon or "eldo" as it is often referred to.

thanks to brian solano for the story lead.