Off Season Psych!!!

Here is a pretty cool video of Sam Elias and Emily Harrington ice climbing in Vail, CO.  It is cool to hear the perspective of one of the best women rock climbers on another climbing discipline, ice climbing.  Emily has just taken up ice climbing over the last couple seasons and to hear how she relates to it and how it has affected her is neat.  Her candid emotions about ice climbing and specifically leading are comforting to hear because that is in essence ice climbing.  It is primarily mental and even a seasoned veteran of high end  rock climbing can get the willy's!


Notice how she says she never wants to fall.  That is definitely the first rule of ice climbing.
Can't wait for next season!!!

Joe's Valley Bouldering Trip

Joe's Valley is probably one of the top three best bouldering areas in the west.  Joe's offers a massive amount of bouldering with differing types of climbing from slab to roofs.  Camping is easy and close to the climbing, the Food Ranch in nearby Orangeville has all the amenities needed, and the weather is phenomenal from September to April, which pretty much opposes the alpine bouldering season in Colorado.  It is a fantastic place for Frontranger's because of the easy drive and a quick 3 day weekend is just enough time to climb a couple areas and a few particular problems.  The areas include New Joe's, Left Fork and Right Fork.  Each area has its own classics from Resident Evil in New Joe's to Wills of Fire in Let Fork and No Substance in Right.  I just went on a trip to Joe's with a crew from Inner Strength Rock Gym (ISRG) from April 19-22 after not having been to Joe's since 2007.  It was a great trip and reignited my excitement for bouldering outside and going on road trips.


The ISRG crew included Ethan, Brian, Chase, Jon and Greig.  We packed the cars at ISRG late Thursday afternoon and took a caravan of Honda cars (CRV and Civic) out west.  We crammed Brian's CRV with 6 crashpads!  There was a BD Mondo, Revolution AK, Mad Pad, BD Dropzone, Bittersweet Double Wide and BD Butler!  It was incredible.  The other car had a BD Satellite and all the camping gear.  The roadtrip was long, but the guidebook held our attention and anticipation.  We stopped in Glenwood Springs (traffic circle problems) for food and pushed on through the southern Utah desert.  After pulling into the canyon around midnight we finally setup camp with our tents and sleeping bags before finally passing out.  We were all exhausted and knew Friday was going to be amazing.

The Crew...photo by Jon.

Friday morning started with perfect weather, just cool enough to go check out New Joe's before the heat really kicked in.  New Joe's is pretty much an open desert with a few trees here and there, but otherwise provides no shade.  It is a short drive to New Joe's (10 minutes) and a short hike (5 minutes).  We wanted to warm up on some classics like Pimpin' Jeans and a couple V3's and got on some of the classics including Scary, Self Service, Chips and Planet of the Apes.  We all climbed extremely well and a couple problems were worked by all.  After warming up on Pimpin' Jeans we walked over to Chips and Planet of the Apes.  Since I had done Chips before I put my sights on Planet of the Apes.  I fell from the topout of Planet 3 times and will have to go back to get that done next trip.  Everyone else tried Chips, but to no avail.  Other than Ethan, who had done both before, Greig was the only one who got both V7's Chips and Planet of the Apes.


After climbing in the sun all day we headed back into Orangeville to hit up the Food Ranch where we got provisions for the trip.  It is more or less a large gas station grocery store with a small food bar and an upstairs sitting area, but they do have pretty much everything.  We all grabbed Gatorade and snacks and went back to camp.  At camp we pillaged the drainage over one of the hills for fire wood and did quite well.  After getting heaps of wood together Jon made some awesome curry with pineapple and peppers and chicken.  We had rice to go with it while we built the fire.  Side note to anyone thinking about visiting Joe's.  We did notice on day two that nearby Castledale does have a water park.  This would be sweet for rest days, as there is nothing else to do around Orangeville and Castledale!


Day 1 Photos:


With such a short trip to such a huge area we really had to focus on the classics.  The second day was spent mostly in Left Fork on classic problems like The Angler, Kelly's Arete and Wills of Fire.  The Angler is the most classic highball V2 I have ever been on.  It has a continuous slopey rail that trends left out over the river and ends with a two finger pocket for the topout.  It is just spicey enough to keep you interested, but super fun to send!  The photo below shows you the exposure of being over the river and the overall height of the climb.  We all ran threw this problem and get some magazine worthy photos.

Me getting to the business

Kelly's Arete and Wills of Fire were both extremely fun too.  Kelly's Arete had everything from slopers and pockets to underclings.  You climb a blunt arete with a big high step to reach a very slopey topout.  Stellar all around.  Wills of Fire was a really cool V6.  The problem went straight up a pretty overhung face.  There were specific holds for each move and the sequence was important.  There were crimp rails, jugs, slot sidepulls and a funky 2 1/2 finger pocket.  Wills was amazing and Greig sent it on his second or third go.  Ethan had climbed it before, but the rest of us gave it a go, but to no avail.  We were all so toast from climbing for two days and from the intense heat.  Usually Joe's is okay for weather (heat) into mid April, but it was especially hot for us.  We had to chase the shade and got on problems with overhangs and tree cover to keep cool and motivated.  We did a pretty good job of it too!  Saturday night we even went out at night with headlamps to try Moby Dick (V6).  That problem is definitely one for the day time.  The topout of so slopey we were sure we couldn't see all the holds.  Next time I guess.


Day 2 Photos:




The trip was a great start to 2012's season and all in all the trip was a success.  Everyone climbed hard and got on problems they could work.  I am looking forward to climbing on the Frontrange for the next few months.  Bouldering around Estes Park and Fort Collins and roping up around Denver, Golden and Boulder.  I am actually going up to the Satellite Boulders at the Flatirons in Boulder this weekend.  Should have a trip report up fairly soon after.

Our campsite for the weekend

2012 SCS National Championships Video

I love the quality of climbing videos that are being put together these days (the Dubstep is getting played out, but still sounds great).  The camera shots, the boom construction, the climbing, spotlights, music, announcers...it is all really engaging and gets you psyched.  The enthusiasm going into some of these competitions is really cool to see after starting my climbing in the deep south.  Starting out with The Triple Crown and ABS indoor gym competitions was great, but seeing it on this type of scale is super satisfying!


I wasn't able to get down to Boulder to see this first hand, but it looked like it was amazing.  Movement is a pretty awesome gym and the climbing terrain is stellar.  I know they constructed the gym with national and international climbing competitions specifically in mind and I am happy to see it has worked out so well.  Check out the video below and see how far competition climbing has come in the USA.



2012 SCS National Championships from USA Climbing on Vimeo.

A Typical Ice/Mixed Climbing Rack

I think this post will be helpful for first time ice climbers and experienced toolers as well.  It is good to see what the typical setup looks like and for what reason certain gear is used.  There is one particular website that I list on my site (www.climbinglife.com) that I think is a great resource.  Eli Helmuth does a great job at presenting information and describing how he uses it and why.  He is extremely experienced and I use his site and guiding service for reference on all sorts of issues.  Every day is different in winter and that's why the setup I use is an all around group of gear that will get the job done no matter what.  It could be a 2 mile flat hike with bluebird weather and plastic ice or it could be a 9 mile round trip hike with 2,500 feet of elevation gain, white out conditions and 400 feet of ice, you just have to be prepared for what you are expecting to encounter.  You know the usual saying, "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best."  A climber has to have just enough gear to protect a climb while not wasting space and weight on unnecessary gear.  A climber's rack is possibly the most important thing on any given route, because in many cases it can be the difference between success and failure.

My typical rack with ice gear, rock gear, draws and slings

This is my typical rack for ice/mixed climbing.  It doesn't change too much other than the rope I use.  For alpine routes and multipitch days I usually carry 7.7mm twin ropes, for all other days I typically use my heavy worker 10.2mm single.  The picture above encompasses my everyday rack, but things can change from route to route and knowledge of what gear you need for each route is essential.  Mountain Project is a great resource for this, with their library of route descriptions and photos.  There are other wesbites and personal blogs out there that chronicle good route information, but Mountain Project is essential because of the community driven content (Example: A guy that climbed Martha the day before you want to might put up a conditions report that you can use).  You can even contact individuals directly for information.


For sewn product I choose to carry a good amount of slings and quickdraws.  Above you can see I keep two cordelettes and two 4 foot slings on me at all times for building anchors of slinging ice/rock.  The quickdraws can vary from trip to trip (single pitch or multipitch), but you can see I carry a combination of screamers (Yates), sport draws and alpine draws.  I would say anywhere from 10 to 14 draws of some kind will get the job done.  For protection I carry a combination of rock gear and ice gear.  I always bring at least 6 screws of varying lengths and of course a 22 cm screw for v-thread work.  The rock gear is pretty much all Black Diamond with a few Metolius Master Cams thrown in.  I carry at least a half rack of stoppers and camming units from .3-3.  This changes as well based on the individual climbing objective, but the protection above is a general rack.


The last part of my climbing rack is comprised of necessities and are not an option to leave at home.  I always carry a first aid kit for any minor issues.  Anything serious is based solely on how fast you can get out of the backcountry.  A headlamp, just in case, and a file for sharpening tools, rounds out the essentials.

Haglofs Savage jacket and Mammut Castor pant

Clothing is a whole other story and can vary from person to person.  I will let you know what I use and you can decide for yourself what you want to do.  I am a huge proponent of softshell outerwear.  I use a Haglofs Savage jacket and the new Mountain Hardwear Trinity softshell jacket (review coming soon) and for pants I have a pair of Mammut Castor pants.  Using softshell outerwear allows for stretch while climbing and they still offer complete wind and water protection.  On top of that, softshell outerwear usually has some sort of microfleece backing that makes the clothing much more comfortable and softer to touch than any hardshell.  You always want the typical amenities; pit zips, thigh vents, hood, internal ankle gaiter, abrasion resistance, etc. and my outerwear definitely offers all of this.  Underneath the jacket and pants I usually have some sort of stretch tights for bottoms and a silk weight and mid weight long sleeve for the top.  Having a half or quarter zip long sleeve mid weight layer is nice for when you need to dump heat while hiking.  You can also zip it up and get the collar up around your neck for improved heat retention.  I always bring some sort of down/synthetic jacket and depending on where I will be climbing it could be my Marmot Ama Dablam (heavyweight) or my Montbell Thermawrap (lightweight).  After that it comes down to gloves and I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have enough gloves to cover the temperatures you will encounter.  I typically carry at least 4 pairs of gloves.  Black Diamond covers it for me and it starts with a lightweight lead/mix glove and finishes with a beefy warm belay glove.  I carry the Torque, Kingpin, Punisher, Element and Legend.  These really take care of my hands in any weather and they don't weigh too much that I feel I can't bring them all.  This is probably the most important part of my ice climbing clothing.

Overall that covers my general setup for ice and mixed climbing.  You can always add pieces of gear for a backup, like a shelter, shovel or stove, but this covers any day of climbing in the backcountry where the weather isn't going to get to crazy and the commitment for the climbing is tame.  I think this gives a good look at a typical setup and the reasons, benefits and drawbacks to each piece of gear.  Feel free to throw in the comments what you think I left out.  I know I probably missed a couple things that people will point out.  As always you have to evaluate the situation and your own personal goals and then measure those against danger and overall exposure during the day.  Climb safe and have fun.

Adam Ondra and the First 5.14d on Czech Sandstone Video

The Czech Republic is notorious for its type of ground up ethics for rock climbing.  The climbing is historically connected to the traditional ways in which routes have always been established in the region.  A few examples include metal hardware (cams, etc.) not being allowed because of the soft sandstone of the region.  Gear for traditional leading is replaced instead by rope knots.  The second big difference between Czech and most everywhere else in the world is the fact that equipping any route on rappel is strictly discouraged.  This means that routes are typically dangerous because of runout sections without bolts or protection of any kind.  Ondra's new route is located in a less traditional area which is why the route is slightly better protected in terms of bolt spacing.


The name of Ondra's new route is "To tu jeste nebylo" which translates roughly to "Never been here before".  Ondra explains the reason for the name perfectly on Planet Mountain's website.  It is a good read.



Adam Ondra climb, To tu ještě nebylo XIIb, Labské údolí. from Jirous AIX on Vimeo.


This video was fun to see because it showed the whole body of work on the route.  Too many times we "less than elite" climbers see draws hung on routes in videos and wonder how long and how difficult it was to redpoint the climb.  I also think the ground up ethics of Czech Republic add to the authenticity and purity of the redpoint of this climb in the video.  It is refreshing to see a professional, albeit Adam Ondra, work an entire route from hanging to redpointing.  Well done for sure.


What do you think about the ground up Czech ethics?  What about this type of video showing falls and hanging and then pushing for a redpoint?  Share your thoughts in the comments.




I picked this up from the two links below.
http://rockandice.com/news/1871-video-ondra-breaks-through-on-czech-sandstone
http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=39344

Almost Ice Climbing Video

Here is a great video of Will Gadd and Tim Emmett, kind of ice climbing in the Alps.  It's pretty funny and they both have a couple comments in the middle of the video, at 1:33 and 1:54, that really resonate with myself and most of my friends when it comes to ice climbing.  It is a dangerous sport, but you can easily mitigate your exposure to injury by just being smart.


Enjoy!!!



BD athletes Will Gadd and Tim Emmett ice climbing in the Alps from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

Gear Review - Black Diamond Stinger Crampon

Black Diamond makes some of the best climbing and ski gear out there.  Their quality of construction and attention to detail rivals no one.  On top of that, their commitment to the outdoor industry and culture is paralleled only by Patagonia in my eyes.  They give money where needed and volunteer to save climbing areas.  They test product in their own back yard and employee dirt bag climbers and seasonal ski bums.  A great company for sure and it is best represented through their product.  The Stinger is Black Diamond's newest offering in the ice climbing category.  This new crampon is radically different from anything they have done before and it combines all the best features of the Cyborg, but improves on overall fit, function and aggressiveness.  This new crampon offers new geometry as well that improves efficiency when kicking and edge hold on mixed terrain.  Mike is gonna hate this, but this is probably the best crampon I have ever climbed in and one of the best looking.  From the replaceable monopoint to the new Electric Green ABS plates, I can't get enough, this crampon is sick!  Whether using it on ice or rock, it just feels solid and performs extraordinarily well.

Me using the Stinger crampon in RMNP

The first radical difference you see from the new Stinger is the new geometry.  The front point is unchanged, which is terrific because it means you can stock up on Cyborg/Stinger front points and using them on either crampon.  The secondary points, however are much different than the Cyborg and are much farther forward and extremely aggressive with the new serrations.  They grab ice very well and increase the purchase you get increasing overall stability.  The overall curvature of the crampon is another difference which makes the Stinger a little more agressive.  This increases the feel of the crampon on rock and makes it a little more versatile.  Honestly it feels like a rock climbing shoe because of the dexterity the curvature allows for.

Me with the Stinger in Ouray

Overall I really believe this is one of the best crampons out there.  A fixed monopoint and improved geometry has made me retire my Cyborgs.  Plus the green ABS plates are a way better color for making you look good!  Really though, whether I have been on a thin pillar or a crimpy face the monopoint has performed flawlessly and the agressive secondary points really bite into the ice.


Final Say:
Comparatively this crampon is heads above the competition in aggressiveness, fit and comfort.  If you are looking for a new pair, I highly recommend this crampon for replacing your old faithful set at home.