| June 11, 2008 There is no difference. To abseil and to rappel are the same thing. Both are rock climbing terms. Listed below are some rappelling (a.k.a. abseiling) devices that you can use. Bobbins Carabiner Methods Figure Eights Fixed Multi-bar Devices Hooks Horns Poly-bollards or Fixed Multi-bar Device Racks Spools Lever Boxes And I will finish off with another video on the do's and don'ts of rappelling: I would suggest that Mike Barter's video should not be taken in the place of hands-on training, but it is a reminder to those of you out there who know what you are doing, and it is a continuation of his shorter one on rappelling that I posted earlier. June 10, 2008 Rock Climbing and Rappelling In all my rock climbing discussions I don't think I have touched on rappelling. If you're going up you've gotta come down... as they say, and rappelling is the way to do it. Remember though that although it seems easy and fun it is still extreme and dangerous. The alternative to rappelling is a walk-down route,. Of course you could jump... but I don't think that would be a very good idea! Rappelling is where you hook a rope to the top of a rock and bounce down letting a little bit of rope out on each bounce. You will have seen people doing this in all sorts of cops and robber programmes on TV, movies, etc. Rappelling can be a dangerous part of the climb, but some people consider it the most enjoyable too. During the ascent, the rope is present as a safeguard, but during the descent, the rope becomes the means of movement, and a safeguard no longer exists. To begin rappelling, the rope is run from the anchor on the rock through a screw gate carabiner on the harness over the shoulder and to the opposite hand. The rope is held behind the body by one hand to control the friction generated and thus the speed of descent. Friction devices such as the figure eight descender (where the rope runs through the descender and belay plate), have made rappelling safer and easier, but be wary. Make sure that each element of the rappel is secure before beginning to move down the rock face. NEVER attempt to rappel until you have gone through the proper training with an instructor -- if you don't, it'll be the most dangerous part of the climb. And remember, if the idea of rappelling freaks you out you can always take the walk-down route. Most, but not all, climbs offer this alternative - be sure to check it out before you go up! For your entertainment here is an extremely illegal rappell - if you try it you might well end up in a cell for the night! However, it shows you what rappelling looks like: and I'll follow that one up with a more cautionary lesson: June 2, 2008 World record for extreme mountain A 47-year-old Nepali mountain guide reached the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday for the 18th time, beating his own record set last year, officials in Kathmandu said. Apa Sherpa reached the 8,850-metre spur of windblown rock at the top of the world's highest mountain with another Nepali member of his climbing team, according to the Nepal Mountaineering Association. Apa grew up in the foothills of Mount Everest and began his career as a porter, carrying heavy loads up the Himalayan peaks of Nepal. Now a well-paid guide and trek organizer, he first stood on top of Everest in 1989 and has climbed the peak almost every year since then. Dozens of mountaineers have reached the summit of the mountain, known as the "top of the world" in the past few days, after Nepal lifted a ban on expeditions while Chinese climbers took an Olympic torch up their side of the peak. Beijing had been worried about protests during live broadcasts of the torch climb. Nearly 2,500 people have reached the top of Everest since Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of India first climbed the mountain in 1953. There have been more than 200 deaths from falls, freezing weather and the effects of high altitude. Environmentalists say far too much climbing is allowed on Mount Everest, and the peak is littered with the detritus of expeditions, including oxygen cylinders, abandoned camping gear and human waste.
Mount Everest is seen here from the Nepal side of the frontier with Tibet. Apa Sherpa, 47, climbed the world's highest peak for a record 18th time Thursday. May 29, 2008 Awesome rock climbing adventure I know you didn't believe me when I told you I read the Wall Street Journal but here is another great article, courtesy of Michael J. Yabarra who describes his adventures in Canyonlands National Park, Utah with such entusiasm and in such an entertaining manner that it makes you wish you were there. This is rock climbing at its best and I send out a big shout of thanks to Michael and the Wall Street Journal - read on and enjoy! "The crack was a thing of imposing beauty, steep and smooth, splitting the red sandstone tower like a bolt from the sky. It was also really hard to climb. The wall was flat, devoid of features; the crack too narrow to take a foot, but too wide to jam my fingers into without their greasing out.
I could climb a few feet off the ground but no further. After flailing wildly for about half an hour, I cheated: I yanked on a camming device I slotted into the crack and pulled myself to where my hand fit better and I could work my way up without resorting to pulling on gear. The climbing became enjoyable, but the fun didn't last. Soon the crack yawned wider and reared overhead, becoming an overhanging off width -- a term of dread among climbers. I hauled myself into the gap, the void swallowing almost half of my body, desperately trying to twist my right arm and leg into an elusive combination of shapes that wouldn't slide out. Grunting and groaning, I slowly struggled upward a few crucial inches until the crevice opened wide enough that I could securely wedge my whole body into it and catch my breath. Next, I had to grab a small hold with my right hand, shuffle my toes on a rail of rock, lean sideways until I could barely reach my left fingers around a corner, and then delicately transfer my weight and finish the traversing move to a good stance where I belayed my partner Liz up to me. Whew. It was time to enjoy the view. We were scaling North Six Shooter, which rises dramatically from the fringe of Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. North Six Shooter (along with its shorter sibling, South Six Shooter) is a sheer sandstone tower crowning a huge talus cone that etches an unforgettable silhouette against the desert sky. Around us spread the massive Colorado Plateau, which stretches across four Southwestern states -- a stunning, crumbling tableau of erosion that opens a geology textbook writ large everywhere you look. Plateau is something of a misnomer, however, since the landscape is constantly relieved: cut by great canyons, hogbacked with buttes and mesas, and pierced with spires -- many of which are catnip to climbers. I spent most of April climbing towers around the Moab area. Toward the end of the month, as spring wildflower season began splashing color across the desert, my friend Liz arrived. She'd never climbed a tower before, let alone sandstone. For some reason, I decided to introduce Liz to desert climbing by ascending North Six Shooter via the Lightning Bolt Cracks route (a 5.11 on the climbing scale, which is to say fairly difficult). Liz didn't have too much trouble with the first pitch, but the next rope length was a different story. Crack climbing becomes dramatically easier -- or harder -- depending on the size of a person's hands. Looming above us was a massive roof cleaved by a wide, fist-sized crack. This looked like good news for me; not so good for Liz. I pushed my fists into the crack above my head, stuffed my feet in as well, and struggled to pull over the roof. I fell off, discovering the hard way that the crack becomes too wide in places even for my big mitts. On my next attempt, I managed to fight my way up. Entering a chimney, I wedged my body against opposing walls while the ground below me dropped away to hundreds of feet of empty air and a perfectly framed view of South Six Shooter, which so amazed me that I froze in midmove to admire the scenery. The chimney stopped, forcing me to reach blindly over a roof, groping for a crack to pull myself out onto the face of the tower. I found a crack, but my feet slipped off the sandy, sloping footholds -- and suddenly I was hanging by a single hand jam, my legs kicking uselessly in space. Then it was Liz's turn. I grew a bit alarmed when the rope barely budged during the better part of an hour. Eventually she came gasping to the belay and told me what had happened. The crack had proved as difficult as expected, so she decided to aid through the roof, standing in slings attached to gear. But the rope got entangled with the gear, and after much effort she found herself hanging even lower than before. Finally a climbing team on a nearby route offered to drop a line to her, which Liz ascended Batman-style, hand over hand. On the way up she also dropped a carabiner -- something I've never seen her do before. I was even more clumsy. Fishing in my pocket for my topo (route map), I realized I must have dropped it earlier. Moving through a tight gap, I felt something unsnap from my harness and tumble toward the ground. "It looked like your camera," Liz said. Actually, it was my brother's camera. (Sorry, Gary.) Entering a squeeze chimney before the summit, a space so narrow that turning your head sideways was impossible, I eased off my sunglasses and tried to stuff them into a pocket. You can guess what happened. Soon we were standing on top, reveling in a panoramic view, vast canyons snaking this way and that, buttes cutting into the sky, eons of geology falling away to the horizon in tiers of sedimentary history. Over the next week we climbed a number of desert classics. There was Ancient Art, a blood-red pile of mud topped by a corkscrew-shaped finial, part of the Fisher Towers and famous for its poor rock quality ("the most hideous sandstone imaginable," author Stewart Green called it). I was hoping that stories of climbers pulling out protection bolts with their hands were exaggerated, but the first hold I touched crumbled into dust. The climbing, thankfully, was not very hard (5.10a, we thought, instead of the official rating of 5.10d). Low on the route I was pinching pebbles embedded (I hoped) in a mud wall. High up there were a couple of delicate moves on suspiciously friable sandstone and then I was walking (crawling actually) across a rock bridge no wider than my waist before pulling myself up a series of bulges and then mantling onto a summit about the size of a large pizza box. A fierce wind was blowing and I didn't have the guts to stand upright on the pinnacle. Liz, when her turn came, did. Then there was Castleton Tower, a blocky 400-foot tower of Wingate sandstone, sitting atop a 1,000-foot cone of lesser rock. Much of the rock is covered with white calcite deposits that make for excellent climbing. We went up the north chimney route, gaining a huge summit with great views of the Fisher Towers and the Colorado River across the valley and the snow-capped La Sal Mountains in the east. None of the other towers, however, really compared with North Six Shooter. Maybe it was the fact that we had to work so hard to get up -- or that for all my clumsiness the tower seemed quite forgiving of my foibles. After we rappelled to the bottom, I walked back to where we had left our packs. Sitting next to mine was the missing topo. Looking around I quickly found the dropped carabiner. A little more searching turned up my sunglasses -- none the worse for a 300-foot fall. Then we located the camera; It was intact and actually worked. Even Liz, after the fact, seemed to enjoy the climb. Driving past North Six Shooter another day, she shook a well-bruised fist at the tower and made an oath. "Just wait," she said, "until I get better at crack. I'll be back." Mr. Ybarra is the author of "Washington Gone Crazy: Senator Pat McCarran and the Great American Communist Hunt." May 25, 2008 Mother Daughter Team Successfully Scale Everest. An extreme adventure for two extremely intrepid Australian adventurers.
Cheryl and Nikki Bart reached the summit of Mount Everest on Saturday after encountering several obstacles along the way including having their communications gear temporarily confiscated amid the tight security of the ascent of the Beijing Olympic torch. They are the first mother-daughter team to climb the world's tallest mountain thereby creating their own little slice of history. Cheryl and her 23-year-old daughter Nikki reached the peak at 9.05am (AEST) yesterday (24th May) after setting out on April 1. The pair - dubbed Oz Chicks with Altitude on their official website - have endured bitter cold and several delays on their 8,850 metre Himalayan ascent. Their website is well worth a visit. They are the first mother/daughter team to complete the Seven Summits! While this is an historic event, the adventure is not over, as the descent is very dangerous. It would take them several hours to reach the safety and warmth of Camp 4, where they would rest, before continuing. As Nikki said: "Climbing the seven summits has taken me to all of the continents, and has allowed me to see cultures and countries that I would never have had the oppurtunity to experience". And Cheryl added, "The best part is sharing such intense and magnificent experiences with someone I love , my daughter Nikki". The seven summits, incase you don't already know, are: Vinson MassifVinson Massif is the highest mountain of Antarctica, located about 1,200 km (750 mi) from the South Pole. ElbrusLocated in the Western Caucasus mountains in Russia near the border of Georgia Elbrus has two summits. KilimanjaroKilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa was first summited in 1889 by Hans Meyer, Ludwig Purtscheller, Yohanas Kinyala Lauwo. KosciuszkoMount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia is located in the Snowy Mountains, in New South Wales. It is 390km southwest of Sydney and close the the Victorian border. McKinley (Denali)The first ascent of McKinley (Denali) was on 7 June 1913 by a team of four from the USA; Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper and Robert Tatum. Denali is Indian for “The Great One” AconcaguaAconcagua is located in the Andes of western Argentina near the Chilean border. It is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere. And of course... EverestEverest is the highest mountain on Earth. The first ascent to the summit of Everest was on 29 May 1953 by Sir Edmund Hilary and his sherpa Tenzig Norgay. They were part of the ninth British attempt to reach the summit and were the second pair to attempt the summit in their party of four. The first pair tried to reach the summit two days before but were forced to turn back due to exhaustion.
May 23, 2008 When Did I Last Talk About Rock Climbing? I've discussed most things now about the basics of rock climbing but I haven't mentioned one of the most important things of all: PLANNING AND PATIENCE. "Boring", I hear you say, but these two elements are crucial to rock climbing. Think of it as a game of chess - you have to think ahead, you have to know exactly where you are going to plant your hands and feet after each move, and you need to know how to stay safe throughout the climb. "And so how do I do all this - in advance", I hear you say again... Well, here are some tips:
So, learn how to climb correctly and trust your gear. Yes, clinging to a rock a hundred feet above the ground is scary, but the feeling you'll get when you reach the top is indescribable. Don't forget your camera! This video, although it jumps around a little, is ideal for demonstrating the climb.
May 18, 2008 How to Find Out Where To Climb In N.America Just a quick one - maybe useful if you are thinking of going climbing tomorrow.... Choosing a location: Following the different grading scales that I posted yesterday here are a few helpful contact details for you to get hold of in America. I think everything here is up-to-date but if not I apologise, it is inevitable I suppose, but I don't suppose the organisations have changed their name so refer to direct enquiries please! Pretty well all over the country you can find wonderful rock climbing locations. Below are some locations, hopefully near to you, which you can contact to find out exactly what is on offer where: New Hampshire (The White Mountains)
New York (The Adirondacks)
West Virginia (The Appalachians)
Wisconsin
Wyoming (The Tetons)
South Dakota
Colorado
Utah
California
Washington
You can find other suggested climbing locales at Gorp.com and GreatOutdoors.com. And one day I'll post details of 'where to and who to contact' in other countries.... May 14, 2008 Rock Climbing Jargon? ... Why not! Well, we've done kite surfing and snowboarding so why not some commonly used words in the rock climbing world... However, with rock climbing it is a little more serious. Not just a whole new dictionary like the above sports but, a bit like scuba diving with its hand signals, rock climbing has a few critical expressions that one needs to know. It sounds a bit dramatic that it could be 'the difference between life and death', but at times a leader and the second might lose sight of one another and, without verbal communication, one climber might begin climbing before the other is ready to belay which is a scary thought. So, a set of calls should be known beforehand and even practiced and agreed upon beforehand. Some common calls are:
May 14, 2008 The Fascination of Extreme Rock Climbing Some people might say "Why, why do it? What do you get out of rock climbing for god's sake?" You go up - you have to come down again, is that fun or just a waste of time? But I think this video explains the ultimate satisfaction of this sport to those who do it. The feeling of achievement, of getting up there - although I would be tempted to suggest that the desire 'to conquer' is also behind the urge to get to the top. May 13, 2008 How to Rate Your Rock Climbing Adventure It's about time we got back to rock climbing. I have been horribly aware over the past few days that I promised to do an entire cover of rock climbing but I got side-tracked by 'air racing' (which gave me the shivers!) and other more 'normal' forms of extreme sport. So... rock climbing and the grading scales that you need to understand for the various types of climbs that you will come across on a sortie to a rockface. Please be aware that these grades vary enormously from country to country. Many guidebooks will have a conversion table for your convenience. And everywhere you go will have their own guidebooks on their own climbs. The following guidelines are based on the American grading scales. The grading scale Each trail or route is rated on a scale from 1 - 6 (with 1 being a relatively easy hike and 6 being a strenuous climb). Class 5 is highly subdivided to include all possible free climbing environments; it's what you imagine rock climbing to be.
May 5, 2008 Rock Climbing Knots - Alpine Butterfly Knot A few days ago (you might remember) I did a blog on climbing knots. Here is another 'thank you' to ABC of rock climbing for linking the following comment to our site. It is such a clear guide on how to tie the Alpine Butterfly Knot that I felt I had to pass it on. However, their descriptive video would not copy so I have put another one on. To see theirs you must go to their site... The Alpine Butterfly is generally considered to be one of the strongest and most secure loop knots. It is strong, secure, and easily tied. It can be tied in the middle of a rope when you don't have access to the ends. It can be pulled in two or three directions without distorting, and it can be used to strengthen a damaged rope by isolating the damaged area. These things make the Alpine Butterfly a very versatile and valuable knot to know. If you are tying the Alpine Butterfly at the end of a rope, you can tie a Stopper Knot to the free end of the rope for added security.
Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Step 4: Step 5: May 1, 2008 The Basic Equipment you will need for Rock Climbing: If you are new to rock climbing it might be useful to rehash the basic equipment you'll need for a climb. As you become more skilled, your collection of equipment will increase. The type and amount needed will vary depending on the difficulty level, but this list is a good place to start. However, it's a good idea to work out your short-term goals before you spend hard-earned money on piles of equipment that will sit unused in a cupboard next to all the other 'one-off' fads. You may want to rent equipment for your first time if you're not sure, because you'll need a lot of stuff and prices will quickly accumulate. So are you: * Doing it just to impress a boyfriend/girlfriend CLOTHING: Wear comfortable clothing. Many people prefer to climb in shorts and a T-shirt, though some wear tight Lycra pants. Find the most comfortable outfit for you. Remember, this does not need to be a fashion statement. Just make sure that your clothing allows you to spread your legs wide enough so that you can reach different footholds. HARNESS: The harness provides a comfortable means of attaching yourself to the rope that will prevent you from plummeting. Also, in the event of a fall (which may happen), it will help you to remain in an upright - always reassuring when dangling over an abyss! It'll cost about $40 - $45. RUBBER-SOLED CLIMBING SHOES: The rubber of these shoes molds to the surface of the rock. In situations where footholds are hard to come by, you may need to "smear" the shoe against the rock to gain a hold. Make sure the shoes fit and are comfortable. Slightly too big is much better than too small. You can probably get by without special shoes, but clinging to a rock is hard enough so why make things more difficult? Go to a sporting goods store and ask the salesperson to hook you up with shoes made specifically for climbing. They usually cost $100 - $150. CHALK AND CHALK BAG: Only you know how much you sweat, but when under strain your palms can get uncomfortably damp. Hanging from a rock - with high levels of anxiety - are those sort-of situations. The chalk takes care of this potentially slippery situation. A bag (with chalk) will cost you around $10. HELMET: Helmets protect against loose, falling rocks, and they also come in handy if you're the one doing the falling. Because helmets don't fit the popular "tough guy" mountaineer image, many climbers don't wear them. Decide for yourself, but remember it's difficult to un-dent a skull. And hopefully you're too old for peer pressure anyway. ROPE: No matter what kind of climbing you do, you will need special rock climbing rope. Here's what to look for: strength, elasticity, flexibility, impact load, thickness, and the number of falls (by you) it can withstand before becoming unusable. Your rope is your best friend on the rock, so don't take any chances. The most common rope is called a "kernmantel," which has tightly woven nylon fibers over a loosely plaited core or a collection of straight fibers. Be sure to consult with a salesperson who has plenty of climbing knowledge. Good rope is expensive; at the beginning, you might shell out $150 on rope alone. All the better reason for you to rent at the beginning and make sure you want to keep climbing those rocks. CARABINER: Carabiners are metal links used to hold the rope in place quickly and securely. The standard snapping variety is the lightest, and climbers may carry thirty or more. By the way, it's pronounced "care-a-bean-er," so you sound like you know what you're talking about when you walk into the sporting goods store. And if you want to sound ber-cool, just say "beaner." A carabiner will cost you about $10. NUTS OR "PRO": All nuts are called "protection," or "pro," because they protect the climber from a possible fall. Nuts are inserted into cracks in the rock in order to help hold the rope in place. Coming in a variety of shapes and sizes, you link them to your rope with a carabiner. TAPE SLINGS: These strong strips of nylon can run anywhere from a couple of inches to four feet long, and are useful for wrapping around trees and other objects. Short ones with a carabiner on each end are used to connect nuts to the rope. DESCENDERS AND BELAY PLATES: The rope is run through these to provide friction while rappelling. Right - that should be enough to get you going... April 25, 2008 Rock Climbing continued: Here are the five main types of rock climbing - from the most simple to the most ... dangerous: Full-safety climbing Full-safety climbing is the safest way to climb, but it's also the least exciting. With full-safety climbing, you are tied to all kinds of ropes and you climb up a surface by grabbing onto pre-installed grips. Furthermore, someone on the ground will be pulling on the rope (if you need it) to help you haul your body up to the top, just in case you're not strong enough to do it yourself. Basically, it's just like rock climbing on one of those walls in the mall. You can do it, but it's not nearly as fun. This video, taken in China, shows you, a little, what it's like when you first start. Free climbing Free climbing is the most common type of rock climbing out there, and is considered to be the "essence" of the sport. Equipment is used only for safety, not for creating holds (the places where you grip the rock). Your first climbing experience will consist of quite a bit more safety, but this will still most likely be the type of rock climbing that you will do as a first-timer. In your own good time, you, too, can hang off a cliff face with only one hand and one small safety rope between you and disaster! Bouldering Another popular first-time climbing option is bouldering, or a short climb unaided by equipment. This style is used on a low, freestanding rock or at the base of a larger rock (where falls aren't very steep or dangerous). Nevertheless, a spotter should always be present. Aid (or artificial) climbing This should be left to pros. Used mainly when free climbing becomes impossible, aid climbing uses equipment (like hand-held suction cups) to create artificial holds in the rock. Complicated and scary and definitely only for the professionals. Soloing Soloing should be left to those with a death wish. It is a longer climb unaided by safety equipment. This style is very dangerous, and even many professionals refuse to do it. Dean Potter, who I have shown a couple of times before, is a master at this - but this isn't him! Within these types of climbing, there are other safety features you can use. A very April 24, 2008 Rock Climbing Knots - Learn How To Tie Climbing Knots I have borrowed this page entirely from the ABC of Rock Climbing - for which I thank them. I could not possibly have done it so well or so succinctly... Tying Knots is a fundamental skill in all types of Climbing. However, it does take practice. In the beginning, remembering every knot will be difficult. But take comfort, you do not need to learn all the knots right away. This section covers several knots that are used in Rock Climbing. We have easy-to-follow steps and animation for each knot so you will be able to learn how to tie knots easily.
Single Loop Knots
Double Loop Knots
Hitches
Stopper Knots
Bends
April 23, 2008 A Few Things You Might Want to Know About Rock Climbing My cousin and his wife are very enthusiastic rock-climbers. So much so that all their holidays are planned around whether you can climb or not. If there is also scuba diving nearby - well then, that makes for the ultimate holiday... They come and visit us regularly here in France as we have a lot of good climbing within an hour of our home. And so enthusiastic are they that they have even got us up on high ledges searching for that elusive crack for the next heave ho! I must say I love it and I can see why people get hooked. You have the fear, the excitement, the feeling of enormous achievement as you go over the top - and of course the view when you get there which is when you lambast yourself for forgetting the camera! So if you feel the urge and are looking for some adventure, you might think about giving it a go. There are, of course, as with all these extreme sports, things you need to know and over the next few days I will highlight some of those things here for you...
With his supreme skills on rock, hypercompetitive intensity, and new-age bag of tricks, Dean Potter scrambles up big walls faster than any man alive. NOT to be recommended for a beginner! Rock climbing requires you to be in pretty good physical shape. You'll be using your legs and arms to haul yourself up the side of a mountain. Halfway up the face of a rock is not a good place to discover that you have a body of jelly. It is not as glamorous as Hollywood makes it look. It's an intense sport that requires lots of preparation, practice, and concentration. Gyms with rock climbing walls are a great place to begin training. You'll get a feel for the amount of physical exertion you'll need to expel, and you'll get to test out different levels of expertise. Once you're comfortable with an indoor rock wall, you can move on to the great outdoors. You need plenty of endurance for rock climbing, so you need to be fit. You should do some mild running, swimming, or biking - even aerobic classes to build up your cardio-vascular fitness. It'll build up your stamina. You probably won't realize this if you haven't climbed before, but a large part of the sport involves hiking! VERY important: stretch everything, especially your legs, arms, and fingers. It may sound strange, but flexible fingers are a must. When you're grabbing for a ledge that's only a centimeter wide, you'll want finger flexibility. You also need to be strong enough to push yourself, or pull yourself, up a wall of rock, so some basic weight training would be useful. One thing that many people don't realize is that while rock climbing, you actually use your legs more than your arms , but since most people's legs are stronger than their arms you shouldn't have too much of a problem. However you should spend equal amounts of time exercising both the upper and lower body. The other thing to remember is that tying knots is a fundamental skill in rock climbing and takes practice, but you only need to know how to tie a couple types of knots, and it's really easy to learn. And finally, and perhaps this should have come first, if you have acrophobia (that is, the fear of heights), then don't even attempt to rock climb. You'll be miserable and so will your climbing mates!!! March 14, 2008 On 7th and 8th March Sawtooth Mountain hosted its ninth adventure sport film festival and screened a fantastic selection of international and local films. The festival was originally designed to generate funding for the Boise State University and has become an annual sell-out event. The film festival is designed to expose the community to a wide variety of adventure sports and draws a broad deomographic of outdoor enthusiasts typically spanning the ages from 8 to 80 ! Viewers were able to see films on such various topics as white water rafting, skiing, snow kiting, mountain climbing, mountain biking, kayaking, snowboarding, skate boarding and many others. According to a film by J. Clive Jordan, snow kiting is one of the most "earth friendly" activities that can be practiced leaving a nearly invisible carbon footprint! and all this while you enjoy the power of the wind, big air, and miles of untracked powder! This year Boise even added a daytime rail jam event to complement the films and encourage more participants to come. The mountain came to Mohammed in the form of 5 semi-trucks filled with snow! The rails, jumps and party atmosphere brought out competitors and spectators alike. So, do you have aspirations of making your own sport films? If so, you might like to know about Peter Chrzanowski. Peter is an adventurer specializing in high adrenaline action/adventure documentary films, dramas and photo-journalism. As a film-maker he has 25 years experience and is a major content producer with new media. He founded Extreme Exploration in 1983 when he attended the Simon Fraser University for Film and Communications. On the 13th - 20th April you can attend an intensive week-long adventure ski and snowboard film-making course being held at Whistler in conjunction with the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival (TWSSF). This gives the students plenty of different activities they can shoot. The pre-requisites are simple - you need to be an upper intermediate skier or snowboarder with relatively good cardiovascular fitness! If you are interested you need to jump around - the workshop is limited to 10 students and the course costs $1,072 which includes lift passes, meals and accommodation. So, here are two addresses for you. If you are interested in the film-making course contact: www.Explorex.net And if you are interested in submitting a film for the 2009 Sawtooth Mountain Film Festival, contact: www.rec.boisestate.edu No cost is required to enter a film, but the entries must be submitted to the Boise State Outdoor Program by 1st December 2008 and should range from 3-20 minutes. The top 20 films will be selected and shown at the festival as well as the Sawtooth Mountain film Festival traveling tour which will be presented at university campuses throughout the country. March 13, 2008 A 19-year-old man is in the hospital with life threatening injuries after falling while rock climbing at Garden of the Gods Park, Colorado. Police said two men were climbing without safety equipment around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. One of the men slipped and fell about 25 feet. He was taken the hospital with multiple fractures and internal bleeding. No arrests were made in the incident, even though the men didn't have a climbing permit. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[tower]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ED-AH608_tower2_20080527183630.jpg)
