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Climbing, Adventure, Gear & Choss
Tips & Tricks
Rise of the Parent Climber
I’ve been laying low from the blog space for most of this year, but not because there hasn’t been a lot going on. In fact, we’ve been as busy as ever, as we welcomed our new daughter in February, and it’s been an amazing journey introducing her to the world around us. I’ve been hesitant […]
Spring Cleaning
I recently made my first foray out onto real rock in two and half months, and it felt glorious. It also made me realize I need to get some things in order with my gear to transition smoothly back into climbing season. If, like me, you’re just getting back into it after a long, cold […]
Muscles are Weak Without the Mind
Stronger. I just need to get a little stronger. Bullshit. Why do so many climbers jump to this conclusion when they find their performance plateauing on a project? Probably because it’s easier and more straightforward to build bigger muscles than a stronger mind. Recovering from open-heart surgery in the last five months has opened my […]
How to Make Your Own Hanging Wall Stove
While slurping cold ravioli from a can on a big wall is certainly a rite of passage, at some point you may decide you want some hot food and drink. To do so, you’re going to need a hanging stove. There are some excellent commercially available options out there, such as the JetBoil system, which […]
Early Season Blunders
Spring is here, that joyous time of year when the snow begins to recede and we are reminded that winter wont last forever. There’s nothing like getting back out to the crags, and since we actually had a decent winter here in Colorado, it feels all the more special. This is a time filled with […]
Tech Tip: Dealing With Poo
Poo is the inevitable waste that must be dealt with on a big wall. On my first trip up the big stone of El Cap, I heard laughter from above moments before seeing two paper bags rocket past me on their speedy decent into the talus below. This team’s method of “toss and forget it” […]
What’s In Your Climbing Self-Rescue Kit?
Spend a weekend at a popular multi-pitch climbing area, like Eldo or Joshua Tree, and chances are you’ll see a number of climbers with all sorts of extra stuff hanging from their harnesses. With most of it serving the express purpose of bailing and self-rescue, you’d almost think they were planning to fail. While it’s […]
How Do They Get the Rubber On There?
I’m a big fan of resoling my climbing shoes, it always just seemed wrong to be done with a pair after the rubber wears out. I have to admit, though, before watching this video, I was pretty clueless about the whole process. I had some assumptions, but the reality is a little different than what […]
Tech Tip – Snag Free Rappels
Imagine this: you and your partner are hanging from a belay at the top of a deep, dark maw of a chimney that you need to rappel through. On the walls of the chimney are monstrous patina flakes and chicken heads you swear are licking their lithified lips for a taste of your rope. So […]
5 Ways to Beat The Heat
I’m sitting here writing this in my upstairs office, without a shirt on. It’s hot, damn hot, and it’s been this way for a couple of weeks in the West. There is the promise of rain on the way this weekend, but here are some helpful tips for dealing with the heat should the waving […]
Tech Tip: One Handed Munters and Clove Hitches
Years ago a friend and I got to the first pitch belay ledge of Sheer Lunacy, where a party of two, a guy and his girlfriend, was in the process of bailing off Lunar Ecstasy. She was cute, and my buddy and I were both slovenly, smelly, road-tripping dirtbags, so we were understandably entranced by […]
Check Yo Self Before You Wreck Yo Self
How to stay safe while sport climbing As I often share with first-timers, climbing is an incredibly safe activity, but if you make one mistake, you can die. And it’s easy to get lulled into a false sense of security, I mean how many times have you gone climbing and really had things hit the […]
The Story of a New Bolt
There are thousands of bolts on climbs across the country, and some are in dire need of being upgraded. Pretty Hate Machine, in Rifle Mountain Park, is a local climb whose time had come to get the old, rusting bolts replaced with new ones that should last well into the future. Situated in the Arsenal, […]
Ramp Up Your Training Program
By this time last winter, I’d probably climbed more days outside than in the gym, thanks to a dry and warm weather pattern. This year, however, I’ve spent maybe four days outside since the beginning of December, which means my footwork is probably going to crap, but I have been able to do a bunch […]
All the Right Moves
We all have our strengths in climbing, a certain movement style we enjoy more than others, a hold type we prefer. When trying a climb for the first time, there’s always the unknown of what lies ahead, and then the joy of discovery. Of reaching up to that hold you hope is a jug…and it […]
Bulldog Creek Dog Walk (IV WI 4+)
Hayden Carpenter and Tom Bohanon recently repeated an obscure ice climb on the south side of Mt Sopris. Given a brief mention in Jack Robert’s ice guide, Bulldog Creek Walk is described as being 100 meters of WI 4. What they found was seven pitches of ice in a remote setting that makes for one […]
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