Climbing

Chuck Odette has opend a link-up on Coliseum, Afterlife which was his seventh 8b+. His scorecard thrend diagram shows that the 57 year old is peaking and that we might see a 8c coming up soon! "Many years slogging mountains, climbing walls, hacking ice, plugging cracks, running it out on slabs before settling on mostly sport dogging. Red-pointed my first 7a+ at age 34, 7c+ at age 37 and 8b+ at age 44."

Alright so here is the Swizzy video! I've been home training tons since I returned in April but really wanted to get this thing out before we left for Africa. Which we are doing today! Switzerland was an absolutely incredible experience and I will remember my time there for the rest of my life. It is truly a magical place and I can't think of many places that could top it. I had an amazing crew of friends from the USA and even made a few new ones while I was there. The typical "culture shock" that you receive from traveling to far away places seemed to take a backseat to the beauty and simplicity that resides in Ticino. Editing this piece really brought back memories and made me miss it so much. Next year we plan to return and I cannot wait! Miss Schweiz from Jimmy Webb on Vimeo.But onward we go.. and today Kasia and I are departing for Rocklands! We have been trying to make this trip happen for the past few years but could just could never pull it off. Finally, here we are, tickets in hand and packing all of our gear. I've dreamt about this place for so long and right now I just can't seem to contain the excitement! I have to say a big thank you to my sponsors who are really allowing me to do this. It is a dream come true and I am so grateful. Rocklands..Photo courtesy of Jamie Emerson www.b3bouldering.comPhoto courtesy of www.outcropfilms.comEnjoi, JW

Lessons Learned from Kindergarten The school year ended three short days ago and I can hardly believe its over. The last three weeks have been a complete whirlwind of field trips, pirate day, water day, field days and all around end-of-the-school-year mayhem. I slept very little and drank a lot of coffee! But now it’s over and I’m facing 10 weeks of glorious summer. Saying good-bye to a class of children is always a little sad. They always beg me to move up to first grade with them, and when that doesn’t work they beg me to flunk them so they can do Kindergarten again. I just laugh and tell them that I haven’t mastered Kindergarten like they have and I’ll need to stay and try again! While the children must move on, the memories of the year and the lessons learned always stay with me. So here it is, my list of the top 5 lessons I learned in Kindergarten this year. . . 5. You cannot recycle poop (at least not in a classroom recycling bin). During clean-up time one day I hear a child shout across the room “You cannot recycle poop!” The only thought that crossed my mind was “please tell me that’s just a fun fact someone learned on the discovery channel, PLEASE.” Nope! Sure enough a medium sized turd was lying right on top of a weeks worth of recycled papers. How the turd arrived in the recycling bin is still a great mystery to me as the culprit was never found. But, you’ll be surprised to know that this year alone poop was found in the cafeteria, on the floor of the library, on a student table, and on the floor of the classroom diagonal from mine. It’s a bit of an epidemic really. 4. It is not advisable to tell 10 little girls that not only will they not get to be flower girls in your wedding, but they won’t be attending the wedding at all. Since my engagement in October all of the little girls in my class have been subtly hinting about becoming my flower girl. Last month I decided to finally tell them that I already had a flower girl. I should have stopped there, but instead I also said that they would not be attending to wedding at all because there were too many of them. BIG MISTAKE. Their little jaws dropped and several began tearing up. In an attempt to remedy the situation I quickly offered to have a pretend wedding at school where they could all be flower girls and ring bearers. This cheered them up instantly, but put me in a pickle. How would I ever get Andrew to agree to this? In the end Andrew refused to attend the pretend wedding stating that he already had climbing plans. No amount of pleading on my part would be changing his mind. Luckily the children seemed perfectly contend having a pretend wedding reception instead. Andrew injured his back that day climbing. Karma? Hmmmm . . . 3. If you have a major #2 accident, strip naked, put a sock on your hand, and wait on the toilet until someone comes to help. During my planning period one day a fellow teacher came into my room and said, “I think one of your students is in the bathroom. . . naked. . . covered in poop. . . with the door wide open.” Sure enough, upon requesting permission to enter to boy’s bathroom, there was one of my kiddos sitting on the toilet completely naked except for a single sock on his hand, covered from chest to toe in poo. After spending 30 minutes getting this poor child clean enough to walk to the nurse’s office I went to flush the toilet and it began overflowing. Just my luck. 2. If your chickens don’t hatch on time do NOT give up hope. Every year in Kindergarten we attempt to hatch chickens and ducklings. This year I had three sets of eggs in two incubators that I was juggling. The first set of eggs was set to hatch on Wednesday and the next set were going to hatch the following Wednesday. The duck eggs would be the Wednesday after that. I had a fantastic plan for how this would all work considering the varying turning schedules and whatnot. From the beginning I wasn’t sure the first batch of eggs was going to hatch. First the rooste

Nalle Hukkataival is on a roll: Just climbed La Force Tranquille V15 in Magic Wood!! Had a devastating fall from the easy top slab because a hold broke, but managed to pull it together and climb it again next try all the way to the top! One of the best hard boulders in the world!!

How to begin after such an incredible day yesterday. For one, I can say that I am so sore that it is just silly. My feet ache a little, I have a swollen ankle that limited my performance yesterday, and my legs make going up stairs and down stairs a living struggle. I never thought I could survive and run 50 miles. I always knew I had the ability to but even in the early miles of the race past the 50k point(31 miles approximately), I was worried a DNF was in the cards. When I look back on my performance I am so thankful for such an incredible support group and everyone out there that helped keep me motivated all the way to the finish.How the weekend began: It was a Thursday as I was at the Finger Lakes Running Company in Ithaca setting up a display for the Elite athlete meeting at the store at 5pm. Andrew, myself, and Claire all worked really hard to get the display all situated. Before I knew it, it was 4 pm and people started trickling in. I met Sage Canaday and many others. I was then off to run once 5 hit in the pouring rain to get a little taper run in there. I tested some of the nearby trails off by the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve to see what would be in store for Saturday's race. I was slipping and sliding on any downhill and I immediately knew that the race would be a slower strength race instead of a speedier track type of trail run. I had the chance to meet with my father and my girlfriend as we relaxed for a big day in terms of race preparation and registration.Number 45!The Next Day::: I headed out around noon with my father to the running store for packet pick-up. By the time we arrived near 1, the store was quiet which I expected a busy store because of packet pick-up but I was told that everything cleared out early.Here is a pic of the race shirt. After loading up on some nutrition products, it was time to head to Wegmans and to Best Buy for some race-day groceries and for me a phone charger. We went around town and what felt like a short trip became a long stretch around Ithaca. By the time we made it back home for some amazing raviolis, it was bed time at 8:30. The next day was going to be a race I had been waiting for months on end. This was my first big time Ultra race and I wanted to prove my worth out there.What I call the Lara Croft Stone Obelisk right on the steps of Buttermilk Falls! (You can see the tiny steps on the far right of the picture)Slick wet conditionsThis course had some of the best visuals of any Ultra out there. If you like waterfalls and deep winding single track, this IS THE COURSE!Watching the water cascade downRACE DAY!!!!! 4:00am.... My alarm goes off as I slip out of bed. I am tired of course but feel well-rested. I freshen up, lace up the Mammut MTR 141s, and my Mammut gear eat a cliff bar- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, my favorite and a yummy chocolate protein shake. It is game time! I load up into my father's van and off we go. I have all the Gels, Chomps, and snacks I could ever need. On the drive down, I am wondering about the distance...50 miles.....50 MILES.....50.....MILES??? What am I doing? I can run a fast 50k but to do that then decide to run 20 more fast miles, well that is just insane! My mind drones on with all of the crazy thoughts as I know that in a few short hours, I will embark on a Grand Adventure, the Cayuga Trails 50.We make it to Robert Treman State Park, and of course the atmosphere looks just like every other ultra. We have the runners with calf sleeves, hydration vests, people clamoring and just being giddy, which at 5 am is pretty awesome. I jog to the North Shelter for check-in and get myself ready. It was cool to see all of the great sponsorship help with the event. Ultraspire, Tifosi, Chobani, Scott Sports, Swiftwick, GU, Irunfar.com, Atayne and of course the Finger Lakes Running Company. Though I played a small part in the organization of the event, it felt great to see everything come together and to know that I played some p

Mirko Caballero is on a summer vacation in Europe where he started of by doing two 8A's; From the darkness to the sunshine in 30 minutes and Mutter tag in an hour. Two weeks ago, Mirko tried to do The Nose in Yosemite in one day they had to bail out due to the heat. In total the 12 year old has done 20 boulders 8A and harder and with the harness on, he has done five 8b+. In the Combined up to 19 years old ranking game, Mirko is #1.

Completely updated, the Tupilak remains a serious, stripped back shell that shines on the most difficult modern lines. The combination of GORE-TEX® Pro, a new Alpine fit and our proven Super Alpine Hood make this one of the finest climbing jackets available. Using NEW generation GORE-TEX® Pro to provide the foundation for a jacket that not only seal out the worst storms but work with you on hard routes anywhere in the world. New GORE-TEX® Pro fabric offers better durability than ever before and up to 28% greater breathability. Combined with a 40D face fabric and ultra-tough yet mobile 80D reinforcements you have the current state-of-the-art in extreme protection.STORM construction techniques work with these cutting edge fabrics to ensure that you stay dry when confronted by the worst weather imaginable. Trim yet with complete mobility, our completely new Alpine Cut was custom made for climbers and mountaineers who demand a totally unrestrictive shell tailor made for the most difficult modern climbing.Built with the assumption that you will have to keep climbing through serious conditions the Tupilak thrives on everything from the legendary savagery of Scottish winter test pieces to the intimidation of the last great Himalayan problems. Our Super Alpine Hood is perhaps the best available today, designed specifically to accommodate modern helmet designs with no loss of vision or protection. Easily adjusted in difficult conditions and with internal silicone grip strips it will move perfectly with your head, with or without a helmet. At last your hood can stay up without impeding even the hardest and most marginal leads in the mountains. Two large Napoleon pockets store the essentials with food and navigation equipment always at hand either on a hanging belay or whilst battling down to the valley through a white out.For further information head over the Tupilak product page here Available now exclusively from:Cotswold Outdoor stores nationwide and online. More information at http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/Goretex-pro

Unacceptable Levels examines the results of the chemical revolution of the 1940s through the eyes of affable filmmaker Ed Brown, a father seeking to understand the world in which he and his wife are raising their children. To create this debut documentary, one man and his camera traveled extensively to find and interview top minds in the fields of science, advocacy, and law.  Weaving their testimonies into a compelling narrative, Brown presents us with the story of how the chemical revolution brought us to where we are, and of where, if we’re not vigilant, it may take us. [yt] Over 80,000 chemicals flow through our system of commerce, and many are going straight into our bodies. Even our unborn children are affected. Due to this constant exposure, we have approximately 200 synthetic industrial chemicals interacting with our cells every single day. Until recently, modern science really didn’t understand what that could mean for all of us in the long run, but that is changing. Globally, disease rates are on the rise. Theories about the causes abound, yet the issues are complex and often muddied by the maneuvering of political and corporate interests. To explore different facets of common chemical exposure,Unacceptable Levels, was made in consultation with experts in multiple fields and is guided by a father on a personal journey as he attempts to bring these issues to light for everyone. Its primary goal? To determine whether we can prevent disease before it strikes us. Unacceptable Levels opens the door to conversations about the chemical burden our bodies carry so that we can make informed decisions now and in the future.  The film poses challenges to our companies, our government, and our society to do something about a nearly-unseen threat with the inspired knowledge that small changes can generate a massive impact. Featuring Ralph Nader   Author, Getting Steamed to Overcome Corporatism Dr. Devra Lee Davis   Founder and President, The Environmental Health Trust Stacy Malkan   Co-Founder of The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Ken Cook    President and Co-Founder, The Environmental Working Group Christopher Gavigan    Former CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World and CPO of The Honest Company Dr. Alan Greene     Pediatrician, Author/Feeding Baby Green Dr. John Warner    President & Chief Technology Officer, The Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry Andy Igrejas    Director, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Joan Blades    President and Co-Founder, MomsRising.Org Dr. William Hirzy    Chemist in Residence, American University Dr. Richard Clapp    Professor of Environmental Health, Boston University Dr. Tyrone Hayes    Biologist, The University of California Berkeley Jeffrey Hollender    Former CEO, Seventh Generation Randy Hayes    Founder, Rainforest Action Network Learn more at http://www.unacceptablelevels.com

I love Grayson Highlands! Its definitely some of my favorite bouldering every. The climbing at Grayson is steep and super aggressive. The holds are either finger jugs or terrible edges! Its just incredible!Yesterday, I had my first bouldering trip since my significant weight loss. The great part about Grayson is that it is has a high-density collection of boulder problems in the V5-8 range. And being much lighter definitely makes climbing HARD easier! I took a really slow warm-up climbing a bunch of V0 and V1s on the Listening Rock Trail. After the slow warm-up I got right on Man Child - V6. I JUST got my new Tenaya shoes in - the Oasis - a SUPER aggressive new shoe that fits my feet like a GLOVE. They paid off. I sent "Man Child" really fast and was super stoked!Next, with Aaron Parlier in tow, we hit up my uber project at Grayson: Nancy with an E V7. Conditions were just perfect. Chilly, kind of cold, but really sticky. Nancy climbs out this fantastic roof with the crux revolving around a difficult sloper match. It took me a handful of goes, but I did it!Being super stoked and happy with my day already, we ran into my charleston friends Dustin and Sarah and checkout this new area that Aaron just found....The thing about Grayson is that Aaron just keeps finding MORE ROCK. Its crazy how much rock is in the area there and HOW SWEET the rock is!Man Child - V6Nancy with an E - V7Cronus V6Cronus V6New Area at GraysonNew Area at GraysonNew Area at Grayson