My friend Rob and I, along with our three guides and the other six members of our group had already put on our “crampon compatible” mountaineering boots, gaiters and rain gear. We were part of a program called Summit For Someone, a fund-raiser for Big City Mountaineers. Big City Mountaineers (BCM) takes at-risk students on mentoring trips in wilderness settings.
Although Mt. Everest is the highest peak in the world, she is still a fragile “Mother Goddess” in terms of global warming. The first Eco-Everest Expedition 2008 will study the effects of global warming on the Himalayan Glaciers and to document the high risk to the people and the land in case of a glacial lake outburst flood…
I would like to introduce a selection of outdoor projects I filmed. Projects include TV commercials shot in Zion and Yosemite, TV adventure series and a full-length documentary for the Outdoor Life Network about a first ascent in Baffin Island, where I climbed with three climbers documenting their progress to the summit.
My website: http://www.bigwalls.net
November, 2006. Shawangunk Mountains, New York. Damn! The shiny Black Diamond cam slipped from my fingers. I watched as it sailed down, bounced off the cliff and disappeared into the leaves on the talus. I was nearly at the end of the second pitch of Beginner’s Delight, one of those wonderful, easy climbs found only at the Gunks, and had been feeling pretty pleased with myself. I’d gotten up the first tricky (tricky 5.3, Bill?) jam crack, led the famed traverse, and had been trying to impress my long suffering belayer (daughter Karen) with my expertise in placing cams for protection (an art I had practiced exactly once before). Oops, I thought, now I’m looking stupid. She’s going to be less than uber impressed with old Dad for dropping one of our brand new cams. “Oh, well,” I told her, trying to recover a bit of lost dignity, “We’ll just finish the climb and go back to the bottom and retrieve it.”
Climbing up Hyalite this beautiful December day with friends Geoff Heath and Carlos Buhler. Geoff an accomplished all-rounder; Carlos, world class. Me a “recreationalist” who has had the good fortune to know these guys and tag along. I haven’t been out much these past few years and feeling the effects of age sixty. They cruise “Dribbles” while I hack my way up and manage to peel off the steep second pitch. Thanks for the catch Carlos.
Until today, I thought the Russians, exemplified by Odintsov’s “Russian Big Walls Project”, were completely unstoppable. Even though Rocky did eventually beat Ivan Drago in the fourth installment of that regrettable series of films, I think we all sort of knew that in reality, the giant Russian would have kicked Stallone’s ass. So, why did my belief in the unstoppable Russians end today? Let’s read a few sentences from a recent trip report posted on mountain.ru.
I would like to announce the launch of IceClimbingUtah.com, a new resource that will aggregate ice conditions across Utah…
Present day. Angelino Wall, Zion National Park. This is our second present day, which is my bad, because that’s pretty confusing. This is actually a present-er day than the first one, but I called that present day and I can’t call this “three days in the future” because then how confused is everybody gonna be?
The Scottish West coast has been getting its usual flurries of early season mixed climbing conditions. I thought I would pop a post on here as I have some good pics that might get folks sharpening their picks!
The National Park Service has released its Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for Great Falls (VA) Park. The document is the culmination of a process that started in 2003, and contains specific rules for climbing at Great Falls. The document is available at parkplanning.nps.gov…
