Climbing

Since the semester ended I have been trying to get up to speed for summer season in the Park. For most of the local bouldering cadre, Wild Basin is the place to be, and I am sure I will visit soon. However more often than not, I like to seek out solitude and especially like locations closer to treeline and the Continental Divide. Lots of snow came late to the Front Range so the high peaks are still deeply covered including of course the boulders in Lower and Upper Chaos. That said, some problems are totally melted out and despite a long slow and tiring approach I have been making real progress on Element of Surprise and the right exit version. In the coming weeks, a number of problems should be coming into shape, or will need minimal digging. The Centaur boulder is melting out quickly and Tommy's is climbable right now. I would not be surprised if a number of boulders in Upper are ready with in a few weeks but I have not been up there yet to confirm. I have used snowshoes for my last two visits as the snow fields have been pretty soft and the trail has been very post-hole prone.I have also put in a few visits to Elkland, trying Afrika Bambaataa, a classic V12 crimp problem with a very frustrating first move. It's just around the corner from Bridge of Ashes and a very short walk from the road. The main issue with this problem is that it's getting too warm to deal with the very small holds. By the way, during a recent session I cleaned a potential right exit that heads out to the arete which could add some difficulty.On my most recent visit, I found a little gem of a problem that I am calling Two Claws (V8). It takes an overhung dihedral and then surfs out right to top out. Good landing, technical moves and a nice line, all close to the road.All in all I am feeling motivated and ready to take down some longstanding projects after shedding the sloth of winter!

Sender One is the first indoor rock climbing facility owned and designed by the world's most iconic rock climber, Chris Sharma. With over 25,000 square feet of climbing surface and walls up to 50 feet high, Sender One is every climber's paradise no matter the skill level or experience. Join Chris Sharma, Daila Ojeda, Daniel Woods, Sierra Blair-Coyle and more for the Grand Opening event on June 15th, 2013.

Though sometimes a bit rainy, mid-may is a beautiful time to visit the gorge. The brilliant green of fresh leaves is accented by flowering rhododendrons. All photos by DPM. This past weekend, the New River Alliance of Climbers, in cooperation with the National Park Service, hosted the 10th New River Rendezvous at the New River Gorge, West Virginia. What once started as a grassroots gathering of core climbers has grown over the past decade into one of the most well-executed climber fundraising events in the country. The money raised from the event goes directly back into the Park in the form of new fixed hardware and infrastructure such as trails, improved parking, and access. This year, over 20,000 dollars was raised thanks to attendees and sponsors. Making this year particularly special was the grand opening of the new American Alpine Club campground, located on the rim of the gorge above the Bridge Buttress and Junkyard crags and within walking distance of the venue at the Burnwood Ranger Station. With phase one of construction complete, the campground now consists of a 1/2 mile loop road through the woods with individual sites that have wooden tent platforms and picnic tables. The AAC campground is a welcome addition to the accommodations for climbers at the New and couldn’t be in a better spot with bouldering on site and within walking distance of the crags. Read more about it here and then come check it out! Click for a video that showcases the nice bouldering at the new AAC campground. As always, the event was made possible by all the wonderful sponsors, many that have pledged support from the beginning. Each sponsor went out of their way to bring their own element of fun like Mountain Khakis’ Karaoke, Salewa’s unique table bouldering competition, yoga by prAna, Sumo pad wrestling, La Sportiva’s “Run Like Hell” race and more. These folks have been to all ten New River Rendezvous! Participants kicked off Friday with with some Mattie’s Mountain Mud coffee and Prana yoga before checking in to the Scarpa-sponsored clinics. Some superstar climbers came out to host clinics like: “How to send your project” with Dan Hague, “Oh Shit, now what?” climbing first aid with Bryan Simon, “Climbing tips for the vertically challenged” with the 5 foot tall, 5.14 climber Whitney Boland, “Technique Critique” with Lynn Hill (maybe you’ve heard of her?), “Women’s Technique” with Lisa Rands, “Develop your burl factor” with thugs Stephen Meinhold and Nick Duttle, “Pushing your limits on gear” with Matt Wilder and Pat Goodman, “Intro to falling” with Arno Ilgner and more. Climbers got to rub shoulders with the best before returning for dinner, beer, and the always amazing Dessertapalooza. Peter Kamitses is thinking hard about what to choose from the Dessertapalooza table.   Nick Duttle shows Pete how it’s done.  Those able to sit still during their sugar buzz were rewarded with some great slideshows by Brittany Griffith and Jonathan Thesenga who presented on their trip to Yemen and Sam Elias who presented “A Day in the Life.” Following them, local bouldering activist Nic Spruill showed a short bouldering film that showcased the newly developed bouldering found downstream of the Hawk’s Nest Dam known as ‘the Dries.’ The Dries represents one of the Southeast’s finest boulder fields and Nic discussed the challenges local climbers have faced with gaining legitimate access. Nic, and others from the New River Alliance of Climbers, are working closely with Brookfield Energy, the owners of the land used to access the boulderfield. Brookfield has welcomed climbers and is receptive to the idea of creating legitimate parking and a trail system. At the same time, big decisions are being made about the future of ‘The Dries.’ Much of the area is accessible

Firstly, congrats to Damo on taking over my role at Mountaineering Ireland. Exciting times in Irish climbing with the work from all the various participants of the era I started climbing in. Fun times! On the Youth front, it's first weekend of the year for the IFSC Youth competitions taking place in Grindelwand, Switzerlenad. In a cool change reported on the IFSC official website, they're streaming the finals of the event! There's a nice trailer below. Some may remember that Grindelwand was the major success story last year with Dominic Burns winning the event last year. With the strong field and all competitors in the older category of Youth A, here's looking forward to another great competition and experience for all the competitors :) The Stream can be watched on www.boulderhappening.ch or on www.sac-cas.ch, May 26th 8:30 am – 4:00 pm (European Times) Male Youth A finals (the category all the Irish competitors are in) start around 11:30am Irish time (from what I can work out on this page :)

Like last year, 8a will run a scorecard competition, where you can win a travel including accomodation for two persons to The North Face Kalymnos Festival 10-13 october. Everyone who during June to August records at least 10 ascents and get a new personal high score will take part in a lottery. The winner will be contacted during the first week of September.

All the latest videos can be found here, but here are the top 5 highest rated videos from the past week: 3 Days With Ethan PringleJan Hojer TrainingWoods And Robinson Send The Ice Knife (V15)2013 Bouldering World Cup Highlights – Log-DragomerThe Only Blasphemy

We are very excited to see a full length documentary about BKS Iyengar and hope you will take a moment to not only watch the 20 minute extended trailer but contribute to the Indiegogo campaign to help complete the film… “BKS Iyengar is widely acknowledged as the world’s most influential Yoga Teacher. Included by Time Magazine in its list of the world’s most influential people, BKS Iyengar, now in his 94th year, has been awarded the equivalent of a knighthood by the Indian Government and many honorary doctorates from universities around the world. His many books are published worldwide, his yoga practice is legendary, and his financial resources are used to support schools and a hospital in his birth village in Southern India. The life and teaching of BKS Iyengar is what the film is about. By contributing to the funding you will help us finish this important film, which is sure to touch the hearts, affect the lives and enhance the well-being of many people around the world for many years to come. [vm] We now need the funds to finish the film. Three years of filming has been completed at a cost of $120,000 provided by Jake, Lindsey and Bobby Clennell, and a few of Lindsey’s students. The post-production editing will cost an additional $120,000. We have set an initial goal here of $60,000 as the first step to achieving the total amount. Please check out the trailer — it’s 22 minutes long and gives a good idea of the film — and please donate” at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sadhaka-the-yoga-of-b-k-s-iyengar

BBC reports that Yuichiro Miura (80) stood on the top of Mount Everest yesterday, making him the oldest guy ever. Miura has four times have had heart surgery and has styod on the top twice before. Next week, the previous record holder, Min Bahadur Shercan (81) will make an attempt to get the record back.

I’ve written up a slightly more poetic piece for the Five Ten Blog that I would encourage you to check out by clicking on the link: Additionally, I have a very exciting summer coming up. I will be traveling to Alaska to continue my efforts in developing the amazing bouldering at Hatcher Pass this summer, and from there I will head to the Grampians National Park in Australia, to develop boulders everywhere I can find them. I will be in OZ with Daniel Woods, Courtney Sanders, Beau Kahler, Dave Graham, Nalle Hukkataival and others and it looks to be an amazing trip. I am incredibly excited to have the chance to do this and it wouldn’t be possible with out the help of some amazing people and companies, including Jared Lavacque, an Anchorage local, and of course Josh Helke and his incredible company Organic. It’s hard for me to get psyched about two places at the same time, so right now I am simply focusing on Alaska. My motivation for finding and climbing new rock is as strong as ever. There are a number of projects I left unfinished at Hatcher Pass and I hope to climb all of them, in addition to finding some new ones. Much of my efforts will be focused on a talus field that spills down the Fairangel Gulley and some boulders around the lakes above Fairangel Creek. I will also be focusing efforts on several massive talus fields near Reed Lakes, and as well a number of awesome projects near The Diamond, which is basically right off the road. And in case you’ve forgotten how many boulders sit waiting, these photos combined represent about 1/20th of the accessible rock that exists at Hatcher Pass. I can’t wait to share some photos. Video footage will follow! Psyched as always…

Hi Steph I am emailing you from England as have just found your blog and have just done your potato leek soup for supper this evening. I have been looking online for vegan bloggers as my 18 year old daughter is turning vegan (I am a single mum on a very tight budget so she has agreed to eat up what is in the store cupboard that was bought at her request but I have agreed that replacements will all be vegan). I have two questions if you have the time. First I see that most of your recipes are wheat free, is this anything to do with veganism or is this for other health reasons? The other thing is that I have heard that tofu can mess with your hormone levels. Obviously as my daughter is still quite young I am anxious about this. She says that she has heard about some Indonesian soya product which is, apparently better. Do you know anything about this as she is a bit vague. Love your blog. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. Libby Hi Libby, I’m glad you like my site and recipes! And congratulations to your daughter for caring about her diet and nutrition. One of my favorite sites is nomeatathlete.com, and he offers recipes, nutrition information and answers to questions about just about everything. A lot of my recipes are wheat free because I make a deliberate effort to avoid processed wheat flour as much as possible. The reason I do this is because it seems like almost everything nowadays is made out of wheat, and I think too much of anything, especially things that aren’t in their whole form, is not healthy. If I make an effort to avoid wheat, and especially white flour as opposed to whole wheat, I think in the end I eat what is probably a reasonable amount. The same philosophy applies to refined sugar, and you’ll notice that most of my recipes say “whatever sweetener you prefer” or list a choice of maple syrup, honey, sugar, etc. I prefer to use maple syrup and fruit for my sweeteners, and I make a strong effort to avoid eating refined sugar. I like Ezekiel bread, as it’s made of sprouted grains, and I like to bake with kamut flour since it’s an older form of wheat which has been less hybridized over the centuries and has more protein. I believe that eating a simple, whole foods diet full of vegetables, fruit, legumes and whole grains is the secret to good health and nutrition–it’s just unreasonably difficult to eat this way in modern culture unless you change your patterns of shopping and eating and make deliberate choices about how you fuel your body. I’m also not sure what to believe about soy, because if you do an internet search about soy you will get hundreds of articles telling you how healthy or unhealthy it is. My gut feeling is that this is yet another situation of people taking things way too far–soy is added or processed to food products to a ridiculous level right now. Fake meat is a big use of soy, which I find really odd. I don’t eat meat and I don’t like meat: the last thing I want to eat is a food that seems like meat. I really like tofu, and I don’t want it shaped like a turkey. After having read hundreds of these articles myself and looking for any sort of consensus among them, my personal approach is the same as with everything else: moderation and simple common sense. I make sure that the tofu I buy is organic and non-GMO because everyone seems to agree that soy can be made unhealthy by pesticides and genetic modification. I make my own soymilk from organic soybeans. I use Bragg’s Liquid Aminos in my stir fries. And I really don’t eat much other soy, since I avoid processed foods, and that’s where I think people start consuming excessive amounts of soy, along with everything else. I think the Indonesian form your daughter is referring to is tempeh, and most people seem to agree that tempeh is a very healthy form of soy, due to being fermented and made from the whole