LABOR DAY ROCKFALL IN THE TETONS
My wife, Sally, and I spent Labor Day climbing in the Tetons. Our goal was the Complete Exum. I was supposed to be off work mid-day on Friday: we would enjoy the drive from Boise, pull into the valley as the sun was setting. We ended up leaving on Saturday, and eventually we found ourselves at the moraine, which was surprisingly uncrowded. The Ranger told us that only one or two parties had come in for a permit wanting to do the Exum. This was shaping up to be a great weekend.
Julbo Neve: For the Approach
I’ll admit it: I’ve got a small head. As a result, I’ve spent the past few years bouncing between glasses that slide down the bridge of my nose, frames that feel like a loose, dead handshake, and cheapos bought shamefully from the children’s aisle. So, when Julbo asked me to pick one pair of mountaineering glasses to test, I chose the Neve, a pair of glasses designed with Alti-Spectron X6 lenses for small heads, and, yes, women.
Exclusive: Grand Ol’ Oprey
Tommy Caldwell’s testpiece at The Monastery, Grand Ol’ Oprey (5.14), which went unrepeated for nine years, gets an ascent by Andy Raether. An Alpinist TV exclusive.
Filming, Smuggling and Drinking Coffee: The Higher Ground Tour
Just finished unloading the mini van after 8,000 miles of driving. Sorting through all our dirty camping gear, unpaid bills, scraps of paper with e-mail addresses of new friends–and all the DVDs I smuggled across the border–has been a good reflection on the Higher Ground experience.
Emilie Lee’s Journal Art
Artist and climber Emilie Lee recently held an exhibition of her art journals for the premier opening of the Rostel Gallery in Dunsmuir, CA. Some of her rich collages were first published in Issue 6 (Spring 2004) as “The Dumpster Diaries,” a colorful slice of Lee’s climbing adventures and the “dirtbag culture.” In Lee’s words: “These journals are an intimate portrait of my life, which not only captures a pivotal era in my development as an artist, but also a passing season which has shaped a generation of climbers.”